Now is the time for all good people to bitch about drive thru service!
Dear person in charge,
Earlier this evening I had some errands to run. Actually, I had a LOT of errands to run. Since I didn’t have time to cook dinner, I decided not to worry…I’d just go to the Golden Arches and get dinner, dessert and a couple of straws.
I was a tad funky from running all of those errands so I decided to use the drive-thru instead of ruining the appetites of all your other patrons with my funkiness. Apparently, a few others were thinking the same thing that I was thinking because I waited for about 15 minutes in a line of 3 cars. But I really wanted my Quarter Pounder WITHOUT cheese, thank you. My 30 year old son had helped me with my errands so I was treating him to a MccyD’s meal as well.
We pulled up to the lady in the box and I said:
“I’ll have a Quarter Pounder meal….NO CHEESE PLEASE, an unsweetened tea to drink. Next, I’d like 2 double cheeseburgers, ketchup only PLEASE, with a Coke or Pepsi, whatever you have. And, I want a large order of fries with the double cheeseburgers…fresh fries please…even if I have to wait…the fries are useless to me if they aren‘t fresh…so PLEASE make them fresh for me”
I have grease, salt and cardboard at home so if I want nasty, cold, grease sticks with salt, I can always make my own.
Now, I also had a HUGE taste for a McFlurry and my son wanted a chocolate shake so I continued on with my order:
“And I’d also like an Oreo Cookie McFlurry and a choc…”
They stopped me right there and said:
“We’re out of ice cream.”
To which I responded:
“Vanilla or chocolate?”
To my dismay, they lady in the box said:
“Both”
So, I just said to give me my dinner and as we were waiting in the line of cars full of hungry people, my son said to me, “Mom, they never have ice cream at night because they break down the shake machine early so that they can leave sooner.”
I looked in the window and saw that my son was right, some kid in a paper hat was pouring water into the shake machine. I asked the lady in the other box what time they broke down the shake machines. She responded:
“It depends on how busy we are.”
Well, I don’t think it should matter how busy they are…the sign outside said they were open for another hour and it didn’t say anything about not serving shakes or McFlurry’s until closing time. The signs all give a person the impression that the entire menu is available until closing time. I was nonplussed to say the least.
Then, I drove home and took the bags that contained my dinner into my arms and carried them into my house. I set them on my counter and, happy to be home…I grabbed a couple of plates and I began to salivate at the prospect of my wonderful Quarter Pounder with no cheese, and those amazing McDonald’s fries. Then, I lovingly began to prepare my son’s plate with his double cheeseburgers, dressed only in ketchup. As I placed his fries on his plate, I noticed that those fries weren’t the least bit hot. They weren’t even warm.
I only live two blocks from McDonald’s so there’s no way that they could have gotten cold on the ride home unless I drove home by way of Nebraska. I’ve ordered fries from that restaurant in the past and got them home fresh so I know that it IS possible.
Then, I noticed something else…I saw a pickle hanging out of one of my sons double cheeseburgers…I checked the other one and I stood there in horror as I realized that both of my son’s double cheeseburgers had pickles…they both had onions...and neither one of them had ketchup!!! I know my son…this was NOT a good thing.
Then I decided to check MY burger. It had cheese!!! Two slices!!! But…nothing else. Instead of making my Quarter Pounder without cheese…they made it with ONLY CHEESE! Naturally my grease sticks were as cold as were my son’s.
I checked the receipt…the order was correct on that useless thing. But all of the food was prepared backwards…as though some dyslexic teenager was behind the grill, screwing up orders willy nilly.
After I checked the receipt…I grabbed my tea to take a big swig of that and to my utter revulsion…it was sweetened…with more sugar than I’ve had since I was 6 and making my own bowls of cereal.
