Beware of Taco Bell Goofs

I am pretty annoyed.  I was bad enough I spent my whole morning wasting cell minutes & time with my sister who wanted to come visit, go to WDW etc. but no idea was quite perfect enough for her no matter what I tried to come up with to help.  Then I was annoyed, hours had passed & just never made it food shopping.  I was scrubbing my pool out for hours, so I could refill it & figured i'd just have cereal for dinner, for all I cared.  I had only had 420 cals. so far.  Guess what?  No milk!  I look and see I'm out of so many things, so I decided to go to Wal-mart (which is the closest thing to me, unfortunately) & grab Taco Bell because it was late & I needed to just eat.  So, I ordered Chicken Ranchero Tacos, Fresco Style.  Not a bad solution in a pinch.  However, I got home, started eating and guess what?  Those 170 cal. 4 gram of fat Fresco tacos were the regular 270 cal. 14 grams of fat ones.  I know I said Fresco style.  I know they repeated it.  It's even on the receipt, but apparently the people working there just don't all have any clue what Fresco Style means.  *sigh*  Just try to check what they give you before you leave if you can.  It's a good thing I noticed it before I ate all 4 of them!  I put 2 away.

Hi there, I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, but what is "fresco" style.  It sounds like something that makes it a healthier choice, so I would love to know what it is.

If you go to their web site and download the nutritional info form, at the top should be a list of fresco item options and their counts.

It means instead of cheeses, sauces & that sort of thing they put this spicey diced tomato sort of thing on there.  It has a bit of zing.  It's actually pretty tasty and I'll say again I am a PICKY eater!  I'm like that Life cereal kid  Mikey from years ago.  (Now i'm dating myself, badly :P)  If you must grab something out you can get pretty satisfied without using a day's worth of calories.

mmmmmm.... that sounds really good!  Thanks for the info!

You're very welcome.  Just make sure if you get it there isn't cheese or white dressing stuff on there.  What a difference in counts.  ugh!

I could have had beef taco supremes with the darn cheese for less calories AND less fat, because of their goof.  Ah well.  I guess next time I don't go through the drive through no matter how skanky I look at the time.  :P

I don't think I've ever gotten what I've ordered at Taco Bell drive thrus.... hehehe.  Just something about their service (No offense to anyone who may work at a Taco Bell).

Sorry it didn't work out for you the way you planned, but good for you to put the other 2 away!!!!

I hear ya!! and taco bell is the worst for wrong orders I have never got a single order right from what I ordered and now I never go there they don't deserve my money I guess it's not just where I live. It even happend in the other city I lived. and it don't matter if it's drive through or going in to get it.

They did it AGAIN!   grrrr

It happened again, hun?! Didn't you learn from the first time? j/k :)

Ya know, I feel the need to stick up for my favorite fast food establishment! I LOVE Taco Bell, and around here, it has the best drive thru. They're super fast and don't mess up the order too much. I'm sorry yours sucks! :( I have found that McDonald's has the absolute WORST drive thru. >:P

lol apparently not someday-i-will.  :P  It's really the best thing to get out though, at least for what I have near me.  That wasn't the first time either.  lol  I was actually annoyed because I had never had one the regular way and well... I didn't need to taste it like that.  Naturally it's tastier with all the dressing etc. on it.


Actually, it does appear to be the one nearest to me that does it the most lately.   They tend to screw up my order wherever I go though.  I have that kind of luck.  So did my husband actuall & now we have it together.  So much for it cancelling each other out!  lol That or they suddenly run out of a main ingredient in any of the things I like to order or they just decide not to bring me things they were supposed to if it's a full restaurant.  I'm not a person people often have to ask to speak up, so I know they heard me.  lol  A lot of the people working at these places don't exactly seem to have an award winning work ethic.  When I worked at Wendy's years ago, several of my co-workers drove me nuts with all the screw ups.  Two of my favorites were constantly telling customers (often elderly) that mountain dew is the same as sprite & the other was serving a customer mostly raw grilled chicken.  Didn't take too long before they stuck me in the role of dealing with all the complaints & trying to smooth things over with people.  

I order the Ranchero Chicken Soft tacos Fresco style every time I go to Taco Bell and they make a mistake (giving me the sauce or the cheese) on it 75% of the time. One time they even gave me a spicy chicken soft taco.
My friend works at Taco Bell and he said people do not ask for it very often. He said it's confusing to enter it into the system and it doesn't always show up on the screen in the back for the people making it. Other things can happen too, like the regular ones get put in the bag instead because there is no special packaging for Fresco items.

