Food Theory: STOP Using the Drive-Thru!

[@CZsWorld]

I don't really eat fast food anymore but I always used to just check the contents of the bag before driving away from the window. There's no law that says you have to leave immediately.

[@Mytic-mg9tg]

The worst is making the costumer behind you annoyed, if you can deal with it, I see no problem

[@AbramSF]

And it HAS to be right there in the drive through. I tried always checking in the parking lot to let other people through and too many managers inside the store refused to correct my order.

[@ilivefrommcdonald]

​@ZogeruUTTPyou good?

[@Mytic-mg9tg]

@@ilivefrommcdonald bot, or something like that, just ignore Edit: I know, it's better to report, I already did.

[@brianfreeman2729]

Me to but everyone behind honks at u and I'm like sorry man I just wanna make sure my Burger has no pickles 😂and the nuggets have well extra nuggets 😂

[@GregJeffory]

As a fast food worker there are a few things I've noticed, firstly a lot of places are reducing the amount of workers on the floor. This means that there is more stress on those in the building, even our drive through often only has one person working it, both taking orders and tendering them out. Second, a lot of people are just trained on it for a couple days, and left to do it on their own with almost no supervision, again because there is less workers on the floor. A lot of times its the newer employees making the mistakes, and a lot of new employees haven't always had the greatest work ethic, and so just get cycled through like crazy. Sometimes its almost twice a week I see new names on the schedule, and within a few weeks they're gone, oftentimes without me having ever even seen them. Basically its just a constant flow of the above issues. :\

[@jasminetea1174]

If they are trained at all. Other than Taco bell the other three I had to ask the other employees what to do.

[@Crow_Smith]

And that's not the mention how often everyone randomly just decides to quit without warning so by the only time you have the proper amount of workers, they're ALL trainees and all making mistakes. And the one long term employee is the one trying to sort it all out and trying not to break down. I remember I was trained on drive-thru on our easiest day. In a 5 hour shift we had maybe 20 customers. I was left to the sharks ALONE on our busiest day ... where lunch and dinner are non-stop customers for 2 hr stretches of time. So it'd be I start at 10:30 - and come 11 until 1 pm it was back to back to back customers, I'm getting screamed at for going over 3 minutes per order despite how 90% of that was people taking exactly that long to order, and then getting yelled at by customers that saw the line wrapped around the building and still got in line that this is taking too long [and lord help you if it's raining, no one goes inside if it's raining, everyone goes drive-thru in the rain] and having to three times an hour go grab my line cook who is sitting in the back talking to the manager. Then from 2 to 4:50 there is a light spattering of people. And then from 5 til 7pm it's back to back to back again, but my replacement thankfully arrived at 5:30 every day so I only had to START the dinner rush.

[@EEEEEEEE]

E‎ ‎

[@spectralspectra2282]

This 100%, whenever I'm in drive though or making a take away order I always tell them to check if everything is there as it's normal to forget to put fries, sauce or even an entire burger from time to time, after all we take hundreds of orders a day, a mistake is bound to happen

[@source7431]

Don’t forget the Hispanics too 😂😂

[@musicalnerd8301]

This is a pretty solid video. However, an extremely important variable (im a fast food employee) that was not mentioned in this video is the fact that employees are on a TIMER for every single order. Corporate expects employees to get their drive-thru orders out around 3 minutes or less, any longer, and you're in the red zone. Now, 3 minutes is doable for sure, but when Suzy Q comes and orders 5 combos for her family, all with modifications, employees are going to rush to get the order out on time. Rushing is where the mistakes really come in. It's hard to make food quicky while reading an order that takes up an entire screen with modifications all in tiny, unorganized fonts. Because of this, it's incredibly easy to miss a modification. Personally, I despise the timer system because it expects employees to work under pressure while maintaining the highest quality, no matter how complicated the order may be. I honestly wouldn't mind waiting 5 minutes if my food came out correctly, but corporations see that as a huge nono.

[@Silverwing28]

I find it outrageous that a time system is a fixed 3 minutes (if I read that correctly). 1 Sunday and a 5 person family order, éven if there are no modifications are such different orders!

[@somefrozendude3475]

As an ex-manager of a popular fast food restaurant, the goals of 90 seconds or less would get us in trouble. My store (what they called it) had a goal of 45 seconds.

[@cookie8162]

​@Officer-topG you did clicking the video 🤡🤡🤡

[@Silverwing28]

@Officer-topG Apparently, you do. The more you spam that reply everywhere, the more popular this video becomes in the algorithm! Good on you on being such a helpful algorithm booster.

[@ohmygodtheykilledkenny4887]

That's what I hate about this video. He's trying to make fast food workers more miserable while he sits comfortably in his mansion

[@Ember-wv8we]

The fast-food restaurants' "Chefs" You sir paid some major respect here.

[@timothylopez8572]

And you wonder why they don't care about attention to detail. "Here at my FAKE JOB. Making your kids a happy memory. After the event, you pulled up in a bus". No respect. Haven't you ever worked, or know someone CURRENTLY working in n the service industry?

[@Dryblack1]

​@@timothylopez8572...What?

[@timothylopez8572]

@@Dryblack1 😡STOP DENIGRATING PEOPLE! GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE! LIKE YOU'RE DRIVING A LAMBORGHINI!

[@Dryblack1]

@@timothylopez8572 Again... What?

[@timothylopez8572]

@@Dryblack1 STOP. MAKING. FUN. OF. LOW. WAGE. WORKERS.

[@Lewkis01]

As someone with some years of fast food management under their belt, I can say that the main consistency that gave you your results is speed. Fast food chains (especially McDonald's) push really hard for drive thru speed. From the time you order until the time you leave the pickup window, they expect you to be in and out in a very short time. This is why food you get in the drive thru may look more sloppy, and are more prone to mistakes. The faster you go, the more likely you are to make those mistakes. This is why all of your other order methods were better. The person/people on the "inside" part of the table (as in, they focus on making dine-in orders, where as the other side is drive thru), make curbside, doordash/uber, mobile, kiosk and front counter orders. This sounds like a lot, but the big difference is they are not pushed to be as fast as the drive thru side. Less pressure, less stress, less need to get the orders off their screen in a few seconds. So using these avenues to order and getting fewer mistakes lends itself to the fact that they weren't made by the people being pushed to go as fast as they can.

[@eggtarts286]

Thanks for the insider insight! Sometimes you have to see the inner workings to figure out what is and isn't contributing.

[@EEEEEEEE]

E‎ ‎

[@margarine4error46]

Food Theory should see this!!!

[@uncoolperson2179]

@@dlo3695As someone who works at a McDonald’s we never have people who are just pushing buttons, especially in the drive through. The McDonald’s I’ve worked at have all had two windows and this is how it was broken down. First window: take money, take orders, build happy meal boxes, clean trays, and other more menial tasks (like bringing cups from the back to the front) Second window: Make drinks, check orders, grab things like ice cream/cookies, make specialty coffees like Lattes and Frappes, and finally take orders. The second window could have another person at it if we are over staff, but even still, no one is just taking orders.

[@dark_hood7]

@Officer-topG those emojis perfectly describe you lol

[@kylerryun1583]

As a worker at a McDonald's a huge part of the incorrect orders is the pressure placed on us by corporate to stay under a certain time limit, as well as having to deal with kiosk, mobile, door dash, front counter, and parked orders all at once.

[@kylerryun1583]

I forgot to mention the restaurant location doesn't help this, as ours is placed right on the cross section of two interstate highways

[@jordy3701]

THIS then it’s so stressful and the customers complain can become rude ( and violent ) if their food isn’t given fast enough

[@Rogue1sme]

As former Wendys employee this was true even more so for us

[@zchettaz]

@@kylerryun1583 So you're understaffed?

[@GetRightGB]

As a former Checkers employee I agreee theyre understaffed, and quality in any sense not a priority.

[@Rios-ov3xi]

I think something worth considering that wasn’t touched in this video is how busy the restaurant is when you order. During high rush times, it’s easier to get a bit stressed/overwhelmed, and make mistakes. My experience was working at a Dairy Queen, where basically every order is more or less custom. One really big thing worth noting is that there are multiple stages of communicating your order. First, the cashier needs to understand what you said, then they need to properly enter it into the computer, then the person making the order needs to correctly read the order on the ticket. At least at my Dairy Queen, most of the people working at the drive through had a headset and could hear the orders directly, cutting out a lot of the room for miscommunication. I also hypothesize that the locations with self serve kiosks are more used to highly custom orders, and thusly the workers are much much more used to creating custom orders. Because of this, these locations might be better with custom orders in total, and all custom orders at those locations will be more accurate.

[@mtgraven8784]

To matpat i was expecting for you to step on some toes including mine considering I'm an order taker at one of my local mcdonalds and I always make sure I get all my orders accurate, now granted there are some things customers don't really mention on their order until they pick up their food and mention it then it comes back on me and the majority of the orders wrong is either because runner(the person bagging the food) puts the wrong sandwich with the wrong order OR present(the person handing put the food) hands the wrong order out OR it could be you experienced some inexperienced people or depending on how busy it is, can get overwhelming and very very stressful. But there are some inexperienced order takers out there, me im well seasoned with 10 years experience working different food related jobs but 2 areas I ace; Grill/with fried products, and drive thru order taking and cashing out. As for the people who maybe inexperienced, don't hold it against them for your food theory, they're trying their best, but if you come across people who just don't care, then I'm sorry but I can't defend those people other then they may have something going on that's effecting their work performance, my advice to all is be kind, be patient, and spread love and peace rather then be just another hateful intitled Karen looking to ruin everyone's day

[@wrmsnicket]

Another factor to consider is pay. Since this study was done outside of California as well, a few places you would have gone to would have been playing their workers minimum wage, which is less than a living wage. And that’s going to weigh heavily on someone who doesn’t have a support system in place. If that person is working two jobs just to make ends meet, they’re not going to be giving their best to either job, which can result in incorrect orders. It feels like a huge blindspot to not even mention that you’d mostly be dealing with employees which are the lowest on the totem pole, thus the ones who are pushed the hardest and the most prone to mistakes.

