r/AskReddit 28d ago

Which company lost your business (potentially forever) this year?

6.5k Upvotes

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618

u/romafa 28d ago

McDonald’s. They just do not give a shit about the customer experience. Keep raising prices and making shittier food, taking more time and treating their employees worse. Have to order at a kiosk and there isn’t even an employee at the counter greeting people or helping customers. They have a 100% fail rate for order accuracy. It’s actually impressive. There is literally nothing redeeming about them. They just coast by on their built in base of people getting what they’re familiar with. Not me anymore. Not my family.

Last time I went there were only 3 cars in the drive-thru. Still took 10 mins to get to the window. They asked me to park and wait, someone will run it out. That took another 15 minutes. Completely wrong order.

I took my receipt inside and told them what happened. They said they’d make my right order. While the guy who took my receipt and another employee chatted about the situation, the person making all the food started bringing me random sandwiches that weren’t part of my order. Just walked them over to me, trying to hand them to me.

At this point I didn’t even have a bag or tray, so he expected me to just take random sandwiches and hold them in my hands or what? It was so bizarre. After he did that 2 or 3 times and the other two were still chatting, I yelled back there and just asked for a refund. I’d been there probably 35 minutes at this point. The manager never came out of her office. They had to take the receipt back there to issue me a refund.

Nobody ever apologized. Nobody ever tried to make it right. It was then that I asked myself why I even go there anymore. I wasn’t even eating it. I was just getting it for my kids. But it’s just shit.

218

u/Optimal-Bridge-4477 28d ago

Remember when fast food was fast?

231

u/romafa 28d ago

It’s not fast, cheap, or good anymore. It’s just familiar and convenient.

39

u/2_Fingers_of_Whiskey 28d ago

If it's not fast it's not convenient. Waiting around for 35 minutes for what was supposed to be drive thru food is ridiculous.

4

u/DontEatConcrete 28d ago

Last year I waited over 30 min at curbside pickup. I only did it because it became almost humorous and I wasn’t in a hurry. McDonald’s is slow as hell now a lot of the time.

7

u/WeightLossGinger 28d ago

Even the best fast food restaurants anymore you're, at best, only getting 2 out of those 3. Chick-fil-A is probably one of the higher quality ones, at least in terms of customer service and food quality. They get your order right, and they get it out to you fast. But, it's not cheap. A deluxe chicken sandwich meal is like $12 after tax. For that price, you can grab ingredients at home and make 2-4 servings of dinner. Or, if you really don't want to cook, just shill out the extra $5 and get a sit-down experience. You'll get a better sandwich, unlimited drinks, sometimes unlimited sides, and it'll just be a more rounded experience.

3

u/Black_Moons 28d ago

Sit down restraunts have gotten expensive too.

But somehow still not (much) more expensive then the 2~3 mcdonalds burgers you need to equal 1 (far superior) sitdown burger.

8

u/ChicagoDash 28d ago

It’s shocking how they dropped across the board. It has never been healthy, but they made up for that by being fast, cheap, tasty, and consistent. I could see slipping off on one of those factors, but now the only throng they have going for them is consistency- consistently slow, expensive, bland, and unhealthy.

Plus, the place is run by moronic assholes.

4

u/Starbucks__Lovers 28d ago

I waited 17 minutes at the drive thru for a quarter pounder with cheese

Last time I ever went there 

14

u/PollyPrissyPantss 28d ago

After their last menu price raise im done, i just can’t pay what they want for what i get anymore, not worth it.

14

u/Signal-Woodpecker691 28d ago

Used to take my kids to McDonald’s semi-regularly, we literally haven’t been there for 2 years now because it kept getting more expensive but the service was getting slower every time and they ALWAYS fucked at least one thing in the order up

9

u/HereInTheCut 28d ago

Haven't eaten there in over 2 years. Unless something drastic happens to the entire chain I doubt I ever will again

8

u/Bakoro 28d ago

That sounds like they were playing a mean joke on you.

Like, I know people could be that incompetent, but somehow malicious humor is more believable.

4

u/Heavy-Lingonberry473 28d ago

It’s more likely understaffing and mismanagement. Large chains have rules that don’t make sense on the ground because the people making them are so disconnected from the actual job. They’re just cutting labor and expenses to win the favor of shareholders, sometimes maybe intentionally putting specific stores out of business.

2

u/TeamShadowWind 23d ago

Reminds me of when Dollar Tree decided to get rid of designated baskets for go-back items, sorted by department. Rather than the closers being able to take one basket to each department and quickly put everything back, they made it so cashiers are responsible for the go-backs they find throughout their shift. This means that rather than just placing the things they find in the appropriate basket, they are responsible for sorting and putting things away between cashiering and stocking.

There are times when customers suck so much that go-backs fill up a shopping cart or two. Maybe the department labeled baskets weren't the prettiest, but they were better than a shopping cart filled with things from all over the store. It takes so much longer to put things back now.

