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AIBU?

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Original poster

to think McDonald's have lost the main idea of "fast food"

406 replies

urwildquoter24 · 02/04/2024 10:21

It's not even fast anymore. It takes at least 15 minutes on a good day to get food, and on a bad day even longer. The drive-thru is even worse, I was in there last weekend and there were three cars in front of me and took half an hour to get my food and go.

I haven't even seen McDonald's do anything particularly creative recently. They're just bringing back old things and the food really doesn't look anything like in there adverts (which we established years ago)

And don't start about the new Happy Meal toys!!!

McDonald's is basically where fast food started, and now I think it's lost it a bit.

OP posts:
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DonnaBanana · 03/04/2024 21:32

The main problem nowadays is all the customising McDonald's lets you do which means they have to cook a lot of things fresh. Back in the 90s or whenever if you ordered a Big Mac you got a Big Mac the same as everyone else but now people are like oh no onions, oh please add this, take away that, so they prepare it from scratch. Individualism culture at its worst

SabreIsMyFave · 03/04/2024 21:33

@TheGreatestAtuin · Today 20:37

I want to know who the fuck gets McDonald's delivered? The world has gone mad. Unless you live a few mins from the restaurant (in which case why not just go there FFS) then it must be horrible by the time it's delivered. Fucking weird.

I agree with PPs who have said it's the Just Eat/Uber Eats that is making the restaurants slower. My local is dreadful and all the delivery drivers park like total cunts too, causing traffic jams and parking on pavements blocking them.

I'm all for convenience in modern life, but having shitty quality "fast" food like McDonald's delivered really is the thin end of the wedge.

Exactly. I know there may be the odd exception - people who are housebound/unable to make the trip themselves, but the majority of people having it delivered are perfectly capable of going there themselves to get it.

They only deliver it within 1.5 MILES! Just go and get it yourself. (And most people could.)

Most people could walk that distance. By the time you got back, it wouldn't be any more cool than it would be after the delivery dude had had it in his car for half an hour! 🙄 You can tell the country is going to the dogs when people have McDonalds food delivered! Delivered 1.5 MILES!

ftp · 03/04/2024 21:43

Our local McD they are rude, food is undercooked and place is dirty. Had enough.

Some months later, in a hurry dropped in to get coffee at another (their coffee is good and nearly 1/2 price of Costa/Stabucks etc)
Service brilliant, place well kept extra milk no trouble.
Our happy meal is a book, and there is a children's book corner and plenty of colouring - meal offer wrap great. As soon as somebody leaves the tables are cleaned and floor swept. All food has gone up, and there are some expensive items on the menu now too. We avoid 1pm, any very popular site will have queues at that time.

They are franchises mostly, and will be very variable as a result.

Cascade39 · 03/04/2024 21:58

JMKid · 02/04/2024 10:25

I blame all the deliveries they do now, they all seem priority whilst actual walk in or drive through customers have to wait. I also think the new order method, as in using the touch screen takes a lot longer as well. They are most definitely not fast food anymore.

And yet you have to wait 25 - 45 mins for a delivery

Belleoverandover · 03/04/2024 21:58

Our local one is pitiful if you order a delivery they don't care and always forget sauces, happy meal toys or even once my burger! Drive thru you always have to park up and inside the delivery drivers shove through even though they're told to stand back and wait

kennycat · 03/04/2024 22:10

after not being in mcdo for almost 20 years I’ve taken the chn a couple of times recently and was really surprised.
The drive through queue is massive! We’ve wondered why people don’t just park up and go in to the store (can’t bring myself to call it a restaurant!), but their stuff and walk back to their car?! It would seem quicker!!

MyTherapistSaidImAnAdult · 03/04/2024 22:21

I used to work at McD for my sins - Our managers told us they're no longer classified as "Fast Food", they are a "family restaurant" 🫣

And the plastic toys were taken out of Happy Meals due to government regulations (but I agree, they're not very "happy" these days)

Mamanyt · 03/04/2024 23:24

While you are not being unreasonable in your complaints, I have not found anything near your stated wait times. I think that must be a local thing, and the store's management it at fault. As for the food itself, one of the reasons people like McDonald's is that it doesn't pull a lot of surprises. You know, when you turn into their parking lot, what to expect.

ChirpySloth · 04/04/2024 03:34

Totally agree that it’s not fast food anymore.
I had my 4yr old dd in the car and her 5yr old friend. They had both done absolutely amazing in their swimming lesson, so thought I’d get them a mini McFlurry each as a treat. Ordered through the app just as we were leaving swimming (5min drive away from McDonald’s), went in the drive thru, still had to park up and wait 20mins for 2 half melted mini McFlurrys and 1 of them was wrong 🙄 Of course the staff member had disappeared, I tried to pass it off to my dd that that was the one she wanted, bless them, they’d already been waiting 20mins for them.
I on the other hand was not happy and complained to McDonald’s (don’t get me started on what a faff that is!!).

