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.

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.

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.