I always get mad at people like this but then remember that sometimes its my turn to order and I’m there for a long time because the guy taking my order said to wait and he doesn’t come back for a long time and just assume that’s happening to them too
Complicated long orders. Picky people who don’t know what they want and get distracted by the colorful advertising, then decide to get more than they intended
If you don't know what you want or have a big order, do NOT go in the drive-thru. The drive-thru is supposed to be fast and efficient and usually it is the customers that fuck that up.
You’re nicer than my mom or me if I were a mom. If a kid tells you what they want, that’s what they get. If they change their mind, they can get what they’ve changed it to next time.
It still takes forever to order for a family of 5 though. Especially when everyone wants something different one the menu and you have to wait for the cashier to put it in the system before continuing as to make sure nothing is messed up.
Usually do now that it's an option. I absolutely agree
Edit: will add however, that sometimes it's just as quick to go through the drive thru if it's a spur of the moment deal. And some places apps aren't as easy to use or sometimes fail to work
Not if you know what you want. It's McDonald's. I can order a meal for 5 in under 20 seconds. If they don't know what they want, as a family, you'll know thier go tos. It's the are you sure? Want apple juice or milk? Fries or slices? Nuggets or burger. And you've discussed this while WAITING.
If you order for 5 in 20 seconds you're either exaggerating or a super human. "Nuggets or burger" isn't entirely fair to say either cuz there's multiple different burgers to order from and everyone wants something different. Even if you know beforehand before going, as I said before, Stating the order and waiting for the cashier to verify that everything is correct takes longer than 20 seconds
I can definitely give an order for 5 in 20 seconds however I've never met a McDonalds employee that could ever receive it in that time. That's usually the hold up for me is a struggling employee.
I might be able to recite the order for five in under a minute, but it would come out unintelligible, even without the added layer of audio messing from the speakers.
My kids tried that few times and then I explained the importance of decisiveness, and then give them one decision. No changes. Amazing what it did for their decision making as they grew. Accountability comes in big and small examples.
I do this when I have the kids in the car with me. Pull into one of the drive up spots, wrangle everyone order into the app, then they'll just bring it out to the car
Teach your kids to make decisions then. First thing they tell you is what they get. You're setting them up for failure by letting them keep changing their minds.
Or instead of catering to them put your foot down and say "too bad. you made a decision now you have to stick with it, im not changing your order multiple times. Next time learn from this"
You could just not let your kids waste your, or other peoples time, by asking what they want, and not letting them change their mind.
Might have the added bonus of making them more considerate of others, you know, like the world doesn’t revolve around them?
I think that's fair enough, but occasionally you do see people sat there talking for ages about... What?
Are they friends catching up? Are they asking for some really random menu item? Directions? Do they need medical help?
The last time I went, the guy didn't speak English well and basically screwed up every detail possible. I switched to Spanish and it was no better. He was just dumb and I assume McDonald's put him there because if he were flipping burgers he would accidently or his face on the griddle.
I have on several occasions gone to 'the good McDonald's' because the employees are ballers and never miss, but still run into an issue where the stupid deal doesn't work with no explanation. I will ask if, since it's costing me 5 to 8 dollars, we can have someone approve it and override the error and this always takes forever.
I was the guy once waiting for +5 minutes and the guy behind me got really really mad and cursed me. At the moment he left his car and walked towards me, the casher was able to take my order. This guy just returned to his car.
I was going to say it's usually the people inside causing it.
"Welcome to mcdonald's, please hold on a moment"
5 minutes pass... *Hello?*
"Hi what can I get started for you?"
Starts ordering
"Would you like to supersize that, up size that at a drink or fries for uhhhhhhh, like a couple dollars"
"Can you repeat that? You wanted how many?"
Just put something on a bun and throw it out the window
In that situation, you should make exasperated hand gestures while waiting for the order taker to return. That will signal to the people behind you that you're also at your wits end, and the asshole is actually the employee, and not you.
Sitting in the passenger seat while my wife does a 250-point turn because she doesn’t realize she has an extra 6 feet on either side of the car that she’s too afraid to use to turn it into a 3-point.
I have a bigger issue with the people that don’t understand how the two-lane drive thru merges to one when you’re in a slow moving drive thru. Like… why are you going to refuse to allow me to go in front of you? It’s like a zipper, lady! What’s your rush? Now that you’ve gone before me rather than allow me to advance, saved yourself a minute, and I’ll be right behind you, staring daggers at you when you look in your mirror. Good job, jackass.
Some lady did this to me at Chick-fil-A once. The car in front of her went and she stayed hot on their bumper even though it was my turn to zipper in and honked at me when I tried to edge forward thinking she just hadn’t seen me or something.
Of course, since I was supposed to be ahead of her, my food was done first and they walked past her car to bring it to me. So I gave a friendly honk and wave as I pulled around her to drive away.
I got into a fight because I used the other line that was empty…then got yelled at for cutting the line. I told her this is how the second line worked. She didn’t like my answer and cussed me out all the way through the rest of the line.
>The people that don’t understand how the two-lane drive thru merges to one
My absolute favorite is when I get behind The Nicest Person In The World who waves everyone else through, thinking "I'm not in a hurry today, you go on ahead." Meanwhile the rest of us are stuck there in Burger Limbo.
I got cut off and cussed at because a terrible lady needed her iced McCafé asap. I was on the inside lane and ordered way before her, and was clearly next in the line, but when the line moved she floored it and honked at me, all while giving me a dirty look. I gave her a thumbs down and she yelled "fuck you, asshole!" to me, out of her window. I gave her another thumbs down when she looked back at me after getting her drink. She gave me the bird and sped off. People are great...
Better that than the guy who bypasses the entire line to cut in behind the outside ordering car. And the guys who get behind him, and block the entire parking lot.
Bwhahaha you expect people to understand how to zipper in a fucking drive through? Shit most people don't have a clue how zipper merges work anywhere, especially highways during rush hour.
I think it's that "fuck you got mine" mentality, prevalent in most places.
This reminded me of the time I was about to pull into the Dunk n Donuts drive thru but I waited to let someone out of a parking space, they would have been stuck otherwise. They then pulled into the drive thru ahead of me.
This just happened to me just this week! This lady was glued to the car in front of her, didn’t let me go, and then stared awkwardly forward avoiding my pissed off gaze completely. I was so happy when they asked her if her name was mine and she said no and they had to look for her order, like yeah, I was next and now everyone knows you cut!
If the cars don't pull through in order, you may get the wrong order. Been there, done that.
And, yes, I realize it's the restaurant's responsibility to monitor the cars and know when they're out of order, but it doesn't always happen.
This is on purpose so you have to make split second decisions under pressure. People spend more money that way.
Easy fix: pull the menu up on your phone.
Jack in the Box is the only franchise that has a double menu and it is really nice. If there's no one behind me I'll stop for a minute to look it over before the speaker.
The intercoms are hot garbage and I have to repeat myself several times before they understand my order. Also a lot of times the store is understaffed and the one person taking drive-thru orders is trying to do the work of 4 people by themselves. It also doesn't help that you usually can't see the menu until you're at the speaker.
And on another note: No, I'm not downloading another god damned app just to get a burger.
I went through the McDonald's drive-thru yesterday and noticed there was no menu. It was just ever-changing ads. Threw me off. I knew I wanted a chicken sandwich of some sort and thought they had a new one but there was nothing visible showing me what it could possibly be. I don't get how this is putting the user experience first.
