Mcdonalds new ordering system
Discussion
Alex L said:
This thread has made interesting reading as a McDonald’s employee of over 10 years. It seems that the general consensus is pretty positive.
To answer the above, we aren’t reducing the number of employees per resutaurant and on average each drive thru has between 65 and 100 employees. The new ordering system and table service option just means staff undertake different duties and in theory should spend more time at front of house.
I used the machines earlier in the week (motorway services) and I liked it.To answer the above, we aren’t reducing the number of employees per resutaurant and on average each drive thru has between 65 and 100 employees. The new ordering system and table service option just means staff undertake different duties and in theory should spend more time at front of house.
I guess the advantages to McDs are that they can use staff more efficiently, and I imagine that the new method fits in nicely with home delivery services - because the orders can funnel through the same computer system and simply be collected by an UberEats person rather than an actual customer. I also imagine that less customer interaction means fewer unpleasant people to deal with, which is a major reason for turnover of staff at McDs (I used to do it including being front of house, and let me tell you - forget all the jibes about McJobs - it is one of the hardest jobs I have done, and certainly the most educational).
For me as a customer the biggest advantage is going to be efficiency. Hopefully you will no longer get people holding up the queue while they
- Try and decide what they want
- Confer with their party of 10 by shouting across the restaurant
- Talk on their phone instead of listening to the cashier
- Try and find their voucher, which they have only just realised they might need
- Try and find a means of payment, having only just realised that they might need some money
- Argue with the cashier while their order is being assembled
- Change their mind halfway through their order being prepared
- Refuse to move out of the way to let someone else be served while their order is being prepared (they insist on staying put until they get their food)
As the OP , has been an interesting read. As said i only go to mcd once a month so not a massive deal. If i need a burger and fries i now mainly go to gbk . Very nice and with the app a fair amount of free food.
The 1 thing i miss from mcd from when i was a regular , when i worked opposite the one in charing cross,was the big breakfast bun.that was lovely.bring it back!
The 1 thing i miss from mcd from when i was a regular , when i worked opposite the one in charing cross,was the big breakfast bun.that was lovely.bring it back!
AmitG said:
I used the machines earlier in the week (motorway services) and I liked it.
I guess the advantages to McDs are that they can use staff more efficiently, and I imagine that the new method fits in nicely with home delivery services - because the orders can funnel through the same computer system and simply be collected by an UberEats person rather than an actual customer. I also imagine that less customer interaction means fewer unpleasant people to deal with, which is a major reason for turnover of staff at McDs (I used to do it including being front of house, and let me tell you - forget all the jibes about McJobs - it is one of the hardest jobs I have done, and certainly the most educational).
For me as a customer the biggest advantage is going to be efficiency. Hopefully you will no longer get people holding up the queue while they
Exactly, all of those reasons and people tend to order more from the self order points. It also works well with table service, where you order, choose a zone and then your food is brought to your table.I guess the advantages to McDs are that they can use staff more efficiently, and I imagine that the new method fits in nicely with home delivery services - because the orders can funnel through the same computer system and simply be collected by an UberEats person rather than an actual customer. I also imagine that less customer interaction means fewer unpleasant people to deal with, which is a major reason for turnover of staff at McDs (I used to do it including being front of house, and let me tell you - forget all the jibes about McJobs - it is one of the hardest jobs I have done, and certainly the most educational).
For me as a customer the biggest advantage is going to be efficiency. Hopefully you will no longer get people holding up the queue while they
- Try and decide what they want
- Confer with their party of 10 by shouting across the restaurant
- Talk on their phone instead of listening to the cashier
- Try and find their voucher, which they have only just realised they might need
- Try and find a means of payment, having only just realised that they might need some money
- Argue with the cashier while their order is being assembled
- Change their mind halfway through their order being prepared
- Refuse to move out of the way to let someone else be served while their order is being prepared (they insist on staying put until they get their food)
All head office staff have to work in a restaurant for a week when they start - it was hard work and remarkable how rude and unpleasantly some customers treat you.
davidc1 said:
As the OP , has been an interesting read. As said i only go to mcd once a month so not a massive deal. If i need a burger and fries i now mainly go to gbk . Very nice and with the app a fair amount of free food.
