why can't fast food get it right?

[Silurian]

Originally Posted by MartinGibsonFan

I have to say, my expectations are rather high, based on what the Franchise offers.

If I get cold french fries, or a suspect burger that's been sitting around for hours, or a brown salad, I'd definitely inform Management.

If expectations aren't high, why even bother going?

Have a granola bar.



J

It takes 5 minutes to drive to McDonald's. It is what it is. A standardised global burger chain. Cheap and convenient.

I want a really good burger, I'll make them myself.


Personally, I much prefer fish and chips.

[Silurian]

Originally Posted by rokdog49

For the same reason we don’t understand why you guys like the stuff you eat. Most of the folks I have spoken to who have been to England really enjoy their time there...everything except the food. To a person, I am told it is about as bland and tasteless as it gets. That may or may not be true, but it’s what I hear all the time.

It is cultural.

I will tell you that a “Spicy Chicken Sandwich” from a “Popeye’s” restaurant is some mighty good eatin’!
People here are highly mobile and fast food fulfills a need for a lot of us.
Most of the things I read you saying about us are due to lack of knowledge
of the United States. That is not a criticism, it’s just an observation based on what you say.
I would also add that you would be wrong to assume that everybody here participates in McDonalds or whatever. The diversity is enormous.
Millions of people here likely rarely eat fast food.
You shouldn’t try to put the United States into box with one label.
330 million people with more variations in culture than you can imagine.
It’s far too big in so many ways to assume we “fit a mold.”
New York City and Los Angeles are two enormous cities and yet culturally they are light years apart.

I agree. The US has an outstanding variety and diversity of food with a plethora of regional differences.

I would suggest that it's not as dire in the UK as you claim. It certainly was growing up in the 70's, dull and bland. But over the last 20 to 30 years things have changed a lot, especially in the large metropolitan areas.

London is claimed to the home of more nationalities than any other capital city.(37‰ of the population is foreign born)

You can find any cuisine from any part of the world in the capital. It's just that many of these establishments aren't frequented by tourists.

[MartinGibsonFan]

The theme of the original post was ineptitude of fast food service workers.

That's like complaining about taxes in my opinion.

You get what you pay for.

J

[rokdog49]

Originally Posted by MartinGibsonFan

The theme of the original post was ineptitude of fast food service workers.

That's like complaining about taxes in my opinion.

You get what you pay for.

J

I disagree. It’s about a lack of “worth ethic” which was not instilled by the parents or anyone else.
My grandson worked at Dunkin’ Donuts as a part time gig for a while to earn extra money. When there were no customers he went out front and wiped off the tables, swept the floor and found other ways to keep busy while the other teenaged units talked or texted on their cell phones right in front of the manager who did nothing about it.
He found that to be the case in a couple of other food service jobs where young people were employed.
My daughter and son-in-law deserve credit for teaching him to do his best no matter what.
Personally, I can’t accept your premise because I started out in the same fashion and I worked hard for whatever I got paid. That’s how it should be.
You work, you get paid.

[rokdog49]

Originally Posted by Silurian

I agree. The US has an outstanding variety and diversity of food with a plethora of regional differences.

I would suggest that it's not as dire in the UK as you claim. It certainly was growing up in the 70's, dull and bland. But over the last 20 to 30 years things have changed a lot, especially in the large metropolitan areas.

London is claimed to the home of more nationalities than any other capital city.(37‰ of the population is foreign born)

You can find any cuisine from any part of the world in the capital. It's just that many of these establishments aren't frequented by tourists.

I’m sure you’re right, its just what I was told.
Most of the folks who shared this Info traveled all around GB and generally, they said the food was not good and choices were very limited.
Part of the “charm” of Western Europe is that things aren’t like they are here in the U.S.
That’s great for a visit.
Personally, I prefer the magnitude of choices here.

[MartinGibsonFan]

Hey RokDog, i think my original thoughts on this were lost in this thread drift, from quality of workers to quality of food.

I totally agree, the present work ethic is absent, there is no work ethic.

40 to 50 years ago, there was a work ethic, as you can see in my post #8

People care less these days, and it's just a sign of the times, could write a book about it, and many have.

J

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by mc1

It seems like you pay a lot of attention to detail, so that even if you were currently running a fast food restaurant you would be concerned with employees getting the orders correct.

So I wonder if back in the day other restaurants that weren't yours weren't so reliable?

I used to have a thing to Egg McMuffins, or Sausage and Egg McMuffins. For better or worse, but most likely better, there is no McDonalds within a 30 minute drive of where I live. However, in one direction is a McDonalds that are quick, friendly, and usually get the order right. In the other is a McDonalds that I used to call the worst in Nova Scotia, and I felt fairly confident, even though I don't go even 5% of them. Every time I'd wonder how they would screw things up, and they never failed to exceed my expectations.

So it could be the owner, who hires crappy managers, who aren't good at their job. I'm not sure. But there sometimes seems to be a culture of caring or not that pervades an establishment.

Guessing one of those McDonalds is Coldbrook? I'm a big Egg McMuffin fan. I had one yesterday in Dartmouth Crossing. Only 2nd time I had fast food since March ... and both times Egg McMuffins.