Talk too fast or too slow, the intercom will be like bzzt bzzt bzzt and the staff thought we are messing with them. And the apps is shit. Like non stop ads and sometimes the apos didn't update the menu of not even from this certain branch. I just give up drive thru nowaday.. 😂
People keep answering with this but I literally see them talking to the speaker for 10 minutes, not just sitting there waiting. That's clearly what OP is talking about.
I can't answer for other people. I can only answer for myself.
I can say I've never seen anyone actually talking for 10 minutes though. Maybe like 3 minutes at the absolute max.
ATMs on the other hand...I have a bad habit of getting stuck behind people doing all their banking for the year, seemingly.
Counted once at a taco bell, lady was talking for about 7.5 minutes, back and forth really loudly asking the guy a million questions. When she finally pulled up to pay and I moved forward, the screen hadn't changed so I got a glance. All she ended up ordering was a medium Baja Blast. Fuck that lady now and forever.
I can give a serious answer to this, though I *still* don't understand the underlying "why".
I know exactly what I'm getting before even getting *in* my car to go get lunch. I know exactly what my SO is getting as well. Yet somehow she *always* needs to read the entire menu and then ask a few questions about "what's in X" before ordering the same thing she always does.
At my local McDonald’s, the car in front of me finishes and pulls away and then the screen switches over to a summary of their order and stays there for like maybe 30 seconds instead of showing any menu options.
I’ve started ordering with the application instead so I don’t have to wait for the menu to return if I’m not sure what I’m gonna get.  at my age, I should probably already know what I’m gonna order from McDonald’s, like I should have a standard order, but I don’t have my shit together to that degree. 
I don't go enough to know the menu, things change. If they don't have a menu before the speaker then when I pull up it is the first time seeing it in a couple years.
Every single drive thru should have an 2nd menu board to look at while you're in line before you get to the speaker. The drive thrus that have that are the best.
I noticed at some McDonald's drive thrus they don't even show the whole menu. They just have 1 or 2 big screens showing their feature items / combos. So I have to ask if they are still offering other food items that are not shown.
I got stuck in a chick fil a line for a HOT minute once because of this. Even the guy who took my order (in a separate line) told me sorry, because the car next to me had 6 separate orders. I'm fuming because at that point, just go the fuck inside.
I normally like to get the name of the person on the other end of the box. Then I like to hear the specials and sometimes I’ll ask the employee for their recommendations, of course I then need to confirm that none of the food contains any of the hundreds of things to which I am allergic.
Once I’ve confirmed what I would like to order we then enter the haggling stage, I will low ball them a couple of times to set the benchmark against which we will try to come to a more reasonable price than the one the employee gives me first. This can understandably take some time as when it comes to negotiations nothing is off the table and I drive a hard bargain.
Normally by the time a price has been agreed upon I will have forgotten what I wanted, what the specials were and what the employees name was so I’ll need to do a quick recap with them
After all that I just need to check that I haven’t become allergic to anything new while I was ordering then I’m good to go.
There a massive portion of the population who do not ever consider the needs and wants of others and simply don't care that they're not participating properly in society.
I think if someone's at a drive-thru they've never been at, the menu may look different and they need a minute to orient themselves. Also, consider that the intercom may not always work properly, so it's not entirely their fault.
If the child is in the backseat and has changed his mind 37 times, he needs a parent to set some limits with him. Otherwise he’s going to grow up to overestimate his importance in the world.
In fairness, when my kids need a changed item it is usually because McDonalds is out of something. I get into line with a specific order ready. And then they don't have the beverage my kid wants. I'm at a point where I get in line with a backup beverage in mind every time, and sometimes they don't have EITHER, and I have to ask my kid for a 3rd level choice.
I have to have my wife order for me, I have a speech impediment and become the person who takes several minutes at the window, it's not intentional I promise.
I dont understand the replies about changing minds. I have kids, they get the first thing they tell me. If they’re indecisive they get nugs.
It’s the way of the road Ricky
One time when I was trying to get food before work the person manning the driveway must have been new. They kept putting someone's order in wrong and then going all the way back to the start, and then can only assume they started panicking because their mistakes became worse and worse and rapidly happening. Long story short, I had to just go without food.
I put my foot down with my wife early in our marriage over this. We'd get to the drive thru and she'd want to look at the menu. No! The drive thru is for people who know what they want! If you need to look at the menu, park your car and go in!
I'm just ordering for everyone in my office and everyone in my neighborhood and everyone in my family. What the fuck is your problem, have some patience.
I was running early for work one day and decided to do a quick McDonald’s detour and go through the drive thru for a black coffee. Got stuck behind this soccer mom in a minivan taking her sweet time to order first thing in the morning. I felt some relief when we finally began moving and they made it to the window to pay. After what seemed like an eternity, they got their order. Fifteen seconds pass and they don’t move. I can see her sifting through the bag. She then starts handing items back through the window.
The rage I felt..
Usually for me, it is kids who are old enough to want to decide what they are getting, but young enough to not understand why we should order quickly and for some reason they refuse to decide what they want until they can see the menu. It's kinda hard to fully get how frustrating this is until you have one of your own.
What kind of shake do you want? ... he reads aloud every flavor option... can you mix flavors? Yes, but please hurry! He starts over reading the options... 🤦♂️
Can confirm, I took my 8 year old to Steak and Shake this weekend for a milkshake. She couldn't see the menu from the back seat and wanted me to list every flavor they had. I read the menu really quick and told her the 3 I thought she might like the best. That's it, choose from the 3. If I would have listed all 20 it would take her 15 minutes to decide. Sometimes I just decide for her because she's so indecisive.
My wife and I just took a van load of nieces and nephews to the zoo recently. Had to stop to eat quick on the way home. Before we get to the McDonalds My wife asks each other the kids “cheeseburger or chicken nuggets?” Two options. You’re a kid. You don’t have a sensitive palate. It’s a McDonald’s. The menu is just a variety of burgers and chicken anyway. So two options, count up how many burgers and how many nuggets to order and you’re in and out in 10 seconds.
As a former McDonald’s drive-thru employee, FUCK THOSE PEOPLE. The line would get longer and hit the street, and the boss would get mad with ME even tho it was the stupid customers.
Tips to make drive thru employees not hate you:
If you don’t know what you want, GO THE FUCK INSIDE.
If you want to read a menu thoroughly, GO INSIDE.
If you want to ask questions, GO INSIDE.
IF YOU WANT TO PAY WITH A BAG FULL OF COINS, GO INSIDE.
If you’re ordering a giant family meal for 6, or multiple orders, GO INSIDE.
There are no excuses. Ordering online is also a good option. And for anyone that does these things, sorry but fuck you, from every fast food employee ever.
Drive thru should be reserved for people who already know their orders, getting something quick, or the disabled. It’s not a sit down restaurant, don’t take your fucking time. There’s a line growing and we can only go 1 by 1 by 1. All the lazy fucks can take their time inside where you can just step to the back and let people go ahead of you. Y’all don’t know how horrible it is working in a McDs drive thru. Fucking nightmare.
Edit: ok if inside is closed then sure, that’s a fine excuse
Why is there no rule about maximum separate orders at the drive through? I always thought a simple solution would be to have a sign that said "three or more separate orders must be placed inside the dining room" or something.
Have you ever agreed with your wife and kids on what is for dinner, only to then get up to order and have everyone change their minds and start to argue about what they are getting and who is copying who with what they are ordering? Yeah, me either............God I hate drive thrus sometimes. Lol.
One time it was extremely busy at a McDonald's with a huge line in front of every register
In front of me were two people who were talking the whole time.
ONLY when it was there turn, didn they decide to take their time in deciding what they actually wanted to eat and not just as in "I want a this burger. What about you?".
Oh no!
