McDonalds? ..... Update.....

Definitely contact the corporate district office (or franchise office, if it's a franchisee) and tell them IN WRITING what happened...I would even "cc" McDonald's corporate in Illinois...I realize it's fun to pick on QSR's in this forum, from time to time, but I worked for a QSR chain for many years and those who directly manage those restaurants have a demanding job....yes, some are better at it than others, but those who do it right, and take pride in their products and their work, are just as worthy of our patronage as the indies...

Just for another angle - I believe turning out all the lights with patrons still in the unit may be a fire code violation, so is locking the doors. I worked in QSRs and all kinds of food service - it is a given that if you serve customers just before your closing time, you have to wait for them to leave. Not give them the bum's rush. I hope you continue to follow up on this. In this economy, a families food $$ are to precious to waste on places that could care less about your business. I thought that location has a 24 hour drive thru? If so, what was the rush....?

Nothing in this story particularly surprises me. McDonald's IMO isn't a restaurant in the strict sense - it's more like a "feeding trough". I know someone who manages a Burger King - they do have grave concerns regarding their safety at night. Even if this manager is fired - my guess is they will have a job next week in another fast food operation. Sad state of affairs indeed.

I couldn't have said it better myself. I especially like the "feeding trough" touch.

I believe this is the kind of attitude that Becky was hoping to avoid. We all know that McDonald's isn't fine dining, by any stretch, but it, and ALL restaurants, are in the service industry. The behavior of this manager was absolutely reprehensible, by any standards. It was obvious to me that she (the mgr) was not at all concerned about safety, she was concerned about getting the heck outta there. If she was truly concerned about safety, it seems to me that she would have made eye contact, watched the patrons instead of staring at the computer, and definitely wouldn't turn the lights out!!! She is simply in the wrong job, has a terrible attitude, hates something about her own life, and takes it out on others. And if clearing the restaurant by 11 was truly an issue, she simply could've said something like, "We'd be happy to serve your food, but we close in 10 minutes, so it would have to be to-go." I probably would've been a little disappointed, having a big group like that with me, but I would've accepted it, and would never really have considered it an issue. This woman has a chip on her shoulder, and needs to find a new job.

What you are saying here is very rational, and you do make some very valid points. What I would like to point out is that we are not dealing with highly paid professionals here. I don't have specific numbers, but I would be very surprised if this individual was being paid in excess of maybe 10 bucks an hour (though I could be wrong). Following that logic low wages tend to breed low quality candidates, which in turn breeds bad decisions, stupidity, and carelessness. What about the fools that made that Domino's video a few weeks back where they were supposedly tainting the food prior to delivery? These types of things happen all the time when you are dealing with people in minimum and low wage situations. As you noted she is not concerned about anything except getting off. She is probably not concerned about getting fired either since, as Mark noted, she could probably easily find another similar job fairly easily. I am certainly not excusing what she did in this situation, much like you I think it is appalling, but it is bound to happen from time to time based on the circumstances.

This article is from 2000, but it looks like this location could likely have been sold back to corporate. In which case, you might get a further making complaints through corporate channels. I'd definitely stress the danger of turning out all the lights with patrons still inside.
http://louisville.bizjournals.com/louis ... tory1.html

It's been years since I was a closing manager at McD's, so things may have changed a bit, but probably not all that much. Once they close at 11, they still have another 45 minutes to an hour of work to do before they can go home - closing down & cleaning machines - all of which can be done while customers finish their food in the dining room. Sounds like this manager needs a refresher on how to more professionally communicate what she means - "here's your food - now get out". Sorry to hear you had that experience. it really doesn't matter where you were - no one should be treated that way!

Not to de-rail this thread but if you think that a McDonald experience is bad, take a ride over to your "mid to low" priced nursing home (ie $4,000 - 5,000 a month). They pay people minimum wage to take care of your mother/father or sweet old grandmother. People get fired from numerous facilities and just move right on to the next. I was in one where the daily food budget was $4.00 per resident. Makes you think.

My grandmother died in a nursing home when I was 6, my mom was so upset over the way she was fed and treated that she went to college got her degree and worked her way up to managing several homes and the kitchen of a hospital. She is the main reason I got into kitchen work(first as a dishwasher for my mother; gosh she was brutal to work for). At least some good came from it; my mother is financially secure and I found my calling. I believe my grandmother would be happy to see at least she wasn't forgotten.

I may be wrong, but I read somewhere that nursing home staff in some states don't even make minimum wage. Just so wrong. Before his brain tumor I heard Ted Kennedy was working on a federal standard for this.

Becky...I was a student at U of L in 1985 had a horrible experience at the Warnock store...no satisfaction on the local level...went to the public library (way before the internet) got the name of the president of McDonald's Corporation and his address in Oak Park, Illinois and wrote him a letter telling him about my experience...3 weeks later someone knocked on my dorm room door telling me the president of McDonald's was on the phone and wanted to speak to me...the next week I had a meeting with a regional manager and the manager of the Warnock store...sad to say the manager lost his job...I on the other hand got (and I am not kidding) 200 gift cards for Big Macs and Quarter Pounders to pass out in my dorm and around campus...needless to say I gave out maybe 10 of them and ate burgers for weeks...I was just tired of being treated like crap...

Becky,

I'm with Garrett. Check your private messages. I sent you what I believe to be the email address of the CEO of McDonald's (James A. Skinner).

Why do things like this only happen to honest and wholesome God fearing Americans...Why can't they happen to me ? Ever since I saw the movie "Office Space" I've been holding my breath waiting for this kind of opportunity. About a nano-second after the lights went out I would have found -something- to "trip" over. I'm thinking the resulting "injuries" would have netted a cool million...maybe a wee bit less after the appeals courts got done. We'd a had us one helluva hotbytes throwdown once everything was settled.

Jusssssssst kidding.

steve, your always enlightening... LMAO

Hey, was this not one of those "once in a lifetime" opportunities...stop me when I'm lying Me ? I'd have OWNED those people...Then again I know some Gatti's, so we might have had to work around a few (shall we say) issues...fra'tello to fra'tello.

paisano to paisano... lol

Yeah...What you said...I just couldn't remember how to spell it.

Seriously, you want to get these peoples attention ? The thing to do is this...We need 50 people (plus or minus) to go to this particular MAC-Donalds. You pull around to the drive in window, place your order and then when you pull up to "the first window" you pay them in LOOSE nickles. If they refuse the nickles (which I promise you they will after about the 10th customer) then you simply tell them to cancel the order and drive off. They'll get the message...I Promise. Hey, I live for this kind of deviant behavior.

Another fun way to get McDonalds (national) attention is post to The Consumerist. Especially now that they're owned by Consumer Reports, they get even more traffic.

oh my god! no it didnt, McDonalds made its way on hotbytes I expect customer service but damn