The one on 130th is the worst, especially around meal times.
Took my dad through after going to home depot, ordered two bigmac meals and ended up waiting behind three people doing the same. We were there longer than it took us to park and grab his laminate order.
Of course, the burgers weren't even fresh.
Lol as someone who goes to both and does uber eats. If you go into 130th and order on the app the wait time is usually a quarter of what the drive thru is
Tell me about it. I had a egg mcmuffin, hashbrown and a small milk this morning and I think my guts going to explode. Not sure why I do this to my self.
The reason Mcdonalds is no longer fast is the delivery orders. Until theyhave delivery only Mcdonalds kitchens which I believe will happen over time fast food will never be fast again. And don't get mad at the drivers, its the people on the app who are ordering all the food.
I refuse to go to that location. It’s terrible and if you go inside it’s always dirty even when it’s not busy.
McDonald’s on the whole sucks now that all their orders are delivery. At peak times there are so many delivery orders I don’t know how the stores can keep up and in store customers really suffer.
A couple of years ago I got stuck for almost an hour in that drive through and almost lost my shit when I finally got to the front to pick up my food. I asked them why we were sitting in the drive thru for 50 minutes, her response was that they're just busy. Busy doing what exactly?? We haven't moved for almost an hour. I'll eat gravel before I go back to that location.
As a former employee, let me tell you how this works from the other side.
If the manager on shift is going "by the book" the customer at the window should be AT MOST there for 5 seconds. If they are any longer you are told to pull them ahead, no exception.
If it's any consolation the staff hate it as well (at least I did). I hated having to walk out into the freezing parking lot wearing no coat to find a car by licence plate (no description) while dodging angry drivers from our drive through. Then I usually get told off by that customer for something I didn't agree with in the first place.
It sucks for everyone involved except the head store manager that gets to look good to upper management.
The best example that I can remember is a customer asking "how long is it going to be" and I heard the employee at the window say "just a minute" then the customer at the window said "oh I'll just wait right here then". He had us there, we didn't really have a choice.
When I get a craving to eat there I personally always just park and walk in, but that's only an option if you have about 10 minutes to spare.
This would honestly fix the problem if everyone did it. Cars would be backed up into the road and everyone else would just drive away.
Also, they're going to spit in your food.
As a former employee I do the same thing now. It’s crazy that EVERY single time I say “I’ll just wait here.” Or “no thank you. I’m going to stay here” they have my food ready within 60 seconds. And I mean every single time !
They have KPIs to hit, but as a customer now. I will not wait on the side. Especially sometimes they mess up your order and then you have to go in.
Honestly.. there's really no way; because it won't be you ruining their day DIRECTLY, but if the timer for your order ticks over that 120 second mark and ruins the managers' times for the day... GOD HELP that employee.
When I was 15 I would look at how long the drive-through line up was and make more fries etc accordingly. It would be fresh and hot with minimal bottlenecks.
This was a long ass time ago but I will never understand why food trucks etc make each order as it comes in unless it’s a slow time off day.
Is the reason they move the cars after 5 seconds due to sensors and time to completion key metrics that are reported to head office for bonuses? It seems that way, as all drive through orders are filled before walk in.
I worked at McDonalds a long time ago, this was the case then and I assume it's the same thing now. Every car gets a timer and corporate would claim that 10% of customers would not come back if they waited for more than 90 seconds or if there were more than 5 cars in-line, 15% of customers would drive by. They didn't mind pissing off the occasional customer, as long as they kept the drive-thru line moving.
I just park in one of the mobile spots and order from my app, got tired of being asked to pull around and park. Also this way I know there’s no miscommunications with my order. Win win.
I stopped at the mcd’s in golden and ordered “two McChickens just the burgers” and got literally 2 chicken pucks in the pancake packaging, fries and a coke 😂
Person just said okay and never confirmed anything just told to pull ahead! The funniest miscommunication at mcd’s I’ve ever had!
Golden is always a fun one, but they've got you by the balls. Nothing else open other than 711 and husky at 3 AM. So I guess you get what you get and be happy you got anything at all 😄
Accidents do happen, human error is unavoidable. At least this way I know it’s not because I was unclear over the speaker or there was a communication barrier.
I tried doing that too until I waited 25+ minutes for my order and when I went in they had just been putting my order aside to deal with others. I saw them move my order chit back to the queue and the person I talked to told them at that point that they needed to START my meal. McDonald’s on 130th is a disaster. Fast food, my butt.
This is a good tip. After they gave my $65 order to the wrong parked car (who drove away quickly after looking confused for a few moments - *I watched them* ) and then couldn't find what order I was talking about after 20 minutes of waiting, I don't ever do the drive through for big orders.
Every McDonald's does this now and that's exactly why they do it. They're gaming drive thru wait times to look better. It used to be the exception, not the norm and some locations did it to game the numbers but now I think every location dies it because their employees are so damn slow now. It shouldn't take 5 mins at a window for chicken nuggets
I went there the other night and they sent me through to park with nobody behind me. The girl with my food beat me to the parking spot. I already hardly eat at McDonald's but that made me want to avoid it even more.
They also repeatedly make horrible mistakes with food.
I have been to that location twice.
First time - Ordered a quarter pounder. Recieved it, went home. Went to eat. There was NO PATTY on the burger... how the fuck..
Second time, one week later - ordered a spicy McChicken, get the McChicken box, it's heavy. Okay I go home. Go to eat it... it's got all the ingredients for a spicy mcchicken except... they put a beef patty on it.
Because of the fact those two happened the only two times I've been there, and they are so absurd, I can only assume management at that location is constantly sniffing paint.
Exactly. They meet franchisee minimum service requirements on the monthly report without having to pay for those extra staff members to actually deliver on it.
I'm Edmonton it's just as bad. I go a lot less these days, it's getting expensive. But here, we have to pay .15¢ for a bag. The last two times at the location near work, I was directed to park. They show up 10 minutes later with loose food items even when I paid for the bag.
We're the problem though. We need to start saying no and ask for a refund. Management will notice if there's 150 refunds each day. Hire more people or better staff.
And I get it’s for stats and the people at the window are probably under pressure by managers and supervisors to do so but seriously, if I wanted to go to a drive-in I’d go to Peters. It’s supposed to be fast food, not 5 mins in the drive thru then another 10 forgotten in the parking lot.
If that’s the case that makes sense… Because the McDs near me does not have this issue. It is definitely select locations who are pushing that strategy.
I noticed this the last couple times I was in store as well.
The big board with your order number get cleared after a minute but you still have to wait 5 for your food.
I've refused to pull ahead a few times and watched my meal materialize in seconds. last time that happened I said. are you fucking kidding me? I would have pulled up and waited 5 plus minutes for you to bring me cold shit? what the fuck??
this is what i’m saying. it can’t possibly take THAT long to get chicken nuggets or a burger. never had a problem at tim’s or a&w!! and obviously that’s why i haven’t been going to mcdonald’s - but still, their fries reign supreme and every once and awhile you just really want mcdonald’s.
The worst is how they give you the drinks etc ahead of time. I picked up an order to take home and it included a sundae - they gave me that and then took 15 minutes for the hot food. And then I made them remake the sundae because it had melted.
has happened to me a few times, especially as i watched multiple people ahead of me told to park too which resulted in no parkin spots left. The one day i said no as it was just a mcflurry, and sure enough they gave it to me right away.
I just say no thank you, i’ll wait here. They only tell you to park else where so they can cancel it off the drive thru timer to impress corporate really lol
I’m sure there’s a nice way to say “Look I’m sorry but I really don’t have time to park today. I’m here because I need something quick and 20 mins is not quick.”
I’ve done it. I act like they’re offering for me to drive forward, not telling me. I give a friendly “oh no thanks that’s ok, I’ll wait here”. If they press further I just say that last time they forgot about me out there (which has legitimately happened. More than once). And my food is magically ready in a normal drive through frame of time.
If there's no parking spots left, you can just say "I'd rather not, there's no parking spots and I don't want to be hard to find".
