McDonald's — Restaurant in England

I have used this particular McDonalds for years and years now, I wish i could say it's at least 3 stars for the sake of the workers, but 2 is honestly how I feel about this place.

Before criticising the establishment I do recognise these are decent people who work there, working hard to make ends meet, whilst doing so in a minimum wage job, with a mundane work load and huge amounts of ungrateful customers. This is not a critique of you if you are reading this but of the service. I do in fact salute your efforts. Despite having multiple interactions with very poorly mannered staff, stressed staff and miserable workers. I think we can all empathise with the misery, but it still does not help the customer transform an issue to a successful resolve.

First con is the "drive thru". This has to be one of the worst designed car parks for practical purposes. Frome is a busy town with 30+ thousand people, yet this Drive Thru accommodates 3 cars max from the order point to the car park. After that you are lining up into the car park. The line which now blocking all the spaces at the back of the car park, to the left of the line for the Drive Thru. No one wants to park there as they struggle to get in or out and remains largely empty, especially at peak hours despite the hustle and bustle. Seems like a giant waste of space. The 3 spaces to wait for your food at the end is fine, but you have to reverse back into the direction of the drive thru flowing out in order to get out. At peak times when people are in a rush, this is dangerous.

Second Con is the waiting space on the inside. The cleanliness and seating inside is fine, but every time I have been between 4-6pm you enter into a wall of people all waiting for their food, standing in whatever pocket of space they can find due to lack of room. You end up stood next to people at their tables eating, as you wait to hear your number. Hearing only as you can't see whats happening at the front.

Third Con. Whats in the bag? Who knows, you best check before leave. I personally have had stuff left out of my order or different meals entirely for the last 5 times in a row and around another 5 other times before that over time. Today My "Big Tasty" was forgotten. I was parked up, went back in and the staff were lovely about it, no problem. But it is nearly every time for me and when I have asked others about orders not being accurate, they always say "oh we always just check as we have had that too". The point is you should not need to triple check everything, down to how many patty's are on your burger (yes i have had missing patty's) or if they left the pickles on that you asked to take out, or if they gave you the sauces with the nuggets. etc. You should order your food and exactly that ends up in the bag.

Fourth Con. There is a lack of leadership at the front for the public to see. I personally would not want this job, but at peak times when people have been waiting forever and you have a question that needs answering, there is no one to focus in on and assume them to be the person you can bring your issue to. I end up just asking the till operator and hope he knows whose in charge or the answer to my issue, but they normally shout a name to their colleagues, none of them have an clue as they are all so busy and overworked and then Im left there standing for a person to come from out back and say "yep, very sorry" To me, even as far away from fine dining as McDonalds is, i wish i could see a leader shouting orders directing the kitchen and all its efforts. but nope, a bunch of awkward workers with their heads down, oblivious to the going ons around them, with no worker to have an overview of the production.

Last con. 50/50 milkshakes and Ice cream. It's a running cliche for McDonalds but my batting average for the milkshake machine to be out of service is is probably close to be 1in 5. This is a minor issue to me but none the less, just niggles at you on those...

This particular branch of McDonald's just seems to get worse and worse with miserable, unhelpful, lethargic and disinterested staff and below average (even by McDonald's standard) food.

We arrived for breakfast so our kids could have pancakes and I ordered the food via the touchscreen to pay at the counter. Despite not being busy, the girl who presumably is in some kind of senior role due to her different shirt looked at me several times at the counter and ignored me until in the end a lad in a similar shirt came over, apologised and took my payment.

Our order consisted of pancakes with syrup and pancakes with syrup and sausage. When our order arrived neither had syrup so I asked for it, only to be given one packet, so I said the other should also have syrup, which the lad seemed reluctant to believe but eventually gave it to me. When I got back to our table and opened the boxes we then found the sausage was also missing from that one. I went back to the empty counter with the box, waited again to be served and explained to a lad there was no sausage to which he told me it was in the other box. As we'd opened both boxes I explained it was in neither box but he didn't believe me so I had to go and get the other box to prove it wasn't in there either, bearing in mind the cost difference of 40p I'm not sure why he thought I had stolen the sausage or indeed where I had put it!

After eventually giving our kids the breakfast we'd ordered I then went back to the touchscreen to order myself and my wife some lunch, again opting to pay by cash at the counter, and again being completely ignored by the same girl until eventually being served by the same lad.

Our order this time was very simple, or so I thought. 2 Big Mac meals, 2 Saver Chicken Sandwiches and 2 Apple Pies.

Waited at the counter again for our food and when it came I took it and started to walk back to our table only to notice our apple pies were missing, turned around immediately to point it out but all staff, apart from the 'senior staff girl' had gone, but do you think she acknowledged me, absolutely not!

After another few minutes waiting whilst our food got colder I was eventually acknowledged and reluctantly given our missing apple pies.

In all a complete farce, and let's be honest, all orders are on a huge screen for all staff to make it as easy and simple as possible, so why do none of them pay any attention to it?

On top of this why do they start serving lunch at 11am but you also can't order milkshakes or Mcflurries any more and the staff always lie that the machine doesn't work when you ask why?

It should also be noted that the floor throughout was absolutely lethal and NOT because it was wet outside, it was because they were greasy, presumably because the 'cleaner' doesn't understand using fresh water and floor cleaner rather than a bucket of old...

I recently had the unfortunate experience of dining at this establishment, and I must say, it was profoundly disappointing from start to finish.

Upon arrival, I was surprised to find the restaurant only minimally occupied, yet I was subjected to an excruciating 25-minute wait for my order. This extended delay felt particularly egregious considering the lack of patrons. When my food was finally delivered to the collection point, I expected at least a semblance of acknowledgment regarding the wait time; instead, I was met with utter indifference—no apologies or explanations were offered.

The quality of the food only exacerbated my dissatisfaction. The fries were not only stale but served cold, rendering them entirely unappetizing. To make matters worse, my order was incomplete, missing a side dish and the sauces I had specifically requested.

As if that were not enough, the chicken nuggets I ordered were meant to be a 9-piece serving; however, I was shortchanged, receiving only 7. This oversight not only underscored the poor attention to detail but also left me feeling cheated. In a further disappointment, my medium Oasis drink was devoid of ice, despite my clear request for it, and it was served half-filled, further contributing to my underwhelming experience.

The service was equally unremarkable. The waitress who attended to our car seemed utterly disinterested, almost as if she was begrudgingly fulfilling her duties. Her demeanor was less than welcoming, and I observed that she struggled to balance two items at once, necessitating separate trips—despite the fact that she easily could have carried both with one hand.

Overall, this experience was a cascade of missteps and oversights that left me regretting my choice to dine here. I cannot in good conscience recommend this restaurant to anyone, as the combination of poor service, subpar food quality, and lack of attention to customer satisfaction was nothing short of disheartening. I doubt I will return, as there are far better options...