Boredworkers.com

Since early last month, McDonalds has been running a new promotion campaign. With every Large McValue meal purchased, they throw in a pack of Kit Kat which is worth RM2+ on the market. I guess they are trying to increase the sales of their large sized meals. But have they ever stopped to think why few people would want to purchase the large McValue meals to begin with?

First off, the difference between a large McValue meal and a medium one is 75sen. For the extra you pay, you get a little more french fries and a larger cup of soft drink. Nowadays most McDonalds outlets provide a free flow of drinks. They have people walking around with jugs of coke offering to refill your cups. This eliminates the value of the softdrink from the equation. Effectively you are paying 75sen extra for a larger serving of fries. Is it worth it?

Over the years, the average McDonalds french fries serving size has been slowly shrinking. I don’t know whether this is because I’ve grown bigger over the years or simply because the counter staff preparing the servings have grown stingy. More often than not, they follow the rules set out by their managers and do as they are thaught. They fill up the container with a single scoop of fries, without really caring whether the size is right or not. One scoop of fries, one serving, no size difference. As long as it fits inside the packing, its yours.

Have you ever ordered a meal (or worse, large fries ala carte) and got a serving of fries that is loosely packed so much so that when you open up the packing and shake it down, the fries fills up less than half of the container? I know I have. If I’m not particularly hungry, I’ll just take it in stride, thank the cashier, and walk away from the counter. However, there are occasions when I would ask nicely for more fries. From experience, there are three types of response.

The nice (and smart) staff will smile at me and comply, giving me an extra large serving. These, I usually thank them, addressing them by their name read off the nametag. They are usually a little surprised by this as few customers ever address them by name. However, I like to think that my thanking them by name makes their day that much brighter. I may even go as far as letting them keep the change (I’m usually a stingy bastard especially when it comes to tipping). More often than not, the both of us walk away from this brief encounter, happy and satisfied. Me because I got my money’s worth of fries, and the person serving me because they have just made someone’s day.

In contrast, there are those who will look us in the eye and inform us that the serving we are getting is correct. It doesn’t matter that we, as the consumer who should always be right, are telling them, the service provider, that they are underserving us. It seems to me that the hires no longer care for customer service. I don’t fault them, the frontliners. Instead, the problem lies deeper in the roots that are the outlet managers who fail to impart the importance of this simple rule about customer satisfaction. If a customer is not satisfied, more often than not, they don’t return. However, Malaysians being Malaysians will usually just take it lying down and not voice their complaints. Afterall, what’s 75sen, right?

But wait, there is a third and worse response. How can it be any worse than telling the customer that they are wrong? Well, the worse type of response is when they take the fries back, refill it to the SAME amount, and put in back on your tray. It isn’t so much the end result that is bad but the means through which they arrive. On the way to the fries counter, they will discuss with their colleagues about the idiot customer at the counter, WHO IS STILL WELL WITHIN EARSHOT, who is complaining about the fries. Once they refill the fries, they’ll look at it and then at their colleague telling them that the serving is the same, the earlier one was correct, and that the dumb customer had just sent their lazy ass on a fool’s errand. Then they’ll drop the package on the tray, with dissatisfaction written all over their faces. These dumb carcasses obviously have shit for brains and it is of no use to debate the matter further. If you wish to pursue it further, it is usually best to simple note their names and drop a complaint letter in the mailbox.

Thankfully, the last kind of response is few and far between. The ratio between the other two are usually even, and I’m okay with it, even when they tell me that I am wrong. It is only when they rub me the wrong way that I bristle up and show them some stripes. The turnover of part time staff is high enough at McDonalds that I never see them again.

But back to the original point. If the drinks are free flow and there is little difference between the actual french fries serving sizes, then why the heck should the consumer upsize their meals? And hence the need for them to run promotions in order to get their customers to upsize. But at the end of the day, I think its better for them to save the promotions and retrain their staff. Sure, most of the hired hand are part timers. But that doesn’t mean that they should compromise their quality of service. If you’re someone in the McDonalds hierachy and you’re reading this, think about it.

What do you think? In general (not exclussive to McDonalds), do you think that as a consumer, it is worth the trouble to file a complaint? Or do you think that is simply being petty and argumentative?