I'm a casual employee, here to answer your questions about anything. I work back area, so I mainly assemble burgers and cook/fry.
[AMA] I Work at Macca's, Ask Me Anything!
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Was gonna ask the same thing
I used to have access to Maccas kitchen and made myself a McNuggets Cheese Burger with grilled onion.. it was delish. Then when I worked in Subway my fave was Chicken Fillet double meat, double cheese, double bacon, then go home and add scrambled egg. Fun times.
Why is it that half the time I walk up to the counter for service at my local maccas it takes a solid 2/3 minutes to be served?
The times we have to meet are: 3
1. 30 seconds to get the buns into the toaster and sauced (Back area)
2. 90 seconds to get the burger packaged and given to the customer (Front Area)Theoretically, you should get your meal in 1.5 minutes. This isn't always possible though, especially if you have made to order items or an order of multiple large burgers.
Oh no I'm talking waiting to be served to order my food. Nobody else is there, I'm standing at the counter and staff just look at me and walk away.
Ohh I understand. Was gonna say, 2 minutes is pretty fast for food. Either it's a really shitty way for them to get their kiosk use percentage up, or you look like you're still trying to make your mind up.
Or maybe you just look intimidating?
combination of you being butt ugly + going to a mcdonalds in the ghetto
Is it possible to order a hot apple pie with soft serve and carmel sauce in a hot cake box?
I'll get back to you on that one on the day I quit. Maybe not on how to order it, but how it tastes.
Thanks. Just a quick one; do Maccas staff have a name for a Big Mac which has had its beef patties swapped for chicken? Something more creative than chicken Big Mac?
I've only ever seen a chicken big mac in an order maybe 10 times. Personally I'd call it the Chig Mac, though.
People have already commented regarding getting fresh food. I know there is a time limit on how long you can keep something like fries, nuggets or fillet o fish patties. How well do people keep to these limits? Does it depend on the manager? I've had quite a few meals full of reallllly stale food. Seems to happen after midnight
Timers on meat are definitely well followed, as they flash with bright green x's when they expire. However it's still possible to check the meat, and override it to start the timer again. Could be lazy overnight crew in your case.
~2 decades ago when I worked there there were limits which were flagrantly ignored as policy of the local managers. I'd have never ordered a fillet-o-fish as a result as they were often many hours old. (The only time I saw a manager actually throw one away, they unwrapped it and the bun was solid, so it got the boot….) Once saw someone buy a McFeast that had been assembled 'at least' 4 hours prior.
Honestly from a customer perspective that was the worst I ever saw. Otherwise the kitchen area was spotless. (You had to clean if there was a minute of free time and very thoroughly each night.) Way too many 10pm-1am shifts closing where I was clocked off by the manager at 12am without being told until I actually finished. (All for $4.70~ an hour). Managers were dodgy at hell at my store.
yeah i remember back in the old days where they put numbers on the rows of burgers which indicated when they should be chucked. my brother worked at a maccas, and we went to another one and they were putting the wrong times on the burgers so they'd sit there longer
'Changing the numbers' was like 1/5 of my job.
Do the staff ever pinch the monopoly tickets?
I was in China when the recent Monopoly promotion was on, so I didn't really get to see what happened behind the scenes. Sort of wished I did get to see it however. I'm sure there was somebody who took a few off of used fry boxes. We can't redeem them at our own restaurant though, as crew members are excluded from the promotion. Go to another store however, and that's a different story ;)
I think Monopoly tickets have changed now since I worked there 2-3 years ago with the app being introducded and all and I don't eat at maccas much so I'm not sure how exactly it works now with the app, but back then there was no app system if I recall correctly.
All maccas jeans have pockets but they are stitched up, however, with a bit of DIY with a seam-ripper you can undo the stitching which keeps the back pockets closed and make them functional again. Back then kids always used to take monopoly stickers from Large Fries and Large Drinks that were returned to us (people change their mind a lot about). I can only speak on what happened in 2016 though, but in short, yes it happens but it's not that big of a deal and it doesn't affect customers directly.
the best was the original promotion, where the stickers were on a card. you'd go to maccas while your mates were working and be handed a stack of 25 cards. so much free food
I've always wondered if the Meat/chicken suppliers are always the same or do they vary every now and then? oh and out of interest who is the supplier of the Chicken meat?
Not too familiar with suppliers, however I'd say the supplier does not change.
Just checked the supply chain section of the site, turns out it's mostly Ingham.
i like big mac sauce. can u get me the container it comes in
Coles, special burger sauce is pretty good
Yeh I got that! On my second bottle now
Why is it when I go to the Cheltenham store I get pushed by the CS girl who stands next to the self serve screen to use it. Then I punch my order and it doesn't work. WTF. Then no one at the till where even the CS girl at the self serve could probably do it. Total waste of time. Why couldn't MDees stick with what they know. Now it takes forever to get your food and now to order.
Now answer that OP.
We have % to meet. It's utter bull shit. Multiple times I have put a order through the machine for it not to work and the managers don't care. They pause the pos till so I can't use it and I'm forced to make them wait until the manager confirms my facts.
