I tell ya the place used to be a place of enjoyment for most age groups. Maybe it's just me or simply isolated franchises in highly populated areas but the massively dominating fast food chain has turned South in terms of service and appeal to me, at least. They opened, or should I say reopened, a restaurant in Berlin NJ right off Rt. 73, across from the Walmart. Yes it has the famous golden arches above, tight fitted parking lot outside and the same limited menu as always. What's different by all means is the "employee" impact they have over the store's performance. Usually problems were solved quickly and with respect. NOT today.
I may seem on another rant, and possibly will be the rest of my life but hear me out.
So I take my kids to this newly opened McDonald's, on a Sunday, 6 ish pm. Expected, as usual, the line. Well this line quickly led to the door. A patient man I am so we wait it out. Kids aren't as patient but what can you tell them?
Eventually we get to the counter where we see an "associate" taking orders far faster than the balance of his staff can keep up on. NATURALLY that means a list of people holding receipts bumping into each other.
For some odd reason drive through orders take precedence over dine in orders so you see your chicken nuggets freshly taken out of the fryer given to the dude in the beat up El Camino outside while you stare at the dude dropping more into the fryer look at you like you're some helpless prisoner.
I actually stepped aside while a woman demanded an explanation from the staff why a single Iced tea order took 14 minutes to fill. One drink, 14 minutes. The line wasn't moving but sure was getting longer at this point. So she demands to speak to the manager, of course.
So here comes the "manager". Decked out in his white shirt and red tie. (Oooooo, he must be able to part the Red sea). All 20 years old and at the ready. He stumbles to the back for what seems like an hour and returns with a phone # for the lady to call for complaints.
Obviously the woman is disgusted and at had enough. She leaves.
The struggle continues. We get our order without much delay (after all that ^^^) and sit down to eat.
What happens next dictates Paul from never taking his kids there again. As my children and I consume our food in the "place of horrors" we notice that the dining room was completely unacceptable. Trash was EVERYWHERE. Patrons simply getting up after their meal and not clearing their own table, (in a fast food joint isn't it assumed that you throw your own trash out),
The place was trashed. Almost 80% of the tables had trays and garbage on the tables, trash cans were full beyond capacity, and nobody cared. It was a horrible experience. I felt so bad for the family who was behind me, family of four. They ordered, waited, and had nowhere to sit to eat their meal. All the tables were either trash filled or taken. Sad really.
I was mad at both the establishment AND its' customers. Such punks with no respect for anything, thinking they own the world just because they bought a cheeseburger.
THIS is a NEW facility! Less than 3 months old? So who do you blame it on? The staff? The patrons?
Probably both. It sounds like the place was pretty poorly managed, and/or under staffed. Overflowing trash cans and dirty, garbage covered tables is unacceptable.
As far as drive thru orders taking priority, I've never worked in food service, but there could be a reasonable explanation for that. If you can't actually see the cars outside pulling around to the window, you can't be sure when the person getting their food ordered it, so it could be that they had to wait just as long. Also I'm guessing McDonalds does significantly more drive thru business than dine-in. So I would imagine the drive thru is much more prone to getting severely backed up if not handled quickly.
The patrons probably didn't help much either. People are f@#$ing stupid. I agree at that type of place you should clean up your table. There's a reason why all the food comes in disposable packaging, on a tray for which their is a convenient garbage can and place to stack your tray when you're done.
People don't give a s@#$ though. The concept of customer service is pretty much f@#$ed these days in most industries (especially food service). Partly due to people who are underpaid and overworked, or corporations spread way too thin hiring people who slack off or don't care, and they can't keep close tabs on all their locations.
Customers drive me crazy though. Remember the old saying "the customer is always right". Well, they're usually wrong. And they're usually a whiny entitled a@#hole. I witnessed a woman go on a FULL BLOWN TIRADE at a wendys because she wasn't satisfied with their selection of salads and the quality of vegetables and ingredients. She literally walked up and tried to order a custom salad like "cucumbers, diced tomatoes, dried cranberries, parmesan..." And when they inevitably said "we're sorry but we don't have some of those ingredients", she flipped. How stupid can a person be? You just walked into a f@#$ing wendys, get a cheeseburger and fries and shut the f@#$ up, it's not a restaurant with a real kitchen and tons of fresh food.
I hate people. So, so much. All of them. If you're reading this, I probably hate you too.
ROFL^ Ehren gets it. People are retarded and the customer is never right! I can't tell you how many times I've gotten in fights with customers when I used to work at the mall. I'm surprised I was never fired actually... lmao
Well the problem at the Mcdonalds I went to was probably more so patron caused than employee. a little self control and respect for others should be expected. A table of 4 teenagers howling it up, spilling food and drinks, condiments all over the tables followed by rudely leaving their chaos behind for someone else to clean is an embarrassment they obviously have no concern over. It wasn't isolated to one group either. It seemed to breed throughout the whole place.
It reminds me of the time I was behind a lady in a supermarket checking out. She had a baby in the cart with her and all seemed normal. Until.....................
Once she finished loading her items and getting rung up she swiped her debit card. Rejected. "Try it again!" she yells. Rejected again. "What?? This is $#@ing ridiculous!! I come here all the time and never had a problem. Your machine must be broken!! Where's the manager??".
(Like he can magically add money to her bank account with that nifty tie)
"I'm sorry ma'am but there appears to be a problem with your card. Do you have another form of payment you'd like to use?"
