McDonald's — Restaurant in Glendale

Subject: Formal Complaint Regarding Poor Customer Service at Glendale Central McDonald’s Location

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to express my extreme disappointment and concern regarding a deeply unpleasant experience I had at your Glendale, CA location on Central Avenue on the morning of Sunday, May 11th (Mother’s Day), just before 11:00 AM.

As someone who once proudly worked for McDonald’s during my high school years and who has been a loyal customer for decades, I never imagined I would feel compelled to file a complaint of this nature. Unfortunately, the behavior of two employees—Claudia and Hector—left me no choice.

During my visit, I used the self-service kiosk to place an order for two hash browns for my daughter. The kiosk, however, only charged me for one. When I received my order, I politely explained the situation to Hector, who immediately became dismissive and hostile. His exact response was, “I don’t care,” followed by a sarcastic comment that I should “make sure to use the kiosk correctly next time.”

I found this not only unprofessional but shockingly disrespectful, especially considering I had approached him calmly and respectfully. When I told him I preferred to order at the counter to avoid kiosk errors, I waited in line for over 10 minutes without issue. As I approached the register again, Hector reiterated his rude comment about using the kiosk properly and continued with a condescending tone.

I responded by expressing my frustration and shared that I used to work for McDonald’s long before he was even likely employed there. I made this comment not to offend, but to point out that I value good customer service and have firsthand experience with the standards McDonald’s was once known for. Hector’s reaction was defensive and escalated the situation further.

Throughout this encounter, Claudia stood by silently and offered no support or attempt to de-escalate the situation. Shockingly, after this verbal exchange—where no threats, profanity, or inappropriate behavior occurred—Hector and Claudia threatened to call the police on me. This felt not only excessive but deeply humiliating, especially considering that the core issue was simply a misunderstanding over a single hash brown.

I left the location feeling disrespected and mistreated over a minor issue that could have easily been resolved with a basic level of professionalism and courtesy. I ended up giving my daughter the one hash brown, and explained why we would no longer be visiting that McDonald’s again. She fully supported my decision and encouraged me to submit this complaint.

It is disheartening to see employees like Hector and Claudia representing a brand that once stood for customer satisfaction and community values. Their behavior was completely out of line, and I sincerely hope that appropriate steps are taken to address their conduct. No customer deserves to be treated the way I was over such a minor and easily correctable issue.

Thank you for taking the time to read my concerns. I genuinely hope this feedback reaches someone who still values customer service and is willing to take action to ensure that no one else has to endure the...

A positive is that It is one of the cleanest McDonald's nearby it's location.

That being said sadly they got my wife's order wrong basically twice in a row..

which she didn't check to confirm before leaving.

When she called she was told to come back, which she didn't have the time so she had to go back the next day when in the area to receive the missing time what she actually paid for.

The following day when. She went back to get pick up what she had already paid for, she decided to also order a drink which she specifically asked. (Then not to put / add sugar in) and a sandwich.

At that point they also charged her for the item she has told the counter person that she had already paid for night before and was told by the manager to come and pick up.

So she now has to wait to speak to the manager who didn't have a list of customers who actually called with their order numbers to get their order issue that had not been mishandled. And she was obviously not the only one beicse the manager who had taken her call asked when did she call etc.

When my wife had to revers engineer approximate time the the manager suddenly remembered my wifes name? So manager removed the additional change and politely send my wife son her way.

A few minutes on the road my wife takes a sip of her drink and it's loaded with sugar...

That she specifically asked them not to do. Maybe they heard " blah blah blah, sugar???"

I get that things can become harder to manage as more customers arrive in a times of rush.

But paying attention is part of the customer service as well.

Tho it is local and clean, it's not worth the time and gas to return to fix what was mishandled in the first place.

I imagine it's not worth it to most people to go back and also speak up. And perhaps some places bank on that? But it is also not fast food if you have to redo orders etc.

Anyhow if it happened once I would say on things happen but multiple times, poor...

Preface: I rarely go to McDonald's, but when I do, it's because I'm desperate, it's open, and it has a general level of "okay food." This happens like once a year.

This location, however, treated everyone in my party to the worst experience any of us have ever had. Some things were forgivable, and understandable. They didn't have a large number of their normal items in stock, and the workers were frazzled. We should have taken that as a clue, but we were all hungry and tired.

We settled on some meals, and waited about 20-25 minutes for it to be bagged and handed to us. It was around 7:50 now, and we'd walked in at 7:25. Again, understandable since the workers were running all over the place, but there were only about 8 guests in the whole building, and the occasional car in the drive thru.

When we sat down at a table to eat, it was sticky. Our fries were undercooked and not salted. The other fried items were overdone to the point of being nearly burnt. Burgers and sandwiches were unseasoned, and cold. Sodas were flat.

Bathrooms were filthy.

We should have returned it, but the workers weren't anywhere to be seen, and at that point it was pretty much how the day was going, so we ate what we could stomach, surrounded by the cold stares of eerie posted giant statuesque dolls in their giant glass cases. We left very quickly after that.

I hate wasting food, and I feel miserable about this entire experience. I never expect much from fast food, but this was just an...