[@mtgraven8784]

@@wrmsnicket I honestly wasn't gonna mention that but it is true cause alot of companies unfortunately don't pay their employees enough to deal with what they do me included

[@Bisexualdragon4042]

Also, runners, I worked at McDonald's, and sometimes runners would take the wrong bag when running orders. One would leave it half made to take out fries or make a drink, and the other runner would take it without knowing it was the others or they thought the other runner was helping them. Which we do when not busy. Also, sometimes, the line cooks will label the sandwiches wrong. All in all, matpats kinda right. Human error is usually the problem. Even when the runner is giving everything out correctly, the presenter could still mess up.

[@mtgraven8784]

@@Bisexualdragon4042 true but ive seen more errors commonly made by the runner

[@rasmachris94]

I work in fast food and I can add some insight. I think the issue is not necessarily with comprehension [although there is some of that], it's with points of potential failure. Think of it like a tube. A long single tube can pass water through with only points of failure at either end. A segmented tube connected at regular intervals has many more points of failure at each connecting point on top of having the issue at both ends. Fast food places are similar. They usually have 3 people putting the food together for efficiency; One person toasting buns, one dressing the burger, one putting meat in the burger. One person cooking the meat, another entirely for chicken. One person putting together fries. Two or three people collecting the food and putting it in the bag. Usually staff are doing this in tandem with doing other jobs. Someone collecting drinks may be taking orders, or making ice cream/shakes. Another person who's working the line may need to leave to get out fries or other stock. As a result you have too many people interacting with an otherwise simple process with multiple different people acting as multiple points of failure. Lack of communication, unclear communication, tiredness from working inconsistent shift patterns and working on a hot grill/fry station all results in a recipe for failure. The easiest solution is to slow the process down by enforcing double checking at each stage to make sure things are correct. However, this would slow down the process which customers wouldnt be happy about and neither would the company as it would affect their bottom line. Through internal metrics workers are incentivised and business owners penalised for working slower, even if it ends up more accurate. There is a time limit on how long someone can be in a drive through, how long you should spend making an order and these time limits are reinforced with obfuscation of information. For example, if an order is off the screen - it is pending. Which if it goes to 6+ is stressful. rather than allowing employees see the orders and make the easier orders to get them out quicker, some businesses have intentionally sabotaged this information by only allowing 2 orders to appear on screen. This means that employees are completely unable to see a single cheese burger order because there are 2 orders ahead of it that may be 4+ items long. This same obfuscation applies for if an order is waiting for a specific ingredient. If you hold the order it blocks a slot of visibility. If you serve the order, you can no longer see what items were on the order unless you recall it which again blocks other orders.

[@PandatheGOAT]

Or how about we double check the bag before you hand it out to the customer. If you’re aware of how often failures happen, whoever passes the food to the customer checks it. You’re putting food in a bag not building a rocketship. Mistakes happen on single person orders, that’s a joke.

[@rasmachris94]

I completely agree. The problem is that the competitive design of performance metrics for the business itself and upper management facilitate the mistakes by de-incentivising that double check system. Rather than have employees double check at order collection which might take a second or two management complain or yell at staff members. Which in turn causes them to not do that in the future. If they end up promoted, that's exactly how they train new people and the cycle continues. To be clear, management would rather employees make mistakes and be fast to keep their internal metrics high than make sure everything is correct 100% of the time. Because at the end of the day, it's not the management that gets yelled at when something is wrong on the order. It's the lowest level employees. @@PandatheGOAT

[@SaschaEderer]

What's your job at the fast food restaurant(s) you're working for?

[@rasmachris94]

@@SaschaEderer I work in the kitchen mostly, but fast food it's expected that if role needs to be filled you fill it. So basically you can be anywhere from food production, to assembly to running orders, food collection or taking orders. i'm just an entry level employee - the wage increase for the hassle of promotion doesnt appeal to me. It's less than a 10% wage increase to be promoted into a training/managerial role where you get the pleasure of being yelled at by regional managers, business owners and the general public on the phone. I get the same pay by working the night shift.

[@SaschaEderer]

@@rasmachris94 Why do you work there? It seems that your intellectual abilities surpass that

[@japatronic69]

Ex burgerking worker here. I remember in our establishment we had this big TV that displayed every burgerking in the entire country, and we were all competing against each other on who had the fastest drive thru, counter service, etc. We all ended up making dumb mistakes even duringquiet hours just because we were the fastest restaurant in the competition and didn't wanna lose our lead. The customers were getting their orders wrong just because the workers were doing a race. (I think it was a trip abroad or something for the fastest restaurant)

[@smashroyale661]

as a former employee the drive through gets a much higher priority also NOBODY DID THE GRILL SLIPS ANYWAYS so dont even customise your order the kitchen itself is the one making the mistakes 99% of the time

[@drpeppergoddess6626]

Omg we had something similar at Raising Canes! We did it during March Madness and it was soooo stressful. I remember our location winning and only the managers got something. The crew got NOTHING! One of the reasons I quit was from stuff like that

[@jacobhargiss9909]

At my resturant we dont really get acreward for fast times, they just yell at the gm for slow times who in turn puts pressure on us to go faster.

[@goeticfolklore]

Burger King has the most unhinged employees

[@LightLock]

I used to work at a fast food place called jacks. It's a fast food chain local to my state of Alabama. We had this exact same thing in place.

[@4RILDIGITAL]

The amount of times my order has been botched is unbelievable. It's frustrating considering the prices continuously rising and the quality, in all aspects, diminishing.

[@CowDudez]

WHOM CARES ABOUT MATPAT LEAVING, MY CONTENT IS SO BETTER🤣😂❤

[@MSKofAlexandria]

@@CowDudez Whom shall even careth about Sir Matpat leaving the Kingdom?

[@nauqt]

Just wondering... You pronounce your channel 'April' or 'For real'??

[@Shoegaze-]

just stop being lazy and don't eat fast food in most cases it's literally poison.

[@_311AonPaws_]

@@CowDudez 5 million people actually 🤓☝️ ( reported )

[@mixxf]

I work at an Arby’s and I can say for a fact that it’s not that getting the orders right everytime is hard to do. It’s just that everybody is simultaneously doing 50 things at once because if you don’t the manager will call u lazy and tell you to get your sh-t together. Not only or are you a server but you’re also the dishwasher, the janitor, the sandwich maker, the person at the fry station while you’re taking orders and send them out. Loved the video btw❤

[@dinogt8477]

what

[@blankmeme224]

Yes, got respect for you people. I don't mind having my orders wrong from time to time because of the added stress you people get 😢

[@YonasBerhe-q1j]

whoever you are,id give you a tip

[@mrhellothere4143]

Yup, a lot of people don't realize just how many jobs you have to do at a fast food job, getting through lunch or dinner rushes with only 2 or 3 people working to cook and take orders, keep the lobby clean, and run the drive thru, its exhausting

[@matthewlawton9241]

@@blankmeme224 Disagree. I don't mine WAITING for my order, but when a meal costs $14, I have 0 patience with it being wrong. Do the job or quit.

[@aaronbritt2025]

I worked at McDonald's in the 80's. I was a team leader for the drive through. We had the fastest drive through in the state. Our lunch rush window timer was never more than 20 seconds and we never "parked" anyone. Most orders were complete in less than a minute, from pull up to the speaker to departure. In any given week, we would have one or maybe two errors at the drive through. So what was different? First, we all made 150% of minimum wage. Second, we had food ready to serve, in the warmer bin. Food wasn't made to order. It was still fresh, because anything more than 10 minutes old got discarded. We were very good at anticipating demand and having popular items ready to go. Third, the ordering culture has changed. It was rare to get custom orders back then. Now, everyone wants it their way. Fourth, we all spoke English. There was no communication breakdown.

[@semilianooo]

(I'm talking as a person who didn't work yet, so you know) I feel like the payment and that there wasn't so much option to a customers, like the way they order or what they wanted, is the key why they mess up the order, I don't blame them, it's stressful job

[@akkiko]

You forgot the menu size has quadrupled since and most McDonald’s are now 24/7. And before you go after foreign workers, nobody else wants to work the job or is willing to go past 10pm.

[@aaronbritt2025]

@@akkiko Maybe the menu size shouldn't be quadrupled? It was better when it wasn't. And when it comes to foreign workers, it's got nothing to do with who's willing to do the work or work past ten. It's about who's willing to work for minimum wage. I know I'm not. I'd gladly go back to working at McDonald's, but my time is worth a minimum of $35/hr. My last job, I earned $45/hr. However you feel about that, if a restaurant's ordering POS system is in English and you have employees that don't speak English, you're going to get errors.

[@matthewlawton9241]

@@akkiko Where are you from? Barely any McDonald's are still 24/7 after covid in the US. In large cities, sure, but not most other places.

[@abody-z6j]

@@matthewlawton9241 bro is trying to dox him🤣

[@IamRex342]

I am a fast food worker myself, not in America but in Europe and I work at BurgerKing. It is certainly not the amount of unexperienced staff and the large portion of complex menu items but the amount of people who order it at once. Drive Through is our Nr.1 priority and we have to reach a >3min mark to be considered fast. Food items sometimes just take too long, especially in rush hours if youre only a couple of people (2) it is really hard to both do restaurant + drive through. And please, if you notice a full restaurant and expect 2 people to get everything right and everything fast, be a little patient. People really need to hear this but I cannot take an order + refill the fries + 100% remember every food item of 10 orders. Especially not if some of these orders are for larger groups of people.

