McDonald's of Mt. Ephraim

I’m not a big fan of fast food in general, and of all the various hamburger joints I would have to say that McDonald's is my least favorite. The best thing that McDonald's has going for it is its brand recognition. Put any little pair of eyeballs in front of a television set running a commercial with the Golden Arches and that kid will know that means McDonald's.

Before I go on a rant about McDonald's, let me start over by saying that this is not a review of McDonald's Corporation. In general I don’t have a problem with McDonald's as a company; in fact, I sort of admire the company in some regards, their food notwithstanding.

No, this review is about the McDonald's located on the Black Horse Pike in Mt. Ephraim, NJ.

More specifically, this review is about the death trap piece of $*!+ drive-thru service at this particular McDonald's.

Like just about any red-blooded American I have been to McDonald's more times than I can count. I’ve also experienced quite a few different McDonald's restaurants in quite a few different states. It makes sense that some of these locations would provide better service than others and minor hiccups in service don’t really bother me. As someone who has spent many years in the customer service industry I understand that some days are better than others and that just because the service is crappy one day that doesn’t necessarily mean that the service is crappy every day.

Unfortunately this has not been the case at the McDonald's in Mt. Ephraim, NJ. Their service – at the drive-thru – has been consistently crappy every time I have ever been through there. The reason for this, and I am convinced that I am correct in making this assumption, is that there are two drive-thru lines that merge and lead to one register window that is manned by one person who takes orders from both lines. Either that or the people manage the drive-thru are really really drooling-out-of-the-side-of-their-mouths-stupid, or it could be a combination of both.

Case in point: I went through the drive-thru last night to get my daughter a Happy Meal, my wife a caramel iced coffee, and a McDouble for myself. There were two lines formed, but the last cars in both lines were past their respective ordering points. I pulled up and wasn’t quite at the microphone so I was unable to order. I didn’t move for four minutes. I finally was able to order then waited in line for another six minutes until it was my turn to pay.

Seriously? Ten minutes?!

I could probably understand ten minutes if we were stuck in the middle of the dinner rush and there were twenty cars ahead of me. But it was after 7:00 pm! The dinner rush had long since ended!

The second example occurred on July 15. I pulled up to the drive-thru at 7:52 am intent on getting a crappy cup of coffee. That was all I wanted. I’d eaten breakfast at home and was craving some coffee. I prefer Wawa and Dunkin’ Donuts’ coffee, but I didn’t want to stop and get out of my car. I have been inside the facility once and it’s a fairly nice place and the employees are pretty friendly, but I just wanted to zip through the drive-thru and be on my way. There were three cars ahead of me who had all given their orders so I was able to give my order immediately. By the time I actually had my coffee in hand it was 8:04 am.

By comparison, I went through the drive-thru at Chick Fil-A in Mount Laurel, NJ for a cuppa Joe the other day. There were six cars ahead of me and I made it through the line in five minutes - during the breakfast rush!!!

WTF?!?!?!

So what’s the problem? I have never been through another McDonald's drive-thru that has taken as long to get through than this one. Is it strictly because one person handles both lines? Or is it just that there are two lines that merge into one? Either way it’s a horrible way to manage customers. Add to this the fact that last night was the first time they got my wife’s coffee correct (they usually give her hazelnut) and that doesn’t make for a very good track record.

I get annoyed when I think of all the time I could have saved by going into the building to place my order, but drive-thrus are supposed to be about convenience, and the drive-thru service at the McDonald's in Mt. Ephraim, NJ is anything but convenient.

½ stars
I gave the store one half-star instead of zero stars because they got my wife's coffee right one time. And Rick Moranis taught all of us the importance of doing something well "one time" in the movie, Little Giants: