Sonic Drive-In — Restaurant in Amarillo

The other evening, my wife submitted an order for a medium soft drink within the SONIC App (this was at 6:33pm). We pulled into the Sonic shortly after (about 6:34pm) and noticed only two cars at the Drive-Thru and three in stalls. Pulling into Stall #1, we checked in on the app. Although the stall screen said "In the Kitchen," when our drink had not arrived by 6:44pm, I pressed the RED BUTTON; it displayed "Red Button Activated." We waited for five minutes without ANY response from an employee; by this time, it was apparent that the Drive-Thru was full of people. At 6:49pm, I got out of my car and approached the front door of the SONIC building and stopped a carhop, indicating we had already waited almost twenty minutes for this drink and no one was answering the RED BUTTON push. The young man said, "We will have it right out to you sir." Shortly thereafter, the same young man arrived with my wife's drink...it took TWENTY MINUTES for the staff of this SONIC store to make a medium drink and get it out to our car. Who knows how much longer it would have taken had I not approached the young carhop.

This is not the first issue I've experienced with this SONIC location, nor even the 10th issue. I have waited over thirty minutes on numerous occasions for a BAG OF ICE ordered through a stall; I've come to find that going through the Drive-Thru results in much faster service (although still lacking). They do not seem to have perfected the balance of Drive-Thru, Stalls, and Mobile Orders that most other restaurants seem to do well...and this has been happening for years. The only reason we stopped at this location on this day was because it was the closest location on the way to our home.

What needs to happen to get management and their staff well-trained to handle, and not destroy relationships with loyal SONIC customers, all aspects of this business in a customer-friendly manner? The staff has always been friendly, but their sense of urgency and lack of effective "triage" for orders is ridiculous. If I can get 10 drink-only orders out in a matter of minutes, while food orders are being cooked, why wouldn't I...

My gosh, this is going to make me sound so old, but kids these days have no clue how to verbally communicate like normal people. Nor do they have basic problem solving skills. I tried to place an order in a stall, but the only thing I could hear was excruciatingly loud static. Instead of coming to check the stall, the kids just ignored me. I moved to another stall and the speaker did the same thing. Finally an employee came out and told me “We’re speaking.” Well no crap, Sherlock. I know how a speaker works and this one isn’t working (not what I said, but what I wanted to.) Then he asks me what I want, but has no notepad in his hands. I hesitantly tell him my entire order and he says, “Wait, I need to be right back.” He enters two items incorrectly into the system and comes back two more times to try to get the order correct. When our food finally comes out, the girl who delivers it is polite, but our order is missing sauces and tater tots. I push the button and yet again they try to speak through the speaker that isn’t working. Another kid comes out and hands me two sauces so I ask for two more and the tater tots. All he says is, “size?” and disappears. Our food was all good, thank God, but the communication and customer service...

Went today and ordered a large iced coffee. I waited for 15 minutes until I pressed the button again to ask for a refund. I was told then that they had to brew the coffee for my iced coffee. If they had told me that when I ordered, I would have either been okay to wait or ordered another drink. The lack of communication was horrible. A little notice could have made everything alright but to sit for 15 dang minutes for one drink is ridiculous.

I ordered a cheeseburger with extra pickles, fries and a drink. The young man who brought me my food was very kind and sweet. I pulled my burger out of the bag and thought, it is huge, this is the wrong burger. Opened it up, and nope, it was a single patty cheeseburger, with not just extra pickles, but all the pickles! Whoever made that with all those pickles surpassed my expectations and they should be given a raise. The customer asked for extra pickles, and instead of one or two, which is typical, this cook delivered and knew the assignment. I was quite pleased. The fries, however, seemed old. They were stale and not fresh. It seems to be hit and miss with...