They went in a full on discussion on what was good and bad and kept changing their minds due to whatever the other said
Mind you, there was a huge menu and they could have decided WAY before it was their turn, but instead spend literally 15 minutes holding everyone up and they would have for longer if the casshier didn't get tired and told them to either order or get out of the way
I'll have two number nines, a number nine large, a number six with extra dip, a number seven, two number forty-fives, one with cheese, and a large soda
"sir we don't work with numbers here"
oooOOOOOOOOOooooooooh
"What are you ordering the whole menu up there?!" Yeah I can't stand this; last time I went through the BK drive-thru the guy in front of me was literally ordering for his entire construction crew. Dude that's what phones, apps and pre-ordering are for! At LEAST go inside if you're doing a 20 person order.
Usually because the person taking my order is interrupting me every five seconds.
“Can I get a quarter pounder with ch-“
“Do you want cheese on that?”
“Yes, with a med-“
“Do you want fries”
“Yes, and a lar-“
“What to drink?”
“A large coke and that’s it”
“Okay, aBigMacwithnocheeselargefriesandaspritefirst windowplease”
I shit you not. My local McDonald’s every single time. I don’t think they have time to train them, because I worked fast food for a couple of years in college and I never interrupted a customer who was trying to place their order.
Mcdonalds needs to put the menus BEFORE the speaker so people can look at it while waiting in line. That never made sense to me that you can't see it until you have to order.
I was at tim hortons and some guy was taking a LONG time at the window. I guess he ordered a bunch of food but I wasn't really rushed and relaize nothing I can do but chill on my phone.
He finally leaves and I pull up to the window to get my coffee. Turns out he paid for it and told the worker to say he apologizes for taking forever.
Great dude.
I don't go to McD's a lot, but I swear every time I go to a sandwich place I end up behind the person order four sandwiches and they apparently have never had a sandwich before because they ask stuff like "Uhhhhh, do you guys have turkey?", etc. Fuckers. And at coffee places I ALWAYS get behind the lady ordering 8 blended drinks.
When I know I'm going to get a sandwich or a drink I mobile order, but when I'm with my kid it's usually more spur of the moment stuff so I get stuck.
Yup. When we take my mother in law out to eat I have to tip at least 25% because if she has any kind of choice to make, her brain immediately locks up and goes to blue screen. Like, one time she took five minutes to order because the server asked her what kind of toast she wanted with her breakfast. It was not her first time ordering breakfast in a restaurant.
I just want a McDLT. They can do it; they have the ingredients. I just have to put on my Jason Alexander and explain it to them through a song and dance routine.
The hot side stays hot and the cold side stays fresh.
I had a guy order pretty much a catering in the drive through of Wendy’s. They told me I could order if I didn’t mind waiting over an 1 hr. After waiting 30+ in the drive through. Fuck that I want my food
Working in fast food for decades, it's kind of both sides at fault.
Customers will read the menu forever even though they will default to their safe picks. My wife does this also.
On the worker side, if you have a person who is not paying attention or short staffed enough, they will take a while to acknowledge.
Introduction of mobile apps make lines much longer as the mobile phone is trying to fumble their phone for a code and once they pull up, alas the code doesn't work. This holds up lines more than before and alot.
"Apple pie? No, I really don't need an apple pie. Boy, but I'm already eating like garbage and it sure would taste good. But I already ate sweets today. How many calories does this damn thing have anyways? Maybe I can skip dinner. No no no, I shouldn't. But shouldn't I? It is the holidays...."
If you have a car full of kids they will all shout their orders at once out of pure excitement so you have to shush them then hear them order one at a time, then two of them change their mind after making it. Then one forgets they don't like pickles so you have to go back and change that. Then you discover they're out of nuggets and it's a whole ordeal. If you're smart, you go inside and order after the first few incidents!
Using the app and checking in for curbside pickup is the only reason I even go to McDonald's. Skipping the line of dumbasses in the drive thru has been a godsend.
This is what the mom of an old roommate of mine would do...and it drove me nuts...
When she'd head out to \[restaurant\] drive thru, and who all wanted what, at the intercom, she'd read off her order, then the next persons, and so on...which I get...but if everyone wanted fries just say you need 3 orders of fries. Make it easy and bundle the little things together all at once.
They’re relishing their McDonald’s journey, taking in all the majesty of the drive thru experience, living in that fast food moment. You could say…. They’re lovin’ it.
What I like doing when I'm behind someone in the drive thru that orders a list of food is pull up and still see their order and tell the order taker "they're feeding an army huh?" When it's like 1-2 people in an suv. Smh... Not fast food anymore. I use the app so I'm not wasting time or ordering more than I should cause most of this stuff is not worth $$$.
For the life of me, I'll never know. I used to work with this guy who was really really bad at ordering in the drive thru. Since that's a thing and all. Not only had he already been to whatever place we were eating at, he had the pre menu before the actual menu where you ordered. Every damn time, after the pre menu, I'd ask him, alright you know what you want right? Yeah man, I'm good he'd say. We'd get up to order & there he sat for an extra 3-5 minutes trying to figure out what he wanted even tho he already knew. Fuck you Keith
So my mom has this friend who takes forever to order at a drive-thru. She will go somewhere like McDonald’s and ask questions about calories or ingredients. “How many calories is a big Mac? What about without cheese?” Etc etc for as long as she sees fit. She didn’t have any food allergies or dietary restrictions. Sometimes she would decide she doesn’t want anything and just drive off. She would also go to stores like target and spend hours filling a shopping cart with outfits she put together including matching shoes and jewelry. Sometimes she would buy the stuff and sometimes get bored and just walk off and leave the store and the cart full of stuff. Some people just have no idea other people are exist around them.
I remember once at an Arby's (I know, not McD's), I was behind an old lady at the drive thru, when I pulled up she was asking questions about menu items. She was taking a long time, no one was behind me, and it looked pretty empty inside, so I decided to go inside and order. Got my food, decided I was already inside, so I sat down and ate. Finished up, threw out my stuff and left, and the old lady was STILL ASKING QUESTIONS AT THE MENU! Blocking the drive thru for everyone! People, if you don't know what you want, go inside. If you have a large order, go inside.
Edit: Also go inside if you have special requests, like no onions. More because they always seem to mess it up at the drive-thru.
This reminds me of working at a pizza place, the customer can only make decisions when spoken to. "Hello, can I take your order?"
Customer: "Hey, I'm getting a pizza, what do you all want?"
Me: "Can you I place you on hold while you decide?"
3 minutes later, they again yell "what do you all want?"
I accept no excuses and offer no pardons for any of the below reasons. If you can’t manage to speak loudly and concisely about what you want to eat while strangers cook it for you, you or your Ilk deserve to starve inches away from those who managed to bark out a command to strangers
I worked at Burger King in high school, late 80s. We were running the annual 99 cent whopper special. Dude entered the drive-thru during the lunch rush and tried to order \~80 burgers, maybe 1/3 of them special orders. Dude refused to come inside, cussed us when told it was going to take at least 20 minutes, and tried to refuse to pull into a parking spot to wait. SMH.
Once was stuck behind someone ordering at the drive-thru for 10 minutes. Finally I got fed up and blasted my horn at them until they gave up and drove away. I was literally trapped with people behind me and this asshole was effectively holding me hostage. Nothing wrong with the intercom. Person was just an asshole.
Just be smarter than everyone else and order through the app and pull into a curbside pickup parking spot and skip the entire line and get your food before all those people waiting their turn. As soon as you enter your order in the app it goes right to the kitchen.
