Placing an order at Mickey D's - Montana Owners Club

dieselguy · 01-11-2018, 12:47 PM

I know I'm a bit out of sync with how daily life plays out now days, but that is on purpose. I don't embrace everything that whomever decides what goes and what doesn't today. Take McDonalds for instance. We drop in a Mickey D's on the north side of Wichita to grab a quick bit to eat on the way out of town. We walk up to the counter like always and before we can utter a word ... we are whisked away to one of four touch screen order stations in the lobby by an employee. There with much guidance, we go thru the order screens checking off what we want and finally get the order placed ... then when we say we are paying with genuine American dollars ... the "deer in the headlight look" comes over the employee. The kiosks are swipe a card only ... he had to go behind the usual counter and get our change. I don't know about your experiences with counter employees, but we've found they are many times challenged in placing orders themselves on the regular screens we don't see. Examples are like if you only want ketchup and pickles or if you want a salad instead of fries. Soooo to wind this down ... why would Mickey D's marketing people think getting totally frustrated placing your own order correctly at a kiosk then walking out is going to drum up business or perhaps cut down on the number of employees per shift? There is a low percentage of these order screens around town, but I surely hope it's not a trend to come at other businesses.

Eagleback · 01-11-2018, 12:56 PM

As soon as some states started talking $15 hour for workers at fast food restaurants and California implementing it this year, these sprang up and it sounds like the owner wants the current employees to train the customer to use it, then fire the worker. it will be the trend I'm afraid.

richfaa · 01-11-2018, 12:58 PM

We saw those for the first time at the Grand Canyon last summer they worked great.

dieselguy · 01-11-2018, 01:38 PM

As long as you just order straight off the buttons ... I kinda sorta agree. I don't like all the slop sauce and some of the other condiments on the burgers. I'd rather stay away from fries and go with a salad ... checking that stuff off and replacing one side with another makes it a whole new ball game. Heck ... many regular counter employees struggle with that.

**DQDick** · 01-11-2018, 02:16 PM

Since I use the McDonald's app to save money, imagine their surprise, in Artisia,NM when they showed me how to make it work with the kiosk and it didn't work for them either. Seems they have much more work to do. First saw them in Busnell, FL 2 years ago when they were being tested. Seems they should have the basics worked out by now.

mtlakejim · 01-11-2018, 04:35 PM

Folks this will be the future. It's only starting. Think about it what is every kid in the country already have in their hand nearly 24 hours a day? Yep a touch screen. Anyone under 30 won't bat an eye at kiosk ordering at fast food restaurants. In fact they will prefer it! The restaurants certainly like it since it cuts down on employee overhead. It's coming and it's coming fast!

I'll give you a related tidbit. They are researching right now using similar technology to the security threads that they use at places like Walmart on high ticket items (you know the things in the package that make the siren go off at the exit if they don't deactivate it at the register) to replace barcode scanning. The idea would be that every package will have an electronic thread in it that a scanner will pickup at checkout without it even having to leave the shopping cart. In fact the "electronic thread" could actually be woven right into your clothes. This would lead to you simply pushing your entire buggy under an arch and everything in the kart would immediately ring up! Incorporate that with something like Exxon's Speed Pass (the little pill sized device that works as a credit card at their pumps) and you could end up walking into the store, picking something up and just walking out with it. It would be paid for out of your account as you left of course. Even worse they are already have something that can be implanted in your body that holds credit card info. There is a company in California already asking for employee volunteers to use such a implanted device.

The scary thing about all this is of course "BIG BROTHER" is always watching. Before you know it, the corporations will know how many times you wear your favorite shirt into what stores and you will be getting advertising about similar shirts available at the competitor on your phone every ten seconds....and that is one of the nicer things they will likely be doing....... You won't be able to have any true privacy anywhere anymore. Its scary for sure, mark of the beast scary!

Ram Montana High Country · 01-11-2018, 04:44 PM

They will want you to order from the “Smarter than Me” phone / pay with ApplePay and ... wonder if they could chew it for me also?

GLS3950 · 01-11-2018, 05:04 PM

Cash is going to be a thing of the past also. Most workers at these places couldn't make change if the register didn't tell them.

Mr Pachu · 01-11-2018, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GLS3950

Cash is going to be a thing of the past also. Most workers at these places couldn't make change if the register didn't tell them.

How true.

