Review Your Policy, McDonald's

What I have concern with is the following:

"What if I am allergic to something they put on there?"

If this is the case, you really shouldn't be going to restaurants. If
you have deathly allergies to something, chances are you don't want to
rely on some stranger preparing your food.

Is a crappy burger worth your life? I think not.

Always check your order before leaving the premises. Also, i have to
say where i live, the person who takes your money has nothing to do
with the food. The cashier is at the first window, i pay them and
then pull forward to the next window to get the food. Some McD's are
independently owned, though, and this is probably the difference. I
just wanted it known that all McD's should not be painted with the
same brush.

I have found that it is never safe to drive away from a
McDonald's...ANY McDonald's, until you check your order...just my
experience. In the past, I just get myself out of my car and march
myself back in and ask them to correct my ordere...it's usually that
they have tried to pass of cold, hard fries onto me, and I won't let
them get away with it. I also ask for the manager to let them know why
I've returned and also call the owner of the restaurant...this is
posted in the restaurant. I mentioned "in the past", because, frankly,
I can't remember the last time I darkened the door of a McDonald's. I
always try and remember why I've been aggravated with them, and then I
drive on to someplace else.
I've seen a lot of the same type of hygiene lapses that you mention
here, at other fast food places, as well. For instance, I've
witnessed, at a BK, an employee mopping the floors, and then heading
directly behind the counter to handle food orders. Who trains and/or
supervises these employees who do this sort of thing? I've seem DQ
employees (these people have to be the sloppiest, dirtiest looking,
fast food employees on the planet), wipe their hair back off of their
faces and then reach for a cone to fill my order. I really got angry
with this and told the employee about it. These owners/managers whom
leave their stores to be run by kids, with no supervision, and who
have absolutely no work/hygiene ethics, are ruining their businesses,
as far as I'm concerned. I avoid these places like the plague.
Congrats on your winning letter of the month, as well as for exposing
these lackadaisicals.

I agree wholeheartedly. The one thing I would like to add is the way
the sandwiches are wrapped. If not wrapped properly you are going to
be wearing the lettuce, and mayo while eating in your car, which most
of us going through the drivethru do.

I agree with this email. There have been times when McDonalds hasn't
gotten an order correct for my husband or when McDonalds doesn't fill
up the fries container fully so that it is worth the money buying.
That has been happening more in our area (not a full amount of fries
in our container) for years and sometimes we complain about that. If
a order is wrong we go back to McDonalds that same day with the
receipt and tell the Manager about it and get a correct order. The
Manager is usually a little mad and says that he will talk to the
Cashier who took the order. Luckily we don't go to McDonald's that
often maybe twice a month.

Sincerely,

J Stewart

Wow who ever expected hot fries? You must be a housewife....with not
much else to do!! Get a job!!

applause,applause,applause to your response i so agree with you and as
you say it is a hit and miss proposition to get anthing right with the
corporation of mcdonalds

The problem that I have is that this letter isnt going to a specific
McDonalds restaurant. Its going to ALL McDonalds. I just dont think
thats fair, because not all McDonalds do the things that you just
pointed out.

There is a McDonalds down the street that we frequent often. For both
dine in and drive thru. I have not one complaint about them. We always
receive the proper items and always in a timely manner. I would hate
for any of them to read this and think it pertained to them.

My local McDonald's regularly runs out of Diet Coke. Next, I am
waiting for them to run out of hamburger rolls or something else that
they should NEVER, barring a severe meterological event or a nuclear
attack, run out of. And, we always check our fries when we go through
the drive thru and almost always send them back when the container is
far from filled. In short, many McDonalds suck. Sad, but true.

Ok, I didn't go through all the responses to this letter, but from
what I saw, a lot of them are harsh. I think that this was an
excellent letter and states many true facts about McDonalds. Many can
say to just go somewhere else, but sometimes when you are busy and the
only thing nearby is a Mickie D's, you do whatcha gotta do, so to
speak.

I have encountered several problems at my nearest McDonalds including
the whole nasty old fry issue. In fact, the last time I got fries
there, not only were they old, brown, and limp but they had a metallic
taste to them as well. I ended up throwing the whole box in the trash.


It's also not always easy to check the bag before you leave because
for one, at most of the McDonalds drive thru's in my area they totally
overstuff the bag. They try to jam so much product in there it is
almost impossible to see if everything is correct. Especially when you
are sitting in your car and can't easily pull items out of the bag and
place them somewhere else while you check for the other items.

I too wrote a letter to them about these concerns as well as many
others and two months later I have received no response. I sure hope
the OP hears something from them and when they do I would like to hear
it.

every time you eat there, you take chances. from the teenagers who
dont give a crap, to the managers who just want to get the hell outta
there. its heavy traffic, little pay, no respect, co worker b.s....
its a wonder they can even serve fries, whether they are hot or cold.
think about it, who is preparing your meal?

I don't see what is so bad about this letter. She is writing about her
experience and suggestions.

Yeah, it's so easy for everyone to say check your food before you
leave. But the point is that we shouldn't HAVE to do that. My
McDonalds is actually really good and always gets my special orders
right. Why can't others?

I think her idea for the free meal when one is wrong idea is good. It
definetly would force them to have higher quality control and be more
accurate. As for people scamming them, all they have to do is read
back the order every time.

With this people can lie and say that I did not order this and take
advantage of it. Also I would make my food at home if this happens
all the time, or go to Burger King, their food is not completely
healthy, but atleast they flame broil their burgers and do not add a
whole package of salt on their fries.

