Along those lines…
I work in a pretty remote place with only one place within five miles to eat at: McDonald’s (well, and a Hardee’s across the street, but that doesn’t count). So yesterday I drove down the road to McDonald’s and order a Big Mac. I’ve long ago gotten in the habit of checking my order at the drive through before I leave, so I was sure I had a Big Mac. Which I did. Sort of. I got back to my job and started eating. Something was sort of different about this burger, but I couldn’t figure out what. It didn’t taste that different, it just sort of feelt weird. After about three bites I stoped to take a look at it.
I had been served a Big Mac, alright. A Big Mac with no meat. No meat at all. I thought about taking it back, but that would be too much extra effort, and besides my lunch break was almost over. So I just ate the bread and lettuce. That’s where I discovered the really bad part. Apparently, they put so much special sauce and lettuce on these things, or the meat is actually so tasteless to begin with, that I couldn’t tell that there wasn’t any meat on it until after I looked at it. Needless to say, it’s Hardee’s for me from now on.
I haven’t eaten McDonalds in over 2 years (since I quit), and I’m not missing a thing. Actually, I lied-I had a caramel sundae a few months back, because it was late and they were open, and I was starving. But the food? Eww. You couldn’t pay me to eat that crap…
Wendy’s is much, much better…(especially the one I work at, you should come visit )
Meh. I never liked McDonald’s, and I’ve been to one exactly one time since I became a vegetarian (about 2 1/2 years ago). Not exactly a hard thing to do. I absolutely loved Burger King, on the other hand. I’ve been back there, but that’s just because people from my dorm insist upon going every few weeks or so. Doors doesn’t seem like a guy who has trouble sticking to his decisions.
I’m no fan of McDonalds at all but used to go regularly when I had young kids - particularly on the highway. Whenever I got crappy service, probably 4 or 5 times, I made it a point to let the manager know. Most stores in Australia are franchises run by someone trying to earn a living and I think it’s only fair that I let him know how his staff are treating me. Every time I complained I received profuse apologies and offers of free food next time. I think if you don’t say something you just allow the problem to remain.
The place where I bought my current car has a woman who introduced herself to me as their “quality manager”. She told me that if I had any dealings with the company that left me dissatisfied I should call her because “talking to your friends won’t fix your problem.”
The other thing that seems wrong about Airman’s reponse is that the worker goes unpunished while Airman forfeits his beloved Big Mac but he has done nothing wrong. Make the guilty pay not the innocent burger consumer.
Nah, I’m guessing some Bleu Cheese, some spices, and (???) there’s a flavor there that I can’t quite put my finger on. It really is mind blowing stuff (as far as fry sauce goes). It’s pretty much the only reason I go to A&W. And I go a LOT.
I’ve actually considered sending a sample to this guy just to see if he could figure it out (and if you havn’t ever been to Top Secret Recipes.com you should really check out that link, he’s got everything from Bull’s-Eye Original BBQ Sauce to Soup Nazi recipes there).
Well…I guess I know where I’m having lunch today. Thanks for reminding me.
<rends hair> Evil out-of-staters, taunting us with the charms of the Chains That We Do Not Have Here!
Just got back an hour ago from the Blue 9 Burger in the East Village. Yum. This review says it’s the closest thing to an In n’ Out in New York. It’s best not to look too closely at the open kitchen, but I haven’t keeled over yet.
I refuse to go to my local Taco Hell because the workers are consistently slow and rude.
I refuse to frequent the local KFC after hubby stood in line for 45 minutes on Labor Day to get chicken. He would normally have left after 2 minutes of waiting but he stuck it out that day because the manager kept complaining loudly that he was understaffed (he had exactly one worker who was busting his ass doing 95% of the work) and WHY COULDN’T EVERYONE JUST SEE that they were very busy AND LEAVE? So they got our business that day because my husband’s German/Irish temper interfered with good judgment but they won’t see it again.
So I understand Airman’s pain, but I do understand several things: a) The quality of service varies wildly depending on the location and the manager; b) Unless you write a letter of complaint, McD’s will never understand why you have left and attempt to take corrective measures (Believe me, corporate America takes letters VERY seriously). and c) the reason the garrulous boy from da hood has the job is because the job market is so tight for entry level positions. Used to be teenagers wanted to work. Now they work if they can fit it in between soccer and hanging out at the mall spending mom and dad’s money. So we end up being served by workers who would have been fired 20 years ago.
I haven’t had a Big Mac in a long time. Now I’m craving 2 all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun. thanks.
Airman Doors, USAF, you were an asshole.
Yeah, I’ll be the first to say it.
Look at it like this. There isn’t a person constantly looking out the window to see if your ass is at the speaker. Somewhere close to the menu, is a sensor in the drive-thru that triggers when you car hit’s the right spot, that alerts them that there is a customer. Maybe this sensor wasn’t operational? This employee that you talked shit to may have not known that you were there. So you honked your horn, this doesn’t guarantee that they can hear you back there.
