McDonald's Durbanville Drive-Thru — Restaurant in Durbanville

Dear McDonald's Management,

I would like to bring to your attention the concerning state of the McDonald's branch in Durbanville. Over the past year, I have been taking my 4-year-old son there every second Friday for an ice cream, but the experience has consistently deteriorated.

In recent months, the toys advertised in the display section are often not available. Instead, we are given a small soft toy with little notes on it, or on one occasion, a plastic Coke glass. This is disappointing, especially for my young son, who looks forward to the advertised toys. The staff even told me that the toys in the display are just for advertising purposes and do not guarantee availability. This Friday, when the advertised toy was once again not available, I asked the staff to explain it to my son, as I was tired of disappointing him. My shy little boy smiled and accepted the toy, with the staff member telling me, "See, he is okay," but I had to console him afterward as he was clearly upset.

Additionally, the staff frequently talk loudly among themselves, making it difficult for us to hear each other at our table. They also often get our order wrong, such as adding onions to my son's burger when we specifically request none. On one occasion, it took six staff members to cut a cake for what seemed to be a staff member's birthday party, right in the middle of the restaurant. It was a sunny day with no one sitting outside, and they could have easily taken their celebration outside rather than disrupting the entire indoor dining area. Several customers threw their food away and left because the noise was unbearable.

To add to the frustration, on Friday, the customer before me in the drive-through had to come inside because they had forgotten to include his burger in the order. This level of service is unacceptable.

This Saturday, their ice cream machine was broken, and on Sunday, I had to walk into the kitchen to get assistance because the juice box that comes with the Happy Meal was not listed as an option. The staff member who eventually came out served another customer who had arrived after me and then tried to walk back into the kitchen without helping us. When I asked if I was going to be ignored, she simply said, "I'm not ignoring you," and went back into the kitchen. At that point, we decided to leave. We went to the Tygervalley branch instead and had a completely different experience with friendly staff and the advertised toys in stock.

I've also read reviews online and spoken with other customers, many of whom share similar experiences. It's clear that these issues are not isolated incidents, but a regular occurrence at this branch. The drive-through is even worse, with wait times often reaching 20 minutes.

This is unacceptable service, and I am deeply disappointed with how this branch is being run. I urge you to take immediate action to address these issues and ensure that customers receive the quality service that McDonald's is known for.

Thank you for your attention to this...

I’ve order 4 times before through the drive-thru. NEVER get my points on the McDonalds app and these were all purchases over R400. Today I went through the drive-thru for breakfast. Couldn’t order boerie hashbrown stacks as the truck was still busy unloading the jalapeño sauce. Decided to go in after waiting 20 minutes for the truck to leave. They still couldn’t make anything with jalapeño sauce. Instead we ordered 8 egg and sausage McMuffins, happy meal, chips and a low Gi sandwich. After waiting 10 minutes I went back in. On the order screen it displayed my order as READY TO COLLECT. I stood like an idiot at the collection counter for 15 minutes. Not one worker will ask me what my order number is or give me an update. Eventually a lady called my order and only gave me the Low Gi sandwich WHICH HAD NO SAUCE ON. How can you give a client a sandwich with NO SAUCE????? I then asked her what about the other stuff? It says ready to collect. All she can say is “it’s coming”. While I continue to wait I heard a guy say “8 sausage egg McMuffinS”. He said this 3 (three) times while I was waiting there. Eventually my order disappeared from the ready to collect screen. Eventually I went and sat down while I wait. After waiting SUPER long I already got frustrated with the staff as you can see non of them wants to help or be there. They avoid eye contact at all cost. They call me to collect my order, I ask the lady ARE YOU SURE EVERYTHING IS IN THERE???? There’s people waiting behind me so i didn’t want to unpack the small bag where they FORCED all the food into. They could’ve really give me a bigger bag. When I got home everyone was already so frustrated cause we couldn’t order what we wanted. The service was Pathetic and we waited forever. Only to unpack the food and there is ONLY 7 (Seven) McMuffins INSTEAD of 8 (eight). The chips were definitely OLD. NO SAUCE on the low Gi sandwich, we had to put mayonnaise on it. Who the hell wants to drive back now and complain about a missing McMuffin?? And what do you do? Do you eat the food you have first and then go back? Do you take everything back and let it get cold? Do you argue and ask for everything to be made fresh??? WHAT DO YOU DO with this terrible service. Well we just LEFT it as it’s pointless to argue with a brick. DO NOT contact me to apologise, it will not fix the...

My review of MacDonald's Durbanville:

Day 0: Wednesday, 9 March 2025 I suggest that we have MacDonald's for supper, a decision I will regret for the rest of my life. The food arrives at roughly 19:00. By 23:00, my daughter is screaming in abdominal pain and can't sleep through the night.

Day 1: No sleep and too much pain so my daughter can't go to work. We make an appointment to see our GP at 11:30. He suspects a stomach bug and prescribes medication accordingly. By 15:00, my daughter calls me and asks me to come home and take her to hospital. She’s experiencing severe chest pain and struggling to stay conscious. We arrive at the ER at 16:00, where she is placed on a drip and given various medications via IV.

Day 2: A physician is appointed to help establish the illness. Blood tests confirm Salmonella poisoning, and her antibiotics are changed accordingly.

Day 3: A surgical gastroenterologist is brought in to assist. More blood samples are taken, as her condition has become critical.

Day 4: My daughter has now been moved into Isolation with systemic sepsis. She is fighting for her life.

Day 5: Still in Isolation. Her sepsis markers are lower today, we’re hoping this is the beginning of a turnaround.

Day 6: A slight improvement. She remains in Isolation.

Day 7: If all goes well, tomorrow will be her last day on IV antibiotics. Hopefully, she’ll be able to go home after that and begin the long road to recovery.

Day 8: My daughter was released midday. She’s doing fine and is now strengthening at home, no thanks to MacDonald's.

This is an experience I wouldn’t wish upon any parent. The fact that the owner of the MacDonald's branch doesn’t even reply with their usual link to the complaints portal (which I don’t want) further shows their TOTAL lack of empathy.

Profit margins are their only quest. My daughter’s medical bills would’ve made a big difference to that!

If that place ever burns down, only the bacteria will survive. The authorities need to shut it down.

Thank you to staff like Diana and Umri at Durbanville Paediatrics who helped save my daughter's life. To some of their colleagues: you have the perfect example of healthcare right in front of you....