I attempted to place this very particular order twice. The first time I was unsuccessful and the second time I completed the task perfectly. Considering this is a management class, you might assume that the first time I dealt with an surly employee, got frustrated and walked out. If you follow this line of thought, you may assume that the second time I dealt with a confused employee, who was helped by a benevolent coworker or an eagle eyed manager- therefore enabling me to receive my particular order. However, if you followed this logical line of reasoning- you would be wrong.
The first time I attempted to complete this project was in New Jersey. I was en route to the Poconos, had to use to the restroom and my travel companions were hungry. Considering we were driving along the middle of nowhere (aka I-80), McDonald’s was our only place to stop. When I entered the establishment, I noticed a sign promoting birthday parties at this location. The sign encouraged you to ask any yellow shirted employee about this offer. Although I can’t claim to have any interest in a McDonald’s birthday party (being a life long vegetarian), the sign was useful in the sense that I learned yellow shirt equals manager. So I wait on line patiently with my travel companions, and I hear a woman’s voice saying “Next!”. So I walk to the open register and what do I find? A yellow shirted employee is about to take my order! I get an actual manager right from the start! I breathe a sigh of relief, as I believe my extra credit dreams are surely about to come true. However, I counted my Big Macs too soon. I exchange salutations with my yellow shirted yeoman. I dictate my order very precisely. I request that my order be reflected exactly as prescribed on my receipt. I am told that this cannot be done. Her issue seemed to be with the pickles, as I had not even had the opportunity to request the fries. I tell her it is very important to me to have my order accurately portrayed, as I am rather finicky regarding my food. She says I can give you the pickles, but I can’t put it on the receipt. My “picky” ploy didn’t work, and I beseeched her to please find a way to put in on my receipt. She simply told me it could not be done. Now, I wasn’t explained this in a gentle and regretful tone, but rather harshly. I finally gave up, because if the manager could not find a way to accommodate my request, the deal was off. She never consulted with another employee, or checked the computer to make sure. She just told me “No”. I left the establishment loathing New Jersey even more than I had before, which is quite a feat.
Fast forward to Sunday night: McDonald’s in Melville, NY. I approach the employee at the register. I tell him my particular order. I ask that it be precisely printed on my receipt. He informs me that he cannot put “5 pickles” but he can put “extra pickles” 5 times. I appreciate his ingenuity, and accept his offer. I receive a burger with exactly 5 pickles, fries that were exceptionally well done (with the crunchy taste to go along), and a substantial serving of big Mac sauce. I also received a receipt reflecting my order exactly. The employee even gave me an extra bag for my sauce, because they ran out of proper containers, and he didn’t want it to to spill on my napkins or burger. I thanked Nigel for his extraordinary patience and wished him a good night.
I have two unique experiences to share. One was directly with a manager, and my plan was completely ruined. The second experience included no managerial interference or any other employee influence- and my order was flawlessly executed. I think this is living proof that having a certain title does not make a leader. My experience was all around much superior with my lowly employee than with the person running the burger joint. Even though the dining establishment was not incredibly sophisticated, the employee was able to meet my elevated expectations and peculiar requests. Nigel seemed genuinely concerned with completing my order exactly as I had requested.
I felt inconsiderate inconveniencing other customers with my somewhat extended ordering process. I do truly believe that fast food restaurants should be just that- fast. I think that people go there expecting rapid service and tasty food. I don’t think it is justifiable for us to expect accommodation in the extreme at this sort of establishment. If you insist on individually editing each item of your order- go to a restaurant selected from the Michelin Guide, not McDonald’s. However, even though we should have lower expectations food wise from a fast food restaurant- McDonald’s itself should pride itself on its friendly and efficient customer service. My order was not so ridiculous that the manager from the NJ location could not have figured out how to accommodate me. Even if she could not have figured it out, she could and should have consulted with one of her colleagues- to figure out a solution or at least a compromise for her customer.
Understandably so, McDonald’s is not the ideal place to custom configure an order. However, it may be helpful to have a system where the employee can enter notes to be put on the order, instead of just pressing certain buttons for pickles or sauce. McDonald’s is an American founded and internationally operated corporation. They have sufficient capital and resources to implement more thorough training for its employees. Even though this sort of business may not require intensive training for its lower ranked employees, they can definitely invest in better training for managers. It may not require much experience to flip a burger or instruct someone to do so- but the customer experience should be valued. The manager should have possessed better people skills or at least the willingness to satisfy a customer’s completely realistic expectation. Training should not only include technical aspects of the job, but also teach resourcefulness and customer service skills.
I learned three things from my extra credit experience. I learned that McDonald’s is not as efficiently designed organization as it should be. I would expect that after a billion burgers, they may have encountered some picky customers who would inspire a more effective ordering process. I affirmed my knowledge that even employees as the lowest level can be more resourceful, ingenious, and leadership oriented than their superiors. Finally, I learned that big Mac sauce is a delicious condiment that I have been missing all my vegetarian life.
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