I did an AMA 5 months ago when I was still quite fresh and inexperienced with Maccas work ethics.
Time to give it a go again! A casual employee at Maccas at Front Counter, serving the customers all day long! Open to all questions.
News article about this thread:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-6849923/McDonalds…
Little concerned about the fact that it was placed into femail…
Be careful staying far too long. I've worked at Maccas before as well. And I understand what you meant when you said that it's fun and all - fun because you get to make lots of friends at work and you get to earn some cash for yourself. All of a sudden I'm almost going 2 years, still having fun, enjoying new friendships and I thought I could study/work part time together which is massively difficult to do. I'm thankful that a situation had caused me to abruptly leave and got me zooming back into my studies. I'm one of the few lucky ones to make it out :) I still have friends working at Maccas to this day - going almost 30 years perhaps! This is in McDonalds from another country anyway.
What was her name and where in the store did you do it?
All the negativity in this post is not doing anything to improve anybody else's life, but actively trying to make others feel bad about what they do. You can pick any work or company and have heaps of negative things to say about. However it's just a thing negative people do all the time.
You are doing a decent job in a decent company that pays good wage and has good standards atleast in Australia. The fact that you are earning and working your way towards adulthood and independence is respectable.
Thank you. I agree, this is what I'm doing; progressing my way towards adulthood by learning how to be independent.
I think the removal of front counters is a bit premature. Cards are widely used but so is cash.
I rarely go McDonald's and I did for the first time in a while. Drive through was packed so I decided to head into the store. Only to realise the counters were removed and I had to use the computer. After finishing I had to go to the counter and pay cash anyway.
Has your store removed counters?
Did you watch the documentary about McDonald's? Issue about cutting hours once workers hit a certain age so the employer doesn't have to pay a higher rate.
So the counters were removed but you managed to go to the counter to pay cash? Wait what?
No, my store would never remove counters. In fact, we prefer the usage of our own registers. I've seen part of it and the 'cutting hours' bit is not true. I know a lot of much older people who get more shifts than me.
Yes, the new computer machines where customers have to make their own orders doesn't take cash, only card. So I had to make the order on the screen and then go to the mccafe counter and pay for it.
The registers aren't removed they will just be hidden by a raised bench in all stores starting in about two weeks
A couple of small questions I hope. Why do some stores have different shake cups? Why is it that even on a large chocolate sundae, I often find that staff don't use what I consider, a normal amount of sauce? Last one is literally for a friend, are you able to add in Big Mac sauces for free to orders? Is there a stock take on them and staff get in trouble for giving them away?
Different shake cups? Not sure what you're talking about there, but we use the clear McCafé cups for our shakes/frappes. I've been trained to pump four shots of hot fudge toppings into a large sundae, two on the bottom and two on top. This is however dependent on the staff member doing your sundae as they could get a little too lazy. You can't add it for free, it'll cost an extra 50c. The Big Mac sauce is quite popular and I see them run through boxes of them in a single shift.
Both cups are the same size, normally depends on who makes your shake what cup is used. Big Mac sauce is a paid item.
Don't let one person replying here, with 50+ negative votes to his comments, or other morbid replies dampen your enthusiasm and smile.
I've know many a young lad starting out there and similar and they are really good kids who will move into great things.
It's a shame that those negative people have hijacked your AMA post.
I wish you all the best.
Thank you :)
It is a complete shame to people who wonder around the OzBargain community trying to put people off their jobs. My enthusiasm will always stay the same, even when the negatives come and go.
I heard of a menu hack to get a cone in a cup, do you know anything about this?
My 2.5 year old eats too slow and makes a big mess out of a cone and 3.95 is too expensive for a Sunday.
You can get it served on a lid if you'd prefer. It is theoretically possible to get two soft serve cones and ask for them to both be served in one McFlurry cup.
yeah I think that is menu hack I have heard of.
McDonald's actually increases your chances of getting into many jobs as the skills you learn from working there are endless.
Just not at Macca's though smarter to cull and retain cheapie younger teens . Actually a smart loophole for big biz :)
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-09/learn-and-churn-mcdon…
Smartest operator of these tactics is Janine Allis ( Boost Juice founder )
is it true that u just simply get less shifts as you turn older no matter how experienced you are?
No. As said, the amount of shifts you get is how much you ask for. I ask for 4, and they give me 4. Like said above, I know people who are older than me are able to get 5 shifts a week.
is it true that u just simply get less shifts as you turn older no matter how experienced you are?
At some stores, you are absolutely correct.
Not sure you can answer, but will ask it anyway since you said "AMA" - Will Maccas ever bring out a veggie or vegan burger? Almost every other fastfood chain in the world has done it already.
I am sure OP cannot answer this..
Every employee has access to the MeTime system which has our up coming promotions etc. They recently announced a new social media policy that explicitly prohibited revealing details around upcoming promos but I'm not breaking that by saying there has been no communication around veggie or vegan burgers.
Has the job taught you how doomed we are as a civilisation?
