The McDonalds' Kiosk

[Raissermesser]

This isn't new, of course. McDonalds has been putting Kiosks in their burger joints for a while. Apparently, the expectation was that customers would use an app or the kiosk in conjunction with credit cards, streamlining the ordering process. In actuality, they seem to take longer, especially for those of us who dislike using a debit or credit card to buy a hamburger.

This got filed in the back of my mind until today, when circumstances had me eating at two different McDonalds about a hundred miles apart. In the first, there was a clerk beside the kiosk to place the order for the customers. In the second, the kiosk had a not available message, meaning customers had to place orders at the counter, just like the pre-kiosk days. The problem is that McDonalds bought into the kiosk idea to the point that they took out cash registers and apparently have less employees.

OTOH, that McDonalds wasn't overrun with customers, either.

Thoughts on this? I've never had problems using the kiosks, but they don't seem to be living up to expectations.

 

[John Rose]

I only use the kiosk to browse the menu choices and prices. The overhead video displays keep changing views before I have a chance to locate the stuff I want, then you have to wait for it to come back.
When I've made my decision, I order at the counter.

 

[pdieten]

A McDs near me remodeled in this way.
Used it twice. Kiosk works fine. Takes longer to order because I don't know where everything is but at least if I use it I know I'm getting exactly what I ask for.
Thing is once you place your order, if you've ordered a drink you have to go to the cashier for the cup. Problem with that is that my food tends to be ready before I get to the counter and I have to interrupt the cashier to request my cup.

 

[Basil]

I order from the kiosk and app. Works much better for me. I always say no sauces for my kids burger and the cashier always forgets. Now I can make sure it says it no sauces and can back it up with proof when I said they made the order wrong.

 

[Shaving like a boss]

I walked into a McDonalds a while back. I went to the counter and waited in line behind a lady that was placing her order and when it became my turn, the employee behind the counter rather curtly informed me I would have to use the kiosk. I said I just wanted to place an order to go to which she replied it was company policy to use the kiosk, then walked away. That was the very last time I ever went to ANY McDonalds.

 

[Rhody]

I tend to avoid mcds like the plague unless im on a road trip. I think without research that breakfast items will kill you slower than regular menu items
as for self serve, ive used a kiosk at Panera bread once. I interfaced well enough with it but hate self serve retail. Shouldn't we get the employee discount?
at least the kiosk didn't ask me if i had been their before, wanted a 1/2 sandwich when i ask for a whole or if i want a .99 cent desert

 

[Raissermesser]

I only use the kiosk to browse the menu choices and prices. The overhead video displays keep changing views before I have a chance to locate the stuff I want, then you have to wait for it to come back.
When I've made my decision, I order at the counter.

The overhead display in the last one we ate at yesterday was promoting The Lion King. Assumed it was a tie-in; didn't care. We already knew what we wanted, anyway. But again, it was an assumption that customers would use the kiosk. Too bad that was the one where the kiosks weren't working.

 

[Raissermesser]

I walked into a McDonalds a while back. I went to the counter and waited in line behind a lady that was placing her order and when it became my turn, the employee behind the counter rather curtly informed me I would have to use the kiosk. I said I just wanted to place an order to go to which she replied it was company policy to use the kiosk, then walked away. That was the very last time I ever went to ANY McDonalds.

How each individual franchise is run varies. At the first one yesterday, the staff knew the woman ahead of me and briefly chatted with her. In the second, the manager called back if they had an item my wife wanted before entering her order. Have also had bad dealings at McDonalds. It varies, and not just for them.

Get the feeling that McDonalds doesn't know what to do now. One of the two we ate at ditched the playground (a corporate thing, it seems), and tried a coffee shop like atmosphere that was really nice. Then, just a few years later, threw all that out and went with what they have now.

 

[Lightcs1776]

I am one who prefers a kiosk, although I don't go to McDonald's unless it is for coffee while on a road trip. It eliminates poor customer service, which seems to be an issue from time to time.

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[Doc4]

I go with the third option

Spoiler

eating food that is actually healthy somewhere else

 

[Toothpick]

What Doc said! Although - I admit I do eat fast food 2-3 times per month. But I hate it!

Anyway,

This is going to be more and more popular I fear. Self check out, self ordering, etc. I used to hate the self checkout lanes in retail stores. My philosophy being I’m choosing to spend my money here and now I gotta do all the work myself?!. Same reason (one of the reasons) why I never shopped Aldi. You mean I gotta bag my own groceries!? Although I still don’t shop Aldi, I use the self check out lanes 99% of the time now for several reasons - 1. Never have to wait in line to use one. 2. I can scan and bag quicker than the cashier can. 3. I can bag HOW I WANT TO BAG my items. 4. I don’t have to talk to anyone (deal with the public).