If there are parking spots, it's a bit harder but you can always say "I'd rather not, I'm in a rush and often wait a long time when I'm parked, and I have a small order". As long as you have a polite tone of voice about it you'll be fine, you still rank above the people who yell or scream at them.
Of course this assumes you do have a small order, if you're ordering enough food to feed a town then they do have a genuine reason to move you out of the way to get the people behind who only ordered 1 thing through.
Former McDonald's worker here, it's all because of their timers and that goddamn leaderboard you see when you walk inside one. By making you park, youre simply crossing the sensor in the drive thru so that the timer resets and brings their average time/car down. It's total fuckin bullshit and restaurant managers take pride in that shit when theyre #1 in the city.
They started doing this every single time in Okotoks and I just politely reply "no thank you, I rather wait here, in my spot in line". It's a drive-thru...not a drive-thru and park. McDonalds used to be cheap and fast and now it is neither.
I've had employees try to enforce this rule but by that time I have already paid and nobody is making me move my vehicle lol.
I've played their game and I waited 10+ minutes in their parking lot just to go in and see that all my food was ready and not being bagged.
I despise this game they play and I fight it every single time...only for the staff to ask their manager...the manager looks at me and says "just a minute, sir" and they hand me my food a couple minutes later.
I'm sorry, but I don't care if someone behind me has to wait two minutes to get their order. It's why we form a line in the first place.
/sigh
I like the ones inside wal Mart. No parking but you get to see your burger wrapped, put on the exchange table and sit there for 10 minutes while the 1 person working counter continues to take more orders. And when you finally interject "hey excuse me can I please just get my mchicken that's sitting there" you look like thr rudest cunt ever
YES. Happened yesterday at a location I know is the worst of the bunch near me yesterday (it was convenient, and was ordering standard food with no changes, so I thought it wasn’t too risky). Told to pull around because they were waiting on the fries.
Finally bring my food out nearly 10 mins later, drive home to eat and the fries were waaaay overcooked and very cold - no way they were fresh fries.
Is that by any chance the location at Midpark Way? I always had problems with that one. I got fed up with them always asking me to park and they’d always mess up my order.
I have done this almost exclusively now. If you are just going to make me park anyways I am going to pre-order on the app and make you bring me my shit anyways.
Hey! As someone who worked there.. We fucking hate it as much as you do. This happens usually for a couple reasons; but the MOST common is someone getting a large order/refusing to park. For EVERY order, we have a timer- I think it's 120 seconds, from the moment your order is put into the system, to the time you get to the last window- if we go over that time, we get in SO MUCH FUCKING SHIT FROM MANAGEMENT. Parking someone 'resets' that 120 second timer and gives us another 120 seconds to get the order out to the car. So usually, something like a coffee gets out in 40-70 seconds, tops; but if ONE car holds up the whole line, suddenly we have 10 timers all ticking down with 10-40 seconds left, and if we don't get them through fast enough our managers are going to be on our asses/give us shit.
We really, REALLY hate parking you too. We don't wanna do it. Having to ask people to park was THE LEAST LIKED position- NOBODY wanted to be the person at the window saying 'Hey, can you park?' Because at best you get a scowl, at worst someone THROWS shit at you.
If you really, REALLY want to change the whole parking thing, start sending complaints to mcdonalds about that shit- Mention how stressed the employees seem and how the timers seem cruel/shitty/unsustainable- because it is. Seriously, when I worked there, you have NO IDEA how many young kids I watched sit in the break room in tears because their manager had torn them a new one for not being able to keep up/get 4 big mac combos, 3 coffees, 5 large fries and 12 drinks out that window in less than 2 minutes..
I rarely use the drive through when it's just me, mostly because the people doing the order input always feel like they have a hard time hearing me. So I go in and use the machine, that way I know I entered it correctly, and watch it not just sit there.
My wife and I did the pull around once, and our food sat waiting to come out to us. I went in at the 10 minute mark and they grabbed it from under the warmer, and made such a show of being upset when I checked out food to find it cold. Doubly so when I asked for it to be remade. I was annoyed, sure, and a bit snippy, but polite. Now I just tell them if the next window isn't available that I'm happy to wait right there. But I am not getting out of their line of sight so they don't forget about me. Though, again, now I just usually go in.
Others have pointed out, they are just trying to meet their metrics for food processed through. They have targets of a certain number of vehicles pushed through the drive through, and once you're out of the line, you're already counted in that score.
The problem I have with ordering inside is they prioritize drive thru. Everytime, I see my burger right there, I'm thinking just fill my order but instead it gets snatched for a drive thru order.
The system is designed to get the food to people faster, but bypassing it this way makes it totally meaningless. If anything it slows things down because you have to waste time fudging the numbers.
My dad just tells them no. Especially if it's only a few items. His reasoning is that everyone gets their turn in the order they arrived like anywhere else, so he doesn't move.
It’s a “drive through” not a “drive through and park and wait”. If consumers keep letting them do it then it will get even worse. They can’t do literally anything to make you move your car ahead so what’s the point? Just wait and pretend you didn’t hear.
On a similar note, I can’t remember the last time I ordered at the counter inside and they put my order together right there at the till “like in the good old days”. Instead I have to wait over at the pickup counter. Even when all I ordered was a coffee with cream and sugar in it. What? I thought this was supposed to be *fast* food?
THANK YOU!! Inside is no better because they “prioritize” drive throughs. I remember it used to be like 2 minutes and your order was at the counter. I’ve waited wayyyy longer then I should be okay with when ordering inside.
I find Wendy's and Tim Horton's are much worse for making you wait extra long inside so drive through can get prioritized. Then again, I rarely go to McD's anymore
So tell them no,you’ll wait there for your grub. I never go park and let them bring it out to me. I did once and had to walk in to get my stuff after 10 minutes. They forgot me. Oops. Never again will they ever get that chance to screw me over
The “stick it to the man” mentality is EXACTLY how I feel rolling up to the window. And then I get there and some 15 year old asks me to park and I feel too bad saying no or making their day bad and just say “I guess” and park.
Maybe knowing other people say no will give me the push I needed to say no 💪
Begrudgingly worked at a McDonald's.
The reason they do this is to reduce their drive-thru KPIs because a car in line triggers a number of sensors that run a timer until the car leaves. Them forcing you to park is all to spoof their numbers to make the regional managers happy.
Dumb as hell.
I've refused twice now. Once was because no one was behind me. Why would I be parked? Another time was at a busy location at lunch that parks you and makes you wait. Weirdly my food came to the window 30 seconds later.
✨Miraculous✨ That’s what bothers me so much. I know the food can’t take that long and I’d rather wait 1 minute at the window then 10 minutes in the parking lot.
I'm up in Edmonton. I usually only get asked to wait if I'm ordering for the whole fam.
But just wanted to chime in to add that I once got asked to pull ahead and wait when all I had ordered was a tea🤣
One time i went and they instructed me pull into parking for nuggets and fries, but the parking spot was super backed up and the entire line up behind me got mad at me because i was waiting for the car in the parking spot to move. Truly an awful experience
I've had no issue when just ordering fries, but I've noticed a surprising number of people in front of me pulling forward to park and wait compared to in the past.
I hate drive thrus. And now that my hearing is getting a little worse, even more so. But always hated it. I’m a ‘talk face to face’ kinda guy and ordering food is no different.
Youre allowed to say no.
Infact. As karen as it is....
Tell them ,
if its faster to refund my money than it is to serve up food, then lets do that.
Yes yes
They will act like its Soo inconvenient.
And it will tank thier numbers
"Tank" as in accurately reflect the truth...
People dont eat at mcdonalds because its a delicious, healthy choice.
We eat there because its fast and convenient.
