McDonald's — Restaurant in England

Took over 35 minutes to get through the drive in from start to finish. Not a please or thank you from a single solitary member of staff. Payment taken after order placed, not a please or thank you. Window open, window shut. Didn't put the card reader out more than a millimeter more than she had too. I could only just reach. 15 mins had passed already. At window 2 I was asked what my order was, staff member was flustered. Appeared the orders were all wrong. Guessing the people in front just drove of with whatever they were given. Our food I think. Ten more mins of waiting. After shouting and running back and forth we were given a drink and told to wait in parking bay 1 by staff member. No apologies for the delay. After 10 minutes I went inside. The place was in disarray. Food all over cooking areas. Bags on floor. People obviously agitated. A good manager would apologise to people waiting, manage her staff and crack on. Instead everyone was flapping, she was flapping. Cold miserable place. When I said I'd been there over half an hour already, said managers response was "we had to cook yours from scratch". No apology, no smile, just a miserable grumpy attitude. Not my fault they gave it to someone else. I went back to my car and waited. A few minutes later I was brought a bag. Again no apology for the delay just "there's your food". I shouted after staff member that the McFlurry was missing. A few minutes later it arrived. Again not a word of apology for delay. Grumpy rude staff. No customer service. No customer care. No serviettes. No receipt. I'd love to have been doing a mystery shop at this place. It would have failed miserably. Bag wasn't even wrapped tonkeep the heat in. I'm not a massive lover of McDonalds. Its always cold and just a bit meh and this just totally reminded not...

Even though only 2 customers were in store, you couldn't find a clean table. One staff member was going around wiping the tables with the same cloth (good for spreading viruses etc), but the tables were just as dirty and crumb contaminated as before she did it. Why not use a clean piece of disposable paper towel on each table, with the cleaning liquid?

This was for breakfast about 9.45am. Lots of staff around the counter area, I counted 11, a couple on the "staff well being table" chatting and playing on laptops.

Meanwhile our muffin came with no butter or knife, (every McDonald's I've had this at has either provided Lurpak butter sachets and knife, or buttered them before you get them. Wife kept waiting at the counter while asking for some while her breakfast was getting cold, until I shouted to her to just leave it, which shamed a member of staff into doing something.

They seem more concerned about fulfilling JustEat orders than serving the people who've actually bothered to visit their store. Its always had poor service at this store, but seems even worse now.

Update: service was better, and food warmer today (June 22), but still full of delivery people. Covid is subsiding now, stop being lazy and go...

For me, it's the best McDonald's hands down. My hash brown could have been warmer,

It's been a while since I've visited there with my partner, but yesterday we had a breakfast date before we both started work. It's perfectly positioned for us as we both work in Hartlepool.

The lady on the tills was just as we'd remembered her. The restaurant was immaculate and clean. It was also welcoming and friendly, too. I think it helps to know the staff and the lady on the tills was looking after a young lad who had recently started there.

The thing I've observed from a managerial perspective is how patient and supportive the lady on the till is with everyone. Anything she needs to say is delivered with a sense of humour, and that's great. It softens the blow, but the message still gets across. The person she gives feedback to will remember that in the correct way.

I stayed a little longer as my partner started work earlier than me. I had enough points for a free hot drink, and the lady at the till helped me redeem them, so the drink tasted twice as nice! 😊

We'll definitely be back next week. It's my turn to pay for...