Making a burger= Rocket science

[Miss Maple Leaf]

The McD's in my town used to be really bad about screwing up drive-thru orders. Whenever my family used the drive-thru we always had to check the bag before we pulled away, because 90% of the time the order was screwed up.

Nowadays, they seem to have gotten their act together, but we still check the bag before heading home, just in case. I guarantee that the one time we don't check is the time they'll start screwing up orders again.

Stuff like that is why I love Subway. Since the food is made right in front of the customer, on the off chance that the employee makes a mistake (like mishearing the ingredient request, for instance) it can be fixed right away, while the customer is still in line, rather than the customer not noticing the error until he's home.

[ThanosIsKing]

SRG: Helaa an' welcome ta Wendy's can I take ya ordah?!
Me: Can I get a bacon classic with-
SRG: Bacon classic's thatta combo?!
Me: Yes, but no-
SRG: Fries fer ya side?!
Me: Yes, and no-
SRG: What ta drink?!
Me: And no onion or tomato on the burger!
SRG: I got that what ta drink?!
Me: Dr Pepper.
SRG: Five sixta firs' winda!

Reminds me of this

[Solumina]

The McD's by work is awesome with hubby's very picky orders, but all of the ones closer to home have managed to frell things up in some really strange ways, though the Sonic and Wendy's have always by home have been better than the ones by work.

[EricKei]

OK, I'll bite. Did they seriously screw it up or just reverse the sizes, giving you a large frosty and small fries?

As I recall (I haven't been back to that one in a while)...Kiddy-size frosty and medium fry container which was only half-full of fries. Unfortunately, I didn't notice until it was too late, as I was in a rush. That is one thing that really grinds my gears, tho -- If I'm gonna get shorted on the fries, 90+% of the time it's Wendy's that does it.

Note that the definitions of the frosty sizes do seem to vary at random based on the location...I've been to some where the small frosty is the "smaller than small drink but bigger than a water cup" size (or even the next size down) and a large is the tallish skinny cup (small adult drink), and others where the tallish skinny cup is 'small' and the large is big enough to ensure an ice-cream headache for quite some time ^_^ Little or no difference in pricing.

The McD's in my town...

I actually hit mickey D's today, and I saw something that made me go -- They had a promo on the menu board for 20 nuggets, 5 bucks...and the upsell was "add 2 large drinks and 2 large fries" for as total of TWELVE dollars...I'm *fairly* sure they meant 40 nuggets plus the sides, but that's kinda an obvious mistake if so, and a royal screw if not (7 bucks for ~$5 retail worth of sides); the board gave no indication that this was the case, however. Even if the $12 thing reverts the 20 nugs to the non-promo price of $7.50 or so, that's still kinda of a raw deal x.x

it can be fixed right away, while the customer is still in line, rather than the customer not noticing the error until he's home.

Yes, but we all know there are plenty of SC's out there who WILL NOT PAY ATTENTION to their own food being made, resulting in wasted food and time for the remakes.

[Ironclad Alibi]

Reminds me of this

Reminded me of the SNL skit.

[notlovinit]

I actually hit mickey D's today, and I saw something that made me go -- They had a promo on the menu board for 20 nuggets, 5 bucks...and the upsell was "add 2 large drinks and 2 large fries" for as total of TWELVE dollars...I'm *fairly* sure they meant 40 nuggets plus the sides, but that's kinda an obvious mistake if so, and a royal screw if not (7 bucks for ~$5 retail worth of sides); the board gave no indication that this was the case, however. Even if the $12 thing reverts the 20 nugs to the non-promo price of $7.50 or so, that's still kinda of a raw deal x.x

I know all stores price things differently, but this should have been a national promo and at my store it is 20 nuggets for 4.99 or 20 nuggets (NOT 40) plus 2 large fries and 2 large drinks for 9.99.
Its a pretty good deal, because separately it would be:
20 nuggets 4.99 plus
large fry 1.99
large fry 1.99
large drink 1.79
large drink 1.79
which is 12.55 .. so even if they are charging 12 dollars it's not a bad deal.. it's not a GOOD deal, but they aren't ripping anyone off. And if you look at the fact that a 10 pc costs 3.79 it makes the deal even better.

