Mana Mana - The McDonald Mc Flurry OUTRAGE - Not an AIBU, but a story of abysmal customer service

[QuintessentiallyOhDear]

So, today was the first day of the holidays, and I took my children to McDonalds. It is a treat to them, a we dont go very often.

After the burgers, they wanted Mc Flurries, so my oldest, who is 11, went to queue. It was one long queue, and somebody shouted for the customers to spread out and queue at each till. My son chose a till on the left. About 5 minutes later, he was still waiting, but at a till at the far right. I went to ask him what happened. He said they closed the till in front of him when it was his turn, and asked him to queue elsewhere. So, he had to start queuing all over again.

I asked the lady serving if they had a policy to not serve children not accompanied by adults. She said no, and asked what he had ordered. I told her he had not yet ordered, but had waited over 10 minutes in total, and nobody had taken his order. She called for a manager, and I explained what had just happened.

What did the manager say?

"Oh sorry, it is not my fault, It wasnt me" WTF!!

So I say "But as the manager here, are you not accountable for your staff?" "Oh, er, well, I guess I am. But we are out of mc flurry now, it will be another 5 minutes at least"

*It wasnt me" Who the eff is he? Wallace or Grommit? Sean the Sheep?

I asked him then for a refund, as I was not going to have waited 15 minutes for a blooming ice cream. He gave me £2.50, which is not even the price of 3 Galaxy mc flurries. The waitress told him we had ordered a different mc flurry, so he gave me another couple of coins. To be honest, by then I was not sure he had refunded me the right money, I just wanted to get out of there.

I think he was a pretty incompetent manager.

[EBearhug]

If you really want to cause confusion in McDonald's, order a meal and ask to change the fries to salad (as it says you can do, in small type that is easy to miss.)

Never do this if you are in a rush. But if you've got the time, it can be entertaining. Last time I did it, they had to call the manager, because they didn't know what to do and weren't sure where the salads were.

[Alisvolatpropiis]

That was shit service and I wouldn't have waited either. Waiting isn't the problem, it's what went on before that's the problem.

I used to work behind a till and the amount of people who who merrily push in front of a quietly waiting child was amazing. They used to get really narked when I served the child first

[youarewinning]

IME McDonalds do have shit customer service. I asked for some mayo - they must have gallons of stuff in tubs - for my DS who has a tomato allergy and can't have any other sauces. They do say their nuggets come with dip so didn't seem to much of an U request.

All I got was 'tomato allergy' I did offer to hold his epipen at the ready if they wanted to put it to the test - and did get a blob of mayo.

We went to BK the other week for ice creams as MD icecream machine not working - and again the 'tude' was ridiculous.

It was gorgeous and the staff so much friendlier - and the ice creams cheaper.

Quint YANBU

[diddl]

It seems that the OP did cut off her nose to spite her face?

But closing the till as her kid got to it?

That's not on, really.

Maybe if he could have joined a v short queue?

Doesn't sound as if he had been waiting that long, though-10mins?

[MrsFruitcake]

We don't go to McDonalds very often either, but when we do, we don't expect anything other than poor service, and so then, if it's okay, we are pleasantly surprised.

[DevlinMaccabee]

YANBU the service was shite and I wouldn't have waited out of principle.

Some of the posters on here are being unreasonable though, picking holes in everything you have said and all the snobbery about people who work in McDonald's.

[differentnameforthis]

GOOD service, not the same....just GOOD. And yes, I expect good service.

I volunteer, working with the public & I give the job everything I gave my paid jobs. It is no different.

[Auntfini]

What an odd thread.how can everyone disagree with you; surely nobody can argue that this was good service?
Also, I worked in fast food for many years. Yes, as some of you have mentioned, we only got minimum wage, but I always provided good service. I didn't work less hard because I didn't get paid very much. I would never have wasted someone's time like they did in the op or if that had happened on my shift, I would have apologised and probably given a free cookie to the kid.

And op has clearly clarified that she doesn't go to mcds often to highlight what a treat it was for her dcs,no? Blooming heck!!! Op yanbu!

[Growlithe]

You sent your DS to the till when there was a large queue. If he can't handle the way tills are opened and closed regularly in places like McDonalds, and cannot stand up for himself in such situations, you shouldn't have sent him up.

McDonalds is what it is. You pay buttons to eat cardboard food. They get paid buttons for serving it. Perhaps this manager's reward for his crappy manner is the fact he is flipping burgers for minimum wage when he is pushing retirement. Or perhaps he has lost a decent job and is now completely demoralised at doing that job at that age that he just couldn't be arsed taking your shit over a child being treated with respect when you sent him up there instead of going yourself. Or a combination of all of these.

Just don't expect to rant on AIBU and expect everyone to agree with you. Why should we?

[Fakebook]

Waitress? McDonalds? Hahahaha!

Don't expect 5 restaurant treatment in a 1 fast food joint. There is no such thing as a waitress in McDonalds. They're called team members.

Next time go at a less busy time or use a drive through. I never visit that place during peak time.

[livinginwonderland]

Good service should be universal, not reserved for high end places.

Do you really expect the same service at McDonald's as you would at the Ritz? McDonald's pays its workers minimum wage to do a very fast-paced job, serving hundreds of people a day. Yes, basic manners should be expected but nothing really beyond that. You're paying a few quid for a burger, fries and a drink, not £25 for a starter!

[QuintessentiallyOhDear]

The manager was probably closer to retirement than school leaving age, to be honest, so should know how to count change for the correct refund (it was him who got the key for the till out and refunded) as well as talking properly to a customer.

