McDonald's — Restaurant in College Park

Beware! There is a lurker, Maryland Towing and Recovery Service, that waits in the parking lot for unsuspecting customers. We decided to walk across the street first to pick up my scrip and then take out some food at McDonalds. We got the scrip first because it is a short walk to the front door of CVS. I am 75 and had a knee replaced 4 weeks ago and parked in a handicap spot (I have a sticker). Daughter left her coat in the car. We were maybe 5 minutes at the CVS but when we came out my car was gone. McDonald said there was a metal sign in a corner of the lot with phone numbers for towed vehicles. We called and the dispatcher said he would try to get the tow truck operator, Ed, to return to the McDonalds. A college student stopped to talk with us at the sign. He said the same thing happened to him but he ran to the tow truck before he got out on the street. They charged him, though, to unhitch his car. This company is located in Beltsville, the tow yard is also in Beltsville. The Dispatcher called us back and told us to start walking, which we did but it was rather cold and my daughter refused to take my coat even though hers was in the car. My cane was in the car, too. We walked for about 10 minutes (brr at night) and located the tow truck in a closed up gas station. HERE'S THE THING: If you step off the McDonalds premises BEFORE you get your food, even for just a few minutes, you are subject to towing. Did you know that? Nothing against McDonalds. I was charged $175 to get my car back. Based on the invoice, it took him just one minute to hitch my car and drive away with it. As he drove off we saw him go back to the parking lot to wait for other offenders. In the end we did not go back to the McDonalds...

There's nothing wrong with McDonald's food, basically ever. However, there is something very wrong with the workers, supervision, and management at this McDonald's location. As a chaperone of a middle school DC trip who left for the airport at 2AM on Tuesday March 25th, and spent the entire day sightseeing, the McDonald's in College Park Maryland was a dream come true at 8:30 that evening. There was almost no way of not being the hero restaurant of a bunch of kids who definitely needed a 4th meal after a very long day. Unless you won't serve them because they only have cash. Literally the only way to ruin our day 1 experience was to tell a bunch of hungry young adults that you just don't have enough employees to take their money. And better yet, you let us stand there 20 minutes. 20 minutes just watching us wait by a cash register you had no intention of ever walking towards.

Thanks you employee Maria M. for single handedly ruining my faith in this great American staple. Especially because you never even told them yourself that their money wasn't good enough, you made me do it.

Would be future customers, please be advised. If you're high college student who's steaming with the smell of cannabis, your online order will be filled in the same magical way McDonald's serves billions of customers every day. But if you're a hungry middle school kid from 5 states away with only cash from your parents, you should probably find a vending machine instead of stopping at this...

On June 4th,2024, we experienced an extremely humiliating incident at the McDonald’s in College Park. The security guard on duty showed complete disrespect toward customers who arrived late at night. He was clearly not in an emotionally stable condition to be working. My husband and I went to use the restroom for a quick hand wash, and when we came out, the security guard yelled at us angrily. As we tried to deescalate the situation by leaving, he used the “F” word and told us “I deal with people like you.” This comment was particularly disturbing as we are both minorities, and I am an Asian student. What did he imply by saying “people like you”? Is this how McDonald’s trains its staff to communicate with customers? The security guard was so furious that he waved us off and told us to leave. We have never experienced such a stressful and humiliating situation at a McDonald’s, and we will not be returning. We asked to speak with the manager to understand why we were treated this way, but the security guard refused to provide any information and pointed to a sign indicating the building’s location, telling us to take a picture. All the staff members were aware of the situation; they stood in the kitchen, watching and chatting about us. The security guard also refused to give us his name, despite being on duty. Even other customers showed concern for us, but there was no action or response from the staff. This incident was deeply upsetting and needs to be addressed...