So, not one sandwich was prepared as I ordered it (thank goodness my son was there to hear me order it…otherwise he would have accused me of ordering his food wrong…now he knew that it wasn’t his mother who was the nit wit…it was the box people), not one French fry was warm, and my tea had more sugar in it than a box of Fruit Loops. To be fair and to give credit where credit is due…my son’s drink was right. But…neither one of us got straws. I tried to suck the tea out of the hole in the lid and ended up spilling the syrup all over my clothes. It’s one thing to go through the drive-thru funkified…I couldn’t go back all wet AND funkified!
So…there I stood, wearing funky clothes full of syrupy tea, no food to eat (I HATE imitation cheese food!!!), my son was annoyed and even though I didn’t do it, I had to listen to him bitch about it for a half an hour.
And to make it worse…I had no dessert because a bunch of box people in paper hats wanted to get home 10 minutes early.
After I calmed down a bit, I drove down the street to the Wendy’s around the corner to order a couple of Frosty’s and the lady in THAT box said, “We’re out of ice cream.”
I guess they wanted to go home early as well.
Now…I’m not writing to you because of this one incident…this letter is the corollary of countless screwed up visits to the McDonald’s around the corner from my house as well as other McDonald's around the world. In the spirit of customer service…I believe that I am entitled to something…a lifetime supply of fries would be good…IF THEY’RE FRESH!!!
OK then…the ball is in your court…whatcha gonna do with it?
Meg Kelso
I had to send them a link to this post because they didn't allow enough space for the entire comment. So, please feel free to tell the McDonlad's people how you feel about your drive-thru experience by adding your comment to this post...hopefully they'll see my story as well as yours and maybe then they will figure out a way to put a stop to the disappointment that we and our children suffer when...DRIVE-THRU ORDERS GO WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Earlier this evening I had some errands to run. Actually, I had a LOT of errands to run. Since I didn’t have time to cook dinner, I decided not to worry…I’d just go to the Golden Arches and get dinner, dessert and a couple of straws.
I was a tad funky from running all of those errands so I decided to use the drive-thru instead of ruining the appetites of all your other patrons with my funkiness. Apparently, a few others were thinking the same thing that I was thinking because I waited for about 15 minutes in a line of 3 cars. But I really wanted my Quarter Pounder WITHOUT cheese, thank you. My 30 year old son had helped me with my errands so I was treating him to a MccyD’s meal as well.
We pulled up to the lady in the box and I said:
“I’ll have a Quarter Pounder meal….NO CHEESE PLEASE, an unsweetened tea to drink. Next, I’d like 2 double cheeseburgers, ketchup only PLEASE, with a Coke or Pepsi, whatever you have. And, I want a large order of fries with the double cheeseburgers…fresh fries please…even if I have to wait…the fries are useless to me if they aren‘t fresh…so PLEASE make them fresh for me”
I have grease, salt and cardboard at home so if I want nasty, cold, grease sticks with salt, I can always make my own.
Now, I also had a HUGE taste for a McFlurry and my son wanted a chocolate shake so I continued on with my order:
“And I’d also like an Oreo Cookie McFlurry and a choc…”
They stopped me right there and said:
“We’re out of ice cream.”
To which I responded:
“Vanilla or chocolate?”
To my dismay, they lady in the box said:
“Both”
So, I just said to give me my dinner and as we were waiting in the line of cars full of hungry people, my son said to me, “Mom, they never have ice cream at night because they break down the shake machine early so that they can leave sooner.”
I looked in the window and saw that my son was right, some kid in a paper hat was pouring water into the shake machine. I asked the lady in the other box what time they broke down the shake machines. She responded:
“It depends on how busy we are.”
Well, I don’t think it should matter how busy they are…the sign outside said they were open for another hour and it didn’t say anything about not serving shakes or McFlurry’s until closing time. The signs all give a person the impression that the entire menu is available until closing time. I was nonplussed to say the least.
Then, I drove home and took the bags that contained my dinner into my arms and carried them into my house. I set them on my counter and, happy to be home…I grabbed a couple of plates and I began to salivate at the prospect of my wonderful Quarter Pounder with no cheese, and those amazing McDonald’s fries. Then, I lovingly began to prepare my son’s plate with his double cheeseburgers, dressed only in ketchup. As I placed his fries on his plate, I noticed that those fries weren’t the least bit hot. They weren’t even warm.