The very nature of a 15 yrs old and a 17 yrs old unskilled worker with same productivity rate and paying x amount more for the older one it would be poor management to not utilise the cheaper option . Of course Macca's managers can't say the practice exists for obvious reasons :)
I've got this question for a good long time but never bothered about the answer…
So, when I get a burger, there are many blisters on it. What are they?
Blisters? Not sure what you mean. Do you have a photo of the 'blister'?
blisters
Supposedly its the steam that's released when cooking the burger that makes the bubbles/blisters from the fat that's contained in the meat.
I use the term "meat" loosely ;)
why are no stores honoring the 10 minute paid breaks? i used to work at hjs at different stores and none of them give me the 10 min paid break for 4 hours i work
I'm not sure. My store doesn't pay for breaks.
So your store is breaking the law. You are entitle to a 10 minute PAID break for every 4/5 hours you work.
This sounds familiar. Most young people are happy to get the job. If you and the staff don't ask for the breaks you are entitled to it goes away.
You could argue your rights with a manager if you wanted to.
I was told that my 10 minute paid break was basically the ability to have a drink of water every hour.
Look I'm not representing McDonald's officially here but it is honestly a bad situation in that not even they understand the rules around what is supposed to be a "10 minute drink break". The agreement does say it "should" be taken in full but doesn't go as far to say what is permitted during this break. Too much is left to interpretation which will hopefully be gone in the new agreement coming soon™
That's what they tried to tell me but your right is that you can get some water and go to the toliet whenever on top of a paid 10 min break.
What are your thoughts on maccas finally getting on board with offering burgers for brekky, even though hungry jacks have been doing it for as long as I can remember?
They've been doing all day lunch for a while now. It's fine, don't have many thoughts about it.
Burgers have been around in some form for breakfast since back in 2015 when CYT launched…
Why does the thickshake machine / frappe machine break down on hot days?
I really dislike being directed to the self serve kiosks by the front desk person. Just saying.
They don't break down, but rather something has gone wrong - such as the shake machine exploding mixture all over front counter or something. Frappe machine, I've never had that breaking down.
Totally agree with you, however the store where I work at don't do this as we believe it's treated as additional registers. Many people still rely on human beings to take their order.
Ok cool. Another quick question. How often are the kiosk screens cleaned?
Yep I am fine with them being used as additional registers but it’s not a good look when you rock up and there is no one behind the register, the expectation that people will use the kiosk. It’s also annoying that after waiting in queue they simply move you to a kiosk. I know what they are trying to do and it’s not the servers fault so it’s hard to get annoyed at them.
Frappe machine is the worst machine in a McDonalds. You will find most crew who are experienced hate them as they just stop working randomly for no reason. Shake/Sundae is not an issue if it is maintained by a competent crew person.
Is the source of the meat used for the burgers is the same in all stores? Why Maccas burgers taste differently from the USA or any other country? In Sydney, I found few Maccas that is halal, so again, is it the same meat source, but handling is different?
My store is in VIC, and we receive our patties from a food manufacturing company within Victoria which I can't name. Maccas burgers taste different possibly due to the way that it is made/grown; but I haven't done much researching on this. Some Maccas franchises choose to be halal, however this does cost the owners more to use halal meat.
I found that maccas burgers in USA taste pretty much identical to Australia's
What is your favourite burger?
BBQ Bacon Lovers / Crispy Chicken Clubhouse are my go tos. I just wish CYO (Create Your Own) burgers could make a return.
You mean CYT (Create Your Taste)
When I worked at Hungry Jack's around 1989-91 the front counter girls used to call out for a "check till" over the microphone whenever they thought a good looking guy came into the restaurant, so all the other girls could get a look and discuss. Curious to know if this sort of sexism exists at all in the front counter nowadays
Now I understand why working at a fast food restaurant can get that lonely. No, it doesn't exist anymore as far as I've seen.
is the 24 nugget deal here to stay.
I'm not sure, but I believe it is.
i rarely eat at maccas because fullness to value for money wise, it is less than kfc. could you comment on this
What you eat at Maccas mostly consists of beef - the amount of grease and oil that you actually intake from KFC reduces your metabolism's capacity to properly break down the food. Chicken on the other hand, is proven to be more filling, however the energy you gain from it is used more quickly. This is why you don't feel as sick eating Maccas as you would eating KFC.
the amount of grease and oil that you actually intake from KFC reduces your metabolism's capacity to properly break down the food
lol, stick to the field you know about man. This "Maccas is god, all else is le suck" pseudoscientific bollocks isn't a good look.
How do you feel about the mobile app? Does it fail to work all the time? Has it been improving from your experience? What are some common issues with the app and how do you address them?
It has definitely been improving, the mobile app itself is functioning fine at the moment. With the previous version, it would take way too long to load anything. Common issues with the app that I experience while serving customers are "connectivity issues". Other than that, then it's all good.
Biggest issue for the app is that people will not read and will select I am inside when they are sitting in the drive-thru :))
How do people working at Maccas weigh on hygiene ?
Is it true you can still spit in people's foods discretely ?
No. We don't spit in food at all.
