McDonald's — Restaurant in Greater Brisbane

Visited the other day through the drive thru. My passenger placed herself an online order while I placed my order at the speaker box. We made it known that our vehicle was going to be having two orders. Everything was as usual until we got to the first pickup window. Was given the drink for only my order and told to drive to the last pickup window, where only the food for my order was to be shoved at me out the window and the window to be slammed shut with the worker walking off in a hurry. I sat there for a minute or so, waiting to see if I would be acknowledged; I wasn’t. So I had to drive around through again, the lady working the speaker had known it was me and that I had come through beforehand and she sent me straight from the speaker to the pickup window. When we got to the window they were confused on what order we were there for, I had to explain to them that it was an online order for _, and they took a moment to realise what the order was. They had then handed us the food and we still waited for the drink. Once again; window slammed shut. So I sat there for a bit and waved my arms around like one of those inflatables at car dealerships while I witnessed a manager of some sort side-eyeing and ignoring me. A staff member then approached the window and asked me what was wrong, seeming very confused. I had then explained we were waiting on a drink, even told them exactly what the drink was, and they took a decent amount of time before even making the drink. From what I can tell, the managers have no understanding of customer satisfaction and the drive thru team are just not communicating to each other what so ever. Working for a competitor to McDonald’s, seeing this issue happen is disappointing, as it’s not that hard to understand that one vehicle has the two orders, and even a decent apology for the inconvenience would have been...

Utterly Disgraceful Service, A Complete Disappointment

I don’t even know where to begin. This was, without a doubt, the worst McDonald's experience of my life—a truly soul-crushing, infuriating ordeal that left me questioning why I even bothered in the first place.

I placed a simple order. Nothing complicated. Just some food to get me through the day. But what I received instead was a lesson in sheer incompetence, indifference, and apathy from a staff that clearly couldn't care less.

Let’s talk about the wait time. A casual 10-15 minutes? Nope. Try an excruciating, rage-inducing 50 minutes for a basic meal. Fifty. Minutes. At a McDonald's. A place built on the promise of "fast" food. But fast? This was the polar opposite. I watched as people who ordered AFTER me got their food first. I stood there, stomach growling, frustration mounting, as the staff avoided eye contact like guilty criminals.

And when I finally received my order? Cold. Stale. Sloppily thrown together as if it was an afterthought. The fries? Limp, lifeless, with the texture of damp cardboard. The burger? Looked like it had been stepped on, dragged across the floor, then reluctantly wrapped up and handed to me. And let’s not even talk about the drink—I ordered a Coke, but what I got was a watery, flat disgrace that tasted like pure disappointment.

I approached the counter, politely but firmly, to ask why my order took so long and why my food was practically inedible. The response? A blank stare, a half-hearted shrug, and a mumbled "Dunno, we're busy." No apology. No attempt to make it right. Just pure, unapologetic indifference. I have seen bricks with more empathy than the person who served me.

This wasn’t just bad service. This was a slap in the face. A complete disregard for customers. A failure on every single level.

McDonald's, do better. Or don't...

So there I was, sitting in the Maccas parking lot, just trying to enjoy my fries and a soda, when I noticed the manager, driving in circles around the drive-through like she was auditioning for some kind of fast-food Grand Prix. I mean, seriously, it was like watching a confused bumper car show, except with a manager behind the wheel and no music to make it fun.

I couldn’t help but chuckle as she made yet another lap, narrowly missing a poor customer’s car who just wanted their McNuggets in peace. It was like she was stuck in some endless loop of “How NOT to manage a drive-through.” After a while, my curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to bring it up with Rachel herself.

Big mistake.

When I mentioned the “drive-through Grand Prix” performance, Rachel’s face turned a shade of red that could rival a McFlurry machine meltdown. She got mad, insisting she was “just checking the line” and that I was “making a big deal out of nothing.” Honestly, it felt like I’d just insulted the entire McDonald’s empire.

So yeah, next time I’m thinking maybe I’ll just stick to watching the fries fry and keep my comments to myself—unless I want to be the reason Rachel starts doing laps around the parking lot again, but this time with a scowl that could freeze a milkshake. I am quite disappointed in this behaviour and it needs to be dealt with immediately, as I previously worked at a former McDonald’s and know that using staff to lower drive through times in unacceptable. This needs to be addressed...