I only live two blocks from McDonald’s so there’s no way that they could have gotten cold on the ride home unless I drove home by way of Nebraska. I’ve ordered fries from that restaurant in the past and got them home fresh so I know that it IS possible.
Then, I noticed something else…I saw a pickle hanging out of one of my sons double cheeseburgers…I checked the other one and I stood there in horror as I realized that both of my son’s double cheeseburgers had pickles…they both had onions...and neither one of them had ketchup!!! I know my son…this was NOT a good thing.
Then I decided to check MY burger. It had cheese!!! Two slices!!! But…nothing else. Instead of making my Quarter Pounder without cheese…they made it with ONLY CHEESE! Naturally my grease sticks were as cold as were my son’s.
I checked the receipt…the order was correct on that useless thing. But all of the food was prepared backwards…as though some dyslexic teenager was behind the grill, screwing up orders willy nilly.
After I checked the receipt…I grabbed my tea to take a big swig of that and to my utter revulsion…it was sweetened…with more sugar than I’ve had since I was 6 and making my own bowls of cereal.
So, not one sandwich was prepared as I ordered it (thank goodness my son was there to hear me order it…otherwise he would have accused me of ordering his food wrong…now he knew that it wasn’t his mother who was the nit wit…it was the box people), not one French fry was warm, and my tea had more sugar in it than a box of Fruit Loops. To be fair and to give credit where credit is due…my son’s drink was right. But…neither one of us got straws. I tried to suck the tea out of the hole in the lid and ended up spilling the syrup all over my clothes. It’s one thing to go through the drive-thru funkified…I couldn’t go back all wet AND funkified!
So…there I stood, wearing funky clothes full of syrupy tea, no food to eat (I HATE imitation cheese food!!!), my son was annoyed and even though I didn’t do it, I had to listen to him bitch about it for a half an hour.
And to make it worse…I had no dessert because a bunch of box people in paper hats wanted to get home 10 minutes early.
After I calmed down a bit, I drove down the street to the Wendy’s around the corner to order a couple of Frosty’s and the lady in THAT box said, “We’re out of ice cream.”
I guess they wanted to go home early as well.
Now…I’m not writing to you because of this one incident…this letter is the corollary of countless screwed up visits to the McDonald’s around the corner from my house as well as other McDonald's around the world. In the spirit of customer service…I believe that I am entitled to something…a lifetime supply of fries would be good…IF THEY’RE FRESH!!!
OK then…the ball is in your court…whatcha gonna do with it?
Meg Kelso
I had to send them a link to this post because they didn't allow enough space for the entire comment. So, please feel free to tell the McDonlad's people how you feel about your drive-thru experience by adding your comment to this post...hopefully they'll see my story as well as yours and maybe then they will figure out a way to put a stop to the disappointment that we and our children suffer when...DRIVE-THRU ORDERS GO WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
posted by Meg Kelso | 11:33 AM
19 Comments:
I think you are doing a service to all of us who go through the drive thru only to get a screwed up order or less then hot fries or a sandwich I HATE THAT!!
Once I went to a fast food restaurant, well shit Taco Bell to be exact, went through the drive thru and when I got home the order was all messed up. I got back in my car and went back. Walked in the place and in front of God and all the customers demanded to see the manager, told her that she really should be checking up on her employees, after all that would be her job. Told her that when I got home and started taking the food out of the bag there were things missing...not my food of coarse...nope, that was at home getting cold while I had to come back to her restaurant, get out of my car (which is why I choose to go through the drive thru, so I DID NOT HAVE TO GET OUT OF MY CAR) come inside and have to yell at her in front of all these people. Well, she promptly refunded my money and gave me the food we were missing.
