Woman complained to manager about DD

[Bearaque]

So my DD works at McDonalds whilst she’s at sixth form and today she’s come home upset. She was working at the window, handing out the food.

This woman made a complaint to the manager that DD didn’t say a single word to her or look at her when she passing her the drink and food and that she was too busy talking to her friend. Complained to manager who had words with them both.

DD said this was true but at the end of the day it’s McDonald’s, it’s full of teenagers, as long as you get your food quickly does it even matter what the service is like?!

Your DD is an ambassador for the McDonalds brand whilst working there. You may think it's, 'just McDonalds,' but they are one of the world's largest brand names and if all staff acted like your DD their reputation would soon take a dive. I can guarantee that senior management don't see it as, 'just McDonalds' and expect their staff to follow service protocols. Customers having high expectations for the service they will receive when handing over their hard earned money is not wrong and the customer was not being unreasonable for feeling the service was so poor they wanted to complain.

It is an important lesson for your dd to learn, particularly at the start of her working life.
Good manners are important in the workplace generally, not just in customer service.

Teach your dd to behave professionally at work.

Again, if you think that a valid complaint is rude then that’s your issue. Being polite does not equal allowing employees to get away with treating you, as a paying customer, like rubbish.

Personally I wouldn’t have done it simply because I don’t have the time or effort to sit writing complaints to McDonald’s, obviously though the customer in question felt it was necessary. If OP’s DD would’ve behaved properly in the first place then there would be no complaint. Actions have consequences. It’ll be a good learning point for her.

Yup.

This probably goes a long way to explaining why I both have good manners and I am also a good employee, and your dd, has managed to get to 17 or so, without grasping this.

Yes it does matter. In every job I've been in customer service is of paramount importance. Lack of it can lose you a job. It's a vital skill to have.

It's not really my issue, just something I believe.

I agree it will be a good learning point for her, I just think only rude petty people would complain 😅

Is this a wind up?

Tbh I’m more surprised that someone actually got out of their car or phoned up to complain about this. Who has the time for that. But yes your daughter should be more careful.

So you've never been sent a survey after an online order? I get them all the time.

McDonald's are actually great employers with good progression that pride themselves on good customer service. There is no shame or 'just McDonalds', your dd was rude, she was at work and should act like it. Valuable lesson if you ask me.

This.

When I was 16 I got a summer job packing figs.
It was hot, it smelled awful and while all the other packers got paid by the box, I got paid a lousy by the hour wage because I was terrible at packing figs. I can’t begin to express how much I hated it.
So I quit. And I walked up & down the main street of our town and went into every store looking for work. A florist hired me to dust the shelves and deliver the flower arrangements.
It wasn’t difficult to smile and be nice. It wasn’t difficult to say “you’re welcome.”
That was 50 years ago and it’s still my favorite job.
People are typically happy getting their food - what’s so difficult about a little eye contact and saying “thank you/you’re welcome”?
It’s not complicated.
But I still think God created figs just to torture me.

Maybe the customer had had a shitter of a day, and was looking forward to a greasy McD... and OP's DD made them feel like shit.

I'd have maybe tutted at the lack of decent customer service, but no way would I have complained! She's a teenager slightly in the wrong, is all.

I have to say I agree with the person that complained. Teach your daughter to say to smile and then say one of the following.

Hi!
Hello
Hi there!

It’s common courtesy.

Your daughter wasn’t doing her job properly, she got pulled up on it. Customer Service is about interacting with the customers.

I don’t think either of them covered themselves in glory.

Your daughter was a bit rude. She’s going to have to pretend to give a shit sooner or later, or she’s going to find her working life much harder than it needs to be. And this is good practice. Pretending that she’s happy to serve customers is probably 50% of what she’s getting paid for.

As for the woman who complained, I think it was a bit of a crap thing to do. If someone is absolutely awful, calls you a dickhead and spits on your McFlurry, then fair enough, speak to a manager. But if you’ve just got the hump because a kid is chatting to her mate instead of giving you her full attention, then take it up with her at the time if it bothers you that much. Say ‘oi! Do you mind concentrating on serving me rather than chatting to your mate?!’. Don’t try and get her a bollocking from her manager or do something that could potentially lose her her job, over something that is so inconsequential, it has zero impact on you. Surely you just want to pay, get the food you ordered and drive off before it gets cold? What do you have to have going on in your life that you park up, go inside and ask to speak to a manager, letting your food get cold, just because a teenager didn’t give you their full attention?

Great post

You sound very classist by the fact you keep saying ‘it’s only McDonald’s’

I would expect manners from people who were serving me whether it be in McDonald’s or Hermes.

I agree. Your DD was being rude and now annoyed because she's received a complaint. Tell her she was in the wrong.

What exactly would you suggest? Your daughter is well paid, well trained and was rude. Of course telling her manager is appropriate.

Honestly it is looking like the apple really doesn't fall from the tree.

Good ! I would have complained too and if I was the manager I would have sacked her.
Unbelievable that you think this is ok.
I have experienced this lack of customer service in many retail shops and it is so disrespectful.

The service in McDonald's has gone downhill in my area, teenagers standing around catching, taking ages to get the drinks, doing the frozen ones first so they are melted by the time all of them are ready.
In my work place we used to look really favourably at new grads who had worked at McDonalds during school /uni because we found they had great work ethic, really good in a team etc. Don't think that would hold these days.

I bought something from Next a few weeks ago. The girl who served me (16 or 17) also ignored me and chatted to her friends the whole time. It really annoyed me as it felt unprofessional and just generally rude. You can’t use their age or the ‘McDonalds’ as an excuse for bad manners.

Your daughter is as rude as you