I'm not lovin' it

I got horrendous service, if one can call it that, at McDonalds Compass Point today. Terrible is the word that comes to mind as I recall the encounter. I headed to McDonalds for a takeaway meal at around 6.30pm. There wasn't a queue, just a man in front of me who wasn't ordering but waiting for his order to be served. There were ample waiters/waitresses (cashiers?) around so I thought I was guaranteed to a really fast buy.

But wait, when the guy in front of me had gotten his order, I stepped up to the counter, ready to give my order. Well, nobody bothered a look at me. I began to think I was in a closed counter and debated whether I should switch queue. I persisted, and finally, a cashier asked to take my order. I told her that it was a takeaway order, she duly keyed in my order, then put the receipt on a serving tray, which she then pushed to one side. I was left to guess if I should stand aside and wait for the order to be deposited on that tray. Yes, that seems to be what I was supposed to do. The waitress just assumed I could read her mind.  Ah well...

Some others (I'll refer to them as boys) took over the 'delivery' (yes, one was handling the burger and another the drink). I suppose because of the tray, the boy putting together the order together assumed that it was an eat-in order. I corrected him, and he turned to the cashier for confirmation. The cashier had to ask me again if it was a takeaway. I couldn't blame her for forgetting. She was already serving the next customer and probably had erased me and my order from her mind. So ok, the boy (he was really just a boy, probably a student doing this for extra pocket money) transferred my order, which included fries, to a plastic bag, and in the process, spilled a couple of fries onto the table. He didn't bother to replace them, nor apologise. He left the bag on the table for me to collect. Ditto the other boy who gave me the drink - collect it yourself, their body language seem to be saying.

Needless to say, this is no way to treat a customer. McDonald has been pretty innovative in the past year or so, experimenting with different ways to improve the process. An example was the hand-held ordering while people waited in a queue. But today, I really got the raw end of the deal. Is this a new innovation? If it is, it has left a bitter taste in my mouth.

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