Before you read the headline and instantly think that McDonalds getting sued for $10 million for failing to hold the cheese on a burger order, be sure to read the entire referenced article and realize that the person suing McDonalds because of the screw-up had a severe allergic reaction thanks to this mistake, and also be aware that the McDonalds that screwed up could only seem to find it in their hearts to offer to pay half -- that is one-half (1/2) -- of the medical bills that were incurred when the consumer of the burger with the cheese melted on it had to be rushed to the hospital.
Headline here: Man says hold the cheese, claims McDonald's didn't, sues for $10 million
Having written plenty on the subject of screws up in fast food restaurants (see recent article: What is it with quick service restaurants that can't... ) I'm well aware that service in many fast food restaurants, well, frankly the word is sucks.
These places can't seem to get orders right, and don't care about the cleanliness of their establishments or the speed with which they serve people and get them their orders. As others have said, the people working in these establishments normally get paid low wages, doing dirty, grimey jobs, and typically go home feeling as if they've been coated in the grease that is produced when their food products are cooking.
That doesn't, however, excuse McDonalds and their restaurant here. If someone orders an item plain, or without a certain condiment, these restaurants need to get the order straight and be sure that the customer gets only what they ask for.
Chick Fil A is typically better for service, cleanliness, and the like, and generally has better food so I tend to go there for meals when I'm desiring fast food. The only problem is that I really, really, really don't like pickles. I'm not necessarily allergic to them, but I may as well be as I just can't stand them and quickly detect the taste if a pickle has been near my food. I can taste the pickle that was just in the food handler's hands when that lazy food handler grabs the chicken filet and puts it on my sandwich, and I can most definitely taste the left over pickle juice and pickle taste if the cooks get lazy and simply try removing the pickle and giving me a sandwich that was already made.
While Chick Fil A is pretty good at making sure that I get a sandwich that didn't have a pickle on it, and their employees are pretty good at not directly handling the chicken filets, it still happens every now and then, and when it does the meal that I was looking forward to becomes one that I feel ripped off over. I almost wish that I was allergic to pickles so that I could sue the bejeezus out of the Chick Fil A restaurants that do screw up in that regard.
There are many other foods I don't like, and especially condiments I don't care for. Mayonaise, Mustard, Ketchup, etc., just don't normally have need or desire for those things. Keep them away from my meal.
When these restaurants inevitably screw up and serve me something different than I order, they will get that item back as I *always* check the item before biting into it (something that the customer in the original article didn't do, but should have perhaps. Regardless, it doesn't let the McDonalds off the hook for screwing up the order). But I shouldn't have to, nor should the customer that is now suiing McDonalds, keep double and triple checking the food that we get. These places should give us the right order to begin with, and perhaps if they were better managed from top to bottom, they would.