[@paulbirch6041]

while I'm not a fast food worker, I completely agree, that's why I say to my parents to be patient when an order isn't 'coming fast enough', it's like having 10 homework assignments due tomorrow, but it's 1000 times worse, and your payment is on the line, so I completely support you in your job.

[@TheBeastlySort02]

I feel your pain 😭

[@scoobydoo23320]

I also am a fast food worker, I am in America. In my store, we have an actual timer built into our restaurant to record the average time it takes to get an order to a customer. Corporate has given us explicit instructions that our top priority as workers is to keep that number as low as possible.

[@brianrivera7889]

He is a millionaire he wouldn't care or understand

[@weelolol]

im sorry if i ever ask you to do a big order

[@johnnywright1864]

MatPat is just speed running theories that include large quantities of fast food while he can still use lunch as a tax write off

[@corruptedpoison1]

Hes still owning the company and will still be around.

[@VallornDeathblade]

Honestly, having a small youtube or twitch career as a 'cooking' channel and tax expensing pretty much all your meals sounds like a great idea.

[@KirbySSM]

@@corruptedpoison1 Lunarx fully owns the company

[@yeyeyeyeyeyeyeyeyeyeyeeyye3304]

​@UTTP_is_Better_Than_AllFandomsbot

[@GroundPanzers]

Buts that’s just a theory…. A tax evasion theory! Thanks for watching

[@gradymoxley2925]

Pre-bumping tickets is the problem. I’ve worked in fast food for years across multiple chains, and the problem is that, now more than ever, companies are placing tons of pressure on employees about time from pulling up to leaving the drive through. Every major chain tracks car time, and a lot of them track time in the drive through, to time out. They decide a certain time that’s “normal” and any order longer than that is an issue. Meaning the time it takes for your one sandwich, they expect the same time on the next ticket with 6 combos and 4 extras. This causes employees to “pre-bump” tickets where they read the ticket then bump it off the screen so the system thinks it’s done and times are lowered, however doing this leaves lots of room for error as you would assume.

[@sethpennell250]

As someone who currently works at McDonald's, this annoys me to no end. Like what's the point of getting "lower times" when the orders are relying on several people's memory and end up wrong anyways? If I were a manager I would make this the number one point for meetings to discuss if I had the chance (after that I would say stuff about people not throwing away old food or following production charts).

[@AustynSN]

I got nearly got into a fight with a coworker about this same issue back in the early 2000s when I was working at a Sonic. I *HATED* when people punched orders out that weren't done. Not only does it make the time a complete lie, but if multiple sections of the process have their own punches, then it makes later sections look bad.

[@_311AonPaws_]

@povyoucalledbelugasvideosc4937bot

[@jeroenboth167]

I always wondered why they would remove the order numbers from the TV screen at McDonald’s early so thanks for explaining

[@silvrnightingale]

@@AustynSN I worked at Sonic between May and July of 2022. They expected us to have the food ready and out within 4 minutes. There was this one time a lady ordered 42 route-44 drinks. My manager prebumped her order just before the 4-minute mark because it was taking us forever. We were able to go back and look at previous orders, but it was easy to lose track of where you were on the order.

[@jetlagjack2925]

In the UK, McDonald’s orders should be more accurate in the drive through as there should be a “checker”, but a lot of the time this is the first position to be dismissed when there’s not enough staff

[@Trixie_Lavender]

I used to work in fast food. Management cared more about speed than accuracy, with a priority on the drive through. We were rushed, we were over worked (especially during lunch and dinner), and we had to make food while listening to drive thru orders. A recipe for disaster. Muscle memory does not help with custom orders, either. When making food for myself, I would always put on tomatoes even though I hate them. I probably did this to customers too. With the kiosk, the customer is the one putting in the information and not the employee. Fewer chances of error. The results of this video are not surprising in the least

[@famedlettuce3497]

Yeah. The place I worked at had a timer that would record how long cars would take to get though the drive through. That way there was even more pressure to get it done fast

[@rtothec1234]

GOT TIME TO LEAN THEN YOU GOT TIME CLEAN!!!

[@aeson6294]

Speed an accuracy is kinda the point, no? Sorry you couldn't handle the harsh world of fast food special orders 😂

[@shanaeverowe9626]

​@@aeson6294yes, but when corporate can only easily track speed that is what they harp on. Accuracy can only be given an estimate if people call to complain about errors. Many people won't unless it's deal breaking because they hate interacting with people. So your accuracy numbers are only impacted by boneheaded mistakes like no big Mac when you ordered the meal, or by Karen's who nitpick the extra pickles because normal is 4 so extra should be 8 plus not 5.

[@borrago]

​@@aeson6294You shouldn't belittle others on inaccuracies when you, yourself, have typos in your comment. Schmuck.

[@jamiemorgan175]

MatPat has been here since basically the beginning of youtube, ruining our childhood since 2011. We’ll miss you, man, and that is NOT just a theory

[@Grimmlord_uttp]

I MAKE BETTER CONTENT THAN THIS. I'm a 30+ year old media creator with aspergers syndrome who is a jack of all trades with a passion for fighting against cyberbullying. I've been doing these kinds of things for over 10 years and I've picked up a whole set of different skills along the way.

[@Grimmlord_uttp]

I MAKE BETTER CONTENT THAN THIS. I'm a 30+ year old media creator with aspergers syndrome who is a jack of all trades with a passion for fighting against cyberbullying. I've been doing these kinds of things for over 10 years and I've picked up a whole set of different skills along the way.

[@Grimmlord_uttp]

I MAKE BETTER CONTENT THAN THIS. I'm a 30+ year old media creator with aspergers syndrome who is a jack of all trades with a passion for fighting against cyberbullying. I've been doing these kinds of things for over 10 years and I've picked up a whole set of different skills along the way.

[@DeonTD]

ITS A FOOD THEORY!

[@oliviaharrison.]

bro keeps getting these people in his replies

[@Secarious]

5:17 That was 100% some employee thinking "I don't get paid enough for this." And bitterly just chucked that together to spite whoever ordered it.

[@SarahFosmer]

@Officer-topGi asked

[@errorstudioz]

​@Officer-topG I care

[@Secarious]

You two are the real MVPs o7

[@jerseylife8701]

Funny how someone thinks that about a burger they wouldn’t order themselves but they feel fine making an unmodified McDonald’s spec burger 🤣

[@artdogg50]

More than likely

[@Roccondil]

I find it interesting that there was any difference between mobile app vs kiosk. I’d have thought they’d be equal, since they are essentially the same. However, I prefer the app, because, for at least McDonald’s current version of theirs, you can submit the order at any time you want, you don’t have to be near the store, and opt to pick up at counter rather than curbside service. Which means if you time it right, it should be ready for you to grab and go. For the stores near me, it seems the magic time is about 5-7 minutes away from the store. Unfortunately though, some stores have been holding orders behind the counter, and it takes a few minutes to get the attention of someone so you can eat.

[@noxious8]

The app should be the same as the kiosk. The kiosk just uses the app in the store

[@Korra228]

That "6 MatPat theories remain" is scarier than all FNaF jumpscares combined

[@Epicduckk]

sir please calm down.

[@IcyCloudz]

Also please stop spamming sir

[@notyoutube8128]

​@UTTP_is_Better_Than_AllFandomsGo take a shower first

[@PhantomEdits3]

​@UTTP_is_Better_Than_AllFandomsA I'm more popular B my content letter C pls hop off the game

[@ra1nemustdie]

Sir this is food theory

[@zonkedtrippy]

As a recent ex McDonald's worker (for 2 years), I can tell you now that yes, ordering from drive-thru can in-fact produce bad results. It is hard to hear the customer on the cheap headsets that we get supplied for drive-thru. YET, the main cause of these problems are NOT because of how it was ordered, but instead the human factor (the lack of training for the workers is the main cause). In the kitchen many of the workers are constantly under stress, and can easily forget to add/subtract something from an order, while trying to keep the fast pace. Also the main reason for missing burgers/fries, is from the people packaging the order likely also under stress, trying to get the order out as fast as possible, and worrying about many orders at the same time, or just the amount of drinks/deserts in the order. I personally have always tried to make/cook/package every order as correctly as possible (double/triple checking), sometimes even giving extra fries/nuggets/deserts when the order takes longer then 5 minutes (if we aren't in a rush). BUT like most of the other comments say, it also depends on the time of day (Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner), and the amount of staff working. As a lot of the time staff are expected to do 5-6 peoples jobs at the same time during rush hour. I hope this info helps!

[@LegendofKal]

As someone who worked at KFC for 6+ years, I can confirm that employees are overworked by trying to handle multiple jobs at the same time, especially during lunch/dinner rushes.

[@lelleakaj1616]

I Will NEVER forget the face of my dad when he took that first bite of the burger on our road trip and it only had lettuce in it 😂😂😂

[@zonkedtrippy]

@centisage6778 I read a lot of peoples comments and thought of putting most of the info (and my experience) together into one comment. There’s definitely info I’ve missed, but I think I got the gist of it. Thanks

[@zonkedtrippy]

@@LegendofKal I’m so thankful that I got a job at a cafe as a manager. Working at McDonald’s, they offered a manager position multiple times by different people, over the course of my 2 years. They never followed through with it. I’m happy I got to learn how a fast food restaurant works. But the industry as a whole, absolutely sucks.

