Drive Thru Annoyance

[WEDWDW]

Don't you just hate it when the car in front of you is told to pull forward to wait for their order and they don't pull forward enough for you to comfortably get by them!

 

[citruscurtis]

WOW....our Carl's and McDonald's now have everyone pull around and park in front of building

 

[jdb in AZ]

We have designated areas for waiting. The drive-through lanes aren't wide enough for anyone to get around if someone just pulls forward.

 

[White Cat]

Don't you just hate it when the car in front of you is told to pull forward to wait for their order and they don't pull forward enough for you to comfortably get by them!

Honk

 

[Micca]

If I got food from a drive through more than 2 or 3 times a year I'm sure I'd find it annoying too.

 

[kdonnel]

I have never been a drive thru person, I prefer going inside and eating my food there.

But it seems like McDonalds in particular really doesn't want anyone inside the restaurant anymore. They prioritize the drive thru over in store orders to the point that each of the last times I have gone it has taken 20+ minutes to get my order.

 

[bluezy]

Other than our local McDonalds and the Arby's in the next town over, the drive-thru's I go to have you pull into a designated parking spot. At McDs you have to pull up to the next window if your order is going to be ready in less than 2 minutes. That window is more than a full car length in front of the main pick-up window. I've never had any issue getting around a car at that window. If the order is going to take more than 2 minutes or if there is already someone waiting at that window, they send you to a designated parking spot. And at Arby's, they have a sign that says "stop when driver's window is here" (which is also at the end of fence/handrail for the sidewalk so it's an obvious place to stop. That too is more than a car length away from the pick-up window. And if you have to pull up to that spot, the worker will emphasize that you need to pull up all the way to the end of the railing so that the the cars behind you can get around your car.

We did have that issue at our old McDs that they tore down 5 years ago to build the new one. Congestion in the drive-thru line was one of the top priorities to fix with the new building. At the old one (built before they ever had drive-thru's) there was barely enough space for one car to pull forward from the pick-up window. You literally had to pull up until your front tires hit the curb of the sidewalk leading out of the restaurant. That allowed enough space for the car at the pick-up window to be able to barely get around you. When you were in that spot and were ready to leave it could be a nightmare to get out. You sometimes had to wait until the next car coming up to the pick-up window noticed that you needed to back up in order to get out and they nicely would stop before they reached the window to give you the space to do that. Sometimes a worker would have to come out and stop the cars in the pick up line to let you back up. I always dreaded the "just pull up and we'll bring your order out to you." comment. When they built the new building it was turned 45 degrees which allows for plenty of space for the drive-thru traffic when you have to wait a few minutes for your order.

 

[tvguy]

I have never been a drive thru person, I prefer going inside and eating my food there.

But it seems like McDonalds in particular really doesn't want anyone inside the restaurant anymore. They prioritize the drive thru over in store orders to the point that each of the last times I have gone it has taken 20+ minutes to get my order.

I was inside a busy McDonalds along a major freeway last year and someone in the kitchen yelled "I have paused the app, stop taking orders at the counter and drive thru". I gather from the staff that at times they got swamped with orders JUST from the app, greater than the capacity of their cooking operation to prepare in a reasonable time and they have to pause it for 30 or 40 minutes. They did resume drive up and walkup orders in about 10 minutes.

 

[bluezy]

I was inside a busy McDonalds along a major freeway last year and someone in the kitchen yelled "I have paused the app, stop taking orders at the counter and drive thru". I gather from the staff that at times they got swamped with orders JUST from the app, greater than the capacity of their cooking operation to prepare in a reasonable time and they have to pause it for 30 or 40 minutes. They did resume drive up and walkup orders in about 10 minutes.

That's interesting that they paused orders on the app. There have been a few times that I've been trying to order on the app for our local McDs and it tells me my store is closed (which it wouldn't say until I had gone through the entire ordering process). Every time it happened, I was sitting in a parking lot connected to the store and could clearly see people going through the drive-thru and getting food as well as walking in and out of the store with food. Every time it happened, I just went to the drive-thru to order the old fashioned way and mentioned that the app said the store was closed. They'd just say, "yea, we've heard that from a few people" and then ask if I was using a deal on the app and that they would honor that deal anyway. I wonder if they were just pausing things to get caught up. I will say it was always busy when this happened. Except the one time that the store was actually closed due to electrical issues.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I don't go often but I despise fast food places taking my money hostage and making me wait without asking if I mind waiting, it is such a PO. I've never said anything to a clerk but when I watch people on the news who have a fit I understand

 

[tvguy]

That's interesting that they paused orders on the app. There have been a few times that I've been trying to order on the app for our local McDs and it tells me my store is closed (which it wouldn't say until I had gone through the entire ordering process). Every time it happened, I was sitting in a parking lot connected to the store and could clearly see people going through the drive-thru and getting food as well as walking in and out of the store with food. Every time it happened, I just went to the drive-thru to order the old fashioned way and mentioned that the app said the store was closed. They'd just say, "yea, we've heard that from a few people" and then ask if I was using a deal on the app and that they would honor that deal anyway. I wonder if they were just pausing things to get caught up. I will say it was always busy when this happened. Except the one time that the store was actually closed due to electrical issues.

Yes, they paused things to get caught up. A computer takes the orders but humans still have a hand in cooking them. Although in this case I gathered that they didn't have the capability to cook as many hamburger patties as the app was selling in a reasonable time frame.