Just an Ordinary Day…
Yesterday, I was minding my own business, wrapping up work with the last few patients of the day, when a few hunger pangs struck. I didn’t think too much about it, but eventually once I left the office, I drove back toward home. About halfway on the trip, hunger set it again, so I stopped by a McDonald’s on the route.
I’m a big fan of the Dollar Menu, since it is economical, contains easy-to-understand products, and can be quickly produced from the line to the counter compared to a lot of other McDonald’s offerings.
When I walked to the counter and placed my order, I asked for two Double Cheeseburgers, a small drink, and a small side salad. Easy enough order, right?
What Kind of Burger is It?
Now, keep in mind that I actually have two of the Double Cheeseburgers, and they actually both look alike. So, I’m unwrapping one of them (see above)…
At this point, I already notice something peculiar about it… notice the sesame seeds on the top bun.
Okay, there’s definitely something odd about this Double Cheeseburger! The top bun doesn’t seem to belong to a Double Cheeseburger! In fact, it closely resembles the top bun of a Big Mac.
But I didn’t order a Big Mac… Hmm, the whole burger is definitely sloppily assembled, as if somebody wasn’t paying attention, but literally going through the motions of assembly as if nothing really matters.
You can see how the cheese looks like it is eccentrically positioned. From this angle, it gives the perception that perhaps the cheese slices are too large. But no, if you look at the previous photo, you’ll see that all of the ingredients are not stacked properly.
From the bottom view of the burger, you can clearly see the size discrepancy between the top and bottom buns. Also, what you cannot tell from the photo is that, despite the stray sesame seeds on that bottom bun, it appears to be the same consistency that you would expect to find on a McDonald’s hamburger, cheeseburger, or Double Cheeseburger.
Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? What happened to the top bun?
At first, I thought it was a singular fluke, until I inspected the other one: I had not one, but two, ersatz Double Cheeseburgers!
Management Perspective
Clearly, there is something wrong with the Double Cheeseburger assembly procedure. Whether it is an issue of missing supplies, or improper training, or (in the worst case) poor employee discipline, this is something that must be addressed.
This is highly relevant for most directors and managers of service organizations: quality assurance (QA) testing at various stages during service rendering is highly critical. Customer satisfaction is directly tied to your bottom line. If your customers are dissatisfied, they are less likely to return to your establishment or company for subsequent business dealings, which in turn adversely affects your revenue stream. Even worse for service industries is the simple fact that negative news concerning quality will ripple through to even your better customers who find out about the poor or inconsistent service. The key to success is to maintain a consistent quality to the services rendered.
This is also highly relevant for most directors and managers of production organizations: quality assurance (QA) testing at various stages during daily or routine production runs is extremely important. Inconsistent or low quality products issued to the consumer base leads to a high rate of returns, which penalizes you in terms of shipping costs and replacement duties. It is much easier and more cost efficient to ensure that the products are generated correctly the first time, rather than constantly going back and do it again and again and again. If the inefficiencies continue to pile up, the production waste may become so noticeable that watchdog groups and the government may make decisions for you… and that is not a good thing.
Not-So-Good News
So, I brought the snafus to the attention of the manager, who shrugged and said that it was not a big deal, and that I was getting a bargain due to the mistakes, so I should be happy with the results.
I simply stated to him that while I most likely would not perish from eating the two fake Double Cheeseburgers, that assumption does not hide the fact that the burgers were not assembled to specification. The manager had a different opinion, unfortunately: he felt that as long as it “kind of” looks like a Double Cheeseburger, what does it matter if the buns are wrong? So I asked him if he would still think the same way if a customer complained about getting old hamburger buns (non-sesame) on his Big Mac, or if the Big Mac lacked the middle bun layer or one of the beef patties. He shrugged once again and said that he doesn’t dwell on those things.
I was a bit tired at this point, so I left the argument at that. I left the McDonald’s, got home, and filed a comment to the McDonald’s site– after all, it’s still a management issue, and who better to handle it than management? 
And, as for me, I won’t be returning to that McDonald’s store anytime soon… or ever. Lesson learned.