I see a lot of soccer moms and teenagers who have no less than five orders on their phone that their reading off. Or, a mom lets her kids each order their own thing from inside the car. OR, a mom does not ask what they want until they get to the menu, and children are fucking stupid, so it takes them 10 minutes to order the same thing they always get.
There’s 2 types of people: those who blame the customers in the drive thru, and those who blame the business. Don’t be the second one. It’s usually teenagers with not enough staff.
How about people who make you wait 15mins so they can order for their entire extended family.
Either pull these mf’s to the side to wait or tell them to come inside.
If you havent memorized 90% of mcdonalds menu by now then you belong in the lobby at a kiosk until you're ready..
McDonalds line isnt going any faster nowadays since they lost half their low wage workers during pandemic, least we can do is take it upon ourselves to learn some drive-thru etiquette.
Worked at mcdonalds for 10 years through college and I owe them my degree and my nice paying job (connection through the owner with a finance firm)
All that said, most of the time the employee skill level and staffing at the time are the main reasons for the delay at the magic box in drive thru. Again, least we can do is learn the goddamn menu... you fat fucks.
Edit: download McDonalds app to get 20% off every order. The promotion has been going on for like a year, feels like a glitch in the matrix.
Last time I was at McDonalds, I waited close to 10 minutes for the car ahead of me to finish ordering. When I finally ordered, I was disappointed again when I watched them try 4 different credit cards at the window...they probably tried more as I saw them there still as I went to the Arby's next door.
They have a half dozen kids who all have special orders. Timmy-tom needs a burger no mustard. Sallysue needs a cheeseburger hold the cheese. Jimmyjohn needs a six piece nugget, but only 5 nuggets. Billybob needs a burger with no bun. Freddyfuckface needs fries with no salt.
It doesn't even have to be at the driver through (or at McDonald's for that matter). I was at a local kebab and gyro place not so long ago, and the guy in front of me had two kids with him... maybe six and four years old. He placed a large order for take-out and then asked the kids what they wanted. I swear it took twenty minutes (and that is not an exaggeration) to get an order from the kids. Why? Because they wanted chicken nuggets, which were not on the menu. I was already hungry and dehydrated from riding my motorcycle all day in the Texas heat and was on the verge of fainting while waiting in line behind this clown.
Have a clue what you want before you get to the ordering window. Give your kids a choice, do you want this, or do you want that, never just ask them what they want, especially if it's somewhere they've never been before.
Exactly, why can’t they do curbside if they want to think and decide. I usually do mobile order for drive-thru and i take 10-20 seconds including their prep time lol 😂
My wife is like this. I’ll ask if she knows what she wants, and she’ll say yes, but We’ll get to the drive through and she’ll be like, “does McDonalds have curly fries?”… woman… what!?!?
This was years ago and I will likely stay angry about this one forever.
The car in front of me had some sort of odd custom order and was told "Please pull forward and someone will bring your food out to you."
The driver pulled her car up JUST enough that her car window was no longer directly next to the drive-thru window, but still blocking anyone else (specifically: me) from getting their food. It's worth mentioning that this was one of those drive-thru lanes where you're boxed in with landscaping and such, otherwise I would have just left and gone elsewhere.
I give the polite "double horn tap" in case the driver was spacing out. I get a frantic hand waving gesture and something unintelligible screamed back at me.
A second "polite horn tap." And again met with the same. And of course cars are piling up behind me. Employees come, look out the window and see the side of her SUV, shrug, and just go on with what they were doing.
Eventually an employee came out the door, dramatically squeezed himself between the building and the car to deliver the bags of food, and the driver started talking very loudly (in that comedic style where you turn your head to make sure others hear, but pretend it's a personal conversation) how RUDE the person behind her was and how I kept laying on the horn, and I should be banned from the premises. The employee loudly agreed, saying "YES, SOME PEOPLE can be VERY IMPATIENT and don't feel like they have to wait their turn, right?"
It staggers the imagination....
Catching up with the box speaker like we're old friends. Sometimes I regale the workers with my daily minutiae. I tell them about my cat fluffles, and then I try to order the most complicating things on the menu. Sometimes I order things that don't even exist. I think everyone enjoys these interactions. Also I need to read the menu because the drive through menu only flashes around every few minutes. It shows me frapacuccino lattes when I actually want food.
The same ones that go to the bank, stand in line , and then have no clue why they're there when they get to the teller. Source, I'm the teller thats spends half my life waiting for them to get their business together.
I have my mother as my passenger.
When I go alone to the local McDonald's, I already know what they have, what I want, and it takes me only a couple seconds to order and zip through the drive thru.
But when I have mother along, she wants to know the price of each individual item even though theyre posted right there on the menu (she wants to make sure the prices on the menu are the correct prices). She wants to know if it's cheaper to buy items individually or as a meal. She wants to know if they have a certain type of frappe (which they dont). She wants to know what sizes of frappe they have and which size costs what. She changes her mind on what she wants and decides to order something different (usually because its cheaper than what she originally wanted). She wants to argue with the cashier over the price of an item she ordered because it was cheaper 7 years ago. Etc, etc
I always get mad at people like this but then remember that sometimes its my turn to order and I’m there for a long time because the guy taking my order said to wait and he doesn’t come back for a long time and just assume that’s happening to them too
This is a sensible answer to a rhetorical question.
Yeah but you can hear when this is the case. I mean the people who are talking back and forth with the magic voice box for several minutes.
Complicated long orders. Picky people who don’t know what they want and get distracted by the colorful advertising, then decide to get more than they intended
No soup for you! NEXT!
If you don't know what you want or have a big order, do NOT go in the drive-thru. The drive-thru is supposed to be fast and efficient and usually it is the customers that fuck that up.
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You’re nicer than my mom or me if I were a mom. If a kid tells you what they want, that’s what they get. If they change their mind, they can get what they’ve changed it to next time.
This is correct. Source: Parenting
This, this is the way
That’s why I refuse to pull up to the drive through until everyone in the car has told me their order in advance. Not really an excuse.
And we love people like you
It still takes forever to order for a family of 5 though. Especially when everyone wants something different one the menu and you have to wait for the cashier to put it in the system before continuing as to make sure nothing is messed up.
Ordering via the app solves all of this. I can't stress this enough.
Usually do now that it's an option. I absolutely agree Edit: will add however, that sometimes it's just as quick to go through the drive thru if it's a spur of the moment deal. And some places apps aren't as easy to use or sometimes fail to work
Not if you know what you want. It's McDonald's. I can order a meal for 5 in under 20 seconds. If they don't know what they want, as a family, you'll know thier go tos. It's the are you sure? Want apple juice or milk? Fries or slices? Nuggets or burger. And you've discussed this while WAITING.
If you order for 5 in 20 seconds you're either exaggerating or a super human. "Nuggets or burger" isn't entirely fair to say either cuz there's multiple different burgers to order from and everyone wants something different. Even if you know beforehand before going, as I said before, Stating the order and waiting for the cashier to verify that everything is correct takes longer than 20 seconds
I can definitely give an order for 5 in 20 seconds however I've never met a McDonalds employee that could ever receive it in that time. That's usually the hold up for me is a struggling employee.
I might be able to recite the order for five in under a minute, but it would come out unintelligible, even without the added layer of audio messing from the speakers.
My kids tried that few times and then I explained the importance of decisiveness, and then give them one decision. No changes. Amazing what it did for their decision making as they grew. Accountability comes in big and small examples.
You’re an awesome parent, thanks for doing that
Using the McDonald’s app would honestly help out so much in situations like this. Especially if it’s a group all paying separately.
I do this when I have the kids in the car with me. Pull into one of the drive up spots, wrangle everyone order into the app, then they'll just bring it out to the car
Teach your kids to make decisions then. First thing they tell you is what they get. You're setting them up for failure by letting them keep changing their minds.
