nicloe.com: Would you like a moat with that?

On Saturday July 5th, McDonald's Australia had its first ever (and only?) Open Doors day - a day when anyone who bothered to call or register via the website was allowed behind the counter for a tour, and to ask any questions that they wanted.

I donned my hair net and disposable white inspector's coat, and headed out to the Burwood store, where I worked for about four years back when I was in high school, and the first couple of years I was at uni (until I scored myself a cushy job tutoring at uni, which paid much better).

It was quite an interesting tour - even for someone who knew the store quite well already. Firstly, we headed downstairs, where the guy explained to us that Burwood Maccas is one of the old skool style: most things are stored downstairs, and just the things that are needed quickly are kept upstairs, in close reach of the grills. The "crew room" is also downstairs. The most intriguing thing about these older style stores is that because many things are stored underground (and people have to go down there), they all have an underground moat around them, to ensure that the bottom level is not flooded.

Unfortunately, the tour did not include skateboarding around the moat - in fact, the moat is closed off by a scary-looking door with big "authorised personnel only" signs on it. Damn.

Once upstairs, we got into some heavy questioning: no, the shakes and sundaes don't have pig's fat in them, no, the apple pies do not contain choko, yes, the burgers are made from 100% beef, and so on.

But what I found more fascinating than any of this (I'd rather go on spreading the rumour that the apple pies contain choko) is the fact that McDonald's have changed their serving policies. When I worked for them, you had one minute to serve each customer. You greeted them with "may I take your order please", you took their order, you upsold ("would you like fries with that?"), and then you grabbed their items in a specific order (drinks, burgers, fries, desserts, if I remember rightly).

But all this has changed. McDonald's wants to be more relaxed and down-to-earth. The staff are now being trained to greet the customers with "how's it going?" or similar, and the staff members have an additional two and a half minutes to serve the customer (plus, they can grab the items in whichever order they damn well please). And, most importantly, no more upselling! The days of "would you like fries with that?" are apparently over, with the exception of the "I'll have some fries?", "will that be large?" sequence. Our tour leader did admit that it might take some of the staff a while to "de-program", though.

As part of this latest campaign of being up-front with the customer (which was, as far as I can tell, the point of this open day), McDonald's has also launched an instore newspaper; our tour leader kindly pointed out the first issue. Called "Table Talk", this issue includes such interesting reading as details about the lettuce suppliers (the front cover article), the 100% beef used in the burgers, the charities that McDonald's are involved in, and so on.

Disappointingly, my copy of this free newspaper was as close as I came to getting anything free out of the tour. I was expecting, at the very least, a coupon for a free small fries. Cheapskates.

i found that open day quite amusing, because it was obvious that the managers are told months before, and only roster on their best staff (who are then probably told if they mess up, they're fired).
i've worked in fast food, and things are always a little bit dodgy where the customers can't see....and sometimes where they can. but as soon as you know you have an inspection - BAM! it's all going properly (and slower than usual) and you're doing weird stuff like scrubbing the ceiling of the cool room.

anyway, i'm sure you know what i'm saying.
maybe.
Posted by lou-lou (site) on Sat 12 Jul 2003 11:25 #

The de-programming thing is interesting. I once encountered a Maccas lady who just about forced me to have a free coffee they were offering. She couldn't believe I wouldn't want it.
Certainly seems that Maccas are trying hard to shake off the evil corporate empire image.
Posted by Daniel (site) on Thu 31 Jul 2003 16:05 #

Commenting has been turned off because of my inability to cope with the ridiculous amount of spammage I was receiving. Sorry!