The 1 thing i miss from mcd from when i was a regular , when i worked opposite the one in charing cross,was the big breakfast bun.that was lovely.bring it back!
We’re a slightly different price point from GBK and I’d like to think your food arrives much quicker. Clearly apart from the order you described in the OP, where something obviously went wrong - next time speak to a manager.The 1 thing i miss from mcd from when i was a regular , when i worked opposite the one in charing cross,was the big breakfast bun.that was lovely.bring it back!
I was at one of the ones near where I work today, oh dear, it just has not taken off at all. They must have had it a year now and still there were 2 people using it and 12 people queuing for the one person till, the area was just packed with people waiting for food or to order.
It is to cut down staff, there can be no other viable explanation.
It is to cut down staff, there can be no other viable explanation.
Evoluzione said:
I was at one of the ones near where I work today, oh dear, it just has not taken off at all. They must have had it a year now and still there were 2 people using it and 12 people queuing for the one person till, the area was just packed with people waiting for food or to order.
It is to cut down staff, there can be no other viable explanation.
That’s certainly in the minority of the estate then and means there aren’t sufficient people front of house to show customers how to use the order points or everyone likes to pay cash where you workIt is to cut down staff, there can be no other viable explanation.
The Spruce goose said:
Alex L as you work for the golden arches can you address the points raised in the thread.
Is using the terminal akin to licking a fat women's backside because that is the impression I got, due to unhygienic nature.
Luckily we regularly win the toilet of the year award, so customers can feel free to check out the facilities between ordering and eating Is using the terminal akin to licking a fat women's backside because that is the impression I got, due to unhygienic nature.
Dont use Mc donalds that often but called in today for breakfast and tobe honest i found the new system to be realy good in my local in bramley. loved the fact i can customise the food to my liking and it came correct unlike when i used to try with the staff at the counter. 99.9 percent wrong before. now it was 100 percent correct and being cooked to order was hot and fresh. only thing i would say about mc d's is easy on the salt for fries. how about knocking the salting on the head and offering satchets. we dont all like oversalted chips. i usualy have to ask for em unsalted , at least that means i get fresh hot chips though 
Alex L - do you foresee a time when McDs customers have to use the machines? i.e. there is no other way of ordering. Is that the plan?
I imagine that if the machines could take cash, they could get there pretty quickly. Not everyone has a working bank card, e.g. children would still need to pay in cash.
I think it's like the self service tills at supermarkets. At first nobody used them. Then people started to realise that for certain straightforward transactions it was quicker than waiting in a long queue to be served by a person. At the same time the machines got better (e.g. they started taking cash and allowing you to use your own bags, and stopped going on about unexpected items in the bagging area) and now there are supermarkets near me where there is no cashier at all except the one that does tobacco and stuff, it's all self checkout.
I imagine that if the machines could take cash, they could get there pretty quickly. Not everyone has a working bank card, e.g. children would still need to pay in cash.
I think it's like the self service tills at supermarkets. At first nobody used them. Then people started to realise that for certain straightforward transactions it was quicker than waiting in a long queue to be served by a person. At the same time the machines got better (e.g. they started taking cash and allowing you to use your own bags, and stopped going on about unexpected items in the bagging area) and now there are supermarkets near me where there is no cashier at all except the one that does tobacco and stuff, it's all self checkout.
Alex L said:
davidc1 said:
As the OP , has been an interesting read. As said i only go to mcd once a month so not a massive deal. If i need a burger and fries i now mainly go to gbk . Very nice and with the app a fair amount of free food.
The 1 thing i miss from mcd from when i was a regular , when i worked opposite the one in charing cross,was the big breakfast bun.that was lovely.bring it back!