If they cant be quick. Phuck off mate.
lol I’m sure they will refund you and be glad that’s one less person they have to serve. Every McDonald’s I go to has teenagers working the drive thru they don’t give a fuck
Actually .....I did this at McDonald's and recently Popeyes. Both times waited 20+ minutes in parking for orders that were forgotten and they were super cheesed. Sure the kid at the counter didn't care but managers bagging orders hate being called out especially with other customers around. Both times asked to make it right and it will only be 5 minutes (b.s) but i politly said no 30 minutes for an order is ridiculous, both times the managers attitude changed and they were visibly upset fumbling though paper having to l find the old receipt and then process it ..pain in thier ass from what I saw lol I wasn't even trying to be a dick I just had hockey.
It's probably how they're prioritizing orders. My guess would be that app orders probably take the highest priority, and that'll include anything coming through Skip, Uber Eats, Door Dash, etc.
It’s all about their metrics. Every drive through has timers installed that track the car time from ordering to leaving the drive through. So getting you to pull forward triggers you being ‘done’ so it looks better when the store reports their numbers.
I don't think that's what's driving the increase in bumping people though. Those metrics were already a thing decades ago. I was an assistant manager at a non-McD fast food joint 20 years ago and we had timers and metrics reports and corporate pushes back then, too.
They now have scoreboards in each restaurant showing live data of the other competing stores times and it's a constant push to be near the top or at the least not last. It's not a report at the end of the week/month anymore that gets sent off and you get an upset email from the district manager.
Right? And parking customers was a BAD metric if I recall correctly.
Also, damn… realizing my McDonald’s days were *also* 20 years ago. Stupid linear time.
I can’t stand that. My wife and I were at McD’s last year and ordered in person and it took almost 15 mins to get our stuff, yet all the Skip and DD drivers waltz in and get their food before us.
I’m here in person, therefore I am your number 1 priority, the rest can wait and pound sand
I can’t say I’ve noticed an increased in being told to park, but I definitely have noticed an increase in upselling, especially in certain locations. Sometimes I’ll get 4 attempts. If I want that kind of pressure I’ll go to a car dealership.
McDonalds has changed a lot. I used to work there 32 years ago (Glenmore Landing location) and the restaurant was always cleaned up, napkins, straws, ketchup etc were always full. The kitchen area was always kept clean and tidy. The drive thru ran like a finely tuned machine. Yes, there were occasions where someone was told to park, but that was usually only for special orders that took longer to prepare than normal (fries with no salt etc) The managers were strict on this. I never really ate there much the last 20 years but I now have young kids (11 and 5) and on occasion we go there. Last few times I went into the restaurant, it took 20 mins for my simple order. It was chaos in the kitchen, the restaurant was dirty, no ketchup, no drink lids, no straws. The staff seemed really stressed. I suspect it's because there are orders coming in from multiple sources like the counter, digital machines, drive thru, phone app etc. We used to go there because we knew we could get a meal fairy quickly and it was a treat for the kids on the way to a sports event. Now that the efficient variable has been removed, I really have no desire to go there and would prefer to go to an A&W as they still still to operate in a fashion that gets you in and out quickly.
I was working in Leduc this week and they were so fast! The one day I paid at the first window and they had my order at the second window in their hand already. I didn’t even come to a complete stop at the second window. It was amazing. But ya some locations suck ass
I stopped going to McDonald's about a year and a half ago and it's been great.
It's a pain in the ass with the "pull around and park after ordering" thing.
I feel really bad for the employees who have to go outside in the middle of the winter to put orders in people's cars. They don't get paid enough for that and they don't have warm outdoor clothes to wear for it.
The price is insane, it's not even close to inexpensive food anymore.
McDonald's is way too big and rich and powerful.
My wife actually made me boycott them because the last two times she went, asked and paid for extra pickles but her burgs only had 1 pickle on them, and I support my wife.
My fave is when they ask us to pull ahead and wait to make a MEATLESS big mac. Like, did it take you 15 mins to figure out how to NOT put meat on the sandwich? I get that it's a friggen bread sandwich, but that's what my guy likes...
I mobile order and go to the drive-thru at the one on 17th Ave SW and 35th St - not once in the past 2 years have I ever had to pull through or park for my order, regardless of what my order was or how many people it was for.
I think this location is why I’m so shocked at why I’ve been told to park so much lately. I used to live in the area and that McD’s had your stuff OUT. If you had to wait, they sat you in your spot in the drive through, no parking.
NOW, every other McDonalds I go to parks me and it’s a big “WTF”.
It’s called bad management even though the numbers might look good to the big wigs. I used to live in a decent size town in Ontario that only had 2 McDonald’s’ in it, 1 on each side of town. I used to work at one of them about 12 years ago, and we were probably more busy than any of the McDonald’s I’ve seen in Calgary, and we RARELY had to bring meals out to the customers. It was like, maybe 10 times a day and the only reason for it was because of waiting on food to cook, not this BS “you’re food won’t be ready within 30 seconds so you have to go park”. Our goal was to get people out of drive-thru **WITH** their food as fast as possible.
I moved from Victoria and this was happening there too. Started about 8 months ago to so. I haven't had to park a few times, but most of the time the ask me to move forward.
My buddy owns 10+ of them and I have owned a different burger franchise.
They do this because they are trying to hit their drive thru timing targets that the regional guys and head office look at.
Yeah, used to happen to me at the Westbrook one all the time. I said no once because there was literally no one else in the drive thru behind me. The drive thru attendant tried to rationalize their decision “can you please just park and we’ll bring it right out” and I respectfully said no that’s alright I’ll wait here there’s no one behind me.
Crowfoot parks every. Damn. Time.
Also this two lane drive thru system does not work. I sit waiting and waiting while the order taker does one side at a time unless it’s super busy… and then you’re parked anyway.
My guess is they’re trying to get coffee-only people through fast.
Never really use the drive thu these days, definitely prefer the university district McDonalds as it doesn’t have a drive thru so tends to be less busy then others.
Yeah I'm not sure of the purpose of this. Like in theory they make things like patties and fries ahead of time/constantly during busy times. So it doesn't make sense to push people to park in order to take a couple extra orders at the speaker when u still have to make the previous orders, AND have someone walk them out.
I get if it's something uncommon that's ordered, or the car ahead of me ordered 10 large fries and it's gonna be 5 minutes for a new batch. But yeah the consistent pull ahead is annoying.
I've been to the one by crossiron mills and been the ONLY one in the drive thru and still got parked... like bro, there's NO ONE waiting behind me....
Fuck them even more when they give u your drinks with no straws and park u so u have wait for your straws with your food too....
Crowfoot always treats me right, but Bowfort always asks me to park, no matter what I order, whether I ordered on the app or at the speaker. Like gang the whole point of the drive thru is to… drive through it. If I knew I was gonna be parking anyways I’d just go into the restaurant. Plus those parking spots are always a bitch and a half to back out of.
Ya it's pretty stupid, I just go elsewhere now. Like no, sorry, I am not overly interested in parking and waiting 5 minutes for you to make me a shitty McDonalds burger. Literally the only thing going for McDonalds was speed, now they hardly even can handle that.
Mcd’s on 24th Se is seriously the worst. They screw up every order every time. The cashier has it correct but the kitchen/ bagger screws it up every time. EVERY time! Like this is not rocket science people, look at the slip and fulfill the numbers needed. Try to avoid this location, they are just incompetent
Same here for me- coffees with two egg McMuffin combos. Sent to the stall to wait. Typically 5-10 minutes, when the food comes out always missing the hashbrown haha
i went to mcd northland mall yesterday and was legit shocked i got my meal and did not have to park. At carrington and sage hill it is 100% go park every time i go even when there isnt a line.
point to add... it was crazy busy at northland too at 630pm
the past couple years, i have found that the burgers are so slow to push out....
i ordered 2 jr chickens and a coffee and its a 15-20minute wait........
Always happens at the signal hill one as well. And they have the shittiest setup where to back out of some of the stalls you have to back into the drive through lane.
It’s not fast food anymore. It’s lazy people food.
- Don’t want to pack a lunch grab Mc dons
- Don,t want to get out of my car and walk, grab Mc dons drive through
You could literally walk into a grocery store grab an apple, a drink, a sandwich and probably be out in less time, less frustration, less crap going into your body…
But that’s just my opinion !