Dang I'm glad I haven't had any customers thinking this deal meant 40 nuggets and complaining when they only got 20.

[EricKei]

Aye...but, at least in this market, ALL sizes of drinks have been $1 each a la carte for quite a long time now...Which makes it $10 worth of grub for $12 from my perspective ^^;> I know the price of a Large is *supposed* to be more like $1.79, I just haven't seen any store charge that price in ages. I think they're also doing the math assuming that the nugs are the normal price (closer to $7.something) for 20 of them, rather than 5.

[notlovinit]

Strange, in my area the price is 9.99 or 10.74 after tax. That owner must have high food cost or something is all I can think of.

[Alryk]

wtf? woowww.. i have no possible explanation for this

Here is an explanation...the people that work there don't give a shit about doing their jobs correctly! I went to a local McDonalds in town and ordered the 2 cheesburger meal thru the drive thru. When I looked in the bad before I drove away they gave me a chicken mcnugget meal. I had to get out of the car, go in, and exchange it.

[EricKei]

That owner must have high food cost or something is all I can think of.

Could very well be...But I think maybe he's just trying to take advantage of the heavy traffic in the area. It's at the intersection of the "feeder" road that goes into the big bridge across the lake & the highway that runs from the airport (and beyond) to the main part of the city. Nearby East/West: Baaaaad neighborhoods (which seems to be a prerequisite for having a 24-hour McD's around here; don't ask me why), North: Very NOT-bad neighborhood, South: Industrial complex bordering on baaaad neighborhoods. Consider that this state produces a hell of a lot of agricultural products, so it may not be the food cost. Robbery costs maybe, who knows. The rest of their pricing is normal.

[notlovinit]

Consider that this state produces a hell of a lot of agricultural products, so it may not be the food cost. Robbery costs maybe, who knows. The rest of their pricing is normal.

Well more power to him if he can trick people into paying more than they have to. Definitely wouldn't work at my store. I can barely get people to grasp the concept of having to pay sales tax here.

Food cost doesn't actually have much to do with the cost of the food as much as how much food gets wasted. The price of the food is put into the price the customer pays and then inflated ALOT. (but I'm sure everyone knows this) The food cost is how much food we are wasting or giving away or eating or whatever that doesn't get paid for by the customers. At least that's how my owner does it. That's the number we all get yelled at for.

[EricKei]

That's the number we all get yelled at for.

That's pretty much universal ^_^ When I was managing at "DaddyJim's", they ran food cost simply by "inventory levels the night before" minus "inventory levels tonight". Simple. That was compared to sales to see where we were for that night.

And yeah, you are right about significant gross profit...Just keep in mind that, even at a pizza joint of Mickey D's, labor typically munches away 50% or more of profit, once you include all the taxes and junk. Most businesses would kill for a net profit (meaning, overall income minus *every* conceivable expense) of over ten percent.

[notlovinit]

And yeah, you are right about significant gross profit...Just keep in mind that, even at a pizza joint of Mickey D's, labor typically munches away 50% or more of profit, once you include all the taxes and junk.

True. Labor is driving me crazy right now. I'm in charge right now while my store manager is on vacation and every day when I see someone clock out 5-10 minutes later than they were scheduled I want to cry.

[greensinestro]

Wasn't their slogan "Have it your way"? Or am I thinking of a different chain?

No, it's "Have it their way!" That's what happened here, it sounds like.

I have to admit though. The very less than common sense educated seem to work at these places these days. There are people right now who have no job, can't find one, and these are the people occupying them.

[EricKei]

update: I confirmed my price-gouging suspicion. Other Mickey D's not five minutes away will either have the nugs + 2 drinks + 2 sides special for NINE bucks instead of twelve, or not offer it on the menu at all. $9 isn't *too* bad, tho at the store I was it was for +2 mediums, not 2 large's.