McDonald's — Restaurant in Eastleigh

I'm usually positive about any place I review, but after the absolutely shocking experience tonight and since I moved to the area in Oct 2023, I can't think of anything good to say about this site.

It's weirdly, the most below average McDonald's I've ever encountered. And I'm fairly certain McDonald's know when they don't respond to their own surveys even if marked as "dissatisfied", when any other location I've had a response within hours of giving feedback on anything I've not found up to scratch for how the brand represents itself in its own media.

At least 1 item from every other lunch/dinner McDelivery order or app orders for drive-thru collection has been missed (anything from a side order to the burger from a meal deal), so there's no trust that any order you don't collect from inside the restaurant is going to be accurate.

Only our breakfast orders have generally been received without any problem and the restaurant itself is okay, but sadly it's not enough to redeem an overwhelming negative overall experience.

Even if you do collect orders from inside, you need to scrutinise and quality check every item to make sure it's right. And god forbid you're unfortunate enough to ask for help with any missing or incorrect orders from a management level employee - you'll be met with challenging demeanor, disbelief and, if you go during a "peak" period, even straight-up denial that anything might be wrong. Non-management staff are (normally) polite and helpful and quick to fix any issues.

Although, you might be equally unfortunate enough to experience unfocused and uncaring staff laughing and messing around in full view of a line of already annoyed and dissatisfied customers. No, the staff shouldn't be super serious all the time, but there's a time and place to laugh and joke in peak dinner service.

The drive-thru is also the busiest I've seen in the South of England. Surely it would make sense to open another location like Bitterne or Bursledon to serve what appears to be a busy customer base? This site might then be able to focus on bringing back the "golden" quality of the McDonald's brand.

Edit (Dec 2024): This site's managed to gain back a couple of stars following some recent McDelivery orders being accurate and of the quality expected. Something has obviously changed;...

We wanted 2 mcflurrys and 2 milkshakes. We Queued for ages at the drivethrough as it was really really busy, finally we got to speak to give our order however when we asked for what we wanted they did they haven't got milkshakes or mcflurrys and obviously I wasn't happy at all because I waited all that time in the queue to be told they had nothing. I then just ordered a small coke no ice because my mouth and throat were dry and needed something to quench my thirst. I got to the collection point and I said to the young lady that there should be a notice on the front of the drivethrough stating they had no milkshakes or mcflurrys to prevent wasted time in a ridiculous queue so I asked if I could have a bigger coke instead of the small one as a good will for wasting time and fuel, the young lady rolled her eyes back into her head and got a so called manager to see me who had no customer service skills what so ever and would do nothing to prevent this complaint. ( I am a centre manager for a big business and I know all about customer services ). He came to the window and said is there a problem, I told him that he should have a notice at the front of the drivethrough stating they had none of the above and he didn't even acknowledge what I said, the managers name was Joel. I said as a good will I would like a bigger coke for wasting my time and he said unfortunately I can't do that then he literally just walked away from me, so I said to the young lady that I will be making a complaint about the service that was unprofessionaly given and the poor availability of items. The manager needs training on how to deal with customers and how to easily deal with preventing a complaint. This McDonald's is local to me but now after this visit I won't be...

Hedge end McDonald's is busy and suffers from the barrage of various eats orders and a constant flow of customers which I can forgive. Today August 3rd pm the Shift manager lied to my face and smirked as he did it. Over such a simple thing as well. The man on the drive through till said I could have white chocolate with the munchies sauce as the sauce for the white chocolate had ran out. The man at the service counter when collecting was told he wasn't allowed to do it. The interaction with Shift Manager: New the situation as he had already stopped his staff member but handed me the standard flurries with a hurried "I heard that you wanted to speak to me." I said you know that we have asked for them with the white chocolate bits. "We can't do that" already knowing that he had stopped others it was clear that he could make that decision (good customer service). I maintained that he could as it was clear from both previous interactions that it was just sauce out of stock. The manger decided to feed off that and then lied saying that there was no white chocolate...that's why. Knowing that it was going no where and that the manager seemingly lied and lacked integrity I accepted the order...in his self congratulating rush away he then realised that he had forgotten to give me the rest of the order but couldn't get away quick enough. There was no sympathy or open ended questions....or dealing with it professionally for instance, sorry if you have been promised something we can't deliver, what would you like us to do? Would you like another flavour? Let's hope this is an isolated interaction not the training or culture that you are developing...