Tips for the McDonald’s Customer, from Behind the Counter

Before I say anything, I should probably state that all of the comments in this blog post are the sole opinion of the blogger and do not reflect the corporation McDonald’s in any way, shape or form. That I know of anyway; I’m just one of the many McDonald’s workers on the front lines.

I’ve been working at McDonald’s going on 6 weeks now, and I have learned a lot of things about human nature that has encouraged me, but more likely than not, discouraged me. In that spirit, I hope to write a brief post with a few numbered tips for the average McDonald’s customer. Many of them are pretty common sense (but we all know how common common sense really is). Others however might have never occurred to most people. There are some tips that may only apply to me as a worker; I can’t say that I speak for other workers. But with those caveats, here I go. Also, they are in no particular order of importance.

1. Please use a polite voice when ordering. You may think that being rude doesn’t affect the workers; but it does. If you have a tone of voice like we’re stupid, we pick up on it and are probably more likely to get your order wrong just because we’re upset with you.

2. If I ask you a question, it’s because it’s important. I’m trying to make sure we make your order as accurate as possible; so it is worth your time to answer my question instead of getting angry that I’m asking it.

3. If you have a big diesel truck or some sort of vehicle that makes a lot of noise, please turn it off while ordering. You might not realize how loud it is for the person taking your order, and so plead ignorance on that case. But if there is any doubt at all, please go ahead and turn it off real quick. If the order taker is repeating your order incorrectly every time you get something, that may be a clue that they can’t hear you, they just might be too polite to tell you.

4. Please do not get angry at the McDonald’s workers for high prices or anything of that nature. It really is out of our control, and we can’t do anything about your complaints. Also, keep in mind, at least for my area, there may be different prices depending on which McDonald’s you go to. For instance, the McDonald’s I work at has fudge sundaes for 1.29, but the McDonald’s a town over has them for a dollar (remember, Oregon doesn’t have tax).

5. If you have a complicated order, please consider going inside. Really, you will probably save time by being able to explain face to face with an employee instead of trying to explain it to a box. There is a person in the box, but depending on how many people are staffed, the drive thru person might be responsible for not only taking your order, but also taking your money. That reminds me of my next point…

6. If we ask you to repeat something, it might not be because we are stupid and didn’t understand English the first time you said your order. A lot of times I go ahead and tell someone to order before taking someone’s money, because I can give change and plug in the order at the same time. But if the person who is giving me money has a question and needs to change their order, or just wants to complain or something, I may have to listen to them and miss your order while you’re rattling off in my ear. Please just have some ounce of understanding that I am doing the best I can to multi-task.

7. If you are going to order your sandwich special, state how you want it at the beginning. Don’t say, “I want 3 hamburgers.” And then wait a few seconds before stating, “Can you take off the pickles on only two of them?” This is a bad example, because that’s pretty easy, but just take my word for it, please state how you want to change them quickly and clearly.

8. But not too quickly either… if you’re rattling off an entire order, and you throw in some specialized sandwiches in the middle, it’s going to take me longer to make sure I get them the way you want them in the computer. Most McDonald’s have a screen that you can follow the order on. You may want to track with what I’m putting in, and pace yourself according to what’s on the screen.

9. Also, I realize this might be hard with big families or a lot of people in a vehicle, but if you can say the total amount of sandwiches you want, that is often helpful. I realize it is usually easier to go by what each person wants. If that’s how it has to be,  I definitely understand; however, if it is a case where you have two separate people who want the same sort of special sandwich, say a cheeseburger with no onions or pickles, it is more complicated for me, and if it’s more complicated, it will take me longer to ring it up. Let’s see if I can try and explain the process. So say Jim orders a cheeseburger with no onions or pickles. I hit “GRILL” then “Cheeseburger” then “no pickles, onions.” The end. But then if Jane also orders that same sandwich I would either have to hit “Cheeseburger” then “grill” then do the same thing. Most of the time I get flustered though and I forget that’s how I can do it, so I end up hitting “zero” for cheeseburgers, and then hitting “2 Cheeseburgers” then “Grill 2″ then do the no pickles, onions thing. It’s much easier to start off putting “Grill” “2 Cheeseburger” “No pickles, onions.” I don’t know if any of that make sense; if not, just take my word for it. Some of it might just be habit. I get in a habit, and if you don’t put your sandwiches together, it cramps up my habit for how I ring up the order. Which again, means the more time it takes me, and possibly the more chance i’ll get your order wrong.