[@zonkedtrippy]

@@lelleakaj1616 😂😂 I feel that

[@MrBillyDerp]

As a ex-McWorker when it comes to the drive thru a big factor of incorrect orders is the company forces the places to compete against each other in a race to be the fastest McDonalds which i find extremely counter productive and then the owner will yell at the crew for not moving fast enough. That and the employees would constantly be cycled out for new ones because they will see the toxicity in the work environment and just bail after a month if not a few weeks. I usually ignored the speed rule and always took the time i needed to make them right, i just never got fired because i wouldn't quit despite hating it there and was as the regular customers would call me "the nice McDonalds guy" because all my coworkers where always miserable and rude to customers.

[@phillipbut-face2641]

I did not read that but good work

[@MrRicklion]

"nice mcdonalds guys" are the best!

[@TJ-vj7qg]

I agree, I work at a McDonalds myself. I feel like corporate doesn’t care about the accuracy of the orders. They just care about how much money runs through the restaurant in a certain amount of time. The faster the line moves the more orders go through and the more money 💰 corporate makes.

[@chef_boysauce4399]

7 months late, but that’s me too. Customers rock w me and i had zero care for the speed. Every now and then I’d get egged on by my GM to go faster. So i’d pick up pace for like 30 minutes till she left the store or stopped paying attention to me

[@_Renko__]

Ever since the kiosks were introduced, I've only used them when ordering fast food. We have them in McDonald's (obviously), our local fast food chain Hesburger and a few other chains. They're great!

[@Kitulous]

same. never talked to the cashier except that one time when neither the kiosks nor the mobile app could let my payment through, yet the cashier's card terminal could.

[@matthewlawton9241]

The hard fact is, the missing part of the conversation here is that the quality of the worker has bottomed out. These kids just want to show up, do nothing, do it WRONG, and get paid for it. And to be clear, considering they're probably making the same wage I was when I was in my first McSlave job in the 90s, I also don't feel like beating this dead horse too hard. They have every right to be dissatisfied with the job. But then they should quit and seek employment that is actually gainful. Because the other side is also true; these meals can often cost FOURTEEN dollars. I EXPECT IT RIGHT. And I'm not wrong for that. If McDonald's still cost $10 to feed a family of 3 like back in yonder 1980s, I'd have no complaints. When it costs more than that just to feed one person? Uh uh. Do it right or Karen's coming out to play.

[@chatyxd6078]

I am currently working at a mcdonalds and it amazes me that there are that many mistakes. Most of the mistakes I've dealt with, and possible could've been the reason for the messed up burgers, come from miscommunication between the employee's and customers. Today for example I had a Lady get mad that we forgot her coke, which she didn't order because when I took her order I told her that we were out of coke and asked if I could get her anything else, to which she responded "no it's fine". Another guy I talked to at the front counter wanted 2 burritos but he mumbled it and my manager was pestering about something, I couldn't tell if he said 1 or 2 so when I was finishing his order I asked "So just the 1 burrito" and he said yes and then got upset about it earlier. In the kitchen we make mistakes, but 99% of the time we catch it because there are 2 people on the line, so if I put ketchup on a mcchicken my coworker is going to ridicule me and I will remake the sandwich in shame.

[@mandiehuns1602]

Yeah, I work at Culvers and a lot of the mistakes are literally just switching up cheese curds and cheese sauce at fault of the order taker. Also if someone orders a basket (a meal) preceding an item with no customizations we are more likely to miss that item on the side. I am sure we would greatly benefit if our screens displayed color coded orders like Chickfila's are.

[@lemonsandgoots1680]

Another part is how they ring it in! Where i work and people ask for certain items in their burgers, i think its easier to ring it in as “only cheese mustard etc” compared to “no ketchup lettuce or tomato.” When we’re making it and you can read the only items going on it, you can make it faster with more accuracy

[@revivingfaith6123]

Yes, the only trick is very helpful, I know from experience

[@depressantdrug]

This is what I do when I order a sandwich at the store. I say everything I *want* on my sandwich, and then they still ask, "So no XYZ?" Then sometimes they still give me something I don't want on it.

[@franciscoguinledebarros4429]

As a picky eater, yeah, I still have my "just buns patty cheese bacon please" on the tip of my tongue

[@kittygirlrachel]

@@franciscoguinledebarros4429 as a picky eater, just saying "plain and dry" is enough. They'll understand what you mean if you order it right.

[@AllenMS828]

Yeah, I learned a long time ago that the most successful way for me to order something is "plain, with ketchup". One time I wanted a sandwich with no lettuce and with ketchup added (keeping the mayo on it), and the sandwich I got was a cold, pre-made one with the lettuce (mostly) removed and ketchup added. I could tell because I could still taste the lettuce on it. That's when I learned to make it plain first, then add the ketchup. The end result is usually fresher, since they can't remove sauces like they can other toppings, so they have to make one fresh for you.

[@ChaloopaJoe]

I honestly like when drive thrus mess up my order because when I ask them to correct it, I usually get to keep the wrong order too so it's twice the food 😂😂

[@Grimmlord_uttp]

I MAKE BETTER CONTENT THAN THIS. I'm a 30+ year old media creator with aspergers syndrome who is a jack of all trades with a passion for fighting against cyberbullying. I've been doing these kinds of things for over 10 years and I've picked up a whole set of different skills along the way

[@Grimmlord_uttp]

I MAKE BETTER CONTENT THAN THIS. I'm a 30+ year old media creator with aspergers syndrome who is a jack of all trades with a passion for fighting against cyberbullying. I've been doing these kinds of things for over 10 years and I've picked up a whole set of different skills along the way

[@inkchronos]

All of these guys are bots and have trash content

[@lizak2951]

jesus christ man sorry you got raided by bots! but yes you're so right for that. make that moneys worth

[@infinitywarrior4620]

I never heard about that, keeping the wrong order and still get the right one alongside it Edit: even more bots now

[@Zack_hutchins]

0:10 I GOT A BITE IN MY BUN ONCE!!!

[@djlopez7976]

WAIT WHAT THEY TOOK A BITE OF YIUR FOOD ISNT THAT ILLEGAL????!?!?!?

[@MOJA616]

Sir, this is a Wendy

[@Noahisstrange]

Lol

[@TheDiamondCore]

A singular Wendy.

[@braiananguiano6624]

Sir, this is a McDonald’s

[@Dangel721]

Lol

[@averyzielnicki7450]

@@braiananguiano6624 Sir, this is a Burger King

[@DragonFae16]

I work in a fast food place here in Australia. 2 vital things that need to be taken into account with ordering is the number of staff on shift, and the time of day. I work at a small Hungry Jacks, Australia's version of Burger King, and we will only have 2 staff on shift from 7 when we open until 11 or 12, one making the burgers and the other doing everything else. At 11, we get one more person coming on shift, 2 if it's a weekend. During the quiet periods, the chance of getting an order wrong if very slim because we have the time to double and triple check the order. But if we get a rush, not only will people have to wait far longer but the chances of a mistake increase exponentially. So if you're going to a smaller place, and you see that there are a few other customers there already, you should be prepared that the staff on shift might make a mistake.

[@puppersissage8640]

Genuinely asking this as a question but I'm worried it's gonna sound rude Why is orders never right? (Not counting rush hour) like I went into an aussie Burger king, no one in drive though no one in the restaurant and they still managed to get my whole order wrong.... is it like a marketing tactic now?

[@DragonFae16]

@@puppersissage8640 Probably a bunch of juniors and no adults on staff.

[@toolbaggers]

@@puppersissage8640 Child laborers getting paid below adult minimum wages is not a recipe for quality.

[@jessicaadkins6830]

I never realized how common mistakes were with fast restaurants so this video surprised me. I only go to a fast food restaurant once or twice a month and i seldom have to deal with any mistakes, but when i do and i actually go to point it out to the cashier or manager, they apologize, let me keep the mistake and make the correct item and sometimes even give me a coupon to keep me coming to their restaurant.

[@Clone683]

Yeah, I must i've gotton really lucky because i've never had mistakes this common

[@thegreatfirebolt1815]

I work at a fast food restaurant, orders are always wrong because we’re in such a rush to get things out quickly, we basically get punished for double checking. Corporate wants no mistakes but puts more pressure on the bosses of the stores to get their drive through times better, and less about order accuracy. At my restaurant they want from the moment the customer enters the drive through, orders and leaves to take under 2:30… which is near impossible

[@thegreatfirebolt1815]

@@broKen73484 we get yelled at and it could lead to being fired

[@plutototoh]

Is it even safe to expect the food to be cooked properly in that timeframe? If there's a rush, I'd expect you to run out of the prepped patties quickly. Especially if there is no separate grill for the drive-thru orders.

[@thegreatfirebolt1815]

@@plutototoh so with the patties that's a special case, they take 7 minutes in the oil so we park the cars on the side as quickly as possible then are forced to deliver the food outside no matter the weather/temperature.

[@fictionisgood7226]

And then when you’re under staffed on top of that it makes it even worse. Especially during rushes.

[@TheLaughingMan42]

Yup. The decrease in quality is 100% due to bad corporate policies.

[@jonathansurrey8230]

Well that actually explains a ton. All this time I thought people were exaggerating when they talk about orders ALWAYS being wrong. I rarely get mistakes on my orders and I've always been a kiosk user

[@straphyr]

There's not a ton of variation in how to build a kiosk ui, it has to be intuitive and effective for sales conversion and we've had touch ui maturing for a while. It's great. Somehow registers and taking orders is less standardized with the different register displays, size names (looking at you sbux), pos software, and especially employee training. You could get a wrong order because there is no outward facing register display to read and the cashier doesn't repeat it back. If you don't ask them to repeat it, you'd have no idea it's wrong until you pay and read the receipt. Figuring out how to maneuver through the silliness to get a single correct order is a lot of work compared to tapping a few buttons on a screen, imo it's no contest

[@LittleGhostie395]

i’ve always used the kiosks because i hate talking to people and i can’t bother with telling them every customisation, and theres only been one mistake so far, when i was ordering with friends. never rlly understood why people were complaining until now

[@cami_smith]

Mostly just people who can't figure out the kiosk or have those customizations that kiosks *can't* do. Like the ones that aren't technically standard but employees can still (and will) do. Also, sometimes the kiosks won't let you order certain things because it's stocked out on the computer, while in actuality they have it on stock and if you go to drive thru or front counter, they can still order it for you.