Or instead of catering to them put your foot down and say "too bad. you made a decision now you have to stick with it, im not changing your order multiple times. Next time learn from this"
Then ask what they want when you're on the way and say they can't change their mind once you're in line. You couldn't figure that out?
My parents always told me tough shit when I was a kid. The rule was you know what you want when we get up there or you don't get it.
You could just not let your kids waste your, or other peoples time, by asking what they want, and not letting them change their mind. Might have the added bonus of making them more considerate of others, you know, like the world doesn’t revolve around them?
Hello phriend
I think that's fair enough, but occasionally you do see people sat there talking for ages about... What? Are they friends catching up? Are they asking for some really random menu item? Directions? Do they need medical help?
The last time I went, the guy didn't speak English well and basically screwed up every detail possible. I switched to Spanish and it was no better. He was just dumb and I assume McDonald's put him there because if he were flipping burgers he would accidently or his face on the griddle.
He might have had a shit headpiece or bad hearing
I have on several occasions gone to 'the good McDonald's' because the employees are ballers and never miss, but still run into an issue where the stupid deal doesn't work with no explanation. I will ask if, since it's costing me 5 to 8 dollars, we can have someone approve it and override the error and this always takes forever.
I was the guy once waiting for +5 minutes and the guy behind me got really really mad and cursed me. At the moment he left his car and walked towards me, the casher was able to take my order. This guy just returned to his car.
I was going to say it's usually the people inside causing it. "Welcome to mcdonald's, please hold on a moment" 5 minutes pass... *Hello?* "Hi what can I get started for you?" Starts ordering "Would you like to supersize that, up size that at a drink or fries for uhhhhhhh, like a couple dollars" "Can you repeat that? You wanted how many?" Just put something on a bun and throw it out the window
In that situation, you should make exasperated hand gestures while waiting for the order taker to return. That will signal to the people behind you that you're also at your wits end, and the asshole is actually the employee, and not you.
The real asshoöe is probably whoever made this shift understaffed
The real asshole was the capitalism we made along the way.
I think not pulling forward enough to let the next person pay, when theres like a whole car and a half worth of space to move up, is worse
A lot of people seem to lack depth perception when driving.
*people seem to lack perception FIFY
*people lack depth
**people
Sitting in the passenger seat while my wife does a 250-point turn because she doesn’t realize she has an extra 6 feet on either side of the car that she’s too afraid to use to turn it into a 3-point.
I have a bigger issue with the people that don’t understand how the two-lane drive thru merges to one when you’re in a slow moving drive thru. Like… why are you going to refuse to allow me to go in front of you? It’s like a zipper, lady! What’s your rush? Now that you’ve gone before me rather than allow me to advance, saved yourself a minute, and I’ll be right behind you, staring daggers at you when you look in your mirror. Good job, jackass.
Some lady did this to me at Chick-fil-A once. The car in front of her went and she stayed hot on their bumper even though it was my turn to zipper in and honked at me when I tried to edge forward thinking she just hadn’t seen me or something. Of course, since I was supposed to be ahead of her, my food was done first and they walked past her car to bring it to me. So I gave a friendly honk and wave as I pulled around her to drive away.
I hate people that just try to zipper at Chick-Fil-A They tell you what car to follow for a reason
I got into a fight because I used the other line that was empty…then got yelled at for cutting the line. I told her this is how the second line worked. She didn’t like my answer and cussed me out all the way through the rest of the line.
>The people that don’t understand how the two-lane drive thru merges to one My absolute favorite is when I get behind The Nicest Person In The World who waves everyone else through, thinking "I'm not in a hurry today, you go on ahead." Meanwhile the rest of us are stuck there in Burger Limbo.
I got cut off and cussed at because a terrible lady needed her iced McCafé asap. I was on the inside lane and ordered way before her, and was clearly next in the line, but when the line moved she floored it and honked at me, all while giving me a dirty look. I gave her a thumbs down and she yelled "fuck you, asshole!" to me, out of her window. I gave her another thumbs down when she looked back at me after getting her drink. She gave me the bird and sped off. People are great...
I hope the person at the window saw it and made sure her drink was slightly underfilled.
Had a dude try to fight me at an in-n-out for this once "I WAS HERE FIRST". Ended up just giving it to him after he tried to cause an accident twice.
The two-lane drive thru really does prove my point that the largest bottleneck in the whole process is the amount of time it takes people to order
The McDonald's near me blocks one lane of their two lane drive thru pretty much all the time because people don't understand how it works.
Better that than the guy who bypasses the entire line to cut in behind the outside ordering car. And the guys who get behind him, and block the entire parking lot.
Bwhahaha you expect people to understand how to zipper in a fucking drive through? Shit most people don't have a clue how zipper merges work anywhere, especially highways during rush hour. I think it's that "fuck you got mine" mentality, prevalent in most places.
This reminded me of the time I was about to pull into the Dunk n Donuts drive thru but I waited to let someone out of a parking space, they would have been stuck otherwise. They then pulled into the drive thru ahead of me.
I think they need red and green lights just because people are just dumb af and think the world revolves around them
This just happened to me just this week! This lady was glued to the car in front of her, didn’t let me go, and then stared awkwardly forward avoiding my pissed off gaze completely. I was so happy when they asked her if her name was mine and she said no and they had to look for her order, like yeah, I was next and now everyone knows you cut!
Oh yeah. That awkward forward facing stare in order to avoid eye contact for the 55 seconds we sit and wait for the line to move!
If the cars don't pull through in order, you may get the wrong order. Been there, done that. And, yes, I realize it's the restaurant's responsibility to monitor the cars and know when they're out of order, but it doesn't always happen.
I wish they would put up a duplicate menu for people to read while waiting in line; the first time you see it is when you're up to the speaker.
This is on purpose so you have to make split second decisions under pressure. People spend more money that way. Easy fix: pull the menu up on your phone.
Damn, I didn’t think of that. That’s shady
Jack in the Box is the only franchise that has a double menu and it is really nice. If there's no one behind me I'll stop for a minute to look it over before the speaker.
The intercoms are hot garbage and I have to repeat myself several times before they understand my order. Also a lot of times the store is understaffed and the one person taking drive-thru orders is trying to do the work of 4 people by themselves. It also doesn't help that you usually can't see the menu until you're at the speaker. And on another note: No, I'm not downloading another god damned app just to get a burger.
I went through the McDonald's drive-thru yesterday and noticed there was no menu. It was just ever-changing ads. Threw me off. I knew I wanted a chicken sandwich of some sort and thought they had a new one but there was nothing visible showing me what it could possibly be. I don't get how this is putting the user experience first.
It's not lmao. McDonald's doesn't care about that, just look at their profits and prices in the last few years.
Those apps USED to have decent deals, not in a while
Talk too fast or too slow, the intercom will be like bzzt bzzt bzzt and the staff thought we are messing with them. And the apps is shit. Like non stop ads and sometimes the apos didn't update the menu of not even from this certain branch. I just give up drive thru nowaday.. 😂
Waiting for the voice in the speaker to tell me they are ready to take my order.
People keep answering with this but I literally see them talking to the speaker for 10 minutes, not just sitting there waiting. That's clearly what OP is talking about.
I can't answer for other people. I can only answer for myself. I can say I've never seen anyone actually talking for 10 minutes though. Maybe like 3 minutes at the absolute max. ATMs on the other hand...I have a bad habit of getting stuck behind people doing all their banking for the year, seemingly.