Have you seen the video in America of the guy who belted those two female customers with a pipe?
?
They came into maccas and gave the worker a $50 note. He thought it was fake money and questioned the women. The women started attacking him and grabs a pipe from somewhere and starts hitting them. Problem is he goes full psycho and doesn't stop hitting them.
I'd like to ask why my purchase isn't made free when staff leave things out of my order?
If I stole a burger from Maccas, you would call the cops and arrest me, but if Maccas leave things out of my order, they will offer no compensation.
Do you think I can say to the police, "hey I will give back the burgers I stole so lets forget about this whole thing?".
To be clear, it happens to me about 1 in 5 orders and I'm sick and tired of it!
One word Intent
The compensation is usually they will remake it
Intent???
See what happens when you walk out of a shop forgetting to pay?
“oh I didn’t mean to steal this, I just forgot to pay”
See what the cops will say to that 😂
If you give the item back to the store or make full payment as soon as questioned, the police will complain to the store for wasting their time.
It's inconvenient for them to refund one item for you. They would usually remake the missing item. If it happens 1 in 5 orders then it's a concern for the store.
I'd like to ask why my purchase isn't made free when staff leave things out of my order?
You want your whole order to be free because they forgot to include 1 item?
Do you know of a policy for the amount of icecream you place in a Mcflurry?
4.5 swirls, I usually add a few extra to make it look more filling - otherwise the customers would come back complaining.
Hey OP,
For cheat meals I have been pretty fond of getting two 4:1 patties with cheese in the middle and getting it wrapped in lettuce.
I have two questions I hope you can answer to help me communicate more effectively with McDonald's staff.
I have asked multiple times for the burger to be wrapped in lettuce, but many times I get shredded lettuce dropped on top so its like opening a package and sifting through packing material to get to the item. Is there an official McDonald's term (like 4:1 for Angus patty) I can use so they know exactly what I mean when I say a leaf of lettuce wrapped around the meat.
I think I started ordering the above a little too much as recently they have been telling me at the local McDonald's that they do not do lettuce wrap anymore, but the option is present on the touch screen for McDonald's in the restaurant under the my creations theme. What are my options?
Thanks!
Why don't you just ask for "whole leaf lettuce"and specifically say "not shredded lettuce". You could even show them the option on the app or kiosk.
Exactly as John Kimble said. You should ask for whole leaf lettuce to be added as the 'bun' instead of the regular buns. Some stores do this, and some may not. It's all up to the managers.
Can the person at the front request something bad in the burger of a nasty customer?
No. Why would anyone do that?
What is your favourite custom burger?
I don't customise my burgers. For regular ones it's BBQ Bacon Lovers or Crispy Chicken Clubhouse. :)
So when did you graduate from your arts degree?
Oh no..
Can you introduce the "gran garlic pepper" that japan mcdonalds has. Its so good.
I'm only an ordinary employee at Maccas, if you'd like anything else - contact McDonald's for suggestions
You are a super star my friend. Like a Louis Vuitton cheese burger.
If I go around and put all the rubbish off the tables in to the bins….. will you give me a free ice cream?
Haha sure.. Only if I'm there.
You know those pricing errors that happens on the Kiosks / self checkout systems? How quickly do those get fixed, is it done remotely via software update and have you ever taken advantage of those errors yourself?
How popular is the Filet-o-Fish burger, and would you ever order it yourself?
Optional bonus question that you don't have to answer: What is the most outrageous order that you've ever had to take, either at the drive-thru or at the counter?
Would you rather fight 100 duck sized horses or one horse sized duck?
Read the last AMA and had an unseasoned/fresh burger for the first time. Might get me away from the other "burger leader" restaurant.
That is why I love fresh! :)
what's the biggest scam you've seen/heard a customer pull at maccas ?
Not the biggest but one that I can only think of on the top of my head now, some customers come into the store and complain that they have contacted the store for "a large Big Mac Meal and 24 nuggets" - yeah nice try buddy. Managers spent at least 20 minutes telling them that the store has not been informed and that they have no sufficient evidence.
There is this guy who posts videos on YouTube "living in ____ with no money" and he often goes into a McDonald's and lies about recently picking up an order and says "you forgot the Big Mac meal" which alot of the time they will believe him and make him a meal with no proof.
Unsure if it has been asked/answered, but has anybody placed an order which has repulsed you, and if so, what was it?
I remember back to Year 12 and a classmate of mine ordered a "one-pounder" burger, with 8 patties.
The kid working at the register got their manager to come over and customise the burger order through their system. She was not impressed at all. I believe she said "You're disgusting" or "You disgust me" — which we all found hysterical.
"one-pounder" burger, with 8 patties.
That would be two pounds if getting a quarter pounder.
Or 8/10th of a pound if getting a cheeseburger/big mac/other small items.
While working there for 7 years I made maybe 2-3 double pounders.
Wow, complete brain misfire. But yes it was a double pounder in that case.
Agreed with you, apart from the managers being rude sometimes, the people I work with are great and it's a enjoyable job.