EmeraldA129 · 04/04/2024 09:23

Burger King is MUCH slower here

Samlewis96 · 04/04/2024 09:32

ButterflyKu · 02/04/2024 10:27

I agree! Whenever I enter Mcds there filled with Just Eat & Uber Eats drivers. It’s ridiculous

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Who are stuck there waiting because the McDonald's are slow for them also lol. Although some McDonald's are now opening seperate delivery kitchens that have no walk in customers which seems to help

ButterflyKu · 04/04/2024 09:39

Samlewis96 · 04/04/2024 09:32

Who are stuck there waiting because the McDonald's are slow for them also lol. Although some McDonald's are now opening seperate delivery kitchens that have no walk in customers which seems to help

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Not in my experience. They’re never really stuck waiting. They come in, grab the food and go. It’s just that there’s so many of them and the delivery orders are the ones that get prioritised

FoxyLocksie · 04/04/2024 09:42

ButterflyKu · 02/04/2024 10:27

I agree! Whenever I enter Mcds there filled with Just Eat & Uber Eats drivers. It’s ridiculous

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Yes, I had that experience in a McDonald's in Bristol a few years ago, when DH and I were there at around lunchtime and needed a quick bite to eat. It was very slow. There were loads of orders ahead of ours on the list but the place was empty apart from DH and me. All the other orders were for Deliveroo. There was a constant stream of mopeds and scooters pulling up in the car park and picking up deliveries. Our order took 20 minutes to get to the top of the list!

Genevieve29 · 04/04/2024 09:48

dottymac · 02/04/2024 10:27

In the 3 near me, it's always slow, always cold food and always gross. I only go in an absolute emergency now.

What kind of emergency would make you go to a poor Maccy D's? Just make a sandwich!

taxguru · 04/04/2024 12:03

ButterflyKu · 04/04/2024 09:39

Not in my experience. They’re never really stuck waiting. They come in, grab the food and go. It’s just that there’s so many of them and the delivery orders are the ones that get prioritised

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Often the food has been sat in the bag on the shelf for ages before the driver arrives to pick it up, which is probably why they seem to "jump the queue". Heaven knows how awful, cold and soggy it would be when it finally gets delivered when it's been sat waiting for the driver. They don't even put them under the ineffective heat lamps, just left on a counter top/shelf.

taxguru · 04/04/2024 12:05

kennycat · 03/04/2024 22:10

after not being in mcdo for almost 20 years I’ve taken the chn a couple of times recently and was really surprised.
The drive through queue is massive! We’ve wondered why people don’t just park up and go in to the store (can’t bring myself to call it a restaurant!), but their stuff and walk back to their car?! It would seem quicker!!

Nope, as mentioned by a few posters above, drive through and delivery orders are prioritised. All orders aren't equal in terms of priority! If there are a lot of drive throughs and deliveries, you'll be at the back of the queue if you order in store.

laylababe5 · 04/04/2024 13:36

Most McDonalds restaurants are franchises. I wholeheartedly agree that some are badly run! McDonalds need more checks in place to ensure quality of service.

Samlewis96 · 04/04/2024 19:34

taxguru · 04/04/2024 12:05

Nope, as mentioned by a few posters above, drive through and delivery orders are prioritised. All orders aren't equal in terms of priority! If there are a lot of drive throughs and deliveries, you'll be at the back of the queue if you order in store.

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How on earth do you come to the idea that delivery orders are priorities? Do you have any actual proof of this.

I am a delivery driver and my daughter is a McDonald's branch manager and it's certainly not the case here

Samlewis96 · 05/04/2024 07:32

ButterflyKu · 04/04/2024 09:39

Not in my experience. They’re never really stuck waiting. They come in, grab the food and go. It’s just that there’s so many of them and the delivery orders are the ones that get prioritised

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Duh. The orders have been sent up ahead. They not coming in and ordering when they arrive. If they seen quickly it's usually because the order arrive through the tablet 15 mins beforehand.

If you get into store and leave an order then wait 10 mins then you'd been seen faster lol

ButterflyKu · 05/04/2024 09:17

Samlewis96 · 05/04/2024 07:32

Duh. The orders have been sent up ahead. They not coming in and ordering when they arrive. If they seen quickly it's usually because the order arrive through the tablet 15 mins beforehand.

If you get into store and leave an order then wait 10 mins then you'd been seen faster lol

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lol

CasperGutman · 05/04/2024 10:49

Samlewis96 · 05/04/2024 07:32

Duh. The orders have been sent up ahead. They not coming in and ordering when they arrive. If they seen quickly it's usually because the order arrive through the tablet 15 mins beforehand.

If you get into store and leave an order then wait 10 mins then you'd been seen faster lol

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This. If you want your order to be similarly 'prioritised', order before heading to the restaurant and check in on the app as soon as you pull up in the car park.

dottymac · 06/04/2024 22:33

Genevieve29 · 04/04/2024 09:48

What kind of emergency would make you go to a poor Maccy D's? Just make a sandwich!

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E.g it's 10pm on a long motorway trip with nowhere else nearby and certainly no sandwich making capabilities 🙄

Hoplolly · 06/04/2024 22:34

Had a McDelivery tonight. And guess what? It was still warm and edible!

Damnyourheadshoulderskneesandtoes · 06/04/2024 23:15

'What kind of emergency would make you go to a poor Maccy D's? Just make a sandwich!'

Some of us actually leave the house without taking a loaf, a knife and butter.

CharlotteBog · 06/04/2024 23:38

Damnyourheadshoulderskneesandtoes · 06/04/2024 23:15

'What kind of emergency would make you go to a poor Maccy D's? Just make a sandwich!'

Some of us actually leave the house without taking a loaf, a knife and butter.

The question was asked in response to a poster saying they only go to the THREE NEAR THEM in an emergency.

This is different to being on a motorway and finding only MacD's (and the like) at the services.

Someone living near 3 different MacD's probably does have other options in an emergency food situation as it's likely a large town or city.

My nearest is about 20 miles away and I know I'd pass a 24hr garage on the way. In fact that nearest one is by a BP with an M&S food so I'd go there.