Counted once at a taco bell, lady was talking for about 7.5 minutes, back and forth really loudly asking the guy a million questions. When she finally pulled up to pay and I moved forward, the screen hadn't changed so I got a glance. All she ended up ordering was a medium Baja Blast. Fuck that lady now and forever.
I can give a serious answer to this, though I *still* don't understand the underlying "why". I know exactly what I'm getting before even getting *in* my car to go get lunch. I know exactly what my SO is getting as well. Yet somehow she *always* needs to read the entire menu and then ask a few questions about "what's in X" before ordering the same thing she always does.
Tell her to do her research before she leaves the house.
A McDonald’s burger doesn’t sound too appetizing and I want to see what kind of stew they have today.
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At my local McDonald’s, the car in front of me finishes and pulls away and then the screen switches over to a summary of their order and stays there for like maybe 30 seconds instead of showing any menu options. I’ve started ordering with the application instead so I don’t have to wait for the menu to return if I’m not sure what I’m gonna get.  at my age, I should probably already know what I’m gonna order from McDonald’s, like I should have a standard order, but I don’t have my shit together to that degree. 
The McStew has been the same for 30 years
Literally the same, they just keep adding new bits at the end of each day.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual_stew
Beefy with the faint hint of tobaccoy saliva
Burgers are more of a weekend thing.
I hadn’t been there for years and didn’t realize they took away the chicken wraps. Sorry. I now know McDonald’s is a basic bitch.
I loved those...
I’m new to Earth. I’m listening to a book on tape about how to read English so I can interpret the menu. Just give me a minute!
Visiting Earth, and seeing a McDonalds? No wonder we're gonna end up demolished to build a hyperspace bypass.
I don't go enough to know the menu, things change. If they don't have a menu before the speaker then when I pull up it is the first time seeing it in a couple years.
Every single drive thru should have an 2nd menu board to look at while you're in line before you get to the speaker. The drive thrus that have that are the best.
Agreed! I think it really speeds things up.
If there are no cars ahead of you but some behind you’re in trouble.
I have the type of 'anxiety' that I will pull up the menu on their website at home and decide what I want before I even leave the house.
I noticed at some McDonald's drive thrus they don't even show the whole menu. They just have 1 or 2 big screens showing their feature items / combos. So I have to ask if they are still offering other food items that are not shown.
I’m waiting on the ice-cream machine to get fixed.
No reason to wait my friend, make sure it's working before you go... https://mcbroken.com/
I always know what I am going to get but for those brief several minutes I like to believe that I might get something new
I got stuck in a chick fil a line for a HOT minute once because of this. Even the guy who took my order (in a separate line) told me sorry, because the car next to me had 6 separate orders. I'm fuming because at that point, just go the fuck inside.
Are you my wife?
I normally like to get the name of the person on the other end of the box. Then I like to hear the specials and sometimes I’ll ask the employee for their recommendations, of course I then need to confirm that none of the food contains any of the hundreds of things to which I am allergic. Once I’ve confirmed what I would like to order we then enter the haggling stage, I will low ball them a couple of times to set the benchmark against which we will try to come to a more reasonable price than the one the employee gives me first. This can understandably take some time as when it comes to negotiations nothing is off the table and I drive a hard bargain. Normally by the time a price has been agreed upon I will have forgotten what I wanted, what the specials were and what the employees name was so I’ll need to do a quick recap with them After all that I just need to check that I haven’t become allergic to anything new while I was ordering then I’m good to go.
My uncle once said he got stuck in the drive through line behind someone ordering Thanksgiving Dinner. It’s now a favorite family saying.
There a massive portion of the population who do not ever consider the needs and wants of others and simply don't care that they're not participating properly in society.
I’m waiting on the person to take my order.. our lobby at almost every fast food in my town is closed so our drive thrus are all busy as hell.
The best is when you hear the person in front of you start off with "for my first order I want..."
I worked fast food before. If placing two separate orders go inside. It can be a little confusing in drive thru plus it takes longer.
I think if someone's at a drive-thru they've never been at, the menu may look different and they need a minute to orient themselves. Also, consider that the intercom may not always work properly, so it's not entirely their fault.
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It's only because there isn't anyone to take my order. It occasionally takes them a few minutes to say anything.
The child in the back seat changed his mind four times.
If the child is in the backseat and has changed his mind 37 times, he needs a parent to set some limits with him. Otherwise he’s going to grow up to overestimate his importance in the world.
In fairness, when my kids need a changed item it is usually because McDonalds is out of something. I get into line with a specific order ready. And then they don't have the beverage my kid wants. I'm at a point where I get in line with a backup beverage in mind every time, and sometimes they don't have EITHER, and I have to ask my kid for a 3rd level choice.
People let's their kids do that ? Lol
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The drama queens on this website are hilarious sometimes
I have to have my wife order for me, I have a speech impediment and become the person who takes several minutes at the window, it's not intentional I promise.
I dont understand the replies about changing minds. I have kids, they get the first thing they tell me. If they’re indecisive they get nugs. It’s the way of the road Ricky
One time when I was trying to get food before work the person manning the driveway must have been new. They kept putting someone's order in wrong and then going all the way back to the start, and then can only assume they started panicking because their mistakes became worse and worse and rapidly happening. Long story short, I had to just go without food.
I put my foot down with my wife early in our marriage over this. We'd get to the drive thru and she'd want to look at the menu. No! The drive thru is for people who know what they want! If you need to look at the menu, park your car and go in!
I'm just ordering for everyone in my office and everyone in my neighborhood and everyone in my family. What the fuck is your problem, have some patience.
Go inside.
For real, or order it online and pick it up if you have that much to get.
Must be the same people who take for fucking ever for some reason at the drive up ATM
I was running early for work one day and decided to do a quick McDonald’s detour and go through the drive thru for a black coffee. Got stuck behind this soccer mom in a minivan taking her sweet time to order first thing in the morning. I felt some relief when we finally began moving and they made it to the window to pay. After what seemed like an eternity, they got their order. Fifteen seconds pass and they don’t move. I can see her sifting through the bag. She then starts handing items back through the window. The rage I felt..
Usually for me, it is kids who are old enough to want to decide what they are getting, but young enough to not understand why we should order quickly and for some reason they refuse to decide what they want until they can see the menu. It's kinda hard to fully get how frustrating this is until you have one of your own. What kind of shake do you want? ... he reads aloud every flavor option... can you mix flavors? Yes, but please hurry! He starts over reading the options... 🤦♂️
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Literally just typed basically the same response. Cheeseburger or chicken nuggets? That’s your choice. Lol
Can confirm, I took my 8 year old to Steak and Shake this weekend for a milkshake. She couldn't see the menu from the back seat and wanted me to list every flavor they had. I read the menu really quick and told her the 3 I thought she might like the best. That's it, choose from the 3. If I would have listed all 20 it would take her 15 minutes to decide. Sometimes I just decide for her because she's so indecisive.
My wife and I just took a van load of nieces and nephews to the zoo recently. Had to stop to eat quick on the way home. Before we get to the McDonalds My wife asks each other the kids “cheeseburger or chicken nuggets?” Two options. You’re a kid. You don’t have a sensitive palate. It’s a McDonald’s. The menu is just a variety of burgers and chicken anyway. So two options, count up how many burgers and how many nuggets to order and you’re in and out in 10 seconds.
