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There's a McDonald's across the street from the BART station where I catch the bus that takes me across SF Bay. It does a lot of business because of its location. There are two buses that pick up from that station to cross the bay, as well as a number of local buses. There is also a magnet high school. There are several shopping centers within a few blocks, as well as some doctors' offices, a park, and a softball field. Long story long, it's a busy area.
This place drives me crazy. This has got to be the slowest McDonald's on the planet. A McDonald's staffed by zombies from the originally Night of the Living Dead could serve customers faster. This is the latest, not the only story I have from there.
This morning I had about 18 minutes from the time my train came in until my bus left to walk about one block to this McDonald's to grab some food (I had an MRI this morning and hadn't had breakfast and I was hungry). I'm not a McD's lover, but the idea is that you get in, order and get out fairly quickly, which is what I needed.
I walk in and, yea!, no one is in line (it's about 11:00 am). The lead or AM (different shirt, I don't know) is wiping off the cookie displays and counters. (One thing about this place, it is always very clean.) She tells me she'll help me in a moment, at the other register. Fine. I go there and wait. She continues down the counter, slowly. I'm waiting. It's a really long counter. Finally she comes back. I order a Big Kid's meal, plus Apple Dippers and a bottle of water to go. How long should this take? Two, three minutes? Oh, you are so wrong.
No one in that restaurant moves faster than mosey. I'm serious. They don't walk, they wander. She wanders here, she wanders there. I'm not really sure if she's actually getting my food, or if she's just visiting various parts of the restaurant. After a couple of stops, she wanders back to tell me that they are out of the dipping sauce for the apples. Do I still want them? I shake my head, and plainly tell her, no, I don't want them, twice. She then starts putting my meal together. Then she finds that there is no water in the refrigerator. She sends back another employee to get water. He meanders to the back. I consider cancelling the water as I check the clock on the wall.
Finally, my meal is on the counter, but still no water. I check the clock again and consider walking out without the water, as the other employee has not reappeared, and the lead is now taking orders from other customers. Things are not getting better.
Aha! My water appears. I check the clock. Okay, I'm still good. I get my water and toss it in my shopping bag and go to grab my meal. The lead suddenly reappears with a small bag and tells me she is getting my Apple Dippers, then walks away. I blink, then think that, maybe, in his meanderings, the other employee stumbled on the dipping sauce. I wait. Just as I am about to hit the time limit, the lead reappears with the apples, bags them and tries to hand them to me. I tell her that I told her before that I didn't want them without the sauce. I'm wondering how hard it's going to be to get my money back, and maybe I should just go, when she just pops the drawer and hands me $1.30. I'm sure I was shorted the tax, but I don't care, I'm out of there.
Total time to get a Big Kid's meal, from the time I entered the restaurant until the time I walked out the door, with a full crew, no one in line, no one in the drive-thru: 11 minutes.
This is a regular thing with this McDonald's. It easily takes 10 minutes to get a meal. A single meal. Nothing special. No line in the restaurant. No line in drive-thru.
I walked in one morning just to get a bottle of milk. I was starving and wanted something to carry me for the bus trip. I stood at the counter (again, no one in line, full crew) while the leads/managers/whatever, stood and talked. I stood and watched the clock for three minutes while they ignored me completely. I finally walked out.
At this point, I'm ready to complain. It's a consistent pattern. The only reason that location can stay in business is because of their location.
</endwhinyrant>
This place drives me crazy. This has got to be the slowest McDonald's on the planet. A McDonald's staffed by zombies from the originally Night of the Living Dead could serve customers faster. This is the latest, not the only story I have from there.
This morning I had about 18 minutes from the time my train came in until my bus left to walk about one block to this McDonald's to grab some food (I had an MRI this morning and hadn't had breakfast and I was hungry). I'm not a McD's lover, but the idea is that you get in, order and get out fairly quickly, which is what I needed.
I walk in and, yea!, no one is in line (it's about 11:00 am). The lead or AM (different shirt, I don't know) is wiping off the cookie displays and counters. (One thing about this place, it is always very clean.) She tells me she'll help me in a moment, at the other register. Fine. I go there and wait. She continues down the counter, slowly. I'm waiting. It's a really long counter. Finally she comes back. I order a Big Kid's meal, plus Apple Dippers and a bottle of water to go. How long should this take? Two, three minutes? Oh, you are so wrong.
No one in that restaurant moves faster than mosey. I'm serious. They don't walk, they wander. She wanders here, she wanders there. I'm not really sure if she's actually getting my food, or if she's just visiting various parts of the restaurant. After a couple of stops, she wanders back to tell me that they are out of the dipping sauce for the apples. Do I still want them? I shake my head, and plainly tell her, no, I don't want them, twice. She then starts putting my meal together. Then she finds that there is no water in the refrigerator. She sends back another employee to get water. He meanders to the back. I consider cancelling the water as I check the clock on the wall.
Finally, my meal is on the counter, but still no water. I check the clock again and consider walking out without the water, as the other employee has not reappeared, and the lead is now taking orders from other customers. Things are not getting better.
Aha! My water appears. I check the clock. Okay, I'm still good. I get my water and toss it in my shopping bag and go to grab my meal. The lead suddenly reappears with a small bag and tells me she is getting my Apple Dippers, then walks away. I blink, then think that, maybe, in his meanderings, the other employee stumbled on the dipping sauce. I wait. Just as I am about to hit the time limit, the lead reappears with the apples, bags them and tries to hand them to me. I tell her that I told her before that I didn't want them without the sauce. I'm wondering how hard it's going to be to get my money back, and maybe I should just go, when she just pops the drawer and hands me $1.30. I'm sure I was shorted the tax, but I don't care, I'm out of there.
Total time to get a Big Kid's meal, from the time I entered the restaurant until the time I walked out the door, with a full crew, no one in line, no one in the drive-thru: 11 minutes.
This is a regular thing with this McDonald's. It easily takes 10 minutes to get a meal. A single meal. Nothing special. No line in the restaurant. No line in drive-thru.
I walked in one morning just to get a bottle of milk. I was starving and wanted something to carry me for the bus trip. I stood at the counter (again, no one in line, full crew) while the leads/managers/whatever, stood and talked. I stood and watched the clock for three minutes while they ignored me completely. I finally walked out.
At this point, I'm ready to complain. It's a consistent pattern. The only reason that location can stay in business is because of their location.
</endwhinyrant>
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