[GeneD]

A McDonald's chart from CBS.MarketWatch.com:

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

MacDonalds is nothing but overpriced artery-clogging lard served up by arrogant slowpokes.

Except for one franchise in Maine.

[Larry Lucido]

Burger King's recently introduced 99-cent menu

Two BK tacos for 99 cents - I haven't been back to McDonald's since discovering them.

[lds23]

And I'm sure the uncertainty of lawsuits from headline-grabbing lawyers can't be helping, either.

[Nephi]

I remember a time when McDonalds was known for having the best french fries. Now, they seem to be cold and hard within five minutes and stale after fifteen.

[krb]

We have a newly remodeled McDonalds in my old neighborhood that I visit sometimes.

I am always amazed anew at how such a clean establishment could have such poor, slow, stupid service. They are getting their clock cleaned by the snappy and accurate service at the Taco Bell right across the street.

[Landru]

"As Salomon Smith Barney analyst Mark Kalinowski said in a report last week, 'We would love to see more details about how McDonald's will combat what we view as its key challenges in the U.S.: rude service, slow service, unprofessional employees and inaccurate service. In our opinion, what we have seen does not go far enough in addressing these issues, which together account for the vast majority of customer complaints in the U.S.""

I haven't eaten in one of their burger joints in years for my own reason(s); however, in all fairness to McD's?
The problems Kalinowski describes afflicting McDonald's are a cancer upon this entire nation, effecting businesses of all kinds.

Anyone owning/operating or managing a business knows we're in some deep kimchee on the subject of, "Present quality of employee(s)."

McDonalds must hire the people each community produces -- like all bussinesses must -- & then, TRY to work with what they've got.

Lousy parents (if there're any parents a'tall) &/or parenting, a pop generation influence on what is & isn't "cool" (visa-vi television) combines with a public school system which has succeeded in placing a "I'm right & you're wrong" attitude deep into the little monter's heads so they "feel good" about themselves have produced millions upon millions of stupid, lazy dolts.

The truth of this horrible condition we're in is manifesting in this guy's gripes; &, by God McDonald's can do little about that.
NOT for the $5.00 p/hr wage those jobs merit, anyway.

It's really no more than a simple case of "crap in, crap out."

...& now all the cultural sloppiness comes home to roost.

[Snake65]

Back in the day, I was a first assistant manager at a Mc Donald's. Yeah, well, somebody has to do it, and my liberal arts degree prepared me to be philosophical about cleaning fryers. I have two suggestions for McD's:

1) Go back to the beef tallow for cooking the fries, dumped many years ago to make them "healthier." In those days, they were the hands-down best-tasting fries in the business. I didn't have many triathletes eating at mine...

2) Go back to frying the meat patties on a grill then sticking them in a bun while they're still sputtering. Dump the microwaves (or in McSpeech, "Q-ing Ovens" because Q stands for quality, dontcha know).

The kid point made earlier was valid too...

[NorCoGOP]

key challenges in the U.S.: rude service, slow service, unprofessional employees and inaccurate service.

They forgot "service in english" which seems to become more and more difficult each time we go there...

Two best McDonald's I have ever seen:

Subic Bay: waiters...food is brought to you, not in containers, but on plates.

Hong Kong: Food looked like it was straight out of a commercial on TV. And, it was four stories tall! (OK, OK, only 15 feet wide...but four floors)...

[Newbomb Turk]

If you want to see some really crappy service go into a Burger King on any Army installation. The help does not even understand english much less speak it and the food sucks.

I hate McDonalds because I ordered a Big Mac and fries in the drive thru and they made me park and wait. What the He// I ordered the most popular item on the menu and I have to park and wait. Then I asked for catsup and they guard it like it is Fort Knox gold.

[Newbomb Turk]

Maybe they could get some advice from Martha Stewart.

[southern rock]

"We would love to see more details about how McDonald's will combat what we view as its key challenges in the U.S.: rude service, slow service, unprofessional employees and inaccurate service.

Paying your employees a wage actually worth working for might help.

You get what you pay for. Economics 101.

[RANGERAIRBORNE]

My dog LOVES McDonalds-really! I take him to the drive-through window, and he especially likes the greasy chicken "nuggets" (AKA "Miscellaneous Poultry Offal") and the sausage and egg biscuit, which resembles dogfood in any case.

As for myself, I'm afraid I'm not a big fan of their miserable kiddy-food.

[HIDEK6]

They lost my business when they put those jungle gyms in for the kids to play on.

I'm child-free, and will not choose to spend my lunch break around kids.

So they made their bed, chose their market, let them live with it.

[ReaganCowboy]

Two things that might bring me back: the McRib sandwich, and the Breakfast Burrito.

[Fester Chugabrew]

My last experience at a McDonald's was . . . well . . my LAST. The girl behind the counter was talking to her colleauge/boyfriend (on the other side of the counter in uniform) when I walked in.

She had such a dark face it looked like I was inflicting punishment by showing up to order food. Though I had been shorted french fries on two previous orders, I decided not to bring the issue up that evening. Nevertheless, I was treated like dirt, and this kid looked like a slob. Shirt untucked, etc.

After I received my food, I said, "You're supposed to make me smile, right?" She feigned a nervous smile and said, "Yeah."

I said, "Well it didn't work. You're shirt's untucked. You're acting like a b*tch. And your manager is going to hear about it."

I took my food and walked out, and as I walked out I heard her say to someone nearby, "Did you hear what he said to me?" If I had the cahunas I would have walked back and said, "I was talking to YOU."

I don't know. Is there a work ethic with kids these days? McDonald's to me has always been a bright spot in the way of good, clean food and fun. Hard work. Just a great company all around. But I've gotta say, it will be a heckuva task for them to come up with personnel who do their name and reputation right.

[HairOfTheDog]

McDonalds is great. It isn't gourmet food, its a quick lunch that is guaranteed to taste exactly the same no matter where you are in the world, for four dollars. As a bonus they have the best fries in the business...

What more do ya' want?

[RightOnline]

You'd have to hold a gun to my head to get me to go into one of those filthy joints (e.g. McDonald's) again. Morons behind the counter. CRAP for "food". What they pawn off as a "hamburger" should get 'em arrested. Dirty. Patrons you'd find in one of yer better inner-city, crumbling old K Marts. Overpriced.

No thanks.

[Dan Day]

The problem with McDonald's is summed up by their "Filet-o-Fish".

Leaving aside the issue that I always felt silly ordering it by that goofy name, when I was a kid (a few decades ago) the McDonald's fish sandwich was delicious. It was juicy, tasty, and wonderful. It tasted like, surprise surprise, fish.

Now, it's dry (it'd stick in your throat if it weren't lubricated by tartar sauce) and tastes like cardboard. The "meat" is also about half as thick as it used to be.

[segis]

McD's milk shakes are pretty good. Other than that, everything else is pretty bad.

[jejones]

New equipment, fewer new stores... Hey, how about selling decent food? I agree, the breakfast isn't too bad (though it doesn't hold a candle to the Frisco breakfast sandwich at Hardee's (really Carl Jr., but they're keeping the old name up north to avoid confusing the Yankees)), but the greasy gray sponges that they claim are burgers are a major grossout. Give me Wendy's, or a local chain like BeBop's, or for that matter Culver's Butterburgers and Custard, which has far wider variety and vastly better food.