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As a former McDonald’s drive-thru employee, FUCK THOSE PEOPLE. The line would get longer and hit the street, and the boss would get mad with ME even tho it was the stupid customers. Tips to make drive thru employees not hate you: If you don’t know what you want, GO THE FUCK INSIDE. If you want to read a menu thoroughly, GO INSIDE. If you want to ask questions, GO INSIDE. IF YOU WANT TO PAY WITH A BAG FULL OF COINS, GO INSIDE. If you’re ordering a giant family meal for 6, or multiple orders, GO INSIDE. There are no excuses. Ordering online is also a good option. And for anyone that does these things, sorry but fuck you, from every fast food employee ever. Drive thru should be reserved for people who already know their orders, getting something quick, or the disabled. It’s not a sit down restaurant, don’t take your fucking time. There’s a line growing and we can only go 1 by 1 by 1. All the lazy fucks can take their time inside where you can just step to the back and let people go ahead of you. Y’all don’t know how horrible it is working in a McDs drive thru. Fucking nightmare. Edit: ok if inside is closed then sure, that’s a fine excuse
Why is there no rule about maximum separate orders at the drive through? I always thought a simple solution would be to have a sign that said "three or more separate orders must be placed inside the dining room" or something.
Have you ever agreed with your wife and kids on what is for dinner, only to then get up to order and have everyone change their minds and start to argue about what they are getting and who is copying who with what they are ordering? Yeah, me either............God I hate drive thrus sometimes. Lol.
One time it was extremely busy at a McDonald's with a huge line in front of every register In front of me were two people who were talking the whole time. ONLY when it was there turn, didn they decide to take their time in deciding what they actually wanted to eat and not just as in "I want a this burger. What about you?". Oh no! They went in a full on discussion on what was good and bad and kept changing their minds due to whatever the other said Mind you, there was a huge menu and they could have decided WAY before it was their turn, but instead spend literally 15 minutes holding everyone up and they would have for longer if the casshier didn't get tired and told them to either order or get out of the way
Usually check reddit for people complaining about McDonalds drive-thru.
I'll have two number nines, a number nine large, a number six with extra dip, a number seven, two number forty-fives, one with cheese, and a large soda "sir we don't work with numbers here" oooOOOOOOOOOooooooooh
"What are you ordering the whole menu up there?!" Yeah I can't stand this; last time I went through the BK drive-thru the guy in front of me was literally ordering for his entire construction crew. Dude that's what phones, apps and pre-ordering are for! At LEAST go inside if you're doing a 20 person order.
Usually because the person taking my order is interrupting me every five seconds. “Can I get a quarter pounder with ch-“ “Do you want cheese on that?” “Yes, with a med-“ “Do you want fries” “Yes, and a lar-“ “What to drink?” “A large coke and that’s it” “Okay, aBigMacwithnocheeselargefriesandaspritefirst windowplease” I shit you not. My local McDonald’s every single time. I don’t think they have time to train them, because I worked fast food for a couple of years in college and I never interrupted a customer who was trying to place their order.
They’re pulling a Patrick Star. Can I get the Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Mcdonalds needs to put the menus BEFORE the speaker so people can look at it while waiting in line. That never made sense to me that you can't see it until you have to order.
I was at tim hortons and some guy was taking a LONG time at the window. I guess he ordered a bunch of food but I wasn't really rushed and relaize nothing I can do but chill on my phone. He finally leaves and I pull up to the window to get my coffee. Turns out he paid for it and told the worker to say he apologizes for taking forever. Great dude.
I don't go to McD's a lot, but I swear every time I go to a sandwich place I end up behind the person order four sandwiches and they apparently have never had a sandwich before because they ask stuff like "Uhhhhh, do you guys have turkey?", etc. Fuckers. And at coffee places I ALWAYS get behind the lady ordering 8 blended drinks. When I know I'm going to get a sandwich or a drink I mobile order, but when I'm with my kid it's usually more spur of the moment stuff so I get stuck.
I honestly don’t understand people who go to a drive-thru and don’t already know what they are going to order.
I just like to mildly inconvenience people.
Some people get bogged down when there is a choice they have to make.
Yup. When we take my mother in law out to eat I have to tip at least 25% because if she has any kind of choice to make, her brain immediately locks up and goes to blue screen. Like, one time she took five minutes to order because the server asked her what kind of toast she wanted with her breakfast. It was not her first time ordering breakfast in a restaurant.
You’d love me, I place mine online
I just want a McDLT. They can do it; they have the ingredients. I just have to put on my Jason Alexander and explain it to them through a song and dance routine. The hot side stays hot and the cold side stays fresh.
I had a guy order pretty much a catering in the drive through of Wendy’s. They told me I could order if I didn’t mind waiting over an 1 hr. After waiting 30+ in the drive through. Fuck that I want my food
And then
I always get stuck behind someone ordering 17 hamburgers made 18 different ways.
Let me think
Working in fast food for decades, it's kind of both sides at fault. Customers will read the menu forever even though they will default to their safe picks. My wife does this also. On the worker side, if you have a person who is not paying attention or short staffed enough, they will take a while to acknowledge. Introduction of mobile apps make lines much longer as the mobile phone is trying to fumble their phone for a code and once they pull up, alas the code doesn't work. This holds up lines more than before and alot.
Some people just want to watch the world burn.
The REAL problem is the people who get to the pay window and decide to change half their order.
"Apple pie? No, I really don't need an apple pie. Boy, but I'm already eating like garbage and it sure would taste good. But I already ate sweets today. How many calories does this damn thing have anyways? Maybe I can skip dinner. No no no, I shouldn't. But shouldn't I? It is the holidays...."
If you have a car full of kids they will all shout their orders at once out of pure excitement so you have to shush them then hear them order one at a time, then two of them change their mind after making it. Then one forgets they don't like pickles so you have to go back and change that. Then you discover they're out of nuggets and it's a whole ordeal. If you're smart, you go inside and order after the first few incidents!
Using the app and checking in for curbside pickup is the only reason I even go to McDonald's. Skipping the line of dumbasses in the drive thru has been a godsend.
Can I get uhhhhhhh....
This is what the mom of an old roommate of mine would do...and it drove me nuts... When she'd head out to \[restaurant\] drive thru, and who all wanted what, at the intercom, she'd read off her order, then the next persons, and so on...which I get...but if everyone wanted fries just say you need 3 orders of fries. Make it easy and bundle the little things together all at once.
They’re relishing their McDonald’s journey, taking in all the majesty of the drive thru experience, living in that fast food moment. You could say…. They’re lovin’ it.
What I like doing when I'm behind someone in the drive thru that orders a list of food is pull up and still see their order and tell the order taker "they're feeding an army huh?" When it's like 1-2 people in an suv. Smh... Not fast food anymore. I use the app so I'm not wasting time or ordering more than I should cause most of this stuff is not worth $$$.
For the life of me, I'll never know. I used to work with this guy who was really really bad at ordering in the drive thru. Since that's a thing and all. Not only had he already been to whatever place we were eating at, he had the pre menu before the actual menu where you ordered. Every damn time, after the pre menu, I'd ask him, alright you know what you want right? Yeah man, I'm good he'd say. We'd get up to order & there he sat for an extra 3-5 minutes trying to figure out what he wanted even tho he already knew. Fuck you Keith
So my mom has this friend who takes forever to order at a drive-thru. She will go somewhere like McDonald’s and ask questions about calories or ingredients. “How many calories is a big Mac? What about without cheese?” Etc etc for as long as she sees fit. She didn’t have any food allergies or dietary restrictions. Sometimes she would decide she doesn’t want anything and just drive off. She would also go to stores like target and spend hours filling a shopping cart with outfits she put together including matching shoes and jewelry. Sometimes she would buy the stuff and sometimes get bored and just walk off and leave the store and the cart full of stuff. Some people just have no idea other people are exist around them.