The last time It didn't work when I was standing at the till the same CS girl said did I want to use the self serve. WTF. You just suggested to me 10 seconds ago to use the self serve which doesn't work. Look at her and told her that order didn't work. Walked out. Went elsewhere. I no longer go to that store. They need a reality check.
Yeah it's absolutely stupid.
I was that one guy who said "Would you like to use the self serve?" I hated it because the customer already knew what they where going to use and barely any of them needed help.@Lockster: By the way. No offence to CS or you. Just seems management are trying to hard. All good if the self serve is working. And that store they have spent all this money refurbishing it and I think it is a new roll out version.
@Melb69: Yeah nah as a consumer I can see how stupid the self serve is. It didn't save the store any money cause we still needed a person to serve the customers.
Got nothing to ask, just wanted to say you are very articulate and succinct for a teenager.
Thank you!
When the free glass promo comes out can you just buy the glasses without getting the meal?
Can't say I know for sure, but I would just cop the Big Mac meal.
From memory, yes you can buy the glasses on their own. They're usually like $5-6 I think so you might as well cough up the extra few bucks and get some food with it.
$1.95 last time it was run.
Yes - I have 8 of them in my cupboard.
Not a question, just a request: please take some care when assembling please. I've received some seriously dodgy assembly. Usually I'm not in the store when I open it though so not easy to go back to the counter.
1. Fillet-o-fish with the cheese on the outside sticking the top bun to the box.
2. Big mac with the inner bun immediately beside the top bun, nothing between.
3. The worst: a wrap where the actual wrap was stuffed down 1 end of the container - my guess is they screwed up when inserting the prepared wrap into the end of the box, got it caught on the edge, kept pushing, ended up with all the contents 'unwrapped'. It was a mess. I took photos but since I wasn't in store never did anything about it.I was definitely culprit to building Big Macs incorrectly when I was training. Misplacing the middle bun, or cheese placement etc., is pretty easy to do. Twice now I've forgotten to literally put meat on a burger. Surprisingly it's always been during very slow periods, I assume I perform better under time pressure. Thankfully front area always check burgers before handing them out.
The wrap story sounds like a bit of a nightmare. Wraps are my least favourite thing to make for that reason. The boxes are flimsy and the wraps don't hold well mid-air.
That seems unfair to take it out on OP.
who is the oldest person working at your store? how long have they worked there? and what is their hourly rate?
There's a woman who works there, as a crew member on fry, that looks to be around 40. Haven't seen much of her recently. Not a clue on her wage.
Not too sure if she has a disability, but our restaurant does have a program to employ disabled people and age isn't too much of a factor there. We've got a few employees with down syndrome who stock the hotcake containers and stuff. One's worked at the restaurant for 8 years, he's a lad.
Hourly rate caps at 21 y.o. in accordance with the McDonald's Australian Enterprise Agreement.
You can find the rates for crew-members (lowest rank in store) in the pdf below in the first table. The hourly rate is 21.61 (ACT) for 21 year old and above, if they are casual you get 25% bonus, which would be $27.01.https://www.sdansw.org.au/system/files/McDonalds%20ACT%2001J…
after working there is there anything you would reccomend we stay away from?
my friend worked at maccas for 3 weeks and he said he would never eat anything from mcdonalds ever again?I wouldn't stay away from anything really, however in terms of bang for your buck steer clear of the filet o fish. That thing comes with half a piece of cheese and a tiny block of fish. Just go with a Double Beef n Bacon instead. The fish is also rarely straight out of the fryer, so if super fresh is your forte ask for meat with no seasoning.
I used to love nuggets and fries, however I just don't like them anymore.
Filet o Fish is all I buy at Maccas
Agreed, I don't know why people don't like it. Order always is fillet o' fish with 4 extra half slices of cheese
I ordered a triple fillet o fish. So wrong, but so right!
When my son was in the Scouts his troop did a tour of the local McDonalds, where he learned that the soft serve is 60% extruded pork fat. Is that still the case?
SUNDAE MIX: Milk, Milk Solids, Sugar, Cream, Glucose (from Maize), Vegetable Gums (407, 407a, 412, 466), Emulsifiers (433, 471), Flavours.
OR
Milk, Sugar, Skim Milk, Milk Solids, Cream, Glucose Syrup (from Maize), Vegetable Gums (412, 407, 407a, 466), Emulsifiers (471, 433), Flavour.
OR
Milk, Sugar, Cream, Water, Maltodextrin (from maize and tapioca), Dextrose (from maize), Milk Solids, Vegetable Gums (412, 407, 466, 407a), Emulisfiers (471, 433), Flavour, Mineral Salt (339), Food Acids (330, 331).
Thanks for that! Now if only you can put the "lips and ears" rumour to rest…. :-)
The Emulsifier 471 is fatty acids that can be of animal or plant origin.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-e471-food-additive-morri…
I guess this is probably where it would be good to know the source of 471 in the soft serve Mcdonalds sell.
