For the past month I've spent $20-25 a day here, mostly on coffee drinks but also food. Why? Because the staff never bothered me and the WiFi was blazing fast. I sat in my van/mobile office, stayed caffeinated, and got a lot of work done. I'd come 3 or 4 times a day, sit in my van in the mostly empty parking lot, and drink my sugar free vanilla lattes. The service here is horrible, the bathrooms are always filthy, remarkably they screwed up my order about a third of the time, and on more than on occasion I ended up either 1) translating for the staff, 2) getting napkins or other items for other customers, 3) taking peoples food out to their cars or tables for them because they were short staffed and the customers were waiting for more than 15 minutes but the employees didn't have enough people to physically walk the food out. Three times I've waited 25 minutes or more for my mobile pick up order, after I've gone in to get it - keep in mind that my pick up order is usually just a single item that does not need to be cooked. But I've only complained once, when I found egg shell in my sandwich.
The thing about this location is that most of the employees are really nice and are trying really hard, but they are always short staffed. And then customers are mad, but it's not really the staff's fault. If the owner wants to cut costs by always having the bare minimum number of staff, you're going to have filthy bathrooms and slow service because if one person is late or home sick, everything is thrown off.
So today I dropped about $20 during breakfast and lunch, over about a three hour period, left, came back around dinner time. I'm a professor and It's been hard with covid, because I like to work around other people and not be isolated at home. But there aren't a ton of options with most places closed. I bought a coffee and a snack, ate in my van while working. The manager saw me inside and never said anything to me.
45 minutes later I'm sitting in my van at my desk, messaging with my friend about what he wants me to pick up. As usual, the McDonalds app was super glitchy. It kept saying my menu items weren't available at this time of the day. After 5 minutes of shutting the app down and restarting it, I went to the back to adjust my WiFi boost and someone knocks on my van door. It's the swing manager (African American man, but not the African American guy who works in the am that is really on top of things), he was the same one who literally handed me my order 45 minutes ago. He was with Mathew, a very hostile man who identifies himself as the owner. Both were unmasked.
Matthew wanted to know what I was doing. I was so flabbergasted by his hostility that I didn't know what to say, so I said, "using the internet" since at that moment all I wanted to do was get the McDonald's app to work so I could get my food. And I really had no idea how to respond because Matthew was just so.... pissy.
Matthew very angrily told me to leave and that I could only stay parked for 30 minutes after ordering. I guess the clock starts when you get your food? Since it's often a bit of a wait?! Maybe he starts the clock when you order and there had been a 15 minute delay while the employees made fries, so maybe my clock started 60 minutes prior not 45 minutes. In any event, it had been more than 30 minutes since I'd ordered. I explained that I spend a lot of money here, eating 3-4 times a day and buying a lot of stuff, and that I prefer to eat in my car because the restaurant is really cold.
The manager stood there like he has never seen me before. Never mentioned that he had neglected to tell me about this mysterious policy of scarfing your food and leaving the parking lot within 30 minutes. Matthew responded that I was there the other day for a few hours, which was very true. I'd spent probably $15 the night before and had placed several orders over a three hour period. I was very calm and polite. I explained no one had said anything to me about this 30 minute limit or asked me to leave before and if he wanted me to leave, I would leave (because there was no way in hell I was spending any money there if Mathew-the-hostile-one is the owner).
Matthew then threatened me with the police and when I said he didn't have to be hostile about it, he said he could have any reaction he wanted. Which is true. We all have the right to feel our feelings. Most of us try to contain them a bit and not react so extremely to something very minor (like a customer who frequents your restaurant too often and usually stays about and hour or a bit more per a order while you prefer that people leave after 30 minutes). read more