McDonald’s is a fast food restaurant that every person living in America has come across quite a few times. It is one of the world’s largest fast food chains with over 32,000 restaurants in 117 countries. According to their mission statement, their goal is to "be our customers' favorite place and way to eat…We are committed to improving our operations and enhancing our customers' experience." Although they were quite accurate and prompt with my order, their customer service was terrible when faced with an unusual demand.
The first time I walked into McDonald’s with my order in mind, I knew this would be rather difficult and annoying, for both the staff there and me. After placing my order, I received my receipt that said, “Hamburger w/o meat, w/ extra pickles, extra pickles, extra pickles, and small fries.” When I asked for a receipt that said fries well done with no pickles, I finally got the reaction I originally expected; he gave me a dirty look and said that isn’t possible, I’d have to place a new order. When I insisted, he said the receipt had already been printed and the money collected so nothing could be done. My order was handed to me exactly how I asked for it, but the professor said I needed a proper receipt so I had to try again.
For my second attempt, I tried the same McDonald’s but at a different time, there was no one on line so I proceeded straight to the register and asked for “a hamburger without meat and eight pickles and small fries, well done, with no salt. Also, can you please print me a receipt with that exact order?” I looked at the cashier’s face and he seemed completely calm, as if it was an everyday order. Like the first time, there was no extra staff involved in completing the order or printing my receipt. The only difference was that the receipt was correctly printed this time.
With the order complete, the next step was telling the cooking staff the special order. My cashier went to the back and told them no meat and eight pickles. This was quick and clear. Next he prepared the fries by himself. Within five minutes, I had my hamburger and fries. This seemed like a reasonable amount of time for a fast food restaurant to complete an order. When I took the order to a table, it did in fact have 8 pickles that looked as if they were just thrown onto the bread, however I guess that is the norm in fast food restaurants. I tasted the fries and they were pretty dark and not salty. I had my friend with me that finished the food for me. The staff was fast and their communication was clear. They also did not seem too annoyed or bothered by my special request.
Based on this experience, if I were a consultant to McDonald’s, I’d probably advise them to train the staff to be more adaptable towards customers’ needs. I found it very annoying that I had to order twice because they couldn’t print me a proper receipt. Furthermore, they should try to improve their impression of being a cheap restaurant. Their colors and hard plastic seats are very tacky. They now offer wifi to their customers but it seems pointless because it is a pain to both my eyes because of the bright colors and my behind because of the hard plastic seats to stay in there for more than 10 minutes.