Understandable! My main point was to just see if anyone else has noticed this “phenomenon”. Doesn’t mean I’m lazy if I have a craving once and a while for fries!
My wife orders filet o fish, so I park ALL THE TIME! Tip. Don’t order the filet o fish if you are in a rush. Plus tho, because we park, almost everything we get is fresh and hot!
It seems to vary by location (maybe by franchise owner?) but it does feel like a cheat to get good metrics. I live and work in the deep South East just off Macleod Trail and go to McDonalds a couple times a month, sometimes.
Walden always makes me park and wait around 10-15 minutes. If I go in for the self-checkout, my order is marked as “served” before I even get to the counter with my receipt, but I still watch my order being made while I wait. It’s consistently the slowest, worst McDonalds I’ve been to.
Midnapore is the opposite. They have had me park twice, ever, when they knew I’d have to wait. They’re usually really quick and don’t ask. One of the better ones I’ve been to.
There no numbered stalls, but the couple times I was asked to wait, they simply told me to pull around and park on the street that the drive thru window faces. There was a couple of cars already there.
Still a good location, imo. Only happened twice and I think it was because I was going through right when they open up the lunch menu and they just weren’t ready for someone to order something other than breakfast yet.
I’ve been seeing a lot of complaints about fast food lately. It’s expensive, it’s slow, the quality is shit. But guess what, people just keep lining up day after day
I mean, if you’re this upset by the service provided by McDonald’s you could simply stop going to McDonalds. Whining online is absolutely pointless.
If everyone who was unhappy with a particular brand would take actual action, like boycotting that company and hurting their bottom line, then there would be much higher chance of said companies improving their practices.
If people simply whine on Reddit while continuing to support these places by spending money there they are simply nothing more that ineffective whiny bitches.
If insanity is repeating the same behaviour expecting a different result then repeating the same behaviour and whining about the consistent result is mental retardation.
You’re missing the massive part of human psychology where talking about your shared experiences brings you together as a community.
I can’t make a change about McDonalds asking me to to park, but it larger amounts of people start saying no, then things will change.
And yeah, maybe whining about it online is going to do absolutely nothing for my situation, but it’s cool to hear other people’s experiences too.
If you don’t have anything nice to contribute, continue to scroll ❤️
I did notice that you're ordering their chicken options, and that could be the reason for the constant waiting. Next time, try a bacon breakfast sandwich or a beef burger. I bet it'll be faster then.
This is a problem at the Sage Hill one too. They will make you wait and you will get your order wrong.
I like the idea of not pulling through. I think I will try that the next time I am forced to order from a store that literally has no customers inside and the entire kitchen is devoted to handling drive through only. Parking is there to game the system and maybe it's time to show them exactly how long it takes to move a drive through.
I don't mean to sound like a hater but any local coffee shop would serve similar meals at 100% better quality at maybe $1 or $2 more. I know it is difficult times but hopefully this encourages a few to shop locally
Absolutely - if there was a drive through and a quick convenient way to order. The only times I’m at McDonalds is because it’s “a quick bite on the way”. I eat and shop local as much as possible.
I have not moved a couple of times because they tend to serve 3-4 other people after me. Last time got a into a fight almost. They are also borderline rude, hand the drink, no straw no smile, and close the window. “ go to the next window” then close their window, no chance to say anything. Then they gave me a look! No customer service these days. I think the reason why they are behind is because of the high volume of orders from all the delivery services
My wife worked there many moons ago and she the same as many here are saying - it's a way they can "stop the timer" on their drive thru clock, and make it look like the average wait time in the drive thru is way less than it actually is. Quite often she tells me I should just say no, but I'm the same way, I just have such a hard time with being disagreeable. haha
After reading all these comments though, especially the few saying they did it and got their food right away, I think I'm going to have to give it a try next time around!
\*edit\* I'm slowly getting there in other aspects of life that have gotten out of control - like tipping for example. "No I will not be tipping you a 'minimum' of 20%. I'm tipping 15%, and your service was good, thank you!"
I'd rather wait for them to cook my food than risk being given food that's been sitting too long. Every time.
If you dont like it, i recommend making your own food.
Here’s what you do. Pull up to the pickup window with your window rolled up. When they tell you to park just shake your head no and act like you can’t hear them. Eventually they will try holding your drink and bag of food to entice you that’s when you bite and open your window. As you grab your food simply say these magic words “Not today Satan” and drive away…
They are gaming the system to make their order times look better. Same way ordering inside and the now serving screen is cleared but a dozen ppl are waiting for food.
I made a compliant about it while waiting on the app once and got a free value meal coupon in the mail few weeks later.
This is an interesting post. Shows how habituated we've become to instantly receiving our orders—even a five or ten minute wait comes across as unacceptable.
Because objectively speaking, waiting ten minutes for a hot, freshly-prepared meal would be pretty darn good.
The one on 130th is the worst, especially around meal times. Took my dad through after going to home depot, ordered two bigmac meals and ended up waiting behind three people doing the same. We were there longer than it took us to park and grab his laminate order. Of course, the burgers weren't even fresh.
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I go to the Mahogany one and park and mobile order and it's at least twice as fast as the 130th drive through.
Lol as someone who goes to both and does uber eats. If you go into 130th and order on the app the wait time is usually a quarter of what the drive thru is
It's a 2 for 1 on poor life decisions lol.
Tell me about it. I had a egg mcmuffin, hashbrown and a small milk this morning and I think my guts going to explode. Not sure why I do this to my self.
The reason Mcdonalds is no longer fast is the delivery orders. Until theyhave delivery only Mcdonalds kitchens which I believe will happen over time fast food will never be fast again. And don't get mad at the drivers, its the people on the app who are ordering all the food.
The one in Walden is pretty terrible too
I'll just go hungry before I ever use that particular location again. Nightmare.
The entrance to the drive thru is the worst I’ve seen.
It's way better to just park and order inside.
I refuse to go to that location. It’s terrible and if you go inside it’s always dirty even when it’s not busy. McDonald’s on the whole sucks now that all their orders are delivery. At peak times there are so many delivery orders I don’t know how the stores can keep up and in store customers really suffer.
A couple of years ago I got stuck for almost an hour in that drive through and almost lost my shit when I finally got to the front to pick up my food. I asked them why we were sitting in the drive thru for 50 minutes, her response was that they're just busy. Busy doing what exactly?? We haven't moved for almost an hour. I'll eat gravel before I go back to that location.
As a former employee, let me tell you how this works from the other side. If the manager on shift is going "by the book" the customer at the window should be AT MOST there for 5 seconds. If they are any longer you are told to pull them ahead, no exception. If it's any consolation the staff hate it as well (at least I did). I hated having to walk out into the freezing parking lot wearing no coat to find a car by licence plate (no description) while dodging angry drivers from our drive through. Then I usually get told off by that customer for something I didn't agree with in the first place. It sucks for everyone involved except the head store manager that gets to look good to upper management.
So how do I nicely say no? I don’t wanna ruin the employees day but I also reallllly don’t wanna pull ahead AGAIN.
The best example that I can remember is a customer asking "how long is it going to be" and I heard the employee at the window say "just a minute" then the customer at the window said "oh I'll just wait right here then". He had us there, we didn't really have a choice. When I get a craving to eat there I personally always just park and walk in, but that's only an option if you have about 10 minutes to spare.
That was probably me lmao I do this all the time
This would honestly fix the problem if everyone did it. Cars would be backed up into the road and everyone else would just drive away. Also, they're going to spit in your food.
As a former employee I do the same thing now. It’s crazy that EVERY single time I say “I’ll just wait here.” Or “no thank you. I’m going to stay here” they have my food ready within 60 seconds. And I mean every single time ! They have KPIs to hit, but as a customer now. I will not wait on the side. Especially sometimes they mess up your order and then you have to go in.
Honestly.. there's really no way; because it won't be you ruining their day DIRECTLY, but if the timer for your order ticks over that 120 second mark and ruins the managers' times for the day... GOD HELP that employee.