Maybe instead of being an asshole you could’ve politely asked the boyz if they knew you were waiting in line. And if they came back with “yes” and some obvious stupid excuse, then rip into them. But no, you simply reacted out of a stereotype that all drive-thru people are idiots and took it upon yourself, to be a billy bad ass and get to the bottom of it, right? Look, I don’t like drive-thru experiences either, but not everyone there is stupid. So please, next time, take the time to find out if there was a legitimate reason for them ignoring you, like a broken sensor that doesn’t necessarily trigger every time a car rolls over it.
I personally gave up on McDonald’s years ago except for the occasional fries, and about once every two years I get one of their pretend fish sandwiches. Can’t say as I’ve missed 'em. If I want a burger, I go to Sonic. Yummm, fresh chargrilled burger with onion rings…damn, now I want one for lunch!
I know which McDonald’s Airman is talking about, because I used to eat at the same one. And, yes, they do have some personnel issues. The same franchisee operates two of them here in town, and I have yet to get anything approaching acceptable service. I’ve gone into the restaurant before, only to stand behind friends of the cashier. They stood there yakking, and the cashier never once asked her friends to step aside so she could take my order, even after I spoke up.
Fortunately, there’s a Burger King up the street which is always happy to have my business. I know this because they’ve yet to screw up my order, and have my food ready when I drive up. And none of the employees has ever pissed and moaned and made some excuse up when I asked for a toddler toy for the kids’ meal. (Note: I sometimes get a kids’ meal when a regular is too much. Since I have no other use for the toy, I get the toddler toy for Aaron. I don’t usually feed my kid fast food.)
My experience is pretty much like QEDs. Unless the fast food joint is doing something absolutely egregious the franchiser pretty much just leaves them alone. Maybe in Ray Kroc’s day it was different and standards of service (not just cleanliness) were more efficiently policed.
These days (IMO) fast food franchise units will more or less directly reflect how well it is managed by the franchisee sans corporate oversight. I see dirty MCDs and BK etc. bathrooms, I get messed up drive through orders, cold or "awful “too long under the heat lamp” hamburgers, and quite frankly the overall perceived quality of the food itself, even if properly prepared, and even if I am hungry and in a good mood to appreciate it is very mediocre.
And as QED noted these things are typically consistent over time. Some stores parctically always screw up the order. Some units have service that is as slow as molasses - consistently!
And the thing that puzzles me about all this, is that there is tremendous employee turnover in the fast food business. You’d think that just by the luck of the draw a good manager and crew would be in place at some point in time, but these store suck consistently. It’s like it’s the one thing they have that is consistent. The night crew at the Taco Bell on RT 13 south in my town moves in slow motion (literally - we watched them once) and it has been this way for years.
What also drives me insane is this “we don’t participate in that special” crap. You see a NATIONAL TV AD running for some fast food special and decide it is a good enough deal to feed a tribe of hungry kids. You pull in the drive through and eveyone is set for the deal you’ve described, and ask for the special (in line with other cars) and hear “sorry we’re not participating in that Ad” . So now… you can spend twice or more what you planned, because the kids are hungry and you’re trapped in line. “Pissed off” doesn’t being to describe the feeling.
It’s amazing how it worked for the guys in front of me in line, those people coincidentally being his friends who were having a nice inane conversation at the speaker and then later at the window.
In which case, screw 'em for pretending to be something they’re not. If the front office isn’t policing the franchises tightly enough so that the all-but-invisible name of the franchisee doesn’t matter much, then IMHO they’re lying to us about what they are, by not allowing the sign to say, “Joe Blow’s McDonalds” rather than just “McDonalds”. Because if the key factor in quality is whether Joe Blow or Ben Dover is the franchisee, then the franchisee’s name should be out there where we can see it.
McDrive-through boxes are notorious for being crappy. She may not have been a native English speaker, but you don’t need to make fun of her for that… and I would have been annoyed when I heard “not the meal, just the sandwich”. It really pisses me off when people assume that I’m stupid. Maybe she got pissed off at you for saying that, so pretended to screw your order up. I wouldn’t put it past a McWorker, what with all of the crap we put up with each day. For each bad experience you have from us, there are 20 people that we would really want to punch in the face. (That’s for me, anyway, some people may have a lower tolerance for annoyance and the ratio may even out more)
Yes, McDonald’s does have hot chocolate in some areas.
And McDonald’s sausage is pre-cooked, the grill just warms it up (Eeep! trade secret!)
Wow! It seems to me a couple of you are missing the point.While I do agree that the op should let the manager know why he won’t go back, every business lives and dies by their service and their product. If the sensor or speaker is broken, they should have a sign posted. It is the order takers JOB to be watching to see if a customer is coming to order. If the speaker system is crappy listen more carefully and don’t put someone who can’t understand english to take orders. Saying that someone isn’t doing thier job isn’t making fun of them. We are customers, we have the money and we decide where we spend it. We should demand a higher standard than the wrong order, wrong change with an attitude that is the norm at most of the fast food restaurants in my area.
The boss at my company has the philosophy that every order is precious, this has enabled his company to be one of the leaders in the industry. Fast food places need to adopt more stringent standadrds particularly in the drive throughs. it is only by voting with our dollars that anything will change.
)