A 'Special' Order

I went into my local McDonald’s at around 9:00pm.  I could tell that they usually don’t experience much traffic at this hour by the presence of a single cashier, food preparation worker, and manager.  No one else was there, so I was less anxious about causing a commotion with my order.  I stepped up to the cashier and he asked me what I would like.  I began my order by saying, “I would like one hamburger with five pickles.”  He grinned as he entered it in.  He then asked, “What else?”  I replied, “I would like a small fries, well done, with Big Mac sauce.”  Again he smiled, and finished entering the order.  I was surprised that he didn’t protest. 

He then left the cashier and shouted to the worker in the back, “a hamburger with FIVE pickles!”   The manager took care of getting the fries.  Bag in hand, the cashier came towards me and asked, “Do you really want the Big Mac sauce?” I nodded.  He then took a lid to the worker got the Big Mac sauce for me.  While he was gone, I noticed that the receipt only said “1 XTRA$ PICKLE” and the French fries weren’t marked “well done.” 

When the cashier returned, I pointed this out to him and asked if there was any way to change it.  He said, “No, we can’t do that.”  I asked him if he was sure, and again he shook his head and again said that there’s no way.  I stood there not knowing what to say; there was some awkwardness.  The manager was walking around and so I asked her the same question.  She too, shook her head.   I then suggested entering the pickle code five times. The cashier then said some things to her in Spanish, and at the end said, “You can’t do that, right?” 

The manager walked up to the cashier and tried entering the order in.  After a few presses, she produced the receipt that I wanted.  The cashier then had to tell the food preparation worker to not fulfill the order just entered.  I thanked the manager and cashier and then sat down to make sure the order was correct.  It was.  There were five pickles on the hamburger and a grill slip accompanying the wrapper.  There were the ‘well done’ fries and the Big Mac sauce. 

I’d have to say that it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.  I think the cashier has been working there for some time.  I was treated like any other customer.  The wait for the order was quick, within 2 minutes.  The receipt correction took around 4 minutes, though. 

If I were hired as a management consultant, I’d make sure that the cashiers have a thorough knowledge of the menus.  Yet the cashier that placed my order seemed to be very familiar with the system.  If I had to rate the staff, I’d say that both the cashier and manager are on par with each other. 

In terms of training, I think the employees were trained well – more than adequate.  The reason why I say this is that I’ve experienced some cashiers that will tell you flat-out no just because an item is not on their screen.   Both my cashier and manager knew how to ‘manipulate’ the system and remedy it manually.  They are effective in that sense.  However, they are flawed in customer service when something can’t be done.  It seems that the only explanation to the customer is “No, we can’t.”  There’s no elaboration.  For less than special orders, this could present a problem. 

In terms of organization, there were effective in preparing the order.  However, the workflow is not optimized to take many special orders.  The McDonald’s system of entering orders and food preparation is meant to be separate, meaning that a successful order should not require the two stations to communicate (the computers do that).  A single ‘special’ order would require the manager, cashier, and food prep worker to be involved.  This detracts from McDonald’s efficient assembly line method.  When we have special orders like these, the process moves closer to being a service. For special orders like these, I would have the cashier call out the order to the food preparation section.  While it may not be the most elegant solution, it’ll get the job done without involving a manager.  The customer will then get their orders faster. 

The communication between employees was very good.  Like I mentioned before, the order was successfully made even though the initial receipt didn’t reflect the exact order.  I asked the cashier how the system works after my order.  I wondered if the food workers in the back would be confused by other ‘special’ orders. He said that they don’t – because the hanging computer screens show exactly what the order is. 

The communication with the customer may not be enough.  When the cashier and manager are met with doubt or difficulty, they simply say, “We can’t.”  Imagine if a customer representative said the same, “we can’t” and just hangs up the phone?  We, as customers, would be furious!  At the same time, I could understand that the customer may not want to understand all the processes; it may also be against company policy to reveal processes.  Saying something like, “I’ll try what I can, but I can’t guarantee that I can fulfill that order” would inform the customer that at least: (1) the cashier has made an attempt and that (2) if the machine denies the request it is not within their power to change it.

The closest thing resembling leadership during that order was when the manager stepped up to input the order herself.  I think she did the right thing by at least trying before denying.  Leadership isn’t a necessary skill to work at McDonalds. I say that because it’s a stable workplace – most orders are input the same way.  There are manuals for operating machines.  That being said, leadership is necessary to keep customers happy, and therefore keeping the franchise open for business.  The cashier could have tried to modify the order manually without the manager’s consent, but doing so would be risking his employment.