McDonald's — Restaurant in Lake Stevens

Went inside McD's thinking I would avoid the typically ridiculous line at DriveThru. Been a long time since I have patronized McD's but I wanted 2 reward myself & BREAK my FAST after doing a blood draw, with a decadent Sausage McMuffin with Egg (as soon as I type this, I bet a coupon will pop up). No humans to be seen at front order counter, I did see one tucked inside dining area, but it was a Senior minding his own biz sitting at a table drinking a 'cheaper than Starbucks' cuppa Joe reading a newspaper. I stood there slightly perplexed about what came next. Maybe I needed a course on how to navigate a McD's who now advertises & prides itself in 'contact free' ordering. Nobody even appeared at front counter to acknowledge me... I did finally see the whole TWO employees almost out of sight up by the Drive Thru window, obviously stretched thin & pretty much tied up taking care of that ridiculously long DriveThru line I WAS TRYING to avoid. (No relief for 'line jumpers') After standing there for a few minutes,, behind me I noticed there are now APP machines installed ...complete with signs encouraging participation in this new mechanized way of ordering, & they reward you with POINTS! First you have to download the App, then place your order via the App' (Time is $ & the App ordering is done on MY time not theirs). Suddenly a cute little gray-haired lady popped her head out from behind the APP machines looking a bit disoriented..I said, 'Don't humans come out 2 take your orders here anymore?? She shook her head, "This is what its come to... Nobody wants to work here so they force you to order on a machine which U have to take 10 minutes to read & follow instructions to find out how 2 even use," "Did U figure out how to download the App?" I asked. "Nope". Considering we are Seniors who somehow got left behind in the technological shift, you would think society would cut us some slack. She quipped, "If U go 2 the front counter & just stand there looking obnoxious they WILL have 2 come back over here & take your order". I did just that but regretted it. With a look of disapproval (bad dog) the employee shoved the sandwich at me in a bag, noThank you, nothing.. worst part was it tasted like it had been sitting for a while, then NUKED from cold.

As I was sitting in my car forcing the slightly lukewarm McMuffin down my throat regretting my decision to 'treat myself' at McDonald's, right in front of me on the door I spied a big red SHOE on a barely legible sign that read 'Your shoe will know what to do'. That caught my attention..... in very small (not Senior friendly) words it said 'Use the foot pull for safety & cleanliness'. Wish I had seen that BEFORE I entered the contact-free facility & placed my hands on the door handle & then ate my McMuffin with germ-y hands. 🙄🙃 Bottom line, I understand the effort to go 'contactless' is beneficial for public health reasons. If someone had been human enough to acknowlege me & direct me to the App machine it might have been a more...

I’m obligated to preface my rant by saying that I don’t usually leave reviews. And no, I don’t just say that for hype. I’m not a Karen and I’ve left perhaps 3 reviews in my entire life. But this McDonald’s deserves every word I wrote.

To start with some optimism, the pre-made food is as delicious as one would expect from a McDonald’s. Very rarely is it inedible. (With one exception - the oatmeal is often so watered down that you feel like you’re stranded in the Amazon rainforest fishing for any scrap of sustenance that will sustain you. Don’t be too hard on yourself when you finally take to drinking the oatmeal like a chunky slurpy. It’s demoralizing, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Just don’t make eye contact with anyone as you do it. You WILL be judged). The staff are also friendly and admittedly accommodating when they mess up, no questions asked. …which is 98% of the time.

The limit does not exist how often this staff mess up the orders. I understand that most of them are younger kids working a first job, but if this is what we have to look forward to for the working future of the United States, move somewhere else. Anywhere else. It’s almost statistically impossible to mess up this often. Like it’s intentional. I often question if this McDonalds gives bonuses to staff for leaving out items. They must have a covert money laundering scheme. Mattress Firm has nothing on this McDonald’s in a laundering competition.

Like a disappointed father forced to helicopter pilot their oblivious child, I have to check the bag every time I go here. Sometimes I’m too annoyed to park and check, so with guilt I rummage through the bag before I drive away from the window. The staff watching me as I scratch the depths of the bag to find what is inevitably missing. I sheepishly look up at them, like Gollum begging for a second chance to hold the one ring, one last time. It’s demeaning and I have second-hand embarrassment for them, and first-hand embarrassment for myself.

There are times I’ve pondered investing in McDonald’s stock solely because of how much money they must make by not giving customers the complete order. That or I should receive a massive tax return from the IRS for how much I involuntarily donate to this McDonald’s by way of missing food. One way or the other, I’d be made for life.

All in all, my chief complaint is the complete lack of regard for accuracy of orders. Whether there are missing items (97% or the time) or incorrect items (95% of the time), there is almost always something wrong. The trumpets of heaven and god himself could not save this McDonald’s from its mistakes. Yet with complete disdain and frustration, my boyfriend and I can’t help but crawl back each weekend to give them another chance. One more try to get our breakfast order correct. And to this...

McDonald partners with door dash and they BOTH dropped the ball on 3 sperate occasions in the last month, leaving each time one of the 4 people i order for in my home without the meal they were anticipating. And without a car readily at my disposal.. Trying retrieve missing items myself after my meal is delivered incomplete is not possible nor practical and the dropped ball starts with the mcdonalds staff. More and more it seems like the satff members have been found in a highschool hall domewhere and most have littke drive and no respect for your customers. The fact that a delivery driver from a secondary establishment is handed a sealed bag of food and allowed to leave to their destination, when THEY SHOULD KNOW WITHOUT QUESTION IF THE ORDER IS COMPLETE AND READY TO HEAD OUT FOR DELIVERY AND THERE SHOULD NOT BE the issue of the dasher handing the customer bags that are sealed as if theyve been double checked for accuracy... but you open it up and immediately see that things are missing if you dont see 4 DRINKS in a carrier and a separate bag with the food ... And not that door dashers shoukd be held responsible for that, however... Its two people im paying to get less than what i need to feed my family... And its unfair, its an inconvenience.. And its as if we were just robbed of the tip meant to show gratitude for proffesionalism because we must may up front for the food and the tip for the driver in order to get the food in the longrun.. Making it impossible to be able to check accuracy that all the food ordered was delivered BEFORE money first leaves their wallets, only to get money credited to your door dash account that doesnt amount to the cost for whats missing when this happens once you send a complaint in - but purposefully and quite obviously give zero options whatsoever to be able to get a REFUND to your debit or credit card so that the parent may use the money as they choose... Not just cycle this money back towards the funnel that is owners of DOOR DASH.

mcdonalds - please stop hiring teenagers that have no drive and no people skills who fo not care enough about the restaurant nor the patrons to give a quality experience with quality food. You may see an improvement of quality work when that...