Hi, May I Take Your order?

Upon receipt of this extra credit assignment I knew that my “special McDonald’s order” experience would be a memorable one. McDonald’s doesn’t usually employ the brightest employee’s as their job description generally consists of mundane and repetitive tasks. My intuitions were correct as asking an employee to place an order that required some “outside of the box” thinking proved to be complicated and laborious.
Entering my local McDonald’s I was greeted with a smile and the generic “Hi, may I take your order?” The ordering process commenced smoothly as I placed my complex order, which was initially received with compliance as the clerk rang up my meal, passed the order along to the food prep’s in the back and even reminded them to put 4 pickles on my burger. At this point I was shocked, I was almost certain that someone from our class has been to this McDonald’s and that the staff was already familiar with this order. Unfortunately, this feeling of customer satisfaction would be short lived.
Even though I stressed the importance of receipt to encompass the exact order as it was placed, I was presented with a copy that simple stated that I have ordered a burger and a small order of French fries. Since I was already conscious of the fact that something would go wrong with this order sooner or later, I calmly approached the employee and voiced my discrepancy. She acknowledged my concern, while still maintaining a high level of customer service she immediately called for the shift manager’s assistance. The manager came to the counter with genuine intentions to help me, however he said that there was nothing he can do. He stated that his “system does not allow him to put in such an order” and that he cannot write anything on the receipt. I responded in a firm and assertive tone that I am sure it is possible as I have done this before. Subsequent to a few minutes of fiddling with the computer he informed me that the best he could do was note on the receipt that the order had “Extra pickles” and that the fries had “no salt”, however I would have to put in another order (pay again) as the first receipt was already printed as is. This made me furious as I deliberately told the clerk that I needed that exact order to be shown on my receipt when I was placing the order. Upon further deliberation with the manager I had no choice but to comply and pay for an extra order.
To my surprise, when I opened the wrapper of my delicious McDonald’s hamburger and peeled the top bun off of the “meat” to check its contents, I noticed that there was no sign of any pickles! This made me chuckle and instantly rid me of any doubt I had about the educational value of this exercise. I instantly went back into the store and presented my pickle-less hamburger to the same employee with a grin on my face. She proceeded to apologize and said she “grabbed the wrong burger” and subsequently gave me one with exactly four pickles. Finally, after 20 tedious minutes, I left McDonald’s with the accurate order!
Overall, I would rate the staff’s management process in my order as unsatisfactory. Not only did they fail to provide me with the correct order, or issue a receipt per my request, they actually made me pay for a second order because of their mistake. This displays a severe lack of customer service and complete disregard to the commonly accepted business motto of “the customer is always right”. I also do not believe that they were very organized, as the “manager” on duty did not even know that his computer was able to print receipts with order details until I informed him of it. There was an obvious lack of communication as the food prep neglected the clerk’s advisement of putting four pickles on my burger. If I were brought in as a consultant I would fire the whole staff as I think their competency level mimics that of a highly trained chimp. I would make sure that I have a knowledgeable staff behind my counter that would be able to handle a scenario that calls for a little bit of common sense.