1. Explanation of how Drive-Thru Works
I think that a lot of people don't understand the Drive-Thru. First off... When you come up to the window, we get a little beep in our headset, then it goes off and we can hear through the speaker. So, if you sit there and go "Hello?" "Hello!?!" Guess what, we hear you. And guess what else, we *ignore* you because a)we hate impatient people(see #4) that do that and b) we are probably laughing at your ignorance. We time our taking of your order so that it is the most convenient for us. If it is convenient for us, that means you will get served faster. So just be patient. Another thing about Drive-Thru that pretty much no one knows is that we are timed. If you go inside and look at the little monitor you'll notice little numbers under the orders. They are called TTL's. McFunFact!: TTL stands for Total Time in Line. Anyway, our performance (as a resturaunt) is rated by these TTL's. There are 2 numbers for each order. The first number starts counting after the order has been taken. The second number starts counting after you pull up to the window and we bring your order up on our register. The first number starts as soon as we punch in the first thing you order. So, if you sit there and go... "I want a number 5... and um.... um... hey, whatchu want?... a...a number 4." or "I want a number six and a number 7. How much dat is? Good Lawd dat's a lotta money... take that off. Just gimme 2 apple pies." then our TTL's go way up AND we get a big line of cars behind you because you are taking so long at the speaker.
For the duration of this page, after I explain any situation that causes our TTL's to go up I'll just put "TTL's!" so I don't have to write "and this makes our TTL's go up... ya da ya da" every time.
2. Digging around for change
Pertaining to the second TTL, don't sit at the window and dig through your car for a buttload of change. Either a) deal with it and hand us bills and get change back b) have your change ready before you get to the window (that's the whole reason we tell you the total before you drive around) or c) come inside. There's also a whole different group of people involved here. The people who don't have enough money to pay for their food. In most cases, you can't buy anything if you don't have money. So, make sure you have money before you order something.
3. Big Orders/Multi-orders
If you have a *huge* order ($20 and up) you should probably come inside. Otherwise, we're gonna be waiting on your fries to cook and for the grill people to cook all your food and you are going to back up our drive thru. (TTL's!) It's much easier on us if you come inside. Along with this, don't make more than one order per car. If you aren't good enough friends with whoever is in the car with you to pick up their tab once and let them pick yours up later, then why are you eating with them? People that make two orders in the same car just complicate things beyond imagining. And also, the TTLs skyrocket ever more than usual when people do this because the first order is counting off while they are still making their second order. The people that make these kinds of orders are usually the people that don't know what they want in the first place. They take forever deciding what they want and then they have to wait for their friend to figure out what he wants. It takes forever. We hate you. Stop. Now. McFunFact!: These people are the bane of my existence.
4. Be Patient
First off, a lot of times, if we screw up your order, or ask you to repeat something a couple of times, it's not our fault. A lot of times it's really noisy inside the restaraunt. Sometimes someone is talking to you while you are trying to take an order, asking what kind of drink to make, pouring ice into the bin or yelling stuff to the people in the back that are cooking. So, just be patient if you want us to get your order right. Also, half the time people are so anxious to get their order taken when all they are going to do is drive up 5 feet and wait some more. What's the difference between waiting at the speaker and waiting in the line a little bit farther up? Nothing. So just be patient.
5. Don't ask for napkins
Drive-Thru always puts napkins in the bag. We will ask you for salt or ketchup if you have fries. If you mention that you want some before we ask you, we might forget and ask you anyway. So just wait and let us ask, or be prepared to be asked twice. Sometimes we even ask twice on our own, we don't even need your help! :) McFunFact!: we are instructed to give you one napkin for every item you order. So if you get a combo, you get 3 napkins: coke, fries, sandwich.
6. Sauces/Water
If you want any extra sauce(or just sauce if you don't have nuggets) or water, ask for it at the speaker. Most of the time, people happen to mention that they want some sauce *after* we've taken their money and their order is off our register. Well, then, in order to charge for a sauce, we have to hit [Insert Order] [Sauce], Then... they get to fumble around for a dime. Meanwhile... TTL's! So, sometimes we just hand out free sauce to keep TTL's down. Water is the same way, only it's worse. The sauces we can grab, the water we have to go make and fixing water is worse than making a regular drink. That's because the water comes out of the Hi-C Orange nozzle. We have to hold down the button for that. We can't just press it and let it run like we can with everything else. Because it comes out of the Orange nozzle, sometimes it's a little orange-tinted. We have to sit there and let it run for 5-10 seconds to get the orange out. Pretty annoying. Sometimes, you get water :) Because we don't like people that do this to us.
It was brought to my attention that in the above paragraph I express the principle of "do it the right way and pay for it, do it the wrong way and it's free" about the sauces. I don't really mean for it to be that way, but I can't really avoid that so all I can say is: it's 10 cents, it won't hurt you. Be honest and pay instead of weaseling out of it.
7.Pull up to the window
For whatever reason, we get geniuses who park like 4 feet from the window. They make it a chore for us because we have to lean way out of the window to hand them money, food, and drinks. It doesn't take much effort to get close to the window. If you are going through the *Drive*-Thru, you should know how to *drive*...
8.Fix your frickin window!