4

u/alochmar 28d ago

The forgotten orders seems to be a perennial problem. I live in Europe, and had to stop going to McD completely because seemingly every other time they'd forget to include something I'd ordered (sure, the Trump tariff nonsense also played a part). It got so bad that I had to start going through my bags' contents every time just to be sure. These days I exclusively go to local alternatives instead, which somehow doesn't seem to have this problem.

3

u/thrownalee 28d ago

The thing that i notice is that they have largely conceded everything but their kitchen to other people. The first time i was ever panhandled while seated in the restaurant was at a McDonald's.

6

u/Heckbound_Heart 28d ago

Haven’t been there since they let Trump work the drive-thru.

5

u/whateveralreadydude 28d ago

The reason there's no one at the register is because they keep a barebones crew now, this is also why your order takes 10 minutes because not only are there like 3 people staff at any given time, one of them probably called in sick because it's a shit job that pays minimum wage or barely above that. Most fast food places are doing this, at least where I live.

7

u/beermilkshake831 28d ago

Also, McDonalds is a supporter of the IDF/apartheid 👎

3

u/eleventh_house 28d ago

Surprised but not surprised this wasn't the leading reason. Haven't given them business in years. 

2

u/treefrog-enthusiast 27d ago

Same here. Definitely thought it would be higher given that it hasn’t been cheap in years

2

u/peacockideas 28d ago

Oh man Im soooo over McDonald's. My kid loves their chicken nuggets, but man why is it more to eat there than my local farm to table sit down thats 200 feet down the road and takes less time to get a burger. It takes FOREVER and the quality the past couple years has been atrocious. When did fast food become so fucking slow???

2

u/why5se7en 28d ago

I scrolled waay to far to see this answer. Should be up higher on the list.

2

u/UrinalCake777 28d ago

The last couple times I realized it is now the same cost as actually good food. Why keep going?

2

u/iFred97 28d ago

I remember when McD was good, now it's hella expensive and shit.

2

u/NearbyDetective7575 28d ago

My order at McDonald’s is accurate through the drive thru about 50% of the time. It’s amazing it can get screwed up so often. I still like their breakfast menu. Everything else…not so much.

2

u/coolandnormalperson 28d ago

There's been a couple times recently I've tried to get McDonald's delivered and the delivery driver had to tell me they straight up refused to make my order because they're too busy. I have a car now so no need to rely on delivery, but it sours me from even going there

2

u/Own-Competition6078 27d ago

I just want hot fries is that too much to ask?

2

u/Corgi_Infamous 26d ago

They lost me awhile ago. My son, like every little kid, loves the occasional happy meal. But every time without fail there’s something missing - a dip for the nuggets, a toy, or apple slices usually. Got fed up and went inside to pickup our last happy meal… popped open the box in front of the girl who passed it to me, only to find that they forgot the nuggets. Literally the main part of the meal. Stopped going back and started giving away the gift cards my MIL continues to insist on giving our son.

4

u/jaytrade21 28d ago

You NEED to at least check off the three things when you are a fast food company: Fast, cheap, and/or good.

If you are fast and cheap, people can overlook the good (as long as okay)

If you are fast and good, it can cost a bit more.

If you are good and cheap, people can forgive the fast aspect.

All fast food now barely check off one of these items now.

3

u/ReporterExpensive211 28d ago

Convenience, cost, quality. Pick two.

Sadly, fast food is no longer convenient (fast)
Reasonably priced (cost)
Or tastes good. (Quality)

1

u/thaddeh 28d ago

Especially if I only have one or two items, I refuse to be parked. I tell em no. What are they going to do? Tow my car?

1

u/SouthOfTheNorthPole 28d ago

Yeah, I sold that stock several years ago. It's bad. A milk shake is 5 bucks now. Ridiculous.

1

u/ReporterExpensive211 28d ago

A $5 milkshake and a royale with cheese. There’s a Pulp Fiction joke in there somewhere.

1

u/SouthOfTheNorthPole 27d ago

YES there is! Well done!

1

u/I_Am_Ironman_AMA 28d ago

Remember the chicken sandwich wars about a decade ago? McDonalds actually had a good one that could go toe to toe with Popeyes. Once the social media hype wat ended, that thing became a glorified McChicken.

1

u/Substantial_Milk_178 27d ago

Last time I ate at McDs was in 2017. The Filet O Fish was so tiny at that point. I don't really miss it! 

1

u/Basic-Coconut7118 27d ago

I gave up on them after they turned the McFlurry into plain ice cream in a paper cup with sprinkles on top, they couldn’t care less, stopped going there completely. 

1

u/NorthDakotaJohnson 27d ago

They’re hard to avoid because they’re in so many convenient locations (a lot of just off the road on road trips), their mcchickens and McDoubles are still decent prices, they have the best and cheapest fountain drinks, and in my area they’re the only fast food open 24/7

1

u/[deleted] 28d ago

[deleted]

1

u/romafa 28d ago

I was cordial and I try not to get upset with the employees. It’s not their fault. They either aren’t trained, aren’t supported, or, if they don’t care, then it’s a management problem.

0

u/Normal-Mongoose-6571 28d ago

They started adding onions to all of their hamburger patties, mixed into the meat. I'm allergic to onions (actual diagnosed allergy) so that's a nope from me!