This really did happen to me: I had gone into a fast food restaurant and the three people in front of me had paid for their orders with plastic. When I finished placing my order the young person behind the cash register handed me the card reader. I told him that I didn't need it as I had a $20 bill in my hand. He then had to call the manager over as he did not know what to do with cash.

mhs4771 · 01-11-2018, 06:15 PM

What's really great is when they start counting on their fingers trying to figure out the change. And what ever you do, don't give them a five dollar bill and a quarter for a $4.25 bill. That really send them over the edge.

**AZ Traveler** · 01-11-2018, 08:41 PM

Its the future, we can either adapt or get run over by it. It will be interesting to see if the McDonalds adapting the new technology will do better financially than those that don't. Like them or not, the company has evolved smartly to keep a winning position in the fast food market. I have noticed a lot more old folks working in McDonalds - they seem to struggle more than the young ones. The higher minimum wage has put more older folks in these jobs taking the experience away from the young folks.

Loneoak · 01-12-2018, 07:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AZ Traveler

Its the future, we can either adapt or get run over by it.

I see this sort of thing happening all the time, not just with the McDonalds thing, but with technology in general. I am a senior and have embraced technology all my life. But so many of my peers struggle with it because they have resisted for many years, and now they are getting run over by it. They are finding they need to learn this stuff in order to communicate in today's world, especially with younger family members, and they are having a very hard time with it.

richfaa · 01-12-2018, 07:53 AM

We worked in high end technology all our life and it is not a problem for us if fact we like it. The cash registers that we have seen over the last few years calculate the change for you all the employee has to do is read the screen.

waynemoore · 01-12-2018, 09:18 AM

Well here goes. I LOVE technology and have an iPhone and have set the house up as a smart home. Can turn on and off just about everything with the phone or by voice. BUT one thing really makes me crazy is the self check outs at the grocery store. I look at it this way. I drive to the store, take my life in my hands walking through the parking lot, try pushing a shopping 🛒 cart that has a mind of its own. Walk up and down most of the isles trying to find what I want
(cause the night crew moved everything). After all this they want me to scan, bag "with my own bags" and pay. Can't use cash as there is no way to get change. This just makes me crazy but DW says I have to get with the times on this.

Loneoak · 01-12-2018, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by waynemoore

Well here goes. I LOVE technology and have an iPhone and have set the house up as a smart home. Can turn on and off just about everything with the phone or by voice. BUT one thing really makes me crazy is the self check outs at the grocery store. I look at it this way. I drive to the store, take my life in my hands walking through the parking lot, try pushing a shopping 🛒 cart that has a mind of its own. Walk up and down most of the isles trying to find what I want
(cause the night crew moved everything). After all this they want me to scan, bag "with my own bags" and pay. Can't use cash as there is no way to get change. This just makes me crazy but DW says I have to get with the times on this.

I've seen lots of self checkouts that accept cash.

CaptnJohn · 01-12-2018, 11:32 AM

Cannot put $0.37 on the screen for them. They may give you 37 pennies if they can figure it at all. So, put
1 quarter
1 dime
2 pennies
so they do not leave with a stress headache and consider suicide. They sadly reproduce.

waynemoore · 01-12-2018, 03:53 PM

I still don't care if I can use cash. Next thing you know they will want you to find the product in the back room so that don't have to stock the shelfs.

I know DW says ia am an old stubborn camper.

twindman · 01-12-2018, 03:56 PM

I think Mcdonalds will be doing this in the near future because of higher minimum wages being pushed all over the USA. Use a kiosk to place your order. Computer sends signal to robotic 'cook' that places burger/whatever on grill. Robo takes the food at at exactly the right time and moves it to the next position where the toppings are place on the item. Then a machine wraps it and puts it on a tray. Untoched by human hands! And the kids and immigrants will have NO income anymore.

Recumbent · 01-12-2018, 04:23 PM

A little bit of fun here. All this automation reminds me of the movie/book Total Recall where employees would have memories of a vacation implanted in their brain. The employee had a wonderful vacation memory and the company did not have any loss in production. Sooo if we apply this to McDonalds we could go through the drive through in our computer driven car and receive the memory implant of a Big Mac having been eaten, while maintaining a healthier lifestyle for having not consumed the meal. Another win/win

mhs4771 · 01-12-2018, 06:09 PM

We can shop at Sam's Club (provided it's not one of the closing stores) scan each item we want with my phone before putting it in the cart. When done it pays the bill from the phone and gives an on screen electronic receipt that we show to the person at the door on our way out. Sure beats waiting in some of their long lines to check-out.

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