[@QualifiedPasta]

One thing i wish Mat mentioned is that the employees are timed for orders placed through drive through. My “theory” (more of a hypothesis) is that the reason drive through had such a low accuracy, and the non face-to-face orders were so high, is the time employees had to make the orders

[@Jack96724]

I CARE + UPP IS BAD I HOPE UPP LEAVES AND NEVER COMES BACK

[@GAMER32231]

@@Jack96724who even is up?

[@ZeldaSnow]

As a kitchen manager, that is 100% why. The more time the employees have to make an order correct, the better the results are. Unfortunately, the computers, the district managers, and an unfortunate amount of customers want a full meal for 4 in 3 minutes, with modifiers, which is an insane speed for anything.

[@Saltydied1]

As a former McDonald’s employee this is accurate. Managers always push for drive-thru times sometimes even asking us to average below a minute which is insane. Overall, if you order inside we had more time to make your order.

[@aaronmccullers384]

This is why whenever I order drive through I only order super basic/easy to make stuff like fried chicken and fries at KFC. Anytime other time I go inside to make sure the food is actually prepared correctly.

[@redpug5042]

the kiosk at the costco food court has been such a nice addition. No more waiting in long lines to order, then waiting for your order while holding up the line. You can just enter what you want and they call you up. So much more efficient. I would imagine a lot more companies will be using them soon. They are probably cheaper than cashiers in the long run and allow us introverts to not have to talk to a person, and give you a better idea of the menu and what kind of toppings and whatnot they have. It might even result in people buying more food because they see all the options and want to try them.

[@Hitomora]

I work at Sonic and can easily tell you that you can easily get what I call "Line Hypnosis" where after a few hours into a shift (first 30 minutes to an hour and the last hour of your shift) your brain starts to just go on "Autopilot" and it becomes easy to forget what you've made and what you haven't made

[@Gambo8807]

I worked at sonic for 2 years as a cook, it wasn't hard bro.

[@lucehleblanc]

@@Gambo8807 they didnt say it was, in fact they implied it was easy.

[@Gambo8807]

@@cowdudesupporter7063 Thats why you have 600 subs by appealing to 12-year-olds and he has millions.. Wild.

[@Hitomora]

@@Gambo8807 didn't say it was hard

[@alphamuskrat499]

3:50 I've worked in fast food for so long and this is the first time I've really seen a food channel talk about how different staff drastically changes the food quality and it can be hard to control for. It's details from the world like this making it into the show that convinces me the host switch isn't as big a deal as I initially thought. We're still sad to see you go tho matpat😊

[@echonat5548]

I’m gonna miss matpat when he is gone but we must enjoy it while it lasts

[@Grimmlord_uttp]

I MAKE BETTER CONTENT THAN THIS. I'm a 30+ year old media creator with aspergers syndrome who is a jack of all trades with a passion for fighting against cyberbullying. I've been doing these kinds of things for over 10 years and I've picked up a whole set of different skills along the way.

[@Grimmlord_uttp]

I MAKE BETTER CONTENT THAN THIS. I'm a 30+ year old media creator with aspergers syndrome who is a jack of all trades with a passion for fighting against cyberbullying. I've been doing these kinds of things for over 10 years and I've picked up a whole set of different skills along the way.

[@Grimmlord_uttp]

I MAKE BETTER CONTENT THAN THIS. I'm a 30+ year old media creator with aspergers syndrome who is a jack of all trades with a passion for fighting against cyberbullying. I've been doing these kinds of things for over 10 years and I've picked up a whole set of different skills along the way.

[@eglol]

Yes, these Food Theory videos about fast food restaurants are some of my favourites for some reason.

[@buddythepup9327]

This is just rude. This is like, my childhood

[@funghi14]

the automated kiosks are the main reason for me to go to a fast food place like this. no stress, no social interaction and also allways knowing how much it will cost and what seasonal special they currently have.

[@odyssey_eight]

In college, i worked in a little sandwich shop/convenience store we had on campus. The dining hall food quality was so bad, and food poisoning from eating there was so rampant, we often got overwhelmed every single day. And our bonehead GM moved us exclusively to grubhub the last year i worked there. Our error rates skyrocketed because they didnt let us stop orders coming in until the minute the store was supposed to close. We closed at 10, but you could order everything on the menu at 9:59 and we had to handle it, and we would often get 600+ orders in 3 hours just for meal swipes alone. I cannot imagine that having to manage orders from ALL the delivery apps, kiosks, drive thrus, curbside and FOH is at all forgiving. Food service is already largely thankless. The amount of times i got screamed at by other students during that job to the point we had to call campus safety over order errors was astounding. The big lesson here is to be nice to the people making your food. Most of em will happily correct an error if you just ask nicely. "Hey man im sorry but my order is a bit wrong, can we make this right?" Is all it takes.

[@odyssey_eight]

@@cowdudesupporter7063 get a life.

[@briankenney9528]

With high turnover it is difficult to keep people trained. At my mcdonalds our order takers are supposed to read the order back to you before you pay and before the food is handed out to you. The truth is since we have to push a lot more customers through drive through it increases pressure which will increase mistakes

[@thatonegeoshroom]

McDonald’s employee here! There are a lot of places where your order can easily go wrong. Firstly, many things cannot be inputted into our computers (Mac sauce on a jr chicken for example). Normally for a case like that we can just hit the ask me button but that’s something we can easily miss. Secondly, if in a rush, our kitchen can easily become overwhelmed with orders. The smaller an order is, the less likely it is for a mistake will be made. Thirdly, the person who takes your order is also tasked with making your drinks and fries, and packing your food. If it’s already a long order, something as simple as a fry or extra sauce can be easily missed. All of the food cooked by our kitchen is stored together as well, meaning one McDouble grabbed by drive through instead of front counter means one less burger for your order. Finally, many of our employees (such as myself) are part time workers who are in school full time. Depending on the time you ordered, many students may be worn out during their shifts. It’s a lot of people’s first jobs! That lack of experience shows in many of our employees. If you want the highest level of success, keep it simple. 1 or 2 meals (sandwich, fries drink) and minimal changes!!! Trust me, the employees will love you for it :3 Btw, while there’s nothing stopping you from checking your order at the window, it can ruin our restaurant’s timing! Pull through, park and check. If you’re missing a burger or a fry, chances are we’ve got it!!

[@Dusty_B]

It’s funny you mention the window thing. I was coming home from the doctors and my mother stopped to get some nuggets and hot mustard sauce and a small fry. Predictively they forgot the sauce, a common occurrence which is why she checked. The bad part is with the “Hi sorry you forgot my sauce” was met with “no we didn’t” hostility. Like yeah you did do you want to check the bag? She eventually got 2 sauce packets, but man was that employee terrible about it. I’ve noticed that about sauces in general from McDonalds. Does pay get docked if someone gets an extra one or something?

[@sceleton1453]

I agree, nothing stops you from checking the order, but nothing stops you to go park a little further and come back later either...

[@MaxMPower]

I was told to park and I said no. I had only ordered fries and nothing else. I was told if didn’t move they would call the cops on me. I said food or money, your choice. He clised the window and a cop came outside. I pointed to the parking area and asked WHERE am I supposed to go when EVERY spot has a car waiting in it? They refunded my money. Why call the cops because I couldn't move even if I wanted to?

[@addiefalkner8390]

i work at artic circle this is true

[@BeinDraug]

@@MaxMPower Could be alot of reasons likely the store has experiance with customers that required a call to the cops

[@oakmen4604]

I'm glad this was highlighted. I don't go out to eat anymore because you don't get what you buy.

[@Bread-gx6vi]

The “6 food theories remain” part scared tf out of me like bro this isn’t slender the 8 pages

[@NurseKortney]

😂😂😂

[@FoxbrushDraws]

Of course not. It's Majora's Mask.

[@mrworld1645]

I excpected the chomp not a reminder of matpat's departure

[@rudabaga]

Find my pages

[@tanishqgoyal400]

why r u herer?@povyoucalledbelugasvideosc4937

[@GaarasBFF0911]

As someone who worked in fast food: 1) in person is better. I always had a hard time hearing people on the headset, and whenever I told them to be quieter or louder, they never listened and I just typed whatever I thought they said. In person they're more likely to respond in a far nicer tone 2) don't make the order complicated. Adding too many extras can confuse an employee, and if there's something on the menu that is closer to what you want, like a super deluxe burger but with no tomatoes, it'll be easier for the employee. There are multiple hands at work. Like a game of telephone certain things can get lost in translation as everything is being put together 3) have a nicer tone. Not angry or demanding. The employees will be more unwilling to get your order correct if your constantly berating them about their order when there's 5 other customers in front of you 4) thank them for your food, especially if you go to that fast food place a lot. They are more likely to remember you in the future. I only remembered 2 types of customers, the nice ones and the rude ones, and you don't want to be put on the rude list if you want your order to be correct 5) lastly, check your bags before leaving. Yes you may feel stressed to leave, and the employee may look impatient, but you're more likely to get your stuff asap cause your holding up the line and you can show that, hey, I didn't stash fries in the car just to get an extra amount, for example. Not that they care to check because their stressed out enough already and don't get paid enough So thank you for talking to my Ted talk and hopefully my 3 years of experience at a Dunkin donuts is helpful 😅😉

[@Nickasmf]

​@UTTP_is_Better_Than_AllFandomsno it isnt

[@deadinside8781]

How hard is it to work at Dunkin’ Donuts? Drink making wise.