[CuChullain]

@differentnameforthis

Its a nice idea but you are seriously optimistic if you think that an 18 year old with a few days training on a crap money zero hours contract is going to give you the same service as a some waiter who has been trained for months, if not years, in every facet of high end service delivery.

I am not suggesting that fast food joints can get away with universally bad service, but perhaps, you should not expect anything beyond the basics! I am not going to get too agitated over the delay in a £1.59 McFlurry (or whatever they cost) but I am more than happy to go nuclear if my £25 foie grais with dressed crab starter is poorly served and tastes like shit.

[StealthPolarBear]

lol at this thread
Op YAB VVVVVVU. If I had been there I would have insisted the staff shut the store, compensate them all for their wages and the store for loss of income and invited them all round for a slap up roast meal and wine.

[differentnameforthis]

It's a fast food restaurant, not the Ivy!

Good service should be universal, not reserved for high end places. There is no reason why you can't be treated the same in Maccas, as in the Ritz! Obviously, not table service, but!

[differentnameforthis]

But you were already there and had paid. I can't see why you had to abandon the five minute mcflurries and head to another venue altogether

I wouldn't have waited out of principal to be honest.

• not served at original till
  
• made to queue again after waiting a long time already
  
• dismissive couldn't-care-less attitude of the manager
  
• inability to refund proper change
  
• general incompetence
  
• another wait for what she ordered, when, if her son was served when he reached the first till, they would probably have got the food straight away
  

I don't know about anyone else, but I wouldn't reward that service & I wouldn't expect anyone to do so if I ran any kind of establishment like that!

[QuintessentiallyOhDear]

Ay, I used to work behind the bar in a rather unfashionable area with a SE London postcode. There were many a rough evening, sometimes I had to let my male colleagues go sweep out ash trays as it was too rowdy for me (think size 8-10 young student). Dont think it can be compared to the lunch time crowd of McD during the summer holidays by any stretch of the imagination though!

[MorrisZapp]

I think the manager is probably just fronting, and in fact is a crystal meth lord. I know quite a lot about this stuff. Don't let his (polyester) shirt and tie fool you.

I AM THE DANGER

[CuChullain]

@ QuintessentiallyOhDear

Believe it or not, I am quite good at complaining and getting results, but I pick my battles, I simply could not be arsed to get stressed over the situation you found yourself in. If I am at a nice restaurant paying decent money my expectations go up, and if they are not met because of crap food or service I shall have a quiet word, more often than not staff and management are embarrassed into action, I dont just sit there seething than moan about it on the way home. While I dont expect shit service in fast food restaurants I don't expect a stellar service either. I have a bit of sympathy for low paid workers in a demanding service industry, back in the mists of time I have done similar jobs and it is staggering the amount the shite they have to put up with for barely minimum wage rewards. Someone else mentioned the service in the US being much better, and I agree, difference being though those workers are often on 100% tips and literally have to please everyone to get something worth taking home. Over here, nobody tips, especially in Maccie Ds late evening when you are getting abused by pissed arseholes who think they are better than you because they are the other side of the counter. I dont blame them for not being all smiley and a picture of efficiency when they have just worked a 10 hour shift serving brat teenagers and stroppy mums getting upset as the three happy meals all have the same Disney toy!

[QuintessentiallyOhDear]

Oh it was freezing cold, the AC is always painfully cold! The last time we went was during June half term, and I had to take off my cardigan and wrap my kids in it, just so they could finish their food without suffering hypothermia! Should they not be environmentally responsible and not use so much electricity on AC?

[raisah]

Write and complain so atleast mcdonalds know about the incident & the manager responsible even if they dont do anything about it.

[Crinkle77]

I have found the service in McDonalds to be poorer and poorer. I only go every now and then but they never seem to have enough food made up and you end up waiting ages. It's supposed to be fast food but maybe it's just the one where I live

[ernesttheBavarian]

it was shit and the replies having a go at you are pretty rubbish too imo. I hate it when people treat kids crap like that.

The managers response was crap.
And how many threads are started all the time by people with seemingly non-issues. yet they get all the sympathy and understanding.

it just takes a couple of posts and everyone piles in having a go at poor op.

I had similar shit service in McD. I rarely go in. Once the AC was up so high it was painfully cold. really bloody misereble eating when it's so cold. Another time we got a meal deal with ice cream. Yet they served the ice cream with the food. I asked for it to be after the food, as it would have all melted (AC turned down that day) Aparently that was an impossible and ridiculous request. I mean, who gets dessert after their food??

And how many 5 years olds eat dinner with an ice cream already sat there?

Bag of shite

[QuintessentiallyOhDear]

Thanks Tweasels.

[QuintessentiallyOhDear]

Alistair, thank you the point is the customer service, not whether we can afford mcflurries, should eat them or not, or whether I was wrong to not wait (and then be late) or whether I was wrong to realize I should have let my kids have desert they had been promised and popped into Costa on the way to the car. The point is, a manager who is faced with an unhappy customer, should not just flail with his arms and say "It is not my fault, It wasnt me"

I am shocked that people dont seem to get that this is an absurd response, and instead focus on why I did not wait, or why I went to costa, and whether I need to get over it, and how I can rant over something so trivial. And not surprisingly the standard MN response "what are you like if something really bad happen to you" (like this has been my only worry the last 5 or so years ) And that I am difficult.

I am by the way, matching my replies to the more ridiculous responses here.