McDonald's Special Service Experience

Usually, when an individual enters McDonalds, he or she looks at the menu, places an order, and then waits for the food to be served.  When the words “I have a special order” came out of my mouth, the cashier serving me had a change in expression.  She was a somewhat elderly woman who was in her 50’s.  Once I placed the first order, which was the hamburger with five pickles, she denied my request.  She said it was impossible to print this on the receipt, and that this would be impossible in all McDonalds.  Though her answer seemed reliable, I knew that I had to check with the manager, because the manager knows the most about the cashiers, and how everything in the store should be run.  I requested that I spoke to the manager, and thus restarted my order.

            Once the manager came, I stated that I wanted a special sandwich.  She responded that she was ready for my order, so I made the hamburger order with five pickles.  When she said it was impossible to print a receipt that stated 5 pickles, I thought that this would be the end of the journey.  She then responded that there was another approach to this.  There was a button that said “Add 1 pickle” and she said that she could press this five times, thus revealing that the sandwich had five pickles.  I went on to the fries.  Again, the manager provided an alternate solution to my request, and stated that the best she could do was to print “sauce”, instead of Big Mac sauce, because that was the only sauce button available.  The “well” option for the fries was possible, so that portion was complete.  During all of this, the manager was very patient with me, and made sure my request was completed.  The original cashier moved on to another cashier, and filled in other people’s orders.  Finally, after waiting a bit, the food was brought to me.  I checked the sandwich and fries, and all of the items that I requested was there.

            For the organization portion of the management process, I would say that this particular McDonalds was set up to handle this situation.  The manager was needed in order for this special request to be fulfilled, but it didn’t take long for her to appear, and to complete my request.  This shows how the manager is on point, and ready to take orders, or handle any situations that a regular employee could not handle.  If there were two or more people with special requests, however, this McDonald would start to face an obstacle.  Only the manager was able to fulfill this request.  I placed this order at 11:23 PM, and only one manager was on duty, so this would hold up the store’s business.  To better accommodate orders like these, this McDonalds should have more trained employees ready to respond to such a request.

            For the communications portion, I again believe communications was effective.  The manager was called out quickly, and she appeared within a few minutes.  Once she appeared, her attitude was very positive and encouraging, showing how she respects the customers and makes sure the customer is satisfied.  When I had a request, and it wasn’t possible, she made sure that there was an alternate solution to what I wanted, so that everything would be achieved.  I did take somewhat of a long time to order everything, but since there were two lines, and it wasn’t too late, I didn’t hinder business for that McDonalds.  For more improvements, the employee should respond more quickly, instead of trying to complete the task herself.  If she knew that it was impossible, she should move on and ask the manager.

            For the training aspect of the management process, the employees were not properly trained in all aspects.  One region where the employee was weak was the serving part.  The manager pressed a few buttons, and knew where each of the special things were.  The employee was not aware that such buttons were even available.  The next part is that if the employee knows that the order that is being made is impossible for her to make, she should quickly contact the manager, and make sure the order is completed so more people can be fulfilled.  The third aspect where the employee should improve is the attitude towards the customer.  For this employee, a sign of daze shows no confidence in the field she’s in, and that she is not professional enough to complete such a task.

            For the leadership process, the manager obviously showed leadership, which is what the manager should do.  She took control of the situation, and eventually helped me complete my task.  She redirected other employees to other stations, making sure that other customers are satisfied.  Leadership is necessary to work in McDonalds, because when one employee is struggling with an order, or with a customer, another should take charge, solve the problem, and move on in order to control the flow of business.  A tip for the manager of this McDonalds is to direct people.  For example, the lady serving me should instead be completing the tasks, such as making a smoothie, or packing each order, instead of taking orders.  Also, the manager should make sure the cashiers are ready and able to use the register to the full potential, incase more of these special orders are made.

            Overall, I was surprised that this order was actually completed, even though it was not exactly how it should be.  The manager, who at first seemed like she was annoyed with her job, actually did her job, which was customer satisfaction.  She made sure that my order would be completed.  She did laugh when I made this order, but this did not interfere with her completing her job.  I would rate this McDonalds a good one to visit, especially if you want something special, because the manager is able to complete what you want.  I do caution that only this specific manager probably is able to do this, and that her shifts are late at night, so you may not get your order completely.