I’m Not Lovin’ It

I know that Ronald McDonald is already making money hand over fist and that he won’t care that I’m not happy, but surely a company as big as McDonald’s should be able to perfect the simple art of listening to a customer.

I’m sure that one unhappy customer doesn’t mean much to them but is it asking too much to simply be treated with a little respect?

I decided to buy myself a coffee in the city this morning.

I walked past McDonald’s and noticed that the store was rather quiet so I popped in for a long black. I fumbled in my pocket for some change and then counted out enough for the BIG coffee into my hand. I was ready for a monumental caffeine hit and so I then stepped up to the counter, money in hand.

The young lady behind the counter smiled and asked how she could help me. I got out words to the effect of, “I’d like a ….”. That’s as far as I got before the McDonald’s worker turned and started a conversation with a fellow worker.

Really? Am I that boring? Is my order that uninteresting that you’d rather talk amongst yourselves? You didn’t even get to hear what my order was.

I’ve had bad service before but to my knowledge I’ve never disappeared half way through an order before. Well, when I say half way, I guess it was closer to a quarter of the way through the order. Could she no longer see me there? I’m a big guy. She should have been able to spot me there waiting to finish my order.

After waiting a short while for her to remember that without customers her business would cease to exist, I turned around and walked out. I’m sorry, but I refuse to be ignored. If you really need to talk to a co-worker, do it either before or after taking my order, not half way through my opening sentence.

On my way to where I was going I found another shop that sells coffee. They took my order, made my order, gave me my order. It didn’t seem to cause them much trouble. I guess in future I’ll be visiting them a whole lot more and McDonald’s a whole lot less.

Have you ever had a similar experience with bad customer service? Did you hang around or just walk off?



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About the author

Rodney Olsen

Rodney is a husband, father, cyclist, blogger and podcaster from Perth Western Australia.

He has worked in radio at Perth's media ministry Sonshine for over 25 years and has previously worked at ministries such as Compassion Australia and Bible Society.

The views he expresses here are his own.

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5 Comments

  • No problem with me and Mickey D’s. I DO NOT go there. I will neither eat there nor drink anything there. But it is not the service…it is the food! Have I walked away? Yes, and although I am a good tipper (20%), I have been known to give a bare 10% when treated poorly.

  • The Mickey Ds by our house has good service. Hurst, TX … It is when you are in the big stores like Wal Mart, you are in a hurry, you can’t find something, and all of the employees seem to be hiding around the corner laughing because you can’t find your item or them. Maybe they are not laughing. It just feels like it sometimes.

  • Well…..At least she didn’t start talking on her cellphone….
    There should be a class in school called “manners”.
    It may be too late, especially for cellphone users.

    • I often walk out but if it is serious I report it to the manager.

      About a year ago I was in a line in the bank. I was about 12th in line. About 20 minutes later I was down to third. It was not enjoyable waiting so long in line and I cannot stand for long without a crutch so I was leaning on my crutch and as I have 5 tumours down my spine I was in a lot of pain. I hung on because I was down to being third. Then all of a sudden one of the tellers put her work down and walked off. I looked at where she was headed to and she went to a counter to the side and the Avon lady started taking packages of Avon out of her bag. The teller then went to collect the money to pay the Avon lady and then proceeded to chat. I was in so much pain that day I started to cry and left and went to my car to sit down. I drove home.

      I reported it to the customer relations and they asked me to go back in and make the payment as it would incur a late charge if I did not do that. I explained to them that I was in too much pain but it would also cost me another $10.00 in petrol and as it was their fault there should not be a late fee.

      Eventually spoke to someone higher up who had enough sense to grasp the gravity of the situation and late fees were waved and I could go and pay another day.

      Then someone higher up rang to apologise and asked me what I would like to see happen. I explained I did not want the teller to lose her job but would like the Avon Lady to come in at the tellers lunch time. They always treat me properly now and even get a chair out for me to sit on if I have to wait for any length of time. It pays to speak up if you have been badly treated. But do not lose your temper and speak to them politely even if complaining.

  • I can´t believe you´re not kidding!
    Happened two or three times that the staff continued chatting to each other, ignoring me long enough for me walking away.
    But that someone started taking my order and interrupting to chat to someone else?!
    Guess I´d asked for the manager in that case. Or… is it worth the trouble?

    That´s really… sad. And dumb. Good you found a better store!

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