McGangBang
How many times have you ordered a gangbang and had a team of people make it happen for you? Well I had my first experience very recently. The mission was to walk into a McDonald’s and order a McGangbang which is a whole McChicken stuffed into a Double Cheeseburger. According to Professor Kurpis taking no for an answer was not an option, McDonald's aims to please and they must complete my order as requested.
I walked into the McDonalds on 44th and Lexington at about 6pm. At that time it's usually just tourists in there so the staff is used to dealing with all types of people. Although McDonald's serve a wide variety of people, the staff at any of their locations usually tend to be from one ethnicity. Some McDonalds have a Black staff while others have a Latino staff and so on. The one I went into had the Latino staff. I wait for my turn and when the young lady calls for my attention I begin to tell her I want a McGangbang. I could've said that I wanted a double cheeseburger with a McChicken shoved in it but I wanted to see how she would react. So after repeating the word gangbang a few too many times I explain to her what it was exactly. In addition I explained to her that I needed a receipt that reflected my special order. As the professor predicted I was told this wasn't possible. The young lady told me she would give me two burgers that I can put together as I pleased. I told her no and repeated my order. She says she can't do it because the burger will be too big to be wrapped. I noticed that she had an accent so I begin to ask her again and in detail in Spanish. This seemed to take the edge off the situation. While I was explaining to her again what it was I wanted one of her colleague’s approaches her to see what it was that was making her laugh. He didn't really get involved just made a "WTF" expression. The young lady then turns around and I can hear her explaining in detail what exactly I ordered to the people that assemble the burgers. Once again there is laughter and I can hear one of them say "he must have a big mouth". Seconds later my McGangbang is was ready. I took it out the bag and it looked as gross as I imagined. After unwrapping this monstrosity I take a picture of it and notice the receipt didn’t have any indication of my special order. I bring it to the cashier’s attention and she tells me that the register only indicated if I were to be adding a meat or excluding a condiment and such. She did put in effort to create a valid receipt for me but whatever she input into the register did not say special order. She calls a manager over who explains to me that the only thing the register will print are things like cheeseburger no onions no ketchup extra pickles, or adding another meat to it. It will not print double cheeseburger with McChicken stuffed into it. I firmly insisted that I needed the receipt to print my order as requested, but things were getting a bit uncomfortable and I noticed that they were trying to figure something out. If I was sure the register could do that I would have stayed and made a stronger request(although I think I was already pushing the boundaries of civility at this point) but I never worked at McDonald’s and if I did it would’ve been a long time ago, so who knows if the register technology has changed. I had to assume that the cashier and manager know how to handle the register better than I could. The manager didn’t apologize which bothered me a bit but what she did do was physically write “Special Order” I have to admit that part impressed me. She was totally entertaining this strange request and tried hard to produce the receipt for me.
If I were hired as a management consultant to this particular McDonald's I would rate the staff's management process as very poor. The communication they exhibited to each other was more out of curiosity rather than trying to be helpful in processing my order. The order was strange indeed but not very complicated. It’s basically one burger inside another. I would imagine adding different sauces and holding the onions, pickles and adding extra tomatoes to a burger would be more complicated. There was too much negative communication to me as the customer. The order taker rejected my order before finally realizing she had a job to do. I also did not find the” big mouth” comment to be a respectable way to communicate in front of a paying customer. I would recommend that they receive further training in regard to company policy and proper behavior. For many McDonald’s employees this is their first taste of employment and it would be in their best interest to understand professional etiquette before they enter a different career path (or plan to pursue one at McDonald’s). I understand that they are young and it was funny to make something so strange, but they should be reminded that they can still laugh and enjoy their jobs without being offensive.
The actual manufacturing was seamless. Once the order was placed it took around a minute for the burger to be handed to me. That part was very impressive. I thought for a second that they gave me the wrong sandwich but they didn’t. The actual assembly didn’t need much adjusting; it was the order taking process that lacked consideration to the customer's request.
If I had to pick a leader in this situation it would have to be the young lady that took my order. The only time she asked for assistance was for printing the receipt I wanted but that was only after she tried herself and wanted a second opinion. For the most part she was judge, jury and executioner. When she decided that this order was possible she turned around and told the preparers to make it happen. Unfortunately, I had to convince her that my order was possible. Leadership is a necessary skill to work at McDonald's but it should be practiced by someone leading in compliance with company policy and its mission. Overall I would recommend training for all employees at that branch. They have mastered the mechanics of preparing the food at record speed but in doing so have forfeited proper customer appreciation and service.
