McDonald's worker salvaged a potentially negative eat-in experience

Posted Sat November 25, 2006 5:16 pm, by Jill A. written to McDonald's

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I went to the McDonald's located in the Millcreek Mall in Erie, PA for lunch this afternoon. My 3-year-old daughter wanted to go in the Playland, so I took our food in there. I immediately noticed that the 5 unoccupied tables were filthy - full of ketchup smears and food particles. Also, there were larger chunks of food crushed into the floor: big pieces of hamburger, a multitude of fries, and splatters of various soft drinks. The two trash bins were both overflowing to the point where other customers had stacked trays full of garbage on top of the bins until trash was falling on to the floor from there as well. As you can imagine, this did not look like a very appealing place to sit to eat, and what's more, I didn't want my daughter walking on that floor in her socks (since shoes cannot be worn in the Playland, and the play equipment is adjacent to the messy floor/tables).

I went back to the front of the restaurant and voiced my concern, and was told that someone would "get around to it". I then asked for a comment card to fill out. At this point, a manager stepped forward and said, "Why do you want one of those, what's the problem?" I repeated my concern over the messy condition of the Playland area, and she told one of her workers to "go clean it".

Considering the manager's abruptness to her employee, I was pleasantly surprised when the young man, named Gary, promptly came back into the Playland and cleaned the tables and floors and took care of the overflowing garbage. Even better, he was smiling at everyone, and paid close attention to what he was doing so he didn't run into any of the kids (and there were quite a few!) who were running all around him. It was nice to see a McDonald's employee who didn't act resentful around the customers just because he got stuck with a less-than-desirable job duty. Also, I appreciate the fact that he cleaned up the mess so thoroughly, instead of just quickly swiping a rag over the tables and pushing a broom half-heartedly across the floor.

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Re: McDonald's worker salvaged a potentially negative eat-in experience by tickytack Posted Mon November 27, 2006 @ 12:59 PM I love letters like this! Reply Re: McDonald's worker salvaged a potentially negative eat-in experience by Tina N Posted Sat November 25, 2006 @ 8:05 PM I'd try to find out who owns that franchise and let the owner know that Gary was great and saved the day for you and your daughter. I'd like to address your concern about the way the manager handled the employee... There's a number of reasons it may have seemed abrupt. When I worked at McDs our manager was a very nice lady, but if you didn't know her she seemed like b***h. Could be this manager was like that. Or it could be that the manager had already, repeatedly, told someone to clean it up. Anyway... I'm glad the manager didn't snap at you and glad that your trip turned out for the good. Reply Re: McDonald's worker salvaged a potentially negative eat-in experience by Firebrat Tracy Posted Sat November 25, 2006 @ 6:51 PM What an absolutely wonderful letter!! PLEASE do Gary a favor and call corporate too. The reason I say this is because I wrote a complimentary letter to McDonalds a while ago on PFB and never got a response. I'd hate to see Gary not get some kind of acknowledgement from corporate for his wonderful behavior and work ethics. Reply