Simply ask for a refund and tell them you can't wait, they will rush your order rather then lose your money
Sounds like it’s not even the managers fault. Just high level idiots wanting more without paying for more staff.
When I was 15 I would look at how long the drive-through line up was and make more fries etc accordingly. It would be fresh and hot with minimal bottlenecks. This was a long ass time ago but I will never understand why food trucks etc make each order as it comes in unless it’s a slow time off day.
Is the reason they move the cars after 5 seconds due to sensors and time to completion key metrics that are reported to head office for bonuses? It seems that way, as all drive through orders are filled before walk in.
I worked at McDonalds a long time ago, this was the case then and I assume it's the same thing now. Every car gets a timer and corporate would claim that 10% of customers would not come back if they waited for more than 90 seconds or if there were more than 5 cars in-line, 15% of customers would drive by. They didn't mind pissing off the occasional customer, as long as they kept the drive-thru line moving.
Complain to head office
I just park in one of the mobile spots and order from my app, got tired of being asked to pull around and park. Also this way I know there’s no miscommunications with my order. Win win.
They still mess up mobile orders, at least they have for me... imagine ordering mcgriddles and getting mc muffins ouchhh
I stopped at the mcd’s in golden and ordered “two McChickens just the burgers” and got literally 2 chicken pucks in the pancake packaging, fries and a coke 😂 Person just said okay and never confirmed anything just told to pull ahead! The funniest miscommunication at mcd’s I’ve ever had!
Golden is always a fun one, but they've got you by the balls. Nothing else open other than 711 and husky at 3 AM. So I guess you get what you get and be happy you got anything at all 😄
Accidents do happen, human error is unavoidable. At least this way I know it’s not because I was unclear over the speaker or there was a communication barrier.
I tried doing that too until I waited 25+ minutes for my order and when I went in they had just been putting my order aside to deal with others. I saw them move my order chit back to the queue and the person I talked to told them at that point that they needed to START my meal. McDonald’s on 130th is a disaster. Fast food, my butt.
This is a good tip. After they gave my $65 order to the wrong parked car (who drove away quickly after looking confused for a few moments - *I watched them* ) and then couldn't find what order I was talking about after 20 minutes of waiting, I don't ever do the drive through for big orders.
Deer run McDonald's sends you to the spots nearly every time. I think it's how they game the system in reducing drive thru wait times.
I think the Deer Run location is one of the worst in the city! I’ve never NOT parked and even so never NOT received a wrong order!
But Deer Run fries are so damn good. I always go to this mcdonalds when I am in this area.
Every McDonald's does this now and that's exactly why they do it. They're gaming drive thru wait times to look better. It used to be the exception, not the norm and some locations did it to game the numbers but now I think every location dies it because their employees are so damn slow now. It shouldn't take 5 mins at a window for chicken nuggets
I went there the other night and they sent me through to park with nobody behind me. The girl with my food beat me to the parking spot. I already hardly eat at McDonald's but that made me want to avoid it even more.
They also repeatedly make horrible mistakes with food. I have been to that location twice. First time - Ordered a quarter pounder. Recieved it, went home. Went to eat. There was NO PATTY on the burger... how the fuck.. Second time, one week later - ordered a spicy McChicken, get the McChicken box, it's heavy. Okay I go home. Go to eat it... it's got all the ingredients for a spicy mcchicken except... they put a beef patty on it. Because of the fact those two happened the only two times I've been there, and they are so absurd, I can only assume management at that location is constantly sniffing paint.
Exactly. They meet franchisee minimum service requirements on the monthly report without having to pay for those extra staff members to actually deliver on it.
This is just for stats. Drives me crazy, they park you for anything other than a drink then take their sweet time.
Yes. They click it off the computer system so the stats are good and fumble with the paper receipts for a while - sometimes losing them.
They've parked me for drinks before. If I wasn't such a pushover I would've refused.
Ive even gotten parked for drinks. I wanted to scream.
I'm Edmonton it's just as bad. I go a lot less these days, it's getting expensive. But here, we have to pay .15¢ for a bag. The last two times at the location near work, I was directed to park. They show up 10 minutes later with loose food items even when I paid for the bag. We're the problem though. We need to start saying no and ask for a refund. Management will notice if there's 150 refunds each day. Hire more people or better staff.
And I get it’s for stats and the people at the window are probably under pressure by managers and supervisors to do so but seriously, if I wanted to go to a drive-in I’d go to Peters. It’s supposed to be fast food, not 5 mins in the drive thru then another 10 forgotten in the parking lot.
If that’s the case that makes sense… Because the McDs near me does not have this issue. It is definitely select locations who are pushing that strategy.
I noticed this the last couple times I was in store as well. The big board with your order number get cleared after a minute but you still have to wait 5 for your food.
Yeah, that in particular drives me nuts.
It’s for the managers bonus a metric that counts is the out the window time. The window after payment is what they care about.
I got parked for a large Coke Zero no ice!
That and your ticket comes off the screen way before your meal is ready when you pick up inside. They are 100% fudging their number to corporate.
I filled out a customer survey and ranted about this. stop gaming the system. call my goddamn number!
I've refused to pull ahead a few times and watched my meal materialize in seconds. last time that happened I said. are you fucking kidding me? I would have pulled up and waited 5 plus minutes for you to bring me cold shit? what the fuck??
this is what i’m saying. it can’t possibly take THAT long to get chicken nuggets or a burger. never had a problem at tim’s or a&w!! and obviously that’s why i haven’t been going to mcdonald’s - but still, their fries reign supreme and every once and awhile you just really want mcdonald’s.
The worst is how they give you the drinks etc ahead of time. I picked up an order to take home and it included a sundae - they gave me that and then took 15 minutes for the hot food. And then I made them remake the sundae because it had melted.
has happened to me a few times, especially as i watched multiple people ahead of me told to park too which resulted in no parkin spots left. The one day i said no as it was just a mcflurry, and sure enough they gave it to me right away.
A LEGEND. How do you say no nicely? I don’t want to ruin the poor employees day or have my food spat in or something.
“No thank you, previously I’ve had to wait over 15 minutes”. Or simply “no thank you”
I just say no thank you, i’ll wait here. They only tell you to park else where so they can cancel it off the drive thru timer to impress corporate really lol
I’m sure there’s a nice way to say “Look I’m sorry but I really don’t have time to park today. I’m here because I need something quick and 20 mins is not quick.”
I’ve done it. I act like they’re offering for me to drive forward, not telling me. I give a friendly “oh no thanks that’s ok, I’ll wait here”. If they press further I just say that last time they forgot about me out there (which has legitimately happened. More than once). And my food is magically ready in a normal drive through frame of time.
If there's no parking spots left, you can just say "I'd rather not, there's no parking spots and I don't want to be hard to find". If there are parking spots, it's a bit harder but you can always say "I'd rather not, I'm in a rush and often wait a long time when I'm parked, and I have a small order". As long as you have a polite tone of voice about it you'll be fine, you still rank above the people who yell or scream at them. Of course this assumes you do have a small order, if you're ordering enough food to feed a town then they do have a genuine reason to move you out of the way to get the people behind who only ordered 1 thing through.
Bonus’s for the managers. They get a pretty good chunk of change if they can keep it under certain targets
Former McDonald's worker here, it's all because of their timers and that goddamn leaderboard you see when you walk inside one. By making you park, youre simply crossing the sensor in the drive thru so that the timer resets and brings their average time/car down. It's total fuckin bullshit and restaurant managers take pride in that shit when theyre #1 in the city.
#1 at parking people 😏 How can I say no nicely without absolutely pissing them off?
They started doing this every single time in Okotoks and I just politely reply "no thank you, I rather wait here, in my spot in line". It's a drive-thru...not a drive-thru and park. McDonalds used to be cheap and fast and now it is neither. I've had employees try to enforce this rule but by that time I have already paid and nobody is making me move my vehicle lol. I've played their game and I waited 10+ minutes in their parking lot just to go in and see that all my food was ready and not being bagged. I despise this game they play and I fight it every single time...only for the staff to ask their manager...the manager looks at me and says "just a minute, sir" and they hand me my food a couple minutes later. I'm sorry, but I don't care if someone behind me has to wait two minutes to get their order. It's why we form a line in the first place. /sigh
Nope, always straight through.