Yes it's an official scene now and her baby (maybe 2 years old) is starting to feel the bad vibes. "MOTHERF@#$#@ I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS SH1THOLE AND YOU SON'S OF B1TCHES. YOU EMBARRASS ME IN FRONT OF ALL THESE PEOPLE", ect, ect, ect.
Now her baby is screaming in feedback to her explosion and she throws her purse in the cart and storms off, leaving her order naturally on the counter unpaid for. The 20 or so year old girl who rung her up is trying to collect herself. The manager helped clear the counter to help speed things along. Naturally when I put my item on the counter I looked straight at her and as calmly as I could I said: "I have cash". It got her to smile.
But seriously incidents like that happen all the time and it forces you to at least ponder over the mentality of some people.
So here's a good story to cope with imbeciles like that:
"I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car's back end by just inches! The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean,he was friendly. So, I said, Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, The Law of the Garbage Truck. Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they'll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You'll be happy you did. I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me?
And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people: at work, at home, on the streets?
It was that day I said, I'm not going to do it anymore. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. Love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don't. Believe that everything happens for a reason.
Paul, now a days most people wont throw their own trash out because "it's taking someones job away" So I've been told. Some poor sucker actually gets paid to clean up the tables now.
just saying... not sure if thats true ,but i think WE as customers should take out our own trash (in a fast food please such as McDonald's)
BTW , i hate McPucks , the food sucks .....On the other hand, their pies are OK and ice cream LOL
Pffft... I eat fast food almost every day and love it. haha. Will I pay for it when I'm like 70?... Perhaps, but that's a long azz time from now, and you're only young once.
Your Mcdonalds must suck then lol around here they are pretty good about getting your order asap, and everytime i go its clean, And i see most people pick up after themselves. Must be a bunch of slobs going to your local Mcdonalds lol
I love their vanilla ice cream cones, pretty damn good for a dollar. What's sad is that it's actually better soft serve than what Baskin Robbins sells. I am starting to get pissed though, all the fat aasses in my neighborhood BUY all the fuckckckcking ice cream. I just want 1 or 2 ice cream cones a week and NO. Damn machine is often out, no wonder everyone is so damn fat.
Fast food sucks. Its only value is its extreme convenience and immediate availability. It's not even cheap anymore. Used to be you could fill your belly with a big burger/fries/drink meal for like $2.99. Now the meals are like $5-7!!! For that price you might as well get a REAL burger and fries from a diner or bar or whatever. Or get a good sandwich from a Panera Bread type place.
I agree 100% with Ehren about all fast food places...Micky D's is the worse tasting fast food place and heartburn city later, not to mention how unhealthy it is for ya, or the super high costs for their garbage...I think all them fast food places suck in every way, health, quality and cost...On a rare ocassion I'll grab a sub at Subway, which is alot healthier and tastier than all the rest of them fast food garbage pits... and for the same price U can actually go to a real restaurant, sit down and be waited on, and get real food that actually taste good and won't kill ya with grease and heartburn..and the waitress might be a pretty lil thing that brightens up your day and pleasing on the eyes....
I too remember spending $3 and filling up. When you got a large drink you got a plastic cup worthy of taking home and using over and over. Now after supersizing your meal you're down $9 a shot and the cup is so flimsy you're actually afraid of dropping it getting to your table.
That's ANY restaurant or fast food chain. There have been many hidden camera investigations in the food industry and most ppl actually know about the substandard methods but don't care as long as they don't see it. That's why I like Wendys. The food prep is done in sight and you can see your chicken nuggets go from the freezer, to the fryer and to your tray. A dropped beef patty HAS to be tossed because the employee knows 6 other ppl saw it hit the floor.
It's like being an advocate for anti illegal immigration laws but keeping your mouth shut when you watch 4 illegals wipe your car down at the wash. You say to yourself that it's only $4, I'm not REALLY contributing to the problem am I?
Well, maybe that ^^^ doesn't 100% pertain to the topic......but I wanted to say it anyway lol.
i have been to one and it's still active in Niagra Falls. called The Flying Saucer Drive-In, it even looks like a flying Saucer i go there all the time when i visit my best friend that lives in the falls
We have a chain around here called Stewart's Root Beer. Remember in the 50's getting a cheeseburger and fries meant ordering out your window in the parking lot to a sweet young thing in a skirt and roller skates? Minus the roller skates and you have it. It's a change the kids like every once in awhile.
You know one thing i found weird? Not all mcdonalds food is priced the same at each location I have 3 in close proximity to each other and some items are priced differently like say the double quarter pounder with cheese combo. Heck at one mcdonalds here its 10 cents cheaper to order a double quarter poounder with cheese combo over a single quarter pounder with cheese combo. I caught burger king too I wanted to 8 piece chicken nuggets but it was cheaper to order 2 4 piece nuggets. Even the guy at the register said hmm. Im always on the look out haha.
Sean, that really shouldn't be a surprise. The north side of chicago will have a lot of things for nearly a dollar more versus the south side Mcdonalds. It has to do with how much it costs them to operate. In my example, everything is cheaper on the south side, rent being one of those things.
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Post Number: 3587 Registered: May-04
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Yea prices are different sometimes. You ever hear the radio commercials for the $1 menu? At the end where he talks so fast you can barely understnad him,it usually says "price and participation may very".