[@johnofthenorth6653]

So my local McDs has the ordering screens and I have never had a missing item since using them. I've gotten a few extra sauces. We also have a taco place that I order from wayyy too often and they have maybe messed up 1% of the time. There was a mix up on two similar sounding burritos and I just took the one I got rung up for rather then deal with a refund/tossed out food.

[@thelelanatorlol3978]

Also Mat was wrong about it being due to experience and complex menu. FOH is very often not the issue, it's that drive thru times have to be met and BOH is being stressed to oblivion trying to pump it all out even at the cost of increasing wait times in dine in with less and less staff being employed in the back as the years go by. Eventually (and it has) gotten to the point where it's physically impossible for all but the most physically fit workers to properly keep up.

[@Mariposamartucci]

As an ex chipotle worker NEVER order online or drive through Never. Unless u want day old rice/beans/etc

[@Is_this-AV]

Whenever I go to a drive thru I order specifically "NO ONIONS " (since I'm allergic) they always keep it in and I have to give it to my sister, and no food for me😢

[@holierthanu1]

Allergies are a sign from the universe you shouldn't exist

[@TenkoVA]

If you tell them it's an allergy, they're supposed to not only keep them off the food, but change gloves and everything.

[@DBZVelena]

In my exp, you should add that you are allergic, when you tell them. Allergy based order are a diff level of making food and req higher levels of attention. You mentioning its because of allergy, means they HAVE TO make the meal at a diff station specifically for you to prevent contamination. That should help you in future.

[@caseyjones5145]

So stop going, duuh. you gotta live in reality, not what you think the world should be like dude. If you have an allergy its YOUR responsibility

[@Jess-Rabbit]

Maybe you should just go to a real restaurant instead of some drive thru trash

[@CrimsonAnonomous]

As someone who worked fast food for a while (McDonald's), I can confirm why. Because non-special burgers may get mixed up or misplaced, especially if the drive through is busy because the people wrapping orders often don't tell the people handing them if they're ready or not. It's a really messy thing. So yes, he IS right. But even when there are Kiosks, they don't take cash, so you WOULD have to talk to someone for that.

[@TheJurphy]

I used to work at mcdonald’s in the UK a couple of years ago, and you would get custom orders on a little screen above you - we were basically told that we needed to memorise the order and press the “served” button as soon as possible to get our order prep times down, the amount of mistakes I must have made over the years is insane

[@Tomos_J-J]

The managers are probably paid bonuses for PTO ratios, they also push for love to listen during your off hours because they get money for that too.

[@Venis_yt3]

​@Officer-topGshut up fr you're father-less OK?

[@lenalongbottom80]

Wait did y'all not have order tickets?

[@pokegamerboy17]

I've found that fast food in smaller towns typically perform better in both accuracy and food quality than those in large cities. In basically any circumstance, a small-town McDonald's will almost always get orders correct. I have yet to receive an incorrect order from my nearby McDonald's.

[@q5sys]

Agreed, I'd bet the major factor is service is location. Busy City/Urban area will have more mistakes, quieter rural area wont. That's been my experience with just about anything. When there are more people, service goes down because they're not worried about losing one customer. In a rural area where every customer matters... they make sure things are done right.

[@Torianadouglas]

Maybe in general but I live in a small town in Georgia and our McDonald’s SUCKS

[@MrMaorn]

Living in a small town, I can confirm. The worst my fast food orders have been across multiple brands, has been a missing side like fries or cheese sticks. And you just stroll through the drive thru, politely let them know "Hey, you forgot my so-and-so." they apologize and take care of it. More often than not, someone just forgot to put it in the bag.

[@Lanon0987654321]

​@torianadouglas8375 remember that MCD also have franchised stores which aren't directly owned by MCD those tend to have poorer quality overall and also aren't elegible to any or most MCD promos

[@fyrewatermelons]

Less demand = less stress.

[@Flannel-Channel8837]

McDonald's worker here, I've noticed that we get alot more complicated orders in drive-thru, Both in the quality and quantity sense, one order totaled 16 4-1 meat (quarter pounder) Now this is just my insight, but I like to believe that people are less comfortable ordering complicated orders face to face and are less likely to remove, add, or substitute ingredients when faced to face as they subconsciously dont want to be known as that regular who makes the workers jobs harder. Idk if this is how it works but its my best guess. P.s please stop ordering so many quarters our grill was constantly breaking down due to the amounts of Meat being forced upon it (no I wont apologize for the joke) and we had to replace it.

[@Franklin-p9q]

Can vouch for this.

[@Awesomejjranger]

Wow. I can imagine that. Also DUCK THESE BOTS

[@Seraphim_1172]

Jesus christ how are 90% of the replies on every comment I read BOTS AAHGHHGHHH

[@sethsorrell8925]

@@danjoredd Fun fact for you, order any kind of quarter pounders first, so while you make the rest of your order, their already getting cooked and you will get your food faster!

[@GAMER32231]

@@Seraphim_1172idk

[@maggieo1683]

As someone who worked in fast food at Dairy Queen for almost four years, I can tell you there is nuance to this. You are absolutely right about the middle-man messing things up. DQ doesn't have those order-yourself kiosks, they really like their human contact methods of in-person ordering and drive through. However, with that, a lot of the cashiers working front counter are the newbies around the block, because allegedly it's the easiest position. However, the new guys are often confused by the computer system and just guess at how to put in the order right. I saw so many new people say "I'm really not sure I put that in correctly, but oh well" type of thing. Also, at the drive through, as someone who worked mostly headset, I really did my best to put in the orders correctly, but often I was trying to take orders, cash out cars, bag food, make drinks, AND grab ice cream all at the same time and on a time limit. It's chaotic, plus, those headsets can be of bad quality and sometimes it's hard to hear. So those are some reasons why the middle-man who puts in your order for you often ends up in wrong orders. Also, not to mention, a lot of the workers in fast-food as a whole are 16-year-olds working their first job and there's not much management can always do when their teenage employees just don't care all that much. And it's especially when we got highly customized orders that people really didn't care in the job. Anyways probably no one will read this but I just thought I'd give my two cents as someone who is basically a fast food veteran lol

[@gabrielleduplessis7388]

Not all restaurants do this, but love the system where you can see your order right after you order so both of you can confirm the right order.

[@breadshovel]

fr

[@Riverwinds]

Style theory idea, what should you wear to be the most likely to survive the apocalypse?

[@Loki-da-BORBBB]

Sorry that People keep spamming - That’s a great idea!

[@fleetwayguy]

Bros comment section is filled with bots💀

[@Grimmlord_uttp]

I MAKE BETTER CONTENT THAN THIS. I'm a 30+ year old media creator with aspergers syndrome who is a jack of all trades with a passion for fighting against cyberbullying. I've been doing these kinds of things for over 10 years and I've picked up a whole set of different skills along the way.

[@Grimmlord_uttp]

I MAKE BETTER CONTENT THAN THIS. I'm a 30+ year old media creator with aspergers syndrome who is a jack of all trades with a passion for fighting against cyberbullying. I've been doing these kinds of things for over 10 years and I've picked up a whole set of different skills along the way.

[@Grimmlord_uttp]

I MAKE BETTER CONTENT THAN THIS. I'm a 30+ year old media creator with aspergers syndrome who is a jack of all trades with a passion for fighting against cyberbullying. I've been doing these kinds of things for over 10 years and I've picked up a whole set of different skills along the way.

[@JRLarsen]

When I worked at McDonald's we didnt have first or third party app or kiosk ordering but I don't see how it would be any different for the people preparing the food. Both in person and drive through require a person at the register taking down the order so that appears to be where the errors most often occur. At the drive through you can usually see your order inputted on the screen though which wouldn't make sense if you looked at it and verified that it was correct. Also as a side note; I was training a person at McDonald's once and someone ordered a grilled onion burger. The trainee asked what goes on it and I said "just grilled onions." He didn't add a patty, just grilled onions between buns and served it. I had to answer to the customer what happened. lol

[@ExtreemDreemer]

The kiosk and app are VASTLY different. You’re essentially eliminating the middle man which means less room for error and less time wasted having to repeat orders back and modifying. The customer can put in exactly what they want and it shoots straight to the kitchen. This leaves the person who would usually be ringing in orders free to help prepare and expedite food.

[@couldntbeme8687]

Hey Theorists, I have been a worker at McDonalds for a few months, I am mostly on the drive thru and I can confirm this theory, most of the mistakes are done by the "middle man" and not the kitchen, so yes ordering on the app and the self-serve kiosk will end up with your order generally more accurate especially if it it is a complex order.

[@SlendisFi_Universe]

Former fastfood worker here. The issue comes with having way too products on the list to order from and the TIME you have to complete the orders in. Ten orders in five minutes is the issue especially when there's burgers, nuggets, fries, drinks, smoothies wraps and salads that ya need to make. And you usually have just two more workers with ya. So yeah. Murphy's law hits hard always on fastfood industry.

[@emily-hl1kp]

this. i work in fast food and i’ll have 4 orders each, for two tills and drive thru, and costumers don’t understand i have to go in order, making like 2-6 meals per order. meanwhile i just got trained, im usually alone, and they didn’t show me the training modules…

[@jonasquinn7977]

Another benefit of kiosks IMO is that on the rare occasion where there is a mistake I’m typically more willing to go up and say something than I usually am because I haven’t already had to wait in a line nor used up by tolerance for social interaction yet,

[@evabelle5284]

Also you put it in and have it in writing, it’s not like the cashier rang it up wrong

[@LostBam]

Unless you are allergic to an ingredient you are a fool for ever being willing to go up. Its fast food... just eat it...