Do you ever get hungry cooking food for customers? I've always thought I would never be able to work in a fast-food restaurant as it always smells so good and would eventually cave in and eat on the job.
All of the burger patties, fries and nuggets really don't interest me when I'm working. The most tempting thing is definitely the bacon or grilled chicken. To this day I haven't eaten anything, there's just too many people around lol.
One of my friends who works at Hungry Jack's snuck a chip in when the Queensland store manager was reviewing their store. He had no idea as they were 'disguised' as a new crew member, got a written warning.
why maccas and not hungry jacks or kfc?
Applied for KFC and HJs, got rejected from HJs and never got a response from KFC.
McDonald's it was.
Why was the old mustard sauce removed? The new mustard sauce aren’t as good. =(
What do you do when people refuse to park at drive through?
Never experienced it. Would probably just be told to rush whatever they want to get them out and allow for other customers to get their food in a reasonable amount of time.
That's a shame. Seems like being a dick is rewarded :(
If it's the same customer that does it more than once, then the police will probably be called if they persistently refuse to move.
Why Mecca increase in price so quickly? I still remember those $7 - 8 Angus burger medium meal. Good old time.
too many Pilgrims
will you be trying to pursue a career out of it?
Probably not. I'm currently in year 11 so I'll probably keep working up until the end of university. Honestly wouldn't mind being a franchisee, but I'd rather stick to finance.
Do you find it hilarious or really really annoying when I come through the drive-thru at 1am and order 50 cheeseburgers?
It'd give us something to do at 1am. It'd be pretty funny.
On this topic, what do you think of "potato parties" and has anyone ever done this during your shift? How would you feel/react to a group doing this?
If you didn't know, it's basically where people buy huge batches of fries to the point that they can cover entire trays solely with fries. People in Asia have been kicked out of restaurants for doing this.
Here's an article: http://gawker.com/5987420/korean-kids-kicked-out-of-mcdonald…
that's hilarious
most Asian countries are nanny-states anyway so not surprised they're kicked out. might have even got a few lashes too.
do this on free cheeseburger day and claim you have 50 different unique personalities and genders
You should be careful representing a strong brand like mcdonalds, im sure somewhere in your contract or something you signed probably talks about representing the business or talking about the business in a digital form someway or another.
I did think about this when asked about the social media policy.
"If you are discussing McDonald's or topics that relate to our business or industry, clearly identify who you are and your role at McDonald's. Make it clear that the views expressed are your own by including a disclaimer such as 'I work for McDonald's, but these views are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of McDonald's.' Do not imply that you are authorised to speak as a representative of McDonald's, nor give the impression that the views you express are those of McDonald's."
I work for McDonald's, but these views are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of McDonald's.
Not sure if this has been asked already but here goes anyway..
does your soft serve have lard or any other animal fats?
As someone who has worked at McDonald’s for six years, climbing the ladder I’d have to say it sounds like you have potential. As a 2ic, it’s hard to find crew, especially kids that want to actually come in and perform their job with a good work ethic. By the sounds of this post it seems like you do, so keep it up
Why are McFlurry's still called McFlurry since the toppings are no longer mixed in? It's also a bit disappointing when they hand out the spoon that was previously used with the machine that did the mixing.
I am vegetarian. Only Hungry Jacks and Operto chains serve vege burgers. Any plan by McD to introduce one?
just order the garden salad
If they want to keep up with their competitors, they'll probably introduce one.
If I asked for a vanilla shake, but instead of the normal 'milkshake' asked you to use the self-serve mix, would you acquiesce?
That's something front area do, but I'm sure they would. I got a request on my last shift to microwave a cheeseburger.
as far as i remember, the soft serve mix and the milkshake mix are kept in separate compartments and have their own respective buttons/levers. so probably not as crew would have to empty the compartment and fill with the mix you wanted
Why do I never sea males working front in McDonald’s? Is it just a very sexist thing?
The sea is pretty big. I don't think you could see it all at a glance.
If you don't sea any males in front area, give them a wave in back area. It's the choice of the employee most of the time, unless the hiring manager's a beach.
How good are the nuggets?
Used to love them, now however, bit sick of them.
Do you know why the coffee is always so bad? It always looks like the staff barely tamp it at all?
Is that a coffee from McCafe?
Yep! :)
What's in the secret menu?
McHappy day socks.
I mentioned above that I ordered a triple fillet o fish. It was using the self serve. Ever had anyone order that at your store?
Haven't had a triple fillet o fish before - but with that you'd be guaranteed fresh fish as there's never 3 in the UHC. Might take a while for it to cook though, did you wait for long?
Strangest order I've had is an expensive gourmet burger, stripped of everything so it was just the grilled chicken.
Actually it did take awhile.
Do you and/or staff get annoyed/have negative feelings if a customer asks for fresh fries?
Gourmet bun, 2x grilled chicken, 2x bacon strips, 3x regular cheese, 2x shots barbecue sauce.
This was back in the Create Your Taste days, which doesn't exist anymore.