ROFL! I am sorry. But this is the first line that struck me as
insanely funny.

"And now I need to be somewhere but have opted to use their
"convenient" drive through in order to obtain sustenance?"

Really? You REALLY went to McDonalds for SUSTENANCE?! LOL! Why didnt
you just rummage through the gutters? I bet you would find better
"sustenance".


"4. Hopefully you got a conscientious grill person and they didn't put
the pickle on your burger. Hopefully."

You cant pick it off yourself? Your fingers too dainty? Deadly
allergy? I hated pickles as a kid but I always took them off myself if
I ended up with them. Its REALLY not a big deal. Now if we are talking
mayo...I would be with you.


"1. Abolish the "ticket times" altogether. Everyone is fully aware
that the corporation, as a whole, is interested in keeping ticket
times short; however, each unit's practice is to make you pull ahead
and wait. The managers want their bonuses and awards! The customer
wants their food to be correct, who should win? Surely there are
better ways to determine who is deserving of a bonus or award!"

So, if YOU are the one standing in line behind someone whose order is
taking forever because the "grill" person is taking the extra time to
personalize every single burger, you wont complain? Even though you
start your letter by complaining about the wait time? You cant get it
both ways. You either wait for your food to be prepared correctly or
you get your FAST FOOD and get back to work on time.

"I am really not a cold-hearted customer. I realize that mistakes will
be made and that, as a human, this is forgiveable. What's not
forgiveable are *consistent* errors, and they are rampant in the fast
food business and especially, in my particular case, with
McDonald's."

No, not a cold hearted customer. It just sounds like you are someone
who is FAR too picky for a fast food establishment and you need to
either be eating at home, making your food at home, or going to a sit
down resturant where you can get what you want the exact way you want
it. Its strange because I have NEVER had that many issues with ANY
fast food place except Burger King and do you know how I fixed that? I
quit going there.

This is not a conspiracy against you. There is a time limit to orders
which is why it is called "fast food". They are usually throwing down
fries every 3-5 minutues, the constant rotation greatly reduces the
likelihood of cold fries. If you want to insure that your fries are
cooked to order, request them without salt. They only allow wrapped
burgers a shelf time of 12-15 minutes then they toss them. Drinks are
given first because that is the order in which you are served;
anywhere. Hand washing and latex gloves are required by law for all
food service workers, you fail to acknowledge that you have just dug
out the money, handed it to the cashier and are now intending to eat
out of a paper bag without taking any personal sanitary precautions.
If you want to make a difference, stop eating there! Your body will
thank you.

I personally like BK's better (i only like mcd's for the big mac) but
if its so bad.. switch places.

one of those "blog novellas" like the Tea expose?

& who is Rhonda McDonald?

Jen H.,
I am sure your observations are important to you.
Posssibly McDonald's will take note.
However, if I were you I would not wait. I would immediately switch
brands and save all that angst for something really important.
Good luck and watch that salt intake.
Bill R.

I agree with some of your points, but I can't help feeling that you're
going off the deep end here.
McDonald's is not my favorite fast food restaurant, but I occasionally
darken their door more out of convenience than preference.
I can't recall the last time they got my order wrong.
Seriously.
Maybe I'm just the luckiest freak on the planet.
Maybe I made a deal with the Devil and just plain forgot about it.

What I do know is that if my emotions were running this high about my
lunch, I'd be picking another restaurant.
As I have said before, life is just too dang short to be this upset
over french fries.

If you hate it so much, why do you eat there? If you feel you get
substandard food by using the drive-thru, why don't you go in? I've
found that I do not save any time using the drive-thru and prefer to
see my order bagged. That way I only have to check and see if the
sandwich is correct.

Free food now and later for an incorrect order? That's not going to
happen. Change the way they bag orders at your suggestion? I don't
think so. Don't you think they've had people examine these procedures
over and over and have determined that they way they do it is the most
efficient way. I've seen other fast food restaurants do it the exact
same way.

Wow. I am not the biggest McDonald's fan in the world, but I must
say, my orders are wrong maybe 10% of the time. If yours are wrong
every time (EVERY time??) then I think you need to perhaps consider
Wendy's or Burger King.

I just wanted to address your comment about people who handle money
should not handle food EVER. As a former Health Department employee,
I can tell you that the reason your cashier can bag your fries is that
their hands do not touch the fries - they touch the fry bag or box,
and they touch the handle of the fry scoop. Someone who handles
money can handle food as well, as long as they wash their hands first,
or wear gloves. Believe me, you need to worry about what you DON'T
see - we always used to say that, knowing what we do about how most
food is handled, it is amazing that we would go into any restaurant,
but we do.

You do realize that the employees at McDonald's are paid something
around what, maybe $6.50 an hour? Even if they were being paid
$8.00/hour, what kind of employees do you think McDonald's will be
able to employ? 99% of employees working at McDonald's (or any other
fast food restaurant for that matter) are just working there
temporarily until they go off to school or find something better. It
is certainly annoying to receive incorrect orders. But this is why
you should take it upon yourself to check your order right away so
that you don't drive away with the incorrect order.

"If an order isn't correct it should be free, as well as the next
one..." Good luck with this! Do you know how many dishonest people
there are out there?? There have been several times over the years
where the person typing in my order messed up the kind of drink or
forgot to subtract ingredients from an item. So fast food restaurants
are just supposed to give you your entire order for free + an
additional meal because they messed up? I don't think you will ever
see this happen!