When I got home and counted out the money, I was ten dollars ahead of the game....I just sat down and thought if she wants the money, she can get in her car, come over to my house, get out of her car, come into my house and ask me for the money.She didn't
You know, this explains to me why, when I make a late night run to my local Golden Arches for a Hot Fudge Sundae, they are ALWAYS freaking out of ice cream.
Do they not realize that I just drive another three miles to go to Steak and Shake, which has better food anyway?
Found a bug in my MccyD's bad once; went back inside, only to be accused of planting said bug myself!!
I can't stand bugs - I'm sure as shit not going to handle one to get a free Big Mac!
If you are buying CRAP from McDonalds for your children to eat then you deserve what you get.
If I were making such a stupid comment, I'd keep myself anonymous too. My "child" is 30 years old. I think he can handle an occasional hamburger.
...and a hunk of a thirty year old.
That letter can be nicely concluded this way:
PS:
Your momma's so fat when she goes to MAC-Donalds they ask her what she doesn't want!
YOU HAVE TO ORDER YOUR FRIES AND SAY NO SALT ON THEM!!YOU MIGHT HAVE TO WAIT BUT THE COOK NEW ONES,TRY IT LISA G FROM PHILLY
That's why we orde the burgers special. They don't usually lie about the fries so I thought that I was safe...I'll think of you everytime I eat a GOOD fry!
See ya
I do mystery shopping and some of the shops are for McDonalds and orther fast food and fine food stores. I have one coming up for this Saturday for a drive thru and walk in at Mickey D's. This is how they check up on what different stores are doing right or wrong. I really enjoy doing them. It is to help everyone like ya"ll. What town was yours in?
What is your REAL question...I'm not going to just answer a stranger and tell them where I live, what would you like to specifically?
I'll answer any quetions by email...but I'm not goimg to put my peronsl info online.
I didn't know that McD's sold deserts. Did you order Sahara or Gobi?
This is the CARDINAL RULE of ordering food through the drive-through. Obey this rule and they will get your order right because they will have to!
Do not, I repeat, do not, drive away until you have thoroughly checked everything in the bag(s)! Put your car in park and look your order over. Then if there is a mistake, they have to correct it for you then and there. No going home to an unpleasant surprise and having to drive back.
This says to me...learn to cook a quick healthy meal at home instead of giving these vultures any more of your hard earned money. Wendy's, McDonalds, Burger King, Checkers ...big or small chain they all have the same problem...as do most American businesses. The service industry sucks. They have made it a starting point for people with little or no skills. Little or no language skills. And people who really don't give a crap and will move on in the next 6 months without having a stake in the business. That's why I go to very small mom & pop owned food stands that have a specialty they take pride in, such as half smoked hot dogs, or homemade soup or whatever.
Cook for your kid. It's easier than dealing with the frustration of these corporate a**holes.
Deserts...LOLOL...mea culpa. I always get those two words mixed up...there are a couple others that I mix up as well.
Thanks!
I agree with poster who says check the order before you drive away. And refuse to "pull over" if they ask you to why they fix the order. Tell them that if they would have done it right the first time, you would already be gone. Yes, it pisses off the next guy in line (probably me), but I will take it out on the window person anyway. After having to deal with pissed off customers in the line, they start to have some incentive to prevent the customers from complaining.
OK...you are ALL right. I will sit there and annoy the hell out of them until they get it right from now on...sorry to the folks nehind me. But...if we all do that...anonymous is right...they'll be less likely to screw up the orders in the first place.
Giddy-up!!!
hey, i wasn't trying to find out where you live. i already saw on your web page which town you live in.
Diane...
...I'm confused...I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't even think about YOU, much less did I think that you were trying to find out where I lived. I never kept it a secret...I live in Marietta, Georgia.
What do you mean?
Meg
OH!!! Now I see! I'm sorry...it was the MacDonald's on Whitlock in Marietta. The address is 7 hundred and something. I'm sooo sorry...I have been getting a LOT of freaky comments from anonymous people. My bad.
Meg
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