[@Byakurenfan]

If im spending 15 for a meal i want it right.

[@LostBam]

@@Byakurenfan Thats just how much the cheap stuff costs now a days. If that's too much then you cant afford to be eating out!

[@Byakurenfan]

@@LostBam wow brain dead take there.

[@leomonaghan3933]

With the Wendy's orders...did you look ~under~ the burger for the mustard? Wendy's always puts the mustard on the bottom half of the bun, under the burger. So if all you did to look for it was to look under the top bun, then you would miss it entirely.

[@abonynge]

​@@Orinslayer 4:47

[@allisonklunk124]

Idk how ur Wendy’s does it but as a Wendy’s employee the mustard goes on top of the cheese- yellow on yellow

[@zmr_heze]

@@allisonklunk124exactly lol, I work at Wendy's as well and I've never seen us put it under before

[@willshad]

If you've never worked this type of job, then you have no idea how difficult it actually is. It's an INCREDIBLE convenience to just be able to sit in your car, drive around a building, and within a few minutes have a meal prepared for you, and given to you through a window. For the convenience, you have to accept that it will often be wrong...whenever you make something more convenient on one side (customer), you're making it that much less convenient and difficult on the other side (workers). By definition, more speed will=less accuracy. Imagine at your job, if your boss made you rush and do it as fast as you possibly can, all the time..how many mistakes would you make?

[@kandihustty5610]

Honestly, and I can say this from all angles, the ultimate answer is to take the kiosk system and put it on the mobile app. if anyone over 40 comes into the building, they aren't going to that kiosk when an employee is busy doing something more important, they will walk right up to that register and demand to be served forthwith. 99% of the time. I've worked at McDonalds for 4+years and I've been in drive-thru, I've been in the window handing out orders, I've been the person standing at the register waiting for some rando to come in and I've been the guy in the kitchen yelling at all of them. The best thing you can do as a customer is to do a mobile order then go through the drive through and have them activate the order. There's a non-zero chance the mobile order has something we don't have/ran out of, but for the most part this cuts out the middle man, the order is made when you get there, and the only way you get a mistake is if the kitchen crew borks it.

[@jesuusch]

That’s always what I do, before I drive to the restaurant and place the order so that when I get there, I can either use the drive thru or go inside and pick it up, or I can order on the app if I want to use the drive thru and I have plenty of time to use the app if there’s a long line

[@TheAbandonedAccount7]

ordering isnt the issue. its 10 times out of 10 the kitchen. And we all know why this happens, but we cant say anything bc that would be RaCiSm

[@aussieaxolotl1671]

As someone who can't eat bread but still enjoys fast food, the kiosks at mcdonalds are a lifesaver. Every time I use the drive-thru they always give me an unrequested bun, but with the kiosks, all I need to do is ask for some cutlery so I can eat my food, something I'm doing way less now I have my own cutlery set that lives in my car.

[@connorelliott7881]

is the cutlery set disposable or reusable? if it's reusable, what kind

[@aussieaxolotl1671]

Reusable! I got it from Typo a few years back so I'm not sure what kind, but the parts click together and come apart so they can fit in a box that's easy to travel with.@@connorelliott7881

[@apinakapina]

I just have kids who are a bit picky, but it's so much easier to just remove some ingredients on that touch screen that try to babble them to a human. And if they're a professional, they will repeat that order back. Necessary but kind of annoying if you're ordering for four people or something.

[@sinepari9160]

So you walk inside to use the kiosk, then back out to your car to eat?? Times sure have changed lol.

[@aussieaxolotl1671]

Usually I'm on the go, lol. Also Maccas is really loud and I have sensory issues :3@@sinepari9160

[@janeoathdragon5793]

Hey Matpat and/or Santi (I have no idea who is reading these comments anymore TT) I had a potential food theory idea. Why are gummy bears the classic/most popular gummy animal? Where I live in the USA, gummy bears (and also worms) are by far the most popular gummy shape. But gummy sharks, frogs, bunnies, butterflies, fish, and other animals also exist. So why are bears and worms the most popular type of gummy? Or does the most popular gummy vary based on region?

[@michaelnelson1127]

Interesting idea. I’d probably say that gummy bears and worms typically have a multitude of flavors, whereas a lot of other gummies I’ve seen (mainly sharks and other fish) are basically one flavor. That and gummy bears and worms have a lot more history than the other shapes.

[@melatonin-fs7fr]

Bots are gone I hope your comments seen I tried I'm so sorry

[@paulbirch6041]

yea, where I live, it's the same, gummy bears, because Haribos are so popular, and gummy worms are just everywhere, no other gummy animals exist in the UK, I have no idea why, and I really want to know why, pls do a theory on this.

[@TheBeastlySort02]

I really hope this is seen, lol

[@johnny_boi5456]

@@paulbirch6041what about Jelly Babies?

[@biggravy4688]

This needs to be done for pizza places! The accuracy of walk-in orders vs pick-up orders vs delivery orders vs third-party delivery orders. As a current delivery driver, I can at least say for myself that my error rate is low (can’t say that for some co-workers). I am EXTREMELY curious as to what the results would look like.

[@aurthurpendragon1015]

It's also worth noting that every location is gonna be different, too. I always hear complaints about these fast food places, but I hardly ever have issues with people forgetting some of what I ask about where I live.

[@jadamcquarrie4509]

literally! i rarely get those mistakes at all. i know which mcdonald’s specifically are better where i live, too. honestly from experience living on both east and west coast, i think the west coast has WAY more traffic to their drive thru- lines are often more than 10 cars long, while in the east coast state i lived people stop pulling up after 5 or so cars. its like people in california specifically love sitting in their cars. i also noticed Californians customize their orders more, from working on both coasts in fast food. i think if the team got their orders from a part of cali it could be insanely skewed compared to where ive been on the east coast.

[@kuromiLayfe]

Never heard of any of these issues here in the netherlands too.. seems to really be a US thing, where low pay workers are treated like slaves anyways.

[@Paco_splay]

Fun fact , in Belgium (and maybe a lot of other european countries) most of our fast food have these self serve kiosks ; to the point where it's the basic option to order and "in person" orders are only used by older people that have difficulties with the machine. And bonus point for that the machine can switch languages so if you're in belgium but not speak french or nederlands you can use english perfectly fine for your order. Add that to the "table service" with tracking plates (with number on them too) and ordering in is so much more pleasant, no line to make to order than wait 5 to 15min standing next to the line waiting to order just order go sit and wait and everyone more relaxed including staff i think.

[@Subrilaint56]

Same here in UK

[@PhotonBeast]

We got them here in the NL too. The only fast food places that I've seen that don't have them tend to be small non-chains where the order rate is also comparatively smaller.

[@FL-online18]

ye

[@danielsmyth7508]

Fair few McDonald's in Aus have this! Not very widespread in other day food restraints though

[@SealandbaIl]

Same in France!

[@Tyrannus_Gaming]

When you pull up to a Drive Thru, there are a myriad things happening in the Restaurant. 1) Employees are being yelled at to get into positions. 2) Managers are stressing out, trying to get the Employees to (passively) rush the Customers into ordering, so their Drive Thru times stay under 3 minutes, so they don't get fired. 3) Everyone is making your food the moment you utter the words, "I want a um... cheeseburger... no, um a hamburger..." which is why your hamburger is coming with cheese. 4) Slower employees are removed from the schedule, even if they are good at their jobs, because those drive times need to stay under 3 minutes (policy allows for 5, by the way lol) 5) Employees that *_were_* cleaning the lobby, bathrooms, grill, etc have to drop what they are doing to make food; this translates to filthy restaurants, especially smaller restaurants. 6) Missing utensils, because *_nobody_* has time to check for the accuracy of each item, especially when you aren't tipping the folks that you expect to behave like a *_WAITER._* 7) A vast majority of employees are dyslexic, or develop a form of dyslexia, due to increased pressure from them to *_HURRY HURRY HURRY_*. 8) If you hear an employee say, "Take your time," or "Order when you're ready," just remember that every second you take to order is a second used to justify removing that employee from the schedule, as the employee is the "weakest link," in the Drive thru times. Why do they say this then? If they inform you there's a timer, that Employee *_WILL_* be disciplined. 9) Kiosks are taking over because Fast Food Restaurants are failing financially, and they're trying to save every dime they can get. - A) Minimum wage $8/h > $16/h > $20/h, yet sales have gone from $1000 /h > $600 /h for Taco Bell, yet for McDonalds it's $1000 /h > $1500 /h... they call them "record breaking sales!" - B) McDonalds is making 50% less money per hour, yet is forced to pay its employees between 100% - 150% more wages per hour. - C) $100 in food waste is now considered "A terrible loss that we can't afford. Please do better!" They even shut down half the equipment in the evening to save on the electric bills. 10) A small store in the Mountains with 3 staff members after 8pm are required to keep up with the Drive Thru times of a Large store with 12 Employees in the inner city, despite them both having very similar sales (3 cars per hour vs 7 cars per hour). The larger stores can afford to have a grill person waiting patiently for a customer to enter the drive thru as others clean around them. The smaller store has 1 grill person cleaning the kitchen which needs to spend 1-2 minutes just changing gloves, so how is he going to finish a $43 order in less than 3 minutes? Well, he's expected to, or his hours are getting cut, and given to the guy that has no issues getting sanitizer on your food to make sure you get the Fast Drive Times you paid for. 11) Whether it's a $225 order with 27 items, or a $4 order with 1 item, you are *_REQUIRED_* to get it done in less than 3 minutes, or you will be told that your "times are poor, hurry up!" 12) Finally, when you take 3-5 minutes to begin ordering your food, you've effectively ensured that the Employee taking your order is getting their hours cut for the guy that's going to rush you.

