McDonald's Heidelberg — Restaurant in Melbourne

Disappointing and poorly managed party experience at Heidelberg MacDonald

We attended a 5th birthday party for a friend of our child and were shocked by how the host behaved. The party host publicly shamed a parent, saying, “I made it clear over the phone about the entertainer and you still ignored me; I have the rights to refuse you all access to this premises,” which felt humiliating for the family in front of all the guests. Instead of politely stating the rules and policies, she shut them down in a rude and humiliating manner, which made the situation awkward and demonstrated poor customer service. The entertainer friend, who came with the family, was shooed out of MacDonald, leaving the birthday child’s gift behind, and this all happened in front of everyone, causing discomfort for attendees. My husband even commented to a guest, “Who invited Karen to this party? Did MacDonald hire a soup Nazi to run this place?” just to lighten the mood.

At entry to the party room, the host announced a strict rule: “Only children from this party are allowed in.” A sibling who wasn’t part of the party was left out and not allowed to play in the playground, and children were ordered to line up so the host could mark their hands with numbers. This left many adults confused about whether they could supervise their children. Since the children were aged 3–5, they clearly needed supervision.

The host stated a capacity of 35, but there were more attendees. As a result, some children were in the play area unsupervised or visible only through a glass door. The lucky adults who had their hands marked could go into the party room to help their own children, while others had to stay outside. You would expect the host to supervise and help, but she did not. She left without assisting with meals or cleanup.

The host performed repeated head counts, and at one point there were five adults too many in the room, so she asked them to leave. When the host’s shift ended, she left without saying goodbye or asking if we needed any help, leaving us feeling treated more like a controlled space than welcomed attendees. We have been to many MacDonald parties and have never witnessed such strange and shocking behavior or such strict rules. She seemed unsympathetic to families with kids and not kid-friendly as a party host. Even though she adhered to MacDonald’s rules and guidelines, she should have handled the situation much more politely.

Overall, the atmosphere felt restrictive and impersonal, with adults kept outside while children stayed inside, dampening the...

Subject: Extremely Disappointing Customer Service Experience at Heidelberg McDonald’s

Dear McDonald's Team,

I am writing to express my utmost disappointment regarding the level of customer service I received at your Heidelberg on 11 Dec . My experience was far from satisfactory, and I feel compelled to bring this matter to your attention.

Upon arriving at the drive-through, I found that no one responded to the speaker despite several attempts to get someone's attention. Not wanting to waste any more time in the queue, finally someone took my order. Then when drive through there was no one working at the pay counter either. This absence of staff at key customer interaction points left me feeling frustrated and ignored.

Furthermore, when I finally managed to locate a member of your team, who turned out to be the manager, (wearing black uniforms)I was met with an unpleasant and unhelpful attitude. She seemed oblivious to the fact that I was genuinely dissatisfied with the service and had no regard for how her rudeness affected the overall customer experience. Her inability to handle the situation professionally only added to my disappointment and left me questioning the efficacy of the management at your establishment.

As a loyal customer, I have always appreciated the convenience, taste, and overall experience that McDonald's provides. However, based on this recent encounter, it is clear that there is a significant lapse in the quality of service at your Heidelberg McDonald’s. It is disheartening to see such a lack of customer service and professionalism in a place that I have come to rely on for a quick and enjoyable meal.

I would like to emphasize that good customer service should be an integral part of any successful business, and I hope that you take this complaint seriously. I believe it is crucial for both the reputation and profitability of McDonald's that such issues are addressed promptly and effectively.

I truly hope that you will take immediate action to rectify this matter and ensure that no other customer has to endure such an unsatisfactory experience. I genuinely look forward to seeing improvements made, as I would like to continue patronizing McDonald's in the future.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I trust that you will handle it with the seriousness it...

I've worked at this store before, and am disappointed to have been an employee.

I was about to head through the drivethrough with a friend on Thursday 11/03 at around 9pm, and had a pretty big huntsman run on the windscreen and scare us to the point my friend could have crashed the car (we both have a bad phobia of spiders).

Knowing this could be a safety hazard, we immediately parked in Heidelberg McDonald's carpark and called up the store to see if they had anyone that could help us that were good with spiders. The girl hung up on me BOTH TIMES WITHOUT EVEN THE COURTESY TO REPLY.

The first time I called, she hung up almost immediately which is understandable because they might get a lot of prank calls.

The second time I called, I pleaded with her not to hang up and that I was in an emergency situation. I asked her if she had anyone in store that was good with spiders - and without a reply, she just hung up on me.

While I was not expecting them to be able to help, I was at least expecting some kind of customer service. But it seemed like IT DID NOT EXIST IN ANY OF MY CALLS!

Not even a "Sorry, I'm not sure if we can help. Maybe try doing __..." Or something along the lines of that. She just hung up on me!!!

I had to ask a passer by for help. He was amazing. You just lost 2 customers with the ignorant and rude behaviour of this employee. We will not be ordering from this...