To think McDonald's/Costa etc should have "dark" stores, that only serve UBer/Deliveroo?

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All these "fast service" places now are super slow and clogged up with the Delivery orders... so annoying having to wait for so long because the delivery orders are given priority and/or adding to volume of orders, to then be sitting in a coffee shop or where ever and delivery drivers are toing and froing all the time

Can't they have some dark stores? That run from warehouses or wherever, where the general public can't access, and all deliveries get put through them. Would be a whole lot easier for all concerned!

Delivery orders are not given priority. Orders are made and subsequently bagged in the order they are placed.

They are - my nephew works in Costa, and they have to fulfil those first.

and even if they aren't given priority - they're still adding to the volume of orders overall.

They do. There's a McDonalds one near where I live which doesn't serve customers directly. There's just not enough of them. My local Subway is the worst for this.

They're not given priority in McDonalds, and yes of course they are adding to the volume of orders - but all those people would otherwise be in store anyway.

Was just going to say McDonalds have some and are opening more so hopefully other companies will follow suit.

well I don’t think they would all be in store; that’s kind of the point of delivery isn’t it

A new McD that's just opened near me has an Uber/delivery waiting area/entrance/serving station to separate it from the in restaurant orders and that seems to work well.

Yes.
There is a particular McDonalds near me that was always popular. Now it constantly gets bad reviews due to the wait time, amount of delivery drivers waiting (taking up space in side plus their motorbikes everywhere), the fact the food gets cold because they can't bag/serve it up quick enough.
I think my longest wait there was 25 minutes.
It really does sound a good idea. It would also mean the drivers could have an official space to have a break, go to the toilet etc.

They wouldn’t be in store anyway if they couldn’t/wouldn’t travel there. Delivery makes it more accessible. Our local McDonald’s is busier with Deliveroo types than it ever was with actual customers.

This annoys me too. There’s a little independent pizza restaurant near me, lovely pizzas but the people sitting at one of the few tables share their experience with a mass of delivery cyclists standing outside the windows looking in, and the door opening and closing every two minutes. It was even worse before when the delivery guys had to go in and up to the counter to collect.

Agreed, and also why businesses are happy to 'clog' orders with them, they're earning lots of money they would potentially lose out on if they didn't offer those services due to the convenience

I mean, I guess it's not a bad thing, but we don't go to the local Maccy's anymore because it just takes SO long for orders to come through, I don't want to wait 20 minutes for fast food.

It's quicker to order online and get it delivered to your car now than wait in the drive through or the store ... :/

So… do… that…? Or is it the ambience of McDonald’s fine restaurants that you’re after?

Good idea. I hadn't been to a McDs in years, but fancied one recently. I thought I'd be in and out in 2 mins. I was actually about 25mins and emerged with stone cold food. I won't bother again.

@stuntbubbles the McDonalds I mentioned is a five minute bus journey from where I live but we are just out their catchment for delivery. So if I really want one I can't do delivery.
But I tend to go to McDonalds when I am out shopping and want to grab some lunch. It's quicker to pop into Boots and get a meal deal but there's often no where to sit to eat it so I go somewhere like McDonalds so I can sit down.
Of course now I get a nice long sit down as I wait 20 minutes for my cheeseburger....😂

Oh this is why McDonald's wait times are obscene now! I wondered whether they'd changed to a less efficient fulfilment system or something.
YANBU OP. It sounds like a great idea, as long as those dark stores weren't put on Google Maps as stores customers could get food, because it would be quite annoying to be travelling somewhere, pull into a food place only to find it wasn't able to serve me.
As for the PP about the local independent pizza place... would you rather they went bankrupt from only selling 2-5 pizzas a night??

Agree this is really annoying. Subway is bad for this. I sometimes pop in there when there’s virtually no queue thinking I’ll be in and out quickly then stand there waiting for ages while they finish making ten subs that a delivery man collects.

The chips are only supposed to stay nice for 600 seconds so I am surprised these Deliveroo type outfits are bringing people hot fries with the time it takes them to deliver.
<misses point of thread>

My local McDonald's has one.

They aren't! I don't understand why people order McDonald's on Deliveroo. I tried it twice and both times the fries were lukewarm, rubbery and terrible. So now I will only have it if at the restaurant.

McDonald's isn't exactly Michelin star food anyway but when I have it I want it to be hot and fresh.

well, I'm not always in my car.... ?

The problem lies with the fact that without these delivery orders some of these physical outlets would not be viable on footfall alone.

It’s the delivery orders that are bumping up the numbers and keeping these stores open sometimes. It’s a common pivot for a physical store to become a micro-fulfilment centre and this new industry is playing a part in avoiding everything changing to online ordering, or companies reducing the number of outlets they have to save costs.

i do think it will become more common, on trading estates etc. near me there are some non franchise small businesses that are just Uber east / deliveroo.

I think the plan is for Uber and deliveroo to own buildings and lease them to small restaurants for that purpose

I went to the Burger King in Lincoln shopping centre. We stood, and stood and stood, no-one seemed to be moving. Eventually I asked the person in front of me what was happening? What was happening was they were fulfilling the delivery orders first. We left after another couple of minutes of the staff still not taking any orders from people who were actually in the shop.

Costa deliver???

Sorry, that's all I've taken in so far. McD delivery would have to be an awful lot more efficient than went i lived abroad for me to try it again. Cool, sweaty chips are not nice.

Uber drivers usually park in the disabled spaces too 🤬