It seems that McDonalds, the famous (or infamous) family restaurant that prided itself on staff training and customer service has now joined the ranks of most other corporations and put profit ahead of customer service.
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I am in Australia so I don’t know how they operate in other countries. In the past the burgers were basically massed produced. You ordered and you had your burger immediately. They have now changed to making the burgers while-u-wait. I don’t have a problem with that. Service is a little slower but the burgers are fresher, you know they haven’t been sitting there for ten minutes and for McDonalds, it cuts down on waste.
That is fine, like I said I do not have a problem with that. What I do have a problem with is the lack of coordination and the frequency of ‘getting orders wrong’. I have a largish family. When we order Macca’s its for six people. Over the last six months I have not had an order given to me that has been right. There is always something missing. If your getting take out it can be a problem to arrive home and unpack and find components missing.
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Is this a problem with the staff, the training or the system? On the last few occasions I have paid particular attention to what is happening, trying to follow my order and catch any problems before I walk away. It isn’t easy. I have to say it is the system that is wrong.
In our local store, the service area where they collect the burgers for packing is about two feet square. You have four or five operators all trying to access this area and build their orders, at the same time you have drive-thru barging in taking priority for their orders. It is absolute chaos. There is no system for checking orders as they are put together. Once you complain, they are very polite and apologetic and the next time I order they will replace the missing items for free (free – I have paid for them!!!).
McDonalds at one stage had the reputation for having the very best in customer service standards. Today, at least in my eyes, they have lost that reputation. It was once suggested I use drive-thru – my experience there was even worse. Getting order right should be the number one area of customer service – for that you need a system – and McDonalds, the king of systems, have let their customers, and themselves down in that department. Good thing Hungry Jacks (Burger King) have now opened up in town.
I have heard from friends here in South Africa (I totally avoid them) that although they are served pretty quickly the staff in many outlets are sullen, unfriendly and don’t even make eye contact.
When we go to McD’s, we are ordering for four. If we use the drive thru, we always pull to the side and check to make sure we have everything. It’s sad that these places have lost their customer service, but people making minimum wage tend to not be customer friendly.
Yeah, I’ve noticed that customer service is slipping too. I wrote a post about it recently. You can check it out at “http://uberdigi.blogspot.com/2008/07/customer-service-in-us-is-dying.html”. Enjoy!
Really? Mc Donalds was my first employer actually and compared to other fast foods in my country it was the best. I find it disappointing though in other countries i visited such as netherlands, italy and malaysia..or maybe i was just confused with culture? All i know is, in the philippines, it still was good when i left.
I actually gave a customer a wrong oder when i used to work at McDonalds ten seven years ago. I gave out a big mac for a quarter pounder that he ordered… in case of getting disappointed, he told that big mac tasted better and was thankful that i gave out a wrong one and he discovered and changed his fave for ten years that have been eating a quarter pounder.
About McDonalds, i think it is time to come down… well, they have been facing a lot of sueing clients maybe it is time to maximize profits?
They have had a lot of issues lately anytime we go – the milkshake machine is broken, they over charged us, they didn’t give us all our stuff…I hate eating there personally but the kids love it, so we do it for them most of the time.
P.S.- I could be wrong but did you recently change the design here? I know I haven’t visited in awhile and can’t remember since reading about the whale protest a few months ago…Anyways, looks nice whether you did or not
McDonald’s hasn’t done well at customer service in quite sometime as far as I am concerned. Often drive in orders are mixed up and if you accidentally drive away without checking your order you are likely to be missing something. And in addition this food is unhealthy.
I had to go back to gather my coke today from KFC. Every fast food has it’s own drawbacks.
I worked partime in McDonalds 20 years ago, everyday I have seen hundreds of burger trash because the cabbage was sticking out a little.
Today, the cabbage is dropping all over, they still serve the customer.
My local McDonald’s isn’t too bad. Although the drive-thru could do with a better audio system, the order-taker can still understand us (would you believe we can’t really hear clearly what the chap says – we just hope for the best!) and the order still comes out right.
McD’s stinks in costomer service they have all fallen in the rank of average fast food restaurant..
McD’s stinks in costomer service their employees treats people like shit the are a set of asshole yeah i said asshole about two day i went their and the employees treated other like crap.
Mcd in Century city has the worst customer service I ever encountered The cashier was Nophelisa and manager Mavis They were so rude and inconciderable because they rang order for two ice creams and they ran out of it they gave us a run around to refund the money.I will never set foot in a Mcdonalds in cetury city again