How to communicate with drunk customers at work? (credit card, payments, pay)

[Seahawksfan33]

I'm working closing shifts as a host/cashier (which is when it gets to be crazy), and this is what the typical scenario is:

-A card reader that breaks down with every 1-2 customers, which delays the line. This is why I prefer it when customers pay with cash. That is very uncommon, however
-So many people screaming to the top of their lungs, with has been causing for the volume of my voice to increase to be heard.
-A customer bitching every three seconds about how we messed up their order (when I confirm it with them, and when the other person who heats up slices in the oven does so as well). This requires for me to communicate with the other person, but they are already taking 10-20 orders at once.
-Having to consistently organize the receipt order by the time that I took them.
-I occasionally have one who writes their name in Mandarin characters (with them not knowing any English), and said that it means that I don't know how to speak English if I can't decipher their name with those characters (which doesn't seem to make too much sense). This delays the line.

I was told that I was extremely good at it, but was wondering if there was a more efficient way to communicating with them? I used to be really good at it, but have lost my touch with doing it well.

[ElectronicOverlord]

Reminds me of less than a couple years ago when I was night shift at a convenience store. I'm not sure how feasible these options are, but:

1. Card Reader: management should be receptive to fixing things which are time-expensive. Basically propose that the card reader issues take time away from more valuable tasks, and tally up a rough estimate of time wasted per week. For extra credit, do quick research on upfront and monthly costs of a card-reader, see if getting a secondhand one is an option.

2. Screaming people. Probably no easy options. Security or police presence comes to mind. Maybe a deal could be worked out where a uniformed officer hangs around near closing time in exchange for comp'ed food/coffee/whatever. For some cases, you can mention a "policy" of having to call the police if such-and-such.

3. Order complaints: I can't comment intelligently on this; hopefully everyone on the team cares about minimizing mistakes, and then for cases where there wasn't a mistake, I'd just assume the customer is trying to negotiate for a discount, in which case you either allow the negotiation to move forward, or shut it down... probably the latter.

4. Not sure I understand the receipt order organizing fully, but my instinct says a software solution would help more than it hurts.
5. Mandarin chars: well if it's one or two recurring people, maybe just learn the mandarin for it. The person may well take it as a sign of respect and become less difficult to deal with.

Overall, the most efficient thing in communication is probably to show respect (whether or not it's deserved), and to be non-threatening to the extent possible. Respectfully agree, respectfully disagree, etc. That's all I've got.

[MLSFan]

use the old carbon copy credit card machines for manually processing credit card payments...

credit cards were widespread before the internet was, people had to process them without those card readers, and they still work

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB81UgdqgT0

[Seahawksfan33]

What's weird is that I was really good at customer service over the phone, and the fastest. Doing it live is somehow different, and causes anxiety.