I walked into the McDonalds on 44th and Lexington at about 6pm. At that time it's usually just tourists in there so the staff is used to dealing with all types of people. Although McDonald's serve a wide variety of people, the staff at any of their locations usually tend to be from one ethnicity. Some McDonalds have a Black staff while others have a Latino staff and so on. The one I went into had the Latino staff. I wait for my turn and when the young lady calls for my attention I begin to tell her I want a McGangbang. I could've said that I wanted a double cheeseburger with a McChicken shoved in it but I wanted to see how she would react. So after repeating the word gangbang a few too many times I explain to her what it was exactly. In addition I explained to her that I needed a receipt that reflected my special order. As the professor predicted I was told this wasn't possible. The young lady told me she would give me two burgers that I can put together as I pleased. I told her no and repeated my order. She says she can't do it because the burger will be too big to be wrapped. I noticed that she had an accent so I begin to ask her again and in detail in Spanish. This seemed to take the edge off the situation. While I was explaining to her again what it was I wanted one of her colleague’s approaches her to see what it was that was making her laugh. He didn't really get involved just made a "WTF" expression. The young lady then turns around and I can hear her explaining in detail what exactly I ordered to the people that assemble the burgers. Once again there is laughter and I can hear one of them say "he must have a big mouth". Seconds later my McGangbang is was ready. I took it out the bag and it looked as gross as I imagined. After unwrapping this monstrosity I take a picture of it and notice the receipt didn’t have any indication of my special order. I bring it to the cashier’s attention and she tells me that the register only indicated if I were to be adding a meat or excluding a condiment and such. She did put in effort to create a valid receipt for me but whatever she input into the register did not say special order. She calls a manager over who explains to me that the only thing the register will print are things like cheeseburger no onions no ketchup extra pickles, or adding another meat to it. It will not print double cheeseburger with McChicken stuffed into it. I firmly insisted that I needed the receipt to print my order as requested, but things were getting a bit uncomfortable and I noticed that they were trying to figure something out. If I was sure the register could do that I would have stayed and made a stronger request(although I think I was already pushing the boundaries of civility at this point) but I never worked at McDonald’s and if I did it would’ve been a long time ago, so who knows if the register technology has changed. I had to assume that the cashier and manager know how to handle the register better than I could. The manager didn’t apologize which bothered me a bit but what she did do was physically write “Special Order” I have to admit that part impressed me. She was totally entertaining this strange request and tried hard to produce the receipt for me.
If I were hired as a management consultant to this particular McDonald's I would rate the staff's management process as very poor. The communication they exhibited to each other was more out of curiosity rather than trying to be helpful in processing my order. The order was strange indeed but not very complicated. It’s basically one burger inside another. I would imagine adding different sauces and holding the onions, pickles and adding extra tomatoes to a burger would be more complicated. There was too much negative communication to me as the customer. The order taker rejected my order before finally realizing she had a job to do. I also did not find the” big mouth” comment to be a respectable way to communicate in front of a paying customer. I would recommend that they receive further training in regard to company policy and proper behavior. For many McDonald’s employees this is their first taste of employment and it would be in their best interest to understand professional etiquette before they enter a different career path (or plan to pursue one at McDonald’s). I understand that they are young and it was funny to make something so strange, but they should be reminded that they can still laugh and enjoy their jobs without being offensive.
The actual manufacturing was seamless. Once the order was placed it took around a minute for the burger to be handed to me. That part was very impressive. I thought for a second that they gave me the wrong sandwich but they didn’t. The actual assembly didn’t need much adjusting; it was the order taking process that lacked consideration to the customer's request.
If I had to pick a leader in this situation it would have to be the young lady that took my order. The only time she asked for assistance was for printing the receipt I wanted but that was only after she tried herself and wanted a second opinion. For the most part she was judge, jury and executioner. When she decided that this order was possible she turned around and told the preparers to make it happen. Unfortunately, I had to convince her that my order was possible. Leadership is a necessary skill to work at McDonald's but it should be practiced by someone leading in compliance with company policy and its mission. Overall I would recommend training for all employees at that branch. They have mastered the mechanics of preparing the food at record speed but in doing so have forfeited proper customer appreciation and service.
So, was not so bad to order the gangbang sandwich.I think it is funny, that there is still something that even people working there do not know. I would have asked for the manager, just for curiousity, to see if he/she knows what a gangbang sandwich is. I think to satisfy effectively and efficiently their customers, the organization should be structured in a way that easily can accomplish these special orders and employees must be trained for "special cases" like this. Also, the comment that you got, was inappropiate and I believe, this is again a mistake that they should not let happen. If a manager would have been around ,maybe this could not happen. This shows that there is no one to take control and manage the workplace based on norms.
ReplyDeleteTo Ottillia: yes, it is very interesting. There are still alot of people don't know what McGangbang burger is, eventhough people who working in McDonald.
ReplyDeleteTo 3rd Eye Vision: I think for what you met is much more terrible than me. because at least staffs in McDonald which i went is more nice i think, anyway congratulation for finished this mission. I don't know did you try your Gangbang burger, but i try it. It is really hard to eat that burger as normal. lol
You post made me almost envy and I almost regret that I did not do the McGangbang extra credit. It would have been very interesting to observe face expression when hearing the name of a burger.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ottilia on a poor management level of that location restaurant. And can also add that it may attribute to a poor training as well. But bear in mind that the majority of people who work in McDonald's are youngsters and they just want to have fun, so making stupid comments about things or other people is just the way they are at this stage of their lives.