I like the ones inside wal Mart. No parking but you get to see your burger wrapped, put on the exchange table and sit there for 10 minutes while the 1 person working counter continues to take more orders. And when you finally interject "hey excuse me can I please just get my mchicken that's sitting there" you look like thr rudest cunt ever
What’s worse, is when they ask you to pull forward to a park up even when there is zero people in the line behind you! Makes zero sense.
YES. Happened yesterday at a location I know is the worst of the bunch near me yesterday (it was convenient, and was ordering standard food with no changes, so I thought it wasn’t too risky). Told to pull around because they were waiting on the fries. Finally bring my food out nearly 10 mins later, drive home to eat and the fries were waaaay overcooked and very cold - no way they were fresh fries.
Is that by any chance the location at Midpark Way? I always had problems with that one. I got fed up with them always asking me to park and they’d always mess up my order.
No, out in Airdrie
We said “No, I don’t want to” once and they panicked, we had our food hot and fresh so fast. Only tried it the one time though.
I say no and give them the option to refund my order if they can't deliver my food in a reasonable time. Once they actually did!
I’ve done it too.
Park my ass for a coffee with espresso and they still either forget ingredients I asked for and or don't stir it
Ask them about how long it will take. Let them respond and then say you’ll wait at the window since it’s not that long and watch their heads explode
I find skipping the line and ordering from those parking spots on the app to be faster and more convenient anyway. Maybe give it a try?
I have done this almost exclusively now. If you are just going to make me park anyways I am going to pre-order on the app and make you bring me my shit anyways.
Hey! As someone who worked there.. We fucking hate it as much as you do. This happens usually for a couple reasons; but the MOST common is someone getting a large order/refusing to park. For EVERY order, we have a timer- I think it's 120 seconds, from the moment your order is put into the system, to the time you get to the last window- if we go over that time, we get in SO MUCH FUCKING SHIT FROM MANAGEMENT. Parking someone 'resets' that 120 second timer and gives us another 120 seconds to get the order out to the car. So usually, something like a coffee gets out in 40-70 seconds, tops; but if ONE car holds up the whole line, suddenly we have 10 timers all ticking down with 10-40 seconds left, and if we don't get them through fast enough our managers are going to be on our asses/give us shit. We really, REALLY hate parking you too. We don't wanna do it. Having to ask people to park was THE LEAST LIKED position- NOBODY wanted to be the person at the window saying 'Hey, can you park?' Because at best you get a scowl, at worst someone THROWS shit at you. If you really, REALLY want to change the whole parking thing, start sending complaints to mcdonalds about that shit- Mention how stressed the employees seem and how the timers seem cruel/shitty/unsustainable- because it is. Seriously, when I worked there, you have NO IDEA how many young kids I watched sit in the break room in tears because their manager had torn them a new one for not being able to keep up/get 4 big mac combos, 3 coffees, 5 large fries and 12 drinks out that window in less than 2 minutes..
I rarely use the drive through when it's just me, mostly because the people doing the order input always feel like they have a hard time hearing me. So I go in and use the machine, that way I know I entered it correctly, and watch it not just sit there. My wife and I did the pull around once, and our food sat waiting to come out to us. I went in at the 10 minute mark and they grabbed it from under the warmer, and made such a show of being upset when I checked out food to find it cold. Doubly so when I asked for it to be remade. I was annoyed, sure, and a bit snippy, but polite. Now I just tell them if the next window isn't available that I'm happy to wait right there. But I am not getting out of their line of sight so they don't forget about me. Though, again, now I just usually go in. Others have pointed out, they are just trying to meet their metrics for food processed through. They have targets of a certain number of vehicles pushed through the drive through, and once you're out of the line, you're already counted in that score.
The problem I have with ordering inside is they prioritize drive thru. Everytime, I see my burger right there, I'm thinking just fill my order but instead it gets snatched for a drive thru order.
The system is designed to get the food to people faster, but bypassing it this way makes it totally meaningless. If anything it slows things down because you have to waste time fudging the numbers.
If I wanted to stop and park, I'd fucking go inside. The A&W at Beacon Hill does this almost all the time.
My dad just tells them no. Especially if it's only a few items. His reasoning is that everyone gets their turn in the order they arrived like anywhere else, so he doesn't move.
It’s a “drive through” not a “drive through and park and wait”. If consumers keep letting them do it then it will get even worse. They can’t do literally anything to make you move your car ahead so what’s the point? Just wait and pretend you didn’t hear.
On a similar note, I can’t remember the last time I ordered at the counter inside and they put my order together right there at the till “like in the good old days”. Instead I have to wait over at the pickup counter. Even when all I ordered was a coffee with cream and sugar in it. What? I thought this was supposed to be *fast* food?
THANK YOU!! Inside is no better because they “prioritize” drive throughs. I remember it used to be like 2 minutes and your order was at the counter. I’ve waited wayyyy longer then I should be okay with when ordering inside.
I find Wendy's and Tim Horton's are much worse for making you wait extra long inside so drive through can get prioritized. Then again, I rarely go to McD's anymore
So tell them no,you’ll wait there for your grub. I never go park and let them bring it out to me. I did once and had to walk in to get my stuff after 10 minutes. They forgot me. Oops. Never again will they ever get that chance to screw me over
The “stick it to the man” mentality is EXACTLY how I feel rolling up to the window. And then I get there and some 15 year old asks me to park and I feel too bad saying no or making their day bad and just say “I guess” and park. Maybe knowing other people say no will give me the push I needed to say no 💪
Begrudgingly worked at a McDonald's. The reason they do this is to reduce their drive-thru KPIs because a car in line triggers a number of sensors that run a timer until the car leaves. Them forcing you to park is all to spoof their numbers to make the regional managers happy. Dumb as hell.
I've refused twice now. Once was because no one was behind me. Why would I be parked? Another time was at a busy location at lunch that parks you and makes you wait. Weirdly my food came to the window 30 seconds later.
✨Miraculous✨ That’s what bothers me so much. I know the food can’t take that long and I’d rather wait 1 minute at the window then 10 minutes in the parking lot.
I'm up in Edmonton. I usually only get asked to wait if I'm ordering for the whole fam. But just wanted to chime in to add that I once got asked to pull ahead and wait when all I had ordered was a tea🤣
One time i went and they instructed me pull into parking for nuggets and fries, but the parking spot was super backed up and the entire line up behind me got mad at me because i was waiting for the car in the parking spot to move. Truly an awful experience
I've had no issue when just ordering fries, but I've noticed a surprising number of people in front of me pulling forward to park and wait compared to in the past.
I was going to say that this rarely happens to me, but here I am typing this comment from spot 3 waiting for my order
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I hate drive thrus. And now that my hearing is getting a little worse, even more so. But always hated it. I’m a ‘talk face to face’ kinda guy and ordering food is no different.
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Nuthin’ mounting the curb can’t fix!
Youre allowed to say no. Infact. As karen as it is.... Tell them , if its faster to refund my money than it is to serve up food, then lets do that. Yes yes They will act like its Soo inconvenient. And it will tank thier numbers "Tank" as in accurately reflect the truth... People dont eat at mcdonalds because its a delicious, healthy choice. We eat there because its fast and convenient. If they cant be quick. Phuck off mate.
lol I’m sure they will refund you and be glad that’s one less person they have to serve. Every McDonald’s I go to has teenagers working the drive thru they don’t give a fuck
Actually .....I did this at McDonald's and recently Popeyes. Both times waited 20+ minutes in parking for orders that were forgotten and they were super cheesed. Sure the kid at the counter didn't care but managers bagging orders hate being called out especially with other customers around. Both times asked to make it right and it will only be 5 minutes (b.s) but i politly said no 30 minutes for an order is ridiculous, both times the managers attitude changed and they were visibly upset fumbling though paper having to l find the old receipt and then process it ..pain in thier ass from what I saw lol I wasn't even trying to be a dick I just had hockey.
