MCD'S "fast" food

[Nohbody]

One of the local McDs (there's a couple within 10min driving time of my house) made me get a speeding ticket, once.

(Well, okay, honestly I made me get the ticket, by speeding, but hush. )

Back when I was delivering pizza, I'd gotten out of work around 1am, and decided to stop in the McD's on the way home to grab a burger, knowing the house was almost empty.

After about 20 minutes of waiting in line -- and I mean to get to the microphone to place the order -- I decided "screw it, I'm burning gas here waiting for these slow morons", and after pulling out of the order lane I tore ass out of the lot to get home before my stomach decided to start gnawing on my spine. About a quarter mile after that, I got pulled over.

Now, when someone mentions that one is open all night, I tell them it's because that's how long they need to make a single order.

[agirlfromnowhere]

I was once trapped in a Taco Bell drive-through for an excruciating 50 minutes.

Wow And I thought it was bad the other day when I was stuck in the Rally's drive thru for 16 minutes. That's so aggravating though when there's a car in front of and behind you so there's nothing you can do but sit there..

[It shouldn't]

There is a Mc D's at the first rest stop on I 76 heading east right after the OH border.
I've tried them a few times now (silly me kept thinking this time might be faster) I've learned my lesson after five times (slow learner apparently)
#1 - 35 min for two #1 with coke
#2 - 40 min for Ckn sandwich and soda
#3 - 25 min for cheeseburger and fries
#4 - 25 min for milkshake
#5 - 20 min for iced coffee

[KingOfAllDucks]

I've noticed this as well. Some places are incredibly fast. I custom order (#3, plain) so they have to make it from scratch. It takes a little longer, but no biggie.

Well, depending on what you mean by "from scratch" it's likely that every sandwich is made from scratch. It's not like we have 1 of every item on the menu waiting in the bin until someone orders it. a Plain "custom order" (Or "Grill" as it's called in-store) is one of the easiest things to make. Stick the bun in the toaster, put it in the box, put a piece of meat on it, close the box. Elaspsed time should be about 20 seconds, if that.

However, MergedLoki's case is, frankly, ridiculous. You said "chicken sandwich", so there a few possibilities. The most likely for a wait that long is that you ordered a grilled chicken chicken sandwhich when they didn't have any grilled chicken left. It's the most time-consuming item, taking 8 minutes to prepare. even then, it certainly doesn't take 12 minutes to put one together. And if it wasn't grilled, then I have no idea what was going on back there, since all the fried chicken products are ready within 5 minutes.

[MergedLoki]

^

It's more the fact that regardless of what I ordered. in the time i entered, placed my order. i waited like 20 minutes or so. and in that time. there were people AHEAD of me who'd already ordered who waited... ALMOST as long as i did (so i have to assume they were waiting for 30+ minutes for their order of like.. 2 things).

it was the fact that it was just far slower than any fast food place should be, regardless of time of day (or night).

that paticular mcd's usually has pretty good service as i'll stop there on my way home from nightshift for breakfast if i know i don't really have anything appetizing in the house.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I feel bad for everyone here, cuz I'm lucky as far as fast food places go. On Sundays that I work a full shift, I rarely have the energy to cook when I get home, so I stop off at my local McDonalds. They are super fast; I always order the same thing, a quarter pounder with cheese and fries, and they have it ready in about eight minutes max which, considering that the world and his wife are usually in there at that time, is amazing. ^^

[rvdammit]

But then for all the places that have time machines in the back room, you get other places that do everything in slow motion. I was once trapped in a Taco Bell drive-through for an excruciating 50 minutes.

That makes me wonder are the fast places stealing speed from the slow ones?

[CaroPhoenix]

Years ago, when I was a Roy Rogers calendar girl, I worked the day shift. 6 AM until 4 PM. It was me, the backline cook & the manager.

We'd get rushes for breakfast abou 8:30 and then lunch rush start about 12 NOON and last until at least 1:30 PM.

Again, keep in mind, I was the ONLY front line cashier. We only had one backline cook. Tha manager was in the back making biscuits, frying chicken, making baked potatoes, and cooking the roast beef.

The wait time per customer was no more than 5 minutes at best, 7 minutes at worst.

I'd get a few people asking me if the other 4 registers were open. I'd either look at them in cofusion, derision, or pity and tell them "no." And then watch them go defeated back to the "long" line, I always had "My, you're an idiot" look on my face.

No matter what time of day it was, we were ready. But we had a good crew.

Also, no matter what, I always got 100% on my mystery shoppers score.

[DerangedHermit]

I am so glad that the fast food restaurants near me are not this bad...except for a Checkers in a crappy town.

[Hyndis]

I feel bad for everyone here, cuz I'm lucky as far as fast food places go. On Sundays that I work a full shift, I rarely have the energy to cook when I get home, so I stop off at my local McDonalds. They are super fast; I always order the same thing, a quarter pounder with cheese and fries, and they have it ready in about eight minutes max which, considering that the world and his wife are usually in there at that time, is amazing. ^^

There's a place near where I live that is that fast. I'm not sure how they do it, but they have my food ready before I can put my wallet away.

Total time from start to finish averages about 30 seconds at that place. Its astounding. And with 100% accuracy.


Unfortunately, this place with the time warp in the kitchen isn't on the way home from any place. The convenient place is also the really slow, crappy place. Just this past week I was stuck in the drive-through for some 10 minutes. 1 car in front of me. It looks like the guy in front ordered a milkshake or something.

I ordered the burger plain. They put extra everything on it.

I can't stand pickles. They make my stomach turn. That, combined with the wait, put me in a bitchy enough mood to complain, so I used their webform, as I did not want to drive back to the place after getting home from a 16 hour day.

This is what I wrote:

Comment: Ordered a #3, large, plain, with a diet coke. Usual order.

The fries and soda were great. But the burger...tons and tons of pickles and mustard all over it. Can't stand that, which is why I order it plain. Just the smell of pickles is enough to turn my stomach.

I ended up just tossing the burger.

I just wanted a voucher for the burger. They would have had to replace it anyways, had I noticed in time. Probably should have mentioned that though.

I didn't mention the wait time because I'm unsure what the person in front of me got. It may have been a complex order. I only saw them hand him a single drink, but he was already at the window before I got there, so that could have been the last item in the order. I won't fault the restaurant for that.

This is the reply I got:

I want to thank you for taking the time to share your recent experience at the McDonald's in San Jose, CA with me. Your feedback is very important to us as it allows us to better understand how we can improve our service to you.

I am sorry for the unsatisfactory experience during your recent visit. Please be assured that we want to provide you with an exceptional experience every time you visit us. From your email, it is clear we did not meet your expectations. Again, I am truly sorry we disappointed you.

I want you to know that I have already taken action on your feedback. After reading your email, I immediately shared the information you brought to our attention with the local franchise owner of the restaurant you visited. Additionally, I notified our regional McDonald's consultant who works with this owner for follow-up in the restaurant and appropriate corrective action.

Again, #####, thank you for sharing your feedback. We appreciate your business and we hope to have the pleasure of serving you soon.

Didn't want to bust anyone's chops though.

Just wanted my burger with the eleventy billion pickles on it replaced with a burger, sans pickles.