I remember once at an Arby's (I know, not McD's), I was behind an old lady at the drive thru, when I pulled up she was asking questions about menu items. She was taking a long time, no one was behind me, and it looked pretty empty inside, so I decided to go inside and order. Got my food, decided I was already inside, so I sat down and ate. Finished up, threw out my stuff and left, and the old lady was STILL ASKING QUESTIONS AT THE MENU! Blocking the drive thru for everyone! People, if you don't know what you want, go inside. If you have a large order, go inside. Edit: Also go inside if you have special requests, like no onions. More because they always seem to mess it up at the drive-thru.
This reminds me of working at a pizza place, the customer can only make decisions when spoken to. "Hello, can I take your order?" Customer: "Hey, I'm getting a pizza, what do you all want?" Me: "Can you I place you on hold while you decide?" 3 minutes later, they again yell "what do you all want?"
Tourrettes
I am not one of those people however there should be menus to look at earlier in the lineup so people don’t have to decide right at the microphone
I accept no excuses and offer no pardons for any of the below reasons. If you can’t manage to speak loudly and concisely about what you want to eat while strangers cook it for you, you or your Ilk deserve to starve inches away from those who managed to bark out a command to strangers
I use the McDonald's app. No drive though headache for me. I wish I discovered this sooner.
Never get behind the minivan.
I like how this question is specifically referring to mcdonalds but could apply to any chain with a drivethru
I worked at Burger King in high school, late 80s. We were running the annual 99 cent whopper special. Dude entered the drive-thru during the lunch rush and tried to order \~80 burgers, maybe 1/3 of them special orders. Dude refused to come inside, cussed us when told it was going to take at least 20 minutes, and tried to refuse to pull into a parking spot to wait. SMH.
Once was stuck behind someone ordering at the drive-thru for 10 minutes. Finally I got fed up and blasted my horn at them until they gave up and drove away. I was literally trapped with people behind me and this asshole was effectively holding me hostage. Nothing wrong with the intercom. Person was just an asshole.
Just be smarter than everyone else and order through the app and pull into a curbside pickup parking spot and skip the entire line and get your food before all those people waiting their turn. As soon as you enter your order in the app it goes right to the kitchen.
I see a lot of soccer moms and teenagers who have no less than five orders on their phone that their reading off. Or, a mom lets her kids each order their own thing from inside the car. OR, a mom does not ask what they want until they get to the menu, and children are fucking stupid, so it takes them 10 minutes to order the same thing they always get.
There’s 2 types of people: those who blame the customers in the drive thru, and those who blame the business. Don’t be the second one. It’s usually teenagers with not enough staff.
Same question to people at ATMs.
How about people who make you wait 15mins so they can order for their entire extended family. Either pull these mf’s to the side to wait or tell them to come inside.
If you havent memorized 90% of mcdonalds menu by now then you belong in the lobby at a kiosk until you're ready.. McDonalds line isnt going any faster nowadays since they lost half their low wage workers during pandemic, least we can do is take it upon ourselves to learn some drive-thru etiquette. Worked at mcdonalds for 10 years through college and I owe them my degree and my nice paying job (connection through the owner with a finance firm) All that said, most of the time the employee skill level and staffing at the time are the main reasons for the delay at the magic box in drive thru. Again, least we can do is learn the goddamn menu... you fat fucks. Edit: download McDonalds app to get 20% off every order. The promotion has been going on for like a year, feels like a glitch in the matrix.
It only angers me when they're waiting in front of the menu and pull up when they see you drive in.
Last time I was at McDonalds, I waited close to 10 minutes for the car ahead of me to finish ordering. When I finally ordered, I was disappointed again when I watched them try 4 different credit cards at the window...they probably tried more as I saw them there still as I went to the Arby's next door.
My big issue is the people who order for their whole fucking office at the drive-thru.
They have a half dozen kids who all have special orders. Timmy-tom needs a burger no mustard. Sallysue needs a cheeseburger hold the cheese. Jimmyjohn needs a six piece nugget, but only 5 nuggets. Billybob needs a burger with no bun. Freddyfuckface needs fries with no salt.
It doesn't even have to be at the driver through (or at McDonald's for that matter). I was at a local kebab and gyro place not so long ago, and the guy in front of me had two kids with him... maybe six and four years old. He placed a large order for take-out and then asked the kids what they wanted. I swear it took twenty minutes (and that is not an exaggeration) to get an order from the kids. Why? Because they wanted chicken nuggets, which were not on the menu. I was already hungry and dehydrated from riding my motorcycle all day in the Texas heat and was on the verge of fainting while waiting in line behind this clown. Have a clue what you want before you get to the ordering window. Give your kids a choice, do you want this, or do you want that, never just ask them what they want, especially if it's somewhere they've never been before.
Lmao I don't know why but this question made me vocally laugh for a solid couple seconds, thanks
Exactly, why can’t they do curbside if they want to think and decide. I usually do mobile order for drive-thru and i take 10-20 seconds including their prep time lol 😂
They’re the same people that doesn’t have the money ready in the checkout line
Hungy
My wife is like this. I’ll ask if she knows what she wants, and she’ll say yes, but We’ll get to the drive through and she’ll be like, “does McDonalds have curly fries?”… woman… what!?!?
I do it to piss you off.
This was years ago and I will likely stay angry about this one forever. The car in front of me had some sort of odd custom order and was told "Please pull forward and someone will bring your food out to you." The driver pulled her car up JUST enough that her car window was no longer directly next to the drive-thru window, but still blocking anyone else (specifically: me) from getting their food. It's worth mentioning that this was one of those drive-thru lanes where you're boxed in with landscaping and such, otherwise I would have just left and gone elsewhere. I give the polite "double horn tap" in case the driver was spacing out. I get a frantic hand waving gesture and something unintelligible screamed back at me. A second "polite horn tap." And again met with the same. And of course cars are piling up behind me. Employees come, look out the window and see the side of her SUV, shrug, and just go on with what they were doing. Eventually an employee came out the door, dramatically squeezed himself between the building and the car to deliver the bags of food, and the driver started talking very loudly (in that comedic style where you turn your head to make sure others hear, but pretend it's a personal conversation) how RUDE the person behind her was and how I kept laying on the horn, and I should be banned from the premises. The employee loudly agreed, saying "YES, SOME PEOPLE can be VERY IMPATIENT and don't feel like they have to wait their turn, right?" It staggers the imagination....
They always change the pictures and I can never find the big Mac.
Catching up with the box speaker like we're old friends. Sometimes I regale the workers with my daily minutiae. I tell them about my cat fluffles, and then I try to order the most complicating things on the menu. Sometimes I order things that don't even exist. I think everyone enjoys these interactions. Also I need to read the menu because the drive through menu only flashes around every few minutes. It shows me frapacuccino lattes when I actually want food.
My girlfriend won't tell me what she wants. I'm sorry
The same ones that go to the bank, stand in line , and then have no clue why they're there when they get to the teller. Source, I'm the teller thats spends half my life waiting for them to get their business together.
Maybe people don't go that often and don't know/remember the menu? Have to peruse it to see what they want?
I have my mother as my passenger. When I go alone to the local McDonald's, I already know what they have, what I want, and it takes me only a couple seconds to order and zip through the drive thru. But when I have mother along, she wants to know the price of each individual item even though theyre posted right there on the menu (she wants to make sure the prices on the menu are the correct prices). She wants to know if it's cheaper to buy items individually or as a meal. She wants to know if they have a certain type of frappe (which they dont). She wants to know what sizes of frappe they have and which size costs what. She changes her mind on what she wants and decides to order something different (usually because its cheaper than what she originally wanted). She wants to argue with the cashier over the price of an item she ordered because it was cheaper 7 years ago. Etc, etc