Next time you order it and you want to make sure you get it, maybe go inside and tell them. Or if you still want to go through drive thru, check your tacos after you get them at the window and if you see the mistake, tell them specifically (ie "I just want the chicken, lettuce and pico de gallo") and then you'll get it right. Don't be afraid to tell them it's a mistake, you worked in fast food so you know it happens a lot. Your diet is really important to you and that extra sauce and cheese isn't worth screwing it up.

lol Wait, you don't think I'm afraid to tell them they goofed, do you?  :P 

This is a big advertising campaign for them.  It's even on all the paper placements if you go eat there.  It's at the top of the nutritional info sheet.  They could do better.  They just need to be a bit more conscientious.

Only problem with the whole checking the food thing is that my husband picked it up and his brain nearly explodes just ordering the food.  *rolls eyes*  I don't even attempt to suggest he open the packages & unwrap the tortilla looking for signs of white dressing.  But on another note, it would be asking a bit much from him particularly on nights like tonight when he needed to come home & get sleep & was doing me a favor to begin with.

I didn't screw up my diet though.  I ordered two & I had the calories to spare even for the regular ones.  I'd sooner throw them out than trash what I'm trying to do anyway.  :)

because of this thread, I made SURE they knew what fresco style was when I went to taco bell a couple of nights ago.
from the car, I was like 'do you do fresco style?' and the chick said they did, but to be sure, I asked, 'do you KNOW what fresco style is?' and I could hear her asking a guy, 'that's when... right?'
so thank you :D

Sigh...they did it to me at lunch yesterday.  Just added the pico del gallo ON TOP of the cheese....ARGGG......

Well as a famous line in a famous movie puts it "they f*** you at the drive through".

I actually have found a way around this.  I used to own a restaurant and would tell my customers, "If it isn't right tell me or how will I know to fix it".  So I took my own advice and called the owners or corporate offices (depending upon which drive through it is).  The number is usually posted on the window of the drive through, or you can call your local location and ask for the number.  (Unfortunately I have found that unlike other types of businesses they will give you the number without ever asking if there is something they can do to help you first.)  Anyhow tell them at the main office what is up and USUALLY you end up with them sending you free coupons and them asking you to call and tell them if it has gotten any better in a month or so.  I actually fed my kids and myself for about 3 months for free.  I also ended up being a secret shopper for one of the owners LOL and it made a big difference for a while, then it slacked back to the junk. 

My worst one was went through a Carl's Junior one day and didn't check the bag (bad move) got home to find a hamburger pattie in the bottom of the bag, no bun no wrapper no nothing I went postal and they always knew who I was after that night LOL

Why is this in the lounge? It belongs either in weight loss or food IMHO.

Anyway, my new fave fast food item is McDonald's new Southwest Salad. Something like 340 calories without dressing, 440 calories with. It's yummy!

Thanks josal....I just put a complaint through on their website ;p

I can't think of who it was - a stand-up comic I think,,, That had a bit about ordering at Taco Bell. 

Something about - They always get it wrong, but it doesn't matter because all their dishes are the same thing, just layered differently...cheese, tomatoes, beans, meat and some kind of tortilla.   - it was really funny and kind of true....I wish I could remember the guy.

I always check my order at fast food restaurants as soon as I get it.  It's a good habit to do and it has paid off for me many many times.

I love chicken ranchero soft tacos.  When Taco Bell first came out with them, their staff could never make them properly.  They always used to put regular tomatoes instead of the tangy Fresco style ones on there.  I got many a free meal thanks to their mistakes!

It got moved, athena.  It started in weight loss. 

How's the chicken in that salad?  I'm VERY picky about chicken.  It so often has icky, chewy things in it (unless I make it in which case you'll never find so much as  a vein in a cutlet.  lol)  I was actually kinda afraid to try to the ranchero chicken tacos for that reason.  Surprisingly I was fine with the chicken.  I usually ordered regular crunchy beef ones.  I like home made style tacos much better, taste wise though.

It would be handy to have other decent grab options.  Especially if I have to go to Orlando (like today)  That place is dangerous!  It's not exactly conducive to staying on one's diet.  Perhaps that's why I couldn't lose an ounce the 3 years I lived right outside Disney World & everything else over there.  lol  I actually am going there tomorrow too because they're having a whole 4th of July 80s party thing.  That's why I have to go hit the malls today.  lol  I gotta try & find a couple of obnoxious things like lace gloves.  :)