So self ordering at McDonalds?.....if it works as it should I’m all for it.

 

[shaveitoff]

Apparently, the expectation was that customers would use an app or the kiosk in conjunction with credit cards, streamlining the ordering process. In actuality, they seem to take longer, especially for those of us who dislike using a debit or credit card to buy a hamburger.

I'm at the point where I'd never put an app from a retailer on my phone. The risks involved outweigh the benefits, in my opinion.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/mcdonald-s-app-fraudster-online-account-1.5113012

Here in Canada, Tim Horton's is a big chain. I'll pay cash if I wander into one. But there are many people who have an app for Tim Horton's on their phone. They also run a loyalty program through it. Once again I refuse to use it. Getting a free doughnut isn't with some hacker getting through a doughnut shop's "security" and into credit card and debit card information, plus whatever other info you have to give them to use the app.

 

[John Rose]

I'm at the point where I'd never put an app from a retailer on my phone.

That sort of decision was made for me.
I used to have the Canadian Tire customer app on my iPod touch, mostly for the searchable catalog of products. Then within the year they did something to the database that broke the app (unable to find the server, I guess), and an upgrade to a workable app would mean having to buy a new iPod with a current iOS.
So, forget it, off it went.

 

[Doc4]

Yesterday I was trying to buy stuff from an online retailer and you couldn't complete the purchase without opening an account and you couldn't do that without giving them your cellphone number. Not just a phone number but it had to be a cellphone number.

Nope.

I'll be shopping elsewhere.

 

[eelhc]

The kiosks are not for you the customer. They are for McDonalds and their franchisees.

You will see more self service options as labor costs go up. They will introduce, refine, and improve the various self serve options. They will reprogram old luddites and the lowest common denominators to prefer using kiosks vs interacting with a barely intelligent counter person.

Likewise, when they went to self serve drink stations, it was not to provide unlimited refills for you. It was to limit their costs. A crack team of accountants ran the numbers very carefully.

This is a brutal, razor thin margin industry. Another thing that folks might find surprising is that in most fast food drive thrus, the order is placed through an operator in a call center hundreds of miles away then routed back to the restaurant so the order could be fulfilled and money collected.

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[emwolf]

I tend to avoid mcds like the plague unless im on a road trip. I think without research that breakfast items will kill you slower than regular menu items
as for self serve, ive used a kiosk at Panera bread once. I interfaced well enough with it but hate self serve retail. Shouldn't we get the employee discount?
at least the kiosk didn't ask me if i had been their before, wanted a 1/2 sandwich when i ask for a whole or if i want a .99 cent desert

+1

 

[Raissermesser]

What Doc said! Although - I admit I do eat fast food 2-3 times per month. But I hate it!

Neither love or despise it. It's what we old timers at work call "belly wadding." It's food, and it's hot.

 

[Raissermesser]

The kiosks are not for you the customer. They are for McDonalds and their franchisees.

Two big mistakes on McDonalds part.

1. The customer is their business.
2. The kiosks are slowing things down, which means less sales per hour, which means less sales per day.

Technologically, the kiosks are only half a step. To speed things up, they need to be able to take cash. Even a self-check out at Walmart will do that. The kiosks don't, because whatever Wile E. Coyote Supergenius who came up with the idea assumed their customers don't carry cash. This introduced the extra step of requiring the customer to take a slip to the clerk to pay, requiring another wait and further delay to the order.

If McDonalds wants their customers to move away from cash, I have four words: So sad, too bad. The customer will go where there is less aggravation.

 

[Bakker1964]

My only comment comes from a Customer Service standpoint. The Order # given when you make your selection is not sequential. Thus, if you order something "off menu" (hold the pickles, etc.) your order is immediately going to arrive out of sequence. Now, this already occurs to a certain extent in the "old" way of doing things, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it will be accentuated going forward.

 

[Raissermesser]

Another thing that folks might find surprising is that in most fast food drive thrus, the order is placed through an operator in a call center hundreds of miles away then routed back to the restaurant so the order could be fulfilled and money collected.
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The ones here don't. Go into one, and you'll find someone with the headset working a cash register. Burger joints did try the call center approach, and maybe they use them in places, but they aren't universal yet.