We’re a slightly different price point from GBK and I’d like to think your food arrives much quicker. Clearly apart from the order you described in the OP, where something obviously went wrong - next time speak to a manager.The 1 thing i miss from mcd from when i was a regular , when i worked opposite the one in charing cross,was the big breakfast bun.that was lovely.bring it back!
AmitG said:
Alex L - do you foresee a time when McDs customers have to use the machines? i.e. there is no other way of ordering. Is that the plan?
I imagine that if the machines could take cash, they could get there pretty quickly. Not everyone has a working bank card, e.g. children would still need to pay in cash.
I think it's like the self service tills at supermarkets. At first nobody used them. Then people started to realise that for certain straightforward transactions it was quicker than waiting in a long queue to be served by a person. At the same time the machines got better (e.g. they started taking cash and allowing you to use your own bags, and stopped going on about unexpected items in the bagging area) and now there are supermarkets near me where there is no cashier at all except the one that does tobacco and stuff, it's all self checkout.
To be honest the operation side of our business isn’t my forté but I don’t foresee us going fully self service. I do know of some other new initiatives that we’ll be rolling out to make ordering easier and more convenient.I imagine that if the machines could take cash, they could get there pretty quickly. Not everyone has a working bank card, e.g. children would still need to pay in cash.
I think it's like the self service tills at supermarkets. At first nobody used them. Then people started to realise that for certain straightforward transactions it was quicker than waiting in a long queue to be served by a person. At the same time the machines got better (e.g. they started taking cash and allowing you to use your own bags, and stopped going on about unexpected items in the bagging area) and now there are supermarkets near me where there is no cashier at all except the one that does tobacco and stuff, it's all self checkout.
One of our VPs frequents Pistonheads and could well be reading this thread, as well as at least one of our franchsees. One of them may be along soon to comment...
craigjm said:
Alex L can you say why some of the screens appear to allow you to add ingredients and some not?
No clue I’m afraid, as far as I know they’re all updated centrally and should be the same whether the restaurant is Company owned or franchised.We have them in our office so will have a play when I’m in next week
Alex L said:
To answer the above, we aren’t reducing the number of employees per resutaurant and on average each drive thru has between 65 and 100 employees. The new ordering system and table service option just means staff undertake different duties and in theory should spend more time at front of house.
Thanks for addresssing the point and it is reassuring. However I'm not completely convinced longer term - no good company will keep resources it doesn't need, especially if the competition move first.Jambo85 said:
Thanks for addresssing the point and it is reassuring. However I'm not completely convinced longer term - no good company will keep resources it doesn't need, especially if the competition move first.
Surely it only impacts on a small portion of branch staff though. At least until the machines take cash they will have one till so that’s probably a reduction of two tills per shift in most places. If these two staff are now waiting tables then fair enough, long term when they take cash I can see it having some impact but digitisation of the world is going to do that and it’s the easy jobs that go first as we have seen because they are easy to replicate and involve lots or repetition. I would expect to see a completely self serve full size supermarket (note I said full size not express) long before we have the same with McDonald’s Well either until they take cash or everyone has contactless - no breakthrough in technology is required for the former and I think within 5 years we'll have the latter, probably what McD's were banking on when they made the decision to go for cashless machines.
The table service aspect is interesting, but don't forget about the large number of takeaway orders where it isn't an issue.
I haven't done drive through for years - is that still being done by humans? That's the next step if so, machine ordering to replace the first window, and then a robot to deliver at the second ...!
The table service aspect is interesting, but don't forget about the large number of takeaway orders where it isn't an issue.
I haven't done drive through for years - is that still being done by humans? That's the next step if so, machine ordering to replace the first window, and then a robot to deliver at the second ...!
Edited by Jambo85 on Monday 20th November 09:01
Patch1875 said:
There was a massive queue to use the machines after the rugby in Edinburgh last night we just walked up to the 2 people doing nothing at the tills and ordered straight away.
In two storey restaurants and drive thrus with table service the best trick is to use the self order points upstairs as very few customers use them.Gassing Station | Food, Drink & Restaurants | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff