McDonald's Pretoria East Woodlands — Restaurant in Gauteng

Good day, I hope all is well.

I would like to assure you that going to McDonald's has always been an enjoyable experience and I constantly look forward to ordering from the franchise.

However, I am constantly disappointed by this branch and is one of the worst branches I have been to as this is not the first time I have had an issue, I have looked passed the problems in the past as sometimes people have bad days and make mistakes.

Yet today - I have had enough!

The cashier took down our order, I ordered 2 chilli chicken burgers and an egg muffin with chips, yet when I received my order, I got beef burgers instead of chicken which I can't eat due to religious reasons, luckily there is a clear visible difference between chicken and beef meat for me to notice that it was the wrong burger, plus we did not receive chips with the egg muffin. This cashier does not listen attentively and if she did not hear me clearly the she could have asked me to repeat myself or indicate that she cannot hear me, however she did not ask any of this and wrote down the wrong order. I have now wasted my money for her incompetency and bad listening skills.

Additionally, the ladies that handed us the food were absolutely rude! I cannot fathom how bad the customer service was from them. When we addressed that we ordered chips with the egg muffin they simply said that it doesn't come with chips and we explained that we know it doesn't come with chips but we still ordered chips and it was not added to the order and she simply repeated her previous statement very sternly and rudely. When we first got to the window, these same ladies did not even greet or say good morning let alone smile. The least you can do as a worker in customer service is be friendly! These workers have terrible work ethic and seem like they're being forced to work there. I find this very ironic as your website says "Perfect mornings start here" yet your staff is the most miserable morning people I have ever seen and therefore put a very imperfect start to my morning.

Additionally, when I tried calling the customer care number on the slip, it did not work. I tried multiple times throughout the day. What is the point of putting your number on the slip if no one is going to...

I come here often, probably too often, and almost always with a big group. There's really no competition in the area and it shows. This McD's has had the following 2 issues for the last couple of YEARS. Everyone can have a bad experience with a server, or with a cook, but if a problem persists for years then you know they do not give a stuff about it. Here they are:

The toilets are ALWAYS dirty, smelly, and a pretty nasty experience. Even after renovating the toilets remained a dirty mess. I would literally not go and rush home 25min away rather than brave that stall. The upstairs one is okay (probably because its hidden), but we cant use that one can we? because...

Since the beginning of the pandemic they have cordened off the upstairs half of the store, and the outside seating area(!). Think about this, this ensures that the maximum number of people are squashed into the smallest possible space with no ventilation. This policy is IDIOTIC and smacks of laziness as all you see at night is staff sitting in these forbidden areas, but patrons are chased away. This also makes the downstairs a pretty obnoxious experience for everyone else if there is a big group.

There are few McD's as neglected as this one, and this is supposed to be in a good area with discerning customers. I've had way better experiences in super dodgy areas, but fuel is expensive so I guess we'll just keep coming back to this one feeling...

I don't use McDonald's regularly. But most of the time I use this specific McDonald's, the service is not the best. I've had one day of friendly service. The rest of the time it's like they expect you to know exactly what it on the menu.

You have the advertisement and then have to go past it to order. The special advertised is not on the menu you can see while ordering. And when I then asked for the item as advertised, I almost paid double because the item they loaded is the same as the special. But more expensive.

I walked in to say that I ordered at the drive through and asked for the special as advertised. The counter said I had to give them the amount of the special. Not the name.

How in the world am I as a client supposed to know this? The person on duty should know that there are different options and then ask the client which of the options they prefer. They should also say when the options you have are more expensive.

On the advert it says meal. Which includes a coffee, juice or cappuccino. Or that is what you think when they ask you the option. If you choose one however, it costs you extra.

Maybe the regulars know this. As someone who only gets a take-a-way once in a while. It's ridiculous to have to pay more expensive just because I'm not aware of the options and the person taking the order doesn't bother to give...