10. Changing your mind results in the same problem as above. If you originally wanted a cheeseburger with only ketchup, but then after I plug it in you decide, oh wait, you want pickles too, that’s complicated. Especially if the cheeseburger is the only thing you wanted. I can’t make an order zero, so I just have to plug something random in while I delete the original sandwich order and start over, then I have to go back and delete the sandwich i plugged in that you didn’t want.

11. If there is a big line behind you, please do not take a long time ordering. Or let me rephrase: take as little time as possible. While you’re in line, why don’t you try and figure out what everyone wants? Often times you can see parts of the menu, or you’ve probably seen enough commercials to at least guess. If you come up to the thing and you haven’t considered what you want at all, and there’s a whole line behind you, that makes people impatient, and usually they take it out on me, so please be courteous to them, and by extension, to me.

12. I’ve mostly just talked about ordering food items so far, but what about when you come to the window? These are kind of random preference things, but I’d prefer if you didn’t give me a$100 bill at 7 in the morning. Or $50 for that matter.

13. Also, keep in mind that the money you give me I’m going to have to give to someone else. I guess I understand it’s McDonald’s, we’re not that fancy of a restaurant, so we are the first on your list for getting rid of your raggedy bills. But I always feel bad when I have to give someone beat up money because that’s what I have in my drawer. Not a big deal, but something you might want to be aware of.

14. Oh I forgot to mention, there are those who speak really quiet in the speaker. Please don’t. We can’t hear you. You don’t always have to yell, but if you’re talking as if you’re telling someone a secret in a crowded room– don’t.

15. And in that line of thinking, when I first say, “Hi, Welcome to McDonald’s, can I take your order?” Or something of that nature, please at least acknowledge that you heard me. This is probably just a preference thing, but if you just sit there, maybe because you’re still deciding or whatever, it’s fine that you need more time to decide, but why don’t you tell me that? Otherwise, I get worried that maybe my headset messed up and you didn’t hear me, and then I end up repeating myself and feeling foolish. Also, you might get mad if I repeat myself after I already said I could take your order, but it’s not because I’m trying to rush you, I’m just not sure if you heard me.

16. Cell phones don’t bug me too much, but I know some McDonald’s have signs saying please don’t use them in the drivethru. What really upsets me actually is when people are having domestic disputes in their car as if I’m not there. It doesn’t happen too often, but it is awkward, whether I can hear them through the intercom or outside the drivethru window.

17. Another thing: Cigarettes. I get it if you want to fill your car up with cigarette smoke; that’s your right. But please don’t sit there and smoke while you’re in the drive thru if you can help it. I had one guy I had to take his money from him and give it back to a hand that held a cigarette. That just bothers me. It just seemed a little rude, is all.

18. This one doesn’t happen too often, but if you do want me to break a bill for you, don’t want till I’ve given you your change, tell me right away. That way I can do it while the drawer is still open. If you wait till I give your change back, I have to go get a manager’s code to open the drawer again.

19. Flirting. Easy. Don’t do it. Okay, it might be funny, in a creepy sort of way… but I’d really prefer if you didn’t wink at me, or stare at me funny. Common courtesy and respect apply; just because I’m wearing a uniform doesn’t mean I’m not a person just like you, with thoughts and hopes and feelings. And a boyfriend.

20. Just a common rule of thumb; if it’s a bigger McDonald’s there will be at least two windows, and the first one will be the money and where we originally took your order. I can change your order until I plug in the money you gave me and get the cash register to open, so take advantage of that. If you want things like jam, syrup, ketchup, dipping sauce, etc. just ask at the last window.

Well, 20 seems like a relatively round number. Sorry some of them are kind of long… maybe I’ll go back and condense this at some point, leaving only the most important stuff. But for now, please don’t eat too much McDonald’s… but if you do come thru, and I happen to be working… these are some good rules of thumb.