Sonic Drive-In — Restaurant in Parkville

I usually don’t take time out of my day to leave reviews—especially negative ones—but my recent experience at Sonic was so disappointing, frustrating, and frankly baffling that I feel like I have to say something. If I can help even one person avoid wasting their time the way I did, then this rant will be worth it.

I pulled into Sonic on what should’ve been a quick stop for a simple order—two drinks. That’s it. No burgers, no meals, no complicated customizations. Just two drinks. Something that should’ve taken five minutes, maybe ten at the absolute most. Instead, I spent over 40 minutes sitting there, being ignored, overlooked, and made to feel like I was invisible.

When I first pulled in, things seemed fine. I hit the red button, placed my order, and was told it would be right out. No issues there. I paid with a card at the stall and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Five minutes passed. Ten. I could still see employees walking in and out of the building. No one approached me. I figured maybe they were just a little backed up. Fifteen minutes in, though, I started to realize something wasn’t right. Multiple cars that pulled in after me were getting served quickly. Not just one or two—several. People were getting entire food orders and driving off while I was still just sitting there, thirsty and annoyed.

What made it worse was the complete lack of communication. No one checked in. No one came out to explain a delay. No message popped up on the screen. Just silence. So I pressed the red button again to ask for a status update. Nothing. Waited a few minutes. Pressed it again. Still nothing.

And then came the looks.

By the time 40 minutes had passed, I was beyond frustrated. I pressed the red button again. This time someone finally answered, and I asked if my order was coming. The employee responded casually—no apology, no explanation, just a simple “Oh yeah, I’ll bring that out” like I had just ordered two seconds ago. A few minutes later, someone brought out the two drinks without so much as a “sorry for the wait.” Not even a look of acknowledgment that something had gone wrong.

By then, I wasn’t even thirsty anymore—I was just irritated. I could’ve gone to the grocery store, picked up a whole case of drinks, and been back home in less time. The only reason I didn’t leave earlier was because I had already paid and didn’t want to deal with a refund process. But honestly, I wish I had.

At a time when fast food is supposed to be, well, fast, this was a total failure on every level. I could understand if it was a busy night and there were staffing issues, but even then—acknowledgment goes a long way. A simple, “Hey, we’re running behind, but we haven’t forgotten about you” would’ve changed the entire experience. Instead, it was just passive indifference and a complete lack of urgency.

The cherry on top? The drinks were wrong. After all that time, one of them wasn’t what I ordered, and the other was missing the add-in I paid for. I didn’t even bother asking for it to be fixed. I was done.

I don’t know if this is just how this particular Sonic operates, or if this is a larger issue with their staffing, management, or training, but either way—it was enough for me to swear off this location completely. I have no interest in giving them more of my time or money, especially when there are other places that actually know how to treat their customers.

To the management of this Sonic: do better. You lost a loyal customer over two drinks. Not because of the delay itself, but because of how it was handled—or rather, not handled. Your team’s attitude and lack of care were inexcusable.

To anyone thinking about stopping at this location: save yourself the trouble. You’re better off going literally anywhere else. At least there, you might actually get your order in less than the time it takes to watch an entire episode...

Went to order a pair of Cherry Lime-aids at the kiosk, added a one dollar tip to the order and was charged 26.00ish dollars instead of the 6 and change. No Mrs manager I did not add 2 extra zeros accidentally (that would have been 10 dollars) I pushed one of the pre- selected offers in the add a tip line up they were 1$, 2$, $5, or keep the change 0.05$ then I paid and the order receipt printed out with a $20 dollar tip despite the original tip and total being around 6 dollars and some change:/ of course I called back immediately to get the charge corrected which they were unable to do. They advised I needed to call 188-ok-sonic which was done. The nice but ultimately unhelpful lady really tried hard to figure out why we were calling and in between her offers cheeseburger I could redem for my inconvenience (a offer I kept declining) she repeatedly stated that we need call the store. After getting off the phone with the call center (not to bad only about 8 minutes of mostly usless conversation) I tried talking to the manager about refunding the overcharge or putting the charge on a gift card (a suggestion from the helpline) she was dismissive and obviously frustrated. She told me to call the sonic helpline that I had just got off the phone with, that they are only people capable of helping me. Ok Sonic manager just say that you don't know how to do a charge back and get back with me after learning how...oh wait you didn't ask for any of my contact information Sorry kid that brought the drinks out I should have tipped you cash, please accept...

I've been getting the same sonic blast from here since I was 16 years old. This experience was not the normal. I was given something completely different that I have never had before and it was in the wrong size. No big deal. We pull around and a person comes out to speak with us. We simply told her it was not what what we ordered and she replied that whoever had made it for me previously had done it wrong and she made it herself and that's the way it was made. I even told her I have had the same thing for many years and it has never been made like this. She told me it was too bad and she made it right. After having to tell her I was not going to eat it because I didn't like it and it was not what I ordered she agreed to make a new one. I ordered something completely different since she was so insistent that what I wanted doesn't exist. She ask to take my card to remake it for some reason and brought back what I asked for the second time. I'm scared to even eat it as I'm afraid of what she could have done to this food and have no idea why she took my card when she didn't need to re-ring anything. Would not...