03/04/2020 approx 3:20pm
I arrived at sonic in Kountze and pulled into stall #20 (inside and all the way to the end). I pressed the red button, confirmed that the screen said to “please wait”, and waited. After about 5 minutes of waiting, I looked at the screen and noticed it once again said “please press red button to start your order”. So, I obliged, and pressed again, confirmed that the bottom strip turned red and asked me to wait, and proceeded to wait for another 4-1/2 minutes.
After waiting nearly ten minutes, I concluded that the electronic ordering system was malfunctioning (which has been quite often since they installed the new screens) and switched to stall #19. In stall #18 was a minivan who had been parked there for quite some time, apparently facing the same dilemma as I was. After I waited another 7 minutes, that minivan pulled away with no food or drinks, and they’re screen still said “please wait” on the bottom red strip. So I concluded that maybe the WHOLE ordering system was down.
It was then that I decided to go up front to the patio ordering screens, of which there are two, and of which one was out of order. I pressed the button on stall #21, yet again and waited for 2-1/2 minutes while employees stared at me. If the ordering system was down, someone should have come out to take the order.
It was then (at approximately 3:45-3:50pm) that I decided to give up and go next door to Dairy Queen. As I sat down at my table I saw a truck pull up that had just been at sonic, and the couple came inside to also dine at Dairy Queen.
I don’t know what happened, but this is not the sonic that I grew up eating at, or the one that I worked at fresh out of high school. The employees seem rather apathetic towards their jobs, and don’t appear to be required to even adhere to any kind of uniform standards anymore. When I was younger, it was RARE to have to wait more than sixty seconds after pressing the button to have your order taken, and the crew always did their best to get your food out in “4 minutes or less”, 100% correct, and if that didn’t happen you got a token for a free drink (unless, of course, it was a ridiculously large order, and the crew would then give you a time and usually beat it). I mean, that’s the whole idea behind the name of the company, SONIC as in, THE SPEED OF SOUND. Fast food, getting to you fast. Not 25-30 minutes of waiting before anyone even takes your order. They weren’t even getting slammed. Half of the stalls were empty (and yes, I’m counting the ones that employees park at to keep people from ordering there) and there was maybe a 2-3 car line at the drive thru. The standards at which employees used to be held have obviously fallen off the map, and as I witnessed today, this location is losing business and revenue...
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