Trip to McDonal--A Special order: Picky Picky

The trip to McDonald was hectic. The staff who took our special order for “hamburgers with exactly four pickles and small French fries with no salt” looked confused, thus she made us repeat it several times.

Most fast food restaurants punch in the orders systematically. The staff input the orders into the system, and other staffs would prepare the food. When we requested for our special orders, she was unable to input our orders with exactly four pickles. Consequently, she spoke in Spanish to the staff in the back to clarify our orders. By her tone and her facial expression, I could tell she was not pleased to serve us.

To make the matter worst, we embroiled in obtaining our receipts separately. We explained in the beginning that we wanted individual receipt but we would pay the total together. Maybe we didn’t make it clear, because she only gave us one bill, and the bill didn’t show four pickles or fries with no salt. We asked her to print four more receipts, but she was unable to do so. Meanwhile, there were many people lining up behind us. She started to look even more aggravated, despite that, we continued to ask for the receipts. Finally, she looked for the manager for assistance. He, too, was unable to print more receipts because he didn’t want to mess up the transactions that were already in the system. So we asked if he could write us the receipts stating our requests. Luckily for us, he took the time to do that (I felt that he just wanted us to get out of there and serve the next customers).

Although the order took longer, it was completely correct. On top of my burger, there was a slip tagged on printed “extra pickle”. I guess it was used for the staffs to identify the orders. The food preparation itself did not take long, but it took more than 10 minutes for the manager to write the receipts.

The communication between the staffs was less verbal and more systematic. Each person was put into his/her own role performing specific task. There were three people involved in the ordering—the angry staff, the manager, and the staff in the back. I felt guilty for causing such hassle for the workers.

I didn’t like the customer service I was getting. I could see from the staff’s perspective that the order was unusual, but as an employee, she should show more patience and care toward customers. The manager was there when she took the order, but he didn’t make any remark towards her attitude. He gave workers more freedom in their work performance rather than restricting them to act accordingly.

I would say they cooperated well among one another (not mentioning the confusion part about the receipt). They assisted one another when needed. I would give it 7 out of 10 for their work.

If I were the consultant, I would definitely ask the staff to have better customer service toward special orders and also have a more advanced input registrar machine (the one that is more flexible in punching in special orders). This way, the staffs can be better prepared for the challenges in the future, and the customers can have a more pleasurable buying experience.