The shear stupidity of these people amazes me. You would not believe how many people that come through Drive-Thru have broken windows. These people cause many problems. Example: *headset beeps* "Welcome to McD's..." ... *silence*... "Welcome to McD's...." "Yeah, I need a..." See... their door was still closed the first time. Pretty annoying. Or... this happens: "Welcome to McD's..." ..... "Welcome to McD's....." ..... "Hello!?!?! Hello!?!?!?!" In that case, they just sound like complete idiots. Plus, they sound mad because you haven't taken their order, even if they aren't. Then, once they get around to the window it gets even worse. First off, they can't succeed in pulling close to the window because they need room to open their door. If it wouldn't be hard enough to get them money, food, and drink, we now have to hand things *around* the door of their car. Since they are the geniuses they are, they park farther back than they should. I'll give a few credit, they pull up where the back of their door is at the front of our window so we don't have to reach around. The rest usually don't. If your window is broken, Come Inside!!! Wow... what a concept! It makes it easier on us, and a lot easier on you too. I don't understand why they want to make it hard on themselves too...
9.Don't look for change on the ground
This goes with number 2, but there are some specific things to be said about this one. First off, it makes you look real smart... looking for change on the ground at McDonald's. Second, you mess up number 7 because you need room to open your door... and it takes time. (TTL's!)
10. Cell Phones
First off, talking on a cell phone while driving isn't the safest thing, but when you get to McDonald's, it's just annoying. How hard is it to say... "Hey, I'm going through McDonald's, I'll call you back in a minute."? I mean, really, you can do without conversation for a few minutes in order to help us out. At the speaker... *Beep* "Welcome to..." "Hey, can you hold on... I'm at McDonald's" then they have to decide what they want because they haven't thought about it... they've been busy chatting. Then they finally order. Then, they get to the window. "Your total is $3.28" "Hey, hold on I'm at the window" "What was that?" "$3.28" then they dig for their money, which they didn't get while they were waiting in line because they were chatting. We take the money. They immediately resume the conversation. Then... "Would you like any salt or ketchup" "I'm sorry, what was that?" "Salt or ketchup?" "Uh... sure" Ok, yes that was an exaggerated case, but at least part of that case happens each time. And don't forget... TTL's!!!
11. Reading back the order
Sometimes when people order their food, we read it back to them to make sure we have everything. Usually we only do this when we aren't sure if we got everything. So, don't ask us to read your order back to you. If we don't read it back, then we have it right already. (TTL's). Now, some people we read the order back to and they say "Yes." Then they get to the window and go "I had a large coffee on that too" Well why did I waste my time reading it back to you? Did you listen to me? Guess not, you must not want your order right. Looks like this is hmm.. maybe... gee... I don't know... *your* fault... yep I'd have to say so. I read back your whole frickin order to make sure it was right. If it wasn't, you should have told me then... not now. McFunFact!: Ignorance (of others) is not bliss (for us).
12. Adding on at the window
Usually by the time you get around to the window, we have your entire order done and ready and sitting there, waiting to be handed out. "Oh... and can I add a Oreo McFlurry to that order?" NO. What gets me most is they always do it when there are 5 cars in line behind them. You guessed it... the TTL's A lot of the time, we have to walk all the way somewhere else to get something to add to your bag. Time we could spend making drinks for the next car, etc. Order *everything* you want at the window. (#6)
13. Radio
The radio usually isn't a problem. But, we do have the occasional rice boy who wants to "show off" his system. (3/4 of the people that do this have crappy systems so it's pointless) This is for a select few. Writing this doesn't help though. They know they're being jerks, they're doing it on purpose.
14. Noisy cars
If your car is really noisy, (diesel truck or just plain old jalopy) then either turn it off or come inside. It's really hard to hear over and then your order gets messed up and naturally it's OUR fault. However, in reality, it's not. Plus, a lot of times these cars smoke. The fumes come inside the resturaunt. Generally, people don't like car fumes near their food. So, we have to keep our window closed, and only open it for a few seconds at a time. Plus, we're choking on your fumes as well. Be polite, and come inside.
15. If you don't know what's on the menu or what you want, come inside.
Drive thru usually stays pretty busy. We hate this: "Welcome to..." "Yeah... hold on just a second" (into headset)--> "Ok, order when you are ready" (with headset off)--> "I hate you!" So, while you are sitting there deciding what you want, cars are coming in behind you. Also, people who come sit at the window and go "What do you want?" talking to someone in the back seat. Parents finding out about what kind of Happy Meal, what kind of sauce, what on his hamburger, etc. takes an especially long time. Find out before you come through the Drive-Thru or come inside and look at the menu. The Drive-Thru works a lot better for us if we can just take your order and move on. People that don't know what they want cause problems because other cars pile up behind them while we are waiting for them to decide what they want. When cars pile up like that, we have to spend our time taking their orders when we could be serving your food. It's very annoying, please stop.
16. Driving off
I think this is probably pretty much pertaining to only our McDonald's. We can't see our speaker from our window. It's on the other side of the building, along with an exit. So, some real cool cats think it's fun to come through, order, then drive off. There are also the kids who ride down "The Strip" for hours at a time listening to their "awesome" systems. They're all white redneck boys that listen to rap. Makes sense? Nope. They are also the kids that hang out in our parking lot on Friday and Saturday nights. What is so appealing about hanging out in the McD's parking lot? NOTHING! Go somewhere else. I mean, there's got to be somewhere to hang out where you actually have something to do besides sit there or drive through the Drive-Thru and then drive off to annoy us.
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