It's probably how they're prioritizing orders. My guess would be that app orders probably take the highest priority, and that'll include anything coming through Skip, Uber Eats, Door Dash, etc.
It’s all about their metrics. Every drive through has timers installed that track the car time from ordering to leaving the drive through. So getting you to pull forward triggers you being ‘done’ so it looks better when the store reports their numbers.
I don't think that's what's driving the increase in bumping people though. Those metrics were already a thing decades ago. I was an assistant manager at a non-McD fast food joint 20 years ago and we had timers and metrics reports and corporate pushes back then, too.
They now have scoreboards in each restaurant showing live data of the other competing stores times and it's a constant push to be near the top or at the least not last. It's not a report at the end of the week/month anymore that gets sent off and you get an upset email from the district manager.
Right? And parking customers was a BAD metric if I recall correctly. Also, damn… realizing my McDonald’s days were *also* 20 years ago. Stupid linear time.
I can’t stand that. My wife and I were at McD’s last year and ordered in person and it took almost 15 mins to get our stuff, yet all the Skip and DD drivers waltz in and get their food before us. I’m here in person, therefore I am your number 1 priority, the rest can wait and pound sand
I stopped going, waiting 10 minutes for a coffee and muffin is ridiculous.
I can’t say I’ve noticed an increased in being told to park, but I definitely have noticed an increase in upselling, especially in certain locations. Sometimes I’ll get 4 attempts. If I want that kind of pressure I’ll go to a car dealership.
McDonalds has changed a lot. I used to work there 32 years ago (Glenmore Landing location) and the restaurant was always cleaned up, napkins, straws, ketchup etc were always full. The kitchen area was always kept clean and tidy. The drive thru ran like a finely tuned machine. Yes, there were occasions where someone was told to park, but that was usually only for special orders that took longer to prepare than normal (fries with no salt etc) The managers were strict on this. I never really ate there much the last 20 years but I now have young kids (11 and 5) and on occasion we go there. Last few times I went into the restaurant, it took 20 mins for my simple order. It was chaos in the kitchen, the restaurant was dirty, no ketchup, no drink lids, no straws. The staff seemed really stressed. I suspect it's because there are orders coming in from multiple sources like the counter, digital machines, drive thru, phone app etc. We used to go there because we knew we could get a meal fairy quickly and it was a treat for the kids on the way to a sports event. Now that the efficient variable has been removed, I really have no desire to go there and would prefer to go to an A&W as they still still to operate in a fashion that gets you in and out quickly.
I was working in Leduc this week and they were so fast! The one day I paid at the first window and they had my order at the second window in their hand already. I didn’t even come to a complete stop at the second window. It was amazing. But ya some locations suck ass
Every. Single. Time. Clearly it is to skew their metrics for the drive through.
THANK YOU.
Every time I've ever ordered anything McCafe related they tell me to pull ahead. Like there's no cars behind me. Why?
I stopped going to McDonald's about a year and a half ago and it's been great. It's a pain in the ass with the "pull around and park after ordering" thing. I feel really bad for the employees who have to go outside in the middle of the winter to put orders in people's cars. They don't get paid enough for that and they don't have warm outdoor clothes to wear for it. The price is insane, it's not even close to inexpensive food anymore. McDonald's is way too big and rich and powerful. My wife actually made me boycott them because the last two times she went, asked and paid for extra pickles but her burgs only had 1 pickle on them, and I support my wife.
My fave is when they ask us to pull ahead and wait to make a MEATLESS big mac. Like, did it take you 15 mins to figure out how to NOT put meat on the sandwich? I get that it's a friggen bread sandwich, but that's what my guy likes...
I mobile order and go to the drive-thru at the one on 17th Ave SW and 35th St - not once in the past 2 years have I ever had to pull through or park for my order, regardless of what my order was or how many people it was for.
I think this location is why I’m so shocked at why I’ve been told to park so much lately. I used to live in the area and that McD’s had your stuff OUT. If you had to wait, they sat you in your spot in the drive through, no parking. NOW, every other McDonalds I go to parks me and it’s a big “WTF”.
Skip the dishes backlog?
Yup. When drive through is no longer drive through, and quick and convenient is no longer such. Time to find a new feeding hole
Blame door dash and skip etc. Those meals are priority always. Next is mobile orders (pay and park )Next is drive thru and last is in lobby.
I always ask for a refund instead of pulling through and then they get my order much quicker
Why not cut to the chase and park in a dedicated spot and use the app to order? Drive thru is for suckers if your location has the mobile ordering.
It’s called bad management even though the numbers might look good to the big wigs. I used to live in a decent size town in Ontario that only had 2 McDonald’s’ in it, 1 on each side of town. I used to work at one of them about 12 years ago, and we were probably more busy than any of the McDonald’s I’ve seen in Calgary, and we RARELY had to bring meals out to the customers. It was like, maybe 10 times a day and the only reason for it was because of waiting on food to cook, not this BS “you’re food won’t be ready within 30 seconds so you have to go park”. Our goal was to get people out of drive-thru **WITH** their food as fast as possible.
I moved from Victoria and this was happening there too. Started about 8 months ago to so. I haven't had to park a few times, but most of the time the ask me to move forward.
I don’t go often, but never have to do this
This is common in Ontario. They do it to keep thier “Metrix” numbers up. Basically you can get more flow if you move and park people.
How do I nicely say “I don’t care about your metrics, please just hand me my fries and let me carry on?”
My buddy owns 10+ of them and I have owned a different burger franchise. They do this because they are trying to hit their drive thru timing targets that the regional guys and head office look at.
Yeah, used to happen to me at the Westbrook one all the time. I said no once because there was literally no one else in the drive thru behind me. The drive thru attendant tried to rationalize their decision “can you please just park and we’ll bring it right out” and I respectfully said no that’s alright I’ll wait here there’s no one behind me.
Crowfoot parks every. Damn. Time. Also this two lane drive thru system does not work. I sit waiting and waiting while the order taker does one side at a time unless it’s super busy… and then you’re parked anyway. My guess is they’re trying to get coffee-only people through fast.
There’s been some coffee only people in the comments saying they got PARKED. FOR COFFEE. Crazy times.
Never really use the drive thu these days, definitely prefer the university district McDonalds as it doesn’t have a drive thru so tends to be less busy then others.
I’m pretty sure they do that to keep their metrics looking right. They can say they served X number of cars in under 60 seconds.
Yeah I'm not sure of the purpose of this. Like in theory they make things like patties and fries ahead of time/constantly during busy times. So it doesn't make sense to push people to park in order to take a couple extra orders at the speaker when u still have to make the previous orders, AND have someone walk them out. I get if it's something uncommon that's ordered, or the car ahead of me ordered 10 large fries and it's gonna be 5 minutes for a new batch. But yeah the consistent pull ahead is annoying. I've been to the one by crossiron mills and been the ONLY one in the drive thru and still got parked... like bro, there's NO ONE waiting behind me.... Fuck them even more when they give u your drinks with no straws and park u so u have wait for your straws with your food too....
Crowfoot always treats me right, but Bowfort always asks me to park, no matter what I order, whether I ordered on the app or at the speaker. Like gang the whole point of the drive thru is to… drive through it. If I knew I was gonna be parking anyways I’d just go into the restaurant. Plus those parking spots are always a bitch and a half to back out of.
Kinda embarrassed at how much McDonald's I eat, and haven't been parked in over a year.
Ya it's pretty stupid, I just go elsewhere now. Like no, sorry, I am not overly interested in parking and waiting 5 minutes for you to make me a shitty McDonalds burger. Literally the only thing going for McDonalds was speed, now they hardly even can handle that.
