App Experience #mcdonalds

What’s good?  I’m supposed to write here…um, frequently.  I don’t.  That’s old stuff though, this is me committing to more writing activity.  Welcome to the first installment of  The App Experience!  I lost weight during the pandemic so something tells me I can do this without completely wrecking the waistline.  I know y’all will tell me if I’m wrong.   You always do.  I doubt I’m going to do this daily honestly, I can’t afford to eat out daily.   I’m going to do one meal every other day at least though and chronicle my experience here.  Now, the caveat is, each meal will be ordered using the restaurants mobile app.

I’m probably below average as far as eating at fast food chains go, I prefer local spots.  When I do hit chain spots, I’m either drive thru or I go inside (more often than not) and order.  I guess it’s a people thing.  I’m not going to say I’m intimidated by fast food apps but, to me, it seems by the time I go through the set up to make my first order….I coluld’ve been eating.   I’m also one that likes to limit how many places my debit/credit card  is out in cyberspace. I know, it’s probably no less secure than pulling one out each time I pay for something…..just my perception.   I really won’t spend a lot of time trying to figure an app out either.  Apps, in my opinion, leave some doubt as to whether or not my order was recieved correctly.  I’m hoping my viewpoint can be flipped to pro app while I let you know how I fared.  All this done on android but, I’m pretty sure the experience is similar on iOS. This wont be a rating, just a chronicle of my App Experience. 

First up, the most recognizable, McDonald’s.  Found the app easily at the Play Store, downloaded quickly and the set up was easy and you can use your Google or Facebook profile to create one on the app.  I’m pretty sure some functions were available without creating an account.  McDonald’s is offering a free order of fries for downloading and creating a profile, I’m gonna say about 5 minutes worth of typing/verifying.  Deals will pop up as soon as you open the app, they seem to change daily for the most part.  It’s easy to order and most of if not all of  the ‘numbered’ deals that your used to are there on the app and, there’s the option for pick up or McDelivery.  Adding and subtracting items is easy, even in the checkout, as is applying discounts.  Sadly, I didn’t find an option for CashApp, GPay, or Samsung Pay, I’d prefer using either of those to a debit or credit card.  There’s time to review the order and a summary is shown as soon as you pay.

McDonald’s has this part figured out.  After ordering, just pull into one of the numbered stalls, enter that number on the app and your order comes to you.   I had to do this one twice, just to be sure.  The first time, my order came out 5 minutes after it was accepted by the app.  I could tell the young lady that brought it out did NOT want to have that job that day but, she did bring it out quickly and gave the customary ‘Have a nice day.’   The second time, it seemed they were experiencing unusually high volume as I saw car after car pulling out of the drive through and into one of the numbered stalls that I ordered from.   My order came out exactly 10 minutes after the order was accepted and I have to assume the dude in the collared shirt and tie was a McManager and didn’t usually perform that duty, he too was polite and my order was correct both times.

McDonald’s is probably the standard when it comes to fast food expectations that said,  using the app was easy enough.  Honestly, if I’m on the move, I really can’t see ordering any other way than the app.  With location service on, it always knows which store I’m near.   I do wish there was a GPay, PayPal, or CashApp option .  All in all, I can’t complain about the experience.  Would you try it?

If there’s an app/restaurant that you’d like me to try, dm me on twitter or insta   @albjam

Let’s do Wed.  318 320 1021.

Al. B!