I think a lot of these issues stem from Management. They need to be on the floor to address the issues when they happen so employees understand the importance of customer service.

[MartinGibsonFan]

Work ethics start at Management (ownership) Level.

You can't expect subordinates to have ethics if ownership is lax and uncaring.

J

[rokdog49]

Originally Posted by MartinGibsonFan

Hey RokDog, i think my original thoughts on this were lost in this thread drift, from quality of workers to quality of food.

I totally agree, the present work ethic is absent, there is no work ethic.

40 to 50 years ago, there was a work ethic, as you can see in my post #8

People care less these days, and it's just a sign of the times, could write a book about it, and many have.

J

So true.
There is a minority out there of true “worker bees” in all vocations but it is a minority.
Unfortunately, the good ones get more dumped on them and have to shoulder all the inadequacies of the rest. I’ve witnessed it all my life and it’s worse now than ever.
The root cause of this is lack of accountability in management.
The stuff all rolls downhill because it can.

Last Sunday at the drive-thru I ordered a Bacon and Cheese Egg McMuffin and got a Sausage and Egg Biscuit...no cheese.
There ya’ have it!

[fazool]

I think there is a lot of wisdom in this thread (really).

I want to expand on one topic and it sounds silly but I *learned* a lot of work ethic during my years at McDonald's. Seriously. We worked hard and paid attention to doing a good job. That work ethic was instilled in me.

four decades later I am still proud that I started my working life there. Some people may see it as a joke of a job now, but when I was seventeen and my friends were painting houses and cutting lawns I was handling the stores cash, inventory, customers and supervising 42 employees.

Most importantly I learned work ethic.

Where did that experience go

[MartinGibsonFan]

Yeah, if you want to expand the ' Work Ethic ' to more than just Fast Food, you can apply it to Professional Vocations as well.

I've seen this for over 20 years if not more.

Nowadays, everything is being done halfway, no one cares, no one follows up.

If you want to make sure your part is done successfully, you have to follow up, you can't trust anyone in the food chain to be reliable.

What happened?

I think Pat Buchanan Death of the West has a good book for reading.

J

[Dirk Hofman]

The younger folks I hire coming out of school are the hardest working group of people i've ever experienced in my professional life. They're better trained than we were, have an amazing work ethic, kind, emotionally intelligent, know how to ask for what they want, and are smart as can be. I'm constantly impressed with that generation, mostly millennials. Data seems to support this.

But we're talking about college educated kids working in fast-paced tech.

I worked at McDonalds as one of my first jobs (when I wasn't bucking hay) on what they called the 10:1 grill, which was very busy. I took pride in my manager counting on me to be fast and efficient, she didn't want anyone else on 10:1 when I was in. There was no shortage of lazy clowns in that experience. People tend to romanticize their past. I'm deeply skeptical of such observations about the overall decline in work ethic. I RARELY eat fast food, but in my limited sample when traveling, I just don't see much of a difference.

If I did, the first place I would look would be systems and training, rather than making broad assertions about a generation's work ethic. I find the negativity all too typical of an older generation's complaints about "kids these days". It seems largely unsubstantiated and misguided.

[MartinGibsonFan]

Interesting question ' Where did the Experience Go '

I'm afraid the experience went to Immigrants and first born American Citizens.

The experience and skill is there, it's just that the folks that previously had that experience are no longer pursuing these jobs.

A rather touchy subject.

J

[mc1]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

Guessing one of those McDonalds is Coldbrook? I'm a big Egg McMuffin fan. I had one yesterday in Dartmouth Crossing. Only 2nd time I had fast food since March ... and both times Egg McMuffins.

I think a lot of these issues stem from Management. They need to be on the floor to address the issues when they happen so employees understand the importance of customer service.

Nope, Coldbrook's pretty good. You skipped Greenwood, which is also quite good, and the one to which I referred.

When you go the other way, well...

[mc1]

Originally Posted by Dirk Hofman

The younger folks I hire coming out of school are the hardest working group of people i've ever experienced in my professional life. They're better trained than we were, have an amazing work ethic, kind, emotionally intelligent, know how to ask for what they want, and are smart as can be. I'm constantly impressed with that generation, mostly millennials. Data seems to support this.

But we're talking about college educated kids working in fast-paced tech.

I worked at McDonalds as one of my first jobs (when I wasn't bucking hay) on what they called the 10:1 grill, which was very busy. I took pride in my manager counting on me to be fast and efficient, she didn't want anyone else on 10:1 when I was in. There was no shortage of lazy clowns in that experience. People tend to romanticize their past. I'm deeply skeptical of such observations about the overall decline in work ethic. I RARELY eat fast food, but in my limited sample when traveling, I just don't see much of a difference.

If I did, the first place I would look would be systems and training, rather than making broad assertions about a generation's work ethic. I find the negativity all too typical of an older generation's complaints about "kids these days". It seems largely unsubstantiated and misguided.

Seems like you know who to hire, as a smart and focused person. I might look at hiring practices as being paramount.

I used to work the 10-2 shift an Wendy's. Which was ok. I probably got that shift because both my manager and I were responsible. As I look back now, that shift sucked. A bit of worker exploitation.