McDonalds Customer Service Is “Broken”, Exec Says; Complaints Rise, Sales Fall For Fast Food Company
Most people don't go to McDonald's expecting royal treatment - in fact, customer service there is notoriously lackluster. An inernal survey found that one in five customer complaints were related to customer service, and the number is constantly increasing.
The McDonald's customer service report was meant to be an internal webcast for franchise owners only, but someone spilled the beans. Steve Levigne, vice president of business research for McDonald's USA, admonished his subordinates, saying their "service is broken" - quite a statement for an exec to make.
No word on who leaked the video, but McDonald's responded by telling MSNBC that they know their customer service is a true problem and they're working on improving it by implementing various solutions.
One solution is a "dual-point" ordering system, in which a customer orders at one end of the counter, gets a receipt, then picks up their food at the other end of the counter when the number on the receipt flashes on a screen. This system is currently being phased in across the United States.
The company has also created a new position of "runner", who hands out supplies such as napkins, sauce packets, and ketchup. This frees up time for order-taking for cashiers and reduces confusion - a big chunk of the grievances regard customers finding the process of ordering "chaotic"; speed of service complaints have also increased significantly over the past six months.
Another major criticism is that staff are often seen as "rude" or "unprofessional". The notoriously high-stress, low-paying job isn't exactly good at retaining its staff. McDonald's has not said it will make changes like, oh, pay employees better or offer benefits, but warned of increased disciplinary action.
An employee agreed that disgruntled workers are an issue, telling the Wall Street Journal "Let's say I'm in front at the register and the grill's not pushing out food quickly enough. So you have to wait on food, and the customer is getting aggravated at you because you're not giving them the food quick enough, and the grill gets aggravated with the cashier because we're asking where the food is."
McDonald's faced a firestorm recently over a recent ad campaign which compares the desire for a Big Mac to mental illness. It appeared on the Boston transit system and was quickly pulled. The featured a despondent-looking, starkly-lit woman covering her face with her hands next to the slogan: "You're Not Alone." Smaller copy underneath read "Millions of people love the Big Mac.", providing a 1-800 number that connects to a McDonald's customer helpline.
Watchdogs and mental health advocates felt it was mockingly close to ads offering treatment for depression. They argued that it may increase stigma and harmful stereotypes of depression or other mental illnesses. McDonald's apologized and pulled the ad.