I woke up this morning literally dreaming about going out to McDonald to order this Mcgangbang Burger so I guess it was a sign that I had to get this done today. I’ve read that when you think about something or stress about something enough you can also have dreams about it. To be absolutely honest, I wasn’t exactly stressing about it but I was definitely thinking about it more and more since this assignment was coming due. Why can’t we just do a usual extra credit assignment like most classes like research paper, book report, reading assignment and etc? But that wouldn’t be interesting or challenging enough for us and our professor.
As I pull up to a McDonald in Sunnyside, Queens I knew I had to come up with a game plan before actually going in and approaching the staff at this fast food restaurant. So these were some of my thought process. First, I knew for this assignment to be successful I had to keep a serious face to make sure they didn’t take me as a joke but a serious customer. Second, as I played the scenario in my head, I didn’t want this assignment end up being too easy because either the staff or the manager was already aware of this Mcgangbang Burger for some reason. In that case, I wouldn’t really have enough information to write about so I decide that I would assess their reaction and if it’s too easy I may even order the second option of extra credit order which would be a cheese burger with 5 pickles and a medium french fries with no salt. I didn’t just want to go with second option because it just didn’t seem interesting enough and I also wanted to see their overall reaction to my first order.
It was little late for lunch afternoon Monday, 25th of April, and fortunately the place was packed so the pressure was rather on the staff which will make the process even more interesting. I was waiting in line going over my strategy and how I would approach the cashier. I was called by this young cashier and he seemed fairly new, because he almost seemed even little nervous when I got to the counter. I asked “I would like an order of MAC-GANG-BANG Burger.” I made sure I spoke loud and clearly enough for him to understand exactly what I was asking for. He seemed slightly confused so I repeated my order again and this time he actually repeated after me. Before I could even say another word he was already looking for his manager on duty. Even the manager seemed fairly young but he seemed to be in control and bit more experienced but little irritated already because the place was little busy and he was helping out with other orders. This time I asked the manager I wanted an order of my Mac-Gang-Bang Burger and he just about walked right away as if he thought I was some kid pulling a prank. I already knew I wouldn’t necessarily have to ask for my second order because this might be little more challenging than I anticipated. He came back and I repeated again and made sure he knew that I was serious. I spoke slowly and clearly to let him know this is what I wanted but he just simply said that’s not on our menu. I asked him if he knew what it was and he barely responded and walked away again. I wasn’t going to give up so easily so when he returned I explained to him what it was and that it’s a combination of Mc Chicken and Double cheese burger. Before I could even explain more he just said it’s not on our menu but he will put in an order of separate sandwiches and I can put them together. I asked him that I would rather have them prepare and that I had this ordered at other McDonald before. I wasn’t going to back up now so I explained to him again that McChicken has to be entirely in between the double cheese burger but he insist that he would just order the two separate sandwich and I would put them together. People behind me were obviously getting irritated because I was holding up the line and manager knew I wasn’t going to give up and I asked again nicely that he would make my sandwich. He walk to the back and placed my order but I knew he wasn’t happy. I paid and asked the cashier to sign the receipt but he just looked confused and unwilling. I just asked him to put his initials instead before his manager got back. I just knew that there was no way that this manager was going to sign my receipt and I knew I had a better chance with this young cashier and thankfully he did before the manager got back. I couldn’t tell if it says “RF” or “RX” but I got it done. I knew this would be one of the most challenging parts of this assignment but it was actually easier than the actual order.
The manager brought my order in a bag and I opened it immediately to make sure it was done correctly so that I can get my victory picture. However, sandwich wasn’t exactly what I expected. There was a chicken in between the double cheese burger but it wasn’t the entire the McChicken Sandwich. I called for the manager but he was clearly irritated with me and in fact he was almost ignoring me. He finally came back to me and I explained to him that I asked and paid for entire McChicken sandwich between the cheese burger. He grabbed the sandwich off my hands and just walked to the back. He seemed so irritated that I find it little entertaining. He finally came back with my sandwich in his hand and I checked that it was correct but there was no way I was going to actually eat this sandwich. In fact, I didn’t even trust it to a point where I could even give this away considering how long it took them to bring it back after I returned it and he clearly seemed not to like me as a customer. I took a picture of it but it just did not seem appetizing to me. Even though I absolutely HATE wasting food and especially money, this burger was going in to the trash. I mean look at this burger and given that it took forever for the manager to bring my food back would you eat this burger?
To assess and review their management process, there was lack of communication from the manager to his staff primarily due to the fact that the manager himself did not take my order seriously. Even though I let him know that I was serious and sincere about my order he was not attentive to my initial instruction and he was resistant because of his initial perception of my order. In my observation, I think manager could have done better by being more attentive to a customer especially when there is a special request. There was plenty of staff at the restaurant to attend to other needs and he was rude by keep walking away from me as I was trying to speak to him regarding my order. The order could have been completed lot quicker and he could have avoided the situation of having me asking him to fix the order if he listened to my instructions. He could have completed my order timely and saved more time for other customers behind me if he listened and have the right attitude towards customers. Only thing that I was impressed was how quickly the manager got involved in the process but again, a poor display of the managers leadership and training opportunity to the new cashier on how to deal with these situations. Leadership with manager is crucial in any organization whether if its major corporation or small chain fast food restaurant. This could have been a great opportunity for the manager been an example on how to deal with orders on stressful situation where he could have display how to handle a special request by customers. Also, this could have been a great opportunity to train the new guy. In any organization, workers are motivated and reflected by the leadership in place and its very unlikely that I will go back to this place again.