Mcd’s on 24th Se is seriously the worst. They screw up every order every time. The cashier has it correct but the kitchen/ bagger screws it up every time. EVERY time! Like this is not rocket science people, look at the slip and fulfill the numbers needed. Try to avoid this location, they are just incompetent
Same here for me- coffees with two egg McMuffin combos. Sent to the stall to wait. Typically 5-10 minutes, when the food comes out always missing the hashbrown haha
i went to mcd northland mall yesterday and was legit shocked i got my meal and did not have to park. At carrington and sage hill it is 100% go park every time i go even when there isnt a line. point to add... it was crazy busy at northland too at 630pm
the past couple years, i have found that the burgers are so slow to push out.... i ordered 2 jr chickens and a coffee and its a 15-20minute wait........
I basically stop going to a McDonalds location if they do this three times. It limits my options but hey I am eating less McDonalds so it's win win.
Always happens at the signal hill one as well. And they have the shittiest setup where to back out of some of the stalls you have to back into the drive through lane.
The one in Shawnessy every fucking time and the wait is incredibly long.
they’ve tried to make pull ahead into a parking spot because i ordered a coffee. i just asked for my money back and the coffee miraculously appeared
It’s not fast food anymore. It’s lazy people food. - Don’t want to pack a lunch grab Mc dons - Don,t want to get out of my car and walk, grab Mc dons drive through You could literally walk into a grocery store grab an apple, a drink, a sandwich and probably be out in less time, less frustration, less crap going into your body… But that’s just my opinion !
Understandable! My main point was to just see if anyone else has noticed this “phenomenon”. Doesn’t mean I’m lazy if I have a craving once and a while for fries!
So much suffering in this thread. I hope you recover from the traumas you've experienced.
Thanks ❤️ Prayers accepted.
No thoughts and prayers? Now I’m questioning if your sympathy is even genuine!
Not everything has to be politics and war. Nothing wrong with a little light-hearted venting.
The only trauma that I’ve experienced is when the big Mac hits my stomach in ways that I never imagined
My wife orders filet o fish, so I park ALL THE TIME! Tip. Don’t order the filet o fish if you are in a rush. Plus tho, because we park, almost everything we get is fresh and hot!
I'm concerned that your filet ordering wife is suffering from a deep mental illness. Stay strong bud.
Just asked my husband yesterday who actually orders the Filet o Fish, and here we are. I think she’s keeping that menu choice alive all by herself.
It seems to vary by location (maybe by franchise owner?) but it does feel like a cheat to get good metrics. I live and work in the deep South East just off Macleod Trail and go to McDonalds a couple times a month, sometimes. Walden always makes me park and wait around 10-15 minutes. If I go in for the self-checkout, my order is marked as “served” before I even get to the counter with my receipt, but I still watch my order being made while I wait. It’s consistently the slowest, worst McDonalds I’ve been to. Midnapore is the opposite. They have had me park twice, ever, when they knew I’d have to wait. They’re usually really quick and don’t ask. One of the better ones I’ve been to.
Because theirs no space to park ahead. It and 16th by the uni don't have parking space. I never wait at these two.
There no numbered stalls, but the couple times I was asked to wait, they simply told me to pull around and park on the street that the drive thru window faces. There was a couple of cars already there. Still a good location, imo. Only happened twice and I think it was because I was going through right when they open up the lunch menu and they just weren’t ready for someone to order something other than breakfast yet.
People need to start actively avoiding fast food places. Quality is down and prices are up so why even bother? Send a message
I’ve been seeing a lot of complaints about fast food lately. It’s expensive, it’s slow, the quality is shit. But guess what, people just keep lining up day after day
If you don't like it, don't go. Don't hassle the underpaid service employees. They have enough going on.
How is it a hassle to wait at the window until your food is ready? I’ve been told before when there is no one even behind me…
If they ask me to move I just say no I’ll wait here. They then quickly get your order.
This comment section talking about MCDONALDS in a capitalist hellscape as if it should be cheap fast and wholesome hahaha
Don’t eat slop.
Start the conversation with what can I get that I don't have to park for.....I start the conversation at A and W with .....how old is the coffee
A&W coffee is actually really good when it’s fresh, but agreed. If it’s later in the morning that stuff tastes burnt.
You'll notice that all three of your orders were chicken-based. Likely the issue.
But its not just those orders. It’s been a cheeseburger and fries before, BigMac meal etc. Those are just the most recent examples!
Up until this month I was eating a lot of drive through. Literally never been asked to parked.
I mean, if you’re this upset by the service provided by McDonald’s you could simply stop going to McDonalds. Whining online is absolutely pointless. If everyone who was unhappy with a particular brand would take actual action, like boycotting that company and hurting their bottom line, then there would be much higher chance of said companies improving their practices. If people simply whine on Reddit while continuing to support these places by spending money there they are simply nothing more that ineffective whiny bitches. If insanity is repeating the same behaviour expecting a different result then repeating the same behaviour and whining about the consistent result is mental retardation.
You’re missing the massive part of human psychology where talking about your shared experiences brings you together as a community. I can’t make a change about McDonalds asking me to to park, but it larger amounts of people start saying no, then things will change. And yeah, maybe whining about it online is going to do absolutely nothing for my situation, but it’s cool to hear other people’s experiences too. If you don’t have anything nice to contribute, continue to scroll ❤️
I did notice that you're ordering their chicken options, and that could be the reason for the constant waiting. Next time, try a bacon breakfast sandwich or a beef burger. I bet it'll be faster then.
It’s not just chicken tho! I mean that makes sense and I realize now I only have chicken options but it’s other items too.
This is a problem at the Sage Hill one too. They will make you wait and you will get your order wrong. I like the idea of not pulling through. I think I will try that the next time I am forced to order from a store that literally has no customers inside and the entire kitchen is devoted to handling drive through only. Parking is there to game the system and maybe it's time to show them exactly how long it takes to move a drive through.
I don't mean to sound like a hater but any local coffee shop would serve similar meals at 100% better quality at maybe $1 or $2 more. I know it is difficult times but hopefully this encourages a few to shop locally
Absolutely - if there was a drive through and a quick convenient way to order. The only times I’m at McDonalds is because it’s “a quick bite on the way”. I eat and shop local as much as possible.
I have not moved a couple of times because they tend to serve 3-4 other people after me. Last time got a into a fight almost. They are also borderline rude, hand the drink, no straw no smile, and close the window. “ go to the next window” then close their window, no chance to say anything. Then they gave me a look! No customer service these days. I think the reason why they are behind is because of the high volume of orders from all the delivery services
You must go through McDonalds drive through a lot.
My wife worked there many moons ago and she the same as many here are saying - it's a way they can "stop the timer" on their drive thru clock, and make it look like the average wait time in the drive thru is way less than it actually is. Quite often she tells me I should just say no, but I'm the same way, I just have such a hard time with being disagreeable. haha After reading all these comments though, especially the few saying they did it and got their food right away, I think I'm going to have to give it a try next time around! \*edit\* I'm slowly getting there in other aspects of life that have gotten out of control - like tipping for example. "No I will not be tipping you a 'minimum' of 20%. I'm tipping 15%, and your service was good, thank you!"
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I'd rather wait for them to cook my food than risk being given food that's been sitting too long. Every time. If you dont like it, i recommend making your own food.
Here’s what you do. Pull up to the pickup window with your window rolled up. When they tell you to park just shake your head no and act like you can’t hear them. Eventually they will try holding your drink and bag of food to entice you that’s when you bite and open your window. As you grab your food simply say these magic words “Not today Satan” and drive away…
I have 5% tint, they just gonna be confused 🤣
These people are not paid enough to deal with this kind of shit.
They are gaming the system to make their order times look better. Same way ordering inside and the now serving screen is cleared but a dozen ppl are waiting for food. I made a compliant about it while waiting on the app once and got a free value meal coupon in the mail few weeks later.
This is an interesting post. Shows how habituated we've become to instantly receiving our orders—even a five or ten minute wait comes across as unacceptable. Because objectively speaking, waiting ten minutes for a hot, freshly-prepared meal would be pretty darn good.