[@novacorponline]

I'd have more sympathy about that if not for the fact that every fast food place I've visited in the last five years has asked me to pull around and wait 20 minutes for my meal so they can *pretend* they hit the "served in 3 minutes" standard. This is 100% a self inflicted problem, and customers are right to be annoyed that corporate theater gets in the way of quality service.

[@pixels966]

I ain’t reading allat

[@PalpatineGaming]

​@novacorponline where I work, we ask people to pull forward if either: You add something at the window Or the car behind you is ready to be handed out I'm not saying this is why every time, I'm just saying that there are reasons. As for the 20 minute wait, keep in mind that the employees are still making and handing out the food of all the cars behind you while also making your order. They could also be short staffed or just have inexperienced people working that day

[@richeesosa6523]

As someone who's job was to handle the cash window of a Whataburger I can tell you 3 things about being pulled forward (at Whataburger ) 1 it is not to make your statistic smaller because we are told to bumb your order off the bord when we check you out and hand you your drinks 2 it is usually because the drive ordered a chicken sandwich but we ran out of ones in the hot box (we can hold 12) and now we have to wait for a frier to free up and then for the 6 minute fry time 3 It does speed thing up, not for person being moved, but everyone else because I can check out the next person and get another order to work on @@novacorponline

[@GR1FF3RK]

love this. As an ex McDonald's floor manager peak hours are the worst cause of the rush and stress whereas when its dead a guy can say "can I get a quarter pounder built like a big mac" and it'll be perfect

[@wynntersheart9104]

As someone who works for a fast-food adjacent company, where we offer all of those ways to order except kiosk - I can tell you that we are taught to place greater focus on the accuracy of mobile and delivery orders. The reason being that the vast majority of our customer surveys (one of the major ways we are evaluated) are sent to customers ordering through our app (though in person and drive thru orders that are paid for with the app are sent some surveys as well). So in order to get better survey results, we focus on making sure the mobile and delivery orders are as accurate as possible, since those customers account for more than 65% of our survey results. Just another reason mobile is a better way to order!

[@Yetr]

I find it interesting how MatPat's theories can be applied to various aspects of life, even fast food accuracy. The attention to detail and fact-checking is crucial in ensuring an accurate and enjoyable experience for customers. It's a reminder to all of us to be mindful and diligent in our work, no matter the industry.

[@ShadeKoopa]

Yeah, when your work environment is terrible, accuracy is the least of your worries. The crew members are making min wage plus 1-2 dollars at most. They aren't paid to be accurate. They are paid to just get the food out as fast as possible, clean up the store, then move on. Why should they care about an enjoyable customer experience when the employee is having a terrible one. Misery loves company, and working in fast food is terrible for everyone.

[@Luv_wrld]

@Officer-topGi did

[@nanyur3013]

​@Officer-topGshut up (Like seriously, shut up)

[@bexyPTX]

I love self-serve kiosks so much, like sometimes I have complicated orders and it’s so much easier to put them into the system. I’m not surprised they worked out the best. They need to be in way more places.

[@Shiftarus]

Don't worry, anything that replaces an employee will 1000% start being used more, even if it was a little worse than the other options

[@paganathiest6349]

one last thing i should add though, there are several factors that carry in to getting your order right, if you're a regular they're going to have your order memorized, the time of day plays a factor too because rushes are going to result in them going basically on autopilot as well as menu changes between morning rush and lunch rush. best time to go is probably like between 3 and 4 in the afternoon for lunch/dinner items and for breakfast i'd say probably like 9ish because at that time the rush is dying down the morning rushers are finally at work. also for the icecream stuff earlier is better because most places usually start cleaning their machine right after dinner rush because thats probably the most tedious to clean so if they can get it banged out sooner rather than later it makes for a faster close

[@iamginger6802]

Speaking as a previous Taco Heck employee - the way the system is set up in most fast food places makes highly customized orders very difficult. The moment you start putting the order in, the line starts working on it. And then if you start mentioning modifications and the line was fast enough to get it done already, they have to throw it away and start over. All while the owners are barking at everyone to speed up and be faster than our competitors. Using kiosks, the whole order goes through at once. So this absolutely makes sense.

[@Bryce_the_Woomy_Boi]

The most recent time it was wrong for me, they accidentally gave me a 2nd drink.

[@zixatesh]

no, uttp's content is not better

[@eglol]

I've been on a lucky streak and haven't had wrong Drive Thru orders for a while.

[@JerryII-GS]

I see this as an absolute win. Also, man did this comment get hit with a spam train. That is wild.

[@espeon030]

well did you pay for 2 drinks when you meant to get 1? or did they give you a free drink? Cuz if they gave you a free drink then that's amazing

[@zink8504]

So sorry for the spam bots

[@psyborg89]

There's an additional control you forgot to account for. Method of expressing your order to the restaurant. If you take your time or if you run through your order fast. I still every once in a while get my order wrong from places but I take my time when ordering and they rarely mess it up. My ex use to run through her orders really fast and got mad at me for taking my time but her orders always had more mistakes.

[@dragonbretheren]

This is what I was screaming at my screen the entire episode. There's a very big difference between: "I want a cheeseburger, another cheeseburger no pickle but add mustard, another cheeseburger same as the second but also remove lettuce and add onion. [etc.]" versus "I want a total of 4 cheeseburgers. First burger as-is. (wait for confirmation) Second burger, remove the pickle and add mustard. (wait for confirmation) Third burger remove the pickle and lettuce and add mustard and onions. [etc.]" I'd say a VAST chunk of wrong orders come from the customer not paying attention to the clerk confirming their order. The accuracy of the kiosk tests in this episode confirm that the back-of-house cooks are (for the most part) executing the orders as recorded. Therefore, it stands to reason that a majority of the errors are in how the orders are recorded, not in the execution thereof. I'm not sure if it's universal yet, but most modern drive-thrus have a display screen that shows the order being placed as the clerk is keying it in so you can confirm that it's being recorded correctly. For the (VERY) few drive-thrus in my area that don't have said screen, it's still common practice for the person taking the order to verbally read back the order and get confirmation. Thus, as far as I'm concerned as a customer, the business owners are taking sufficient steps to ensure accuracy on their end. Thus, any errors in the order are on me for not confirming. My dad on the other hand still doesn't pay attention to these screens or the clerk and just autopilots his way through the transaction. I literally watched him respond to "would you like to round up your change to the nearest dollar for charity?" with "you too" and proceed to drive off to the pay window. I have on multiple occasions had to yell across the car from the passenger seat to the monitor when they mis-entered something.

[@psyborg89]

@@Orinslayer it could be either or, but it’s another variable regardless

[@Ethan_la]

I'm assuming that the only way they "accounted" for that is by having the same person order the burgers every time so there's some type of "consistency" by the way he orders it. Idk I could be wrong

[@psyborg89]

@@Ethan_la he had different people ordering in different areas. They said that in the beginning

[@psyborg89]

@@Ethan_la yeah but it’s the different people ordering at different locations. If it was the same person ordering at all the different locations then that would control for that in a way by being consistent. But he had different people ordering at the different locations. In those locations it was the same person ordering at the different restaurants.

[@christophersmith7057]

Dear Matpat and other Theorist, this theory had me thinking about something lately. A lot of retail jobs I have noticed these past few years are making mistakes like this. Do you think this is a symptom of a bigger issue with just workers getting burned out all across the board? Speaking as one who works for a grocery store, the added load of curbside orders didn't make my job hire more people. They just piled on all the work onto existing staff and expects us to keep up a flawless performance. It's just a theory though, thought I would ask. Love your work on all channels!

[@ZackaryWilliams77]

Yea, it wouldn't surprise me if companies were like, "Let's see how long we can sustain this practice before being forced to spend money to change it."

[@kaelin_cherise]

What looks good on paper for corporate almost never translates to human labor. They set requirements for bragging rights that humans can barely manage without some form of loss (injury, exhaustion, burn-out). And when corporate prioritizes customer satisfaction, it gets worse. When it begins affecting their bottom line, theyll adjust, but till then, its "stop being human and just do your job."

[@markthacker9975]

From my perspective, I’ve been in fast food for 6 years, the attitude of new staff has deteriorated. When I first started me and the people who were new with me were willing to learn and listen and take criticism. Nowadays it feels like the new starters act like you’re insulting them personally. I think it’s a culture thing with younger people, most of the people we employ are 16-18 students. You can see a clear line in the experience staff and newer staff and it’s taking longer for people to be classed as ‘experienced’

[@xTonicWaterx]

This is one of the few times you can't say it's just a theory, cause this was just footwork and research, well done!

[@Deadpool-ri3rq]

That’s an experiment. A scientific experiment.

[@melowx1361]

Matpat you were literally my childhood and the fact there are only 6 food theories left shock me you will be remembered as all of our second parent❤

[@marsot9920]

​@UTTP_is_Better_Than_AllFandoms tell me why HTTP is the best

[@Savage-ih9sg]

If you watch food game film and style theory it tells you how many theories are left for each channel

[@Savage-ih9sg]

​@ZogeruUTTP shut up you were never a childhood staple like matpat is and your content isn't sucks, sucks all the way to the earth's core if matpat does return it will be a joyus day

[@paulbirch6041]

@@marsot9920 exactly

[@AstroPlungermanOfficial]

@@marsot9920plot twist It’s not💀💀💀💀💀💀

[@Polinize]

I really wish Mat would've spoken about "drive-through time goals." I'm pretty sure every "fast food" establishment has them, which is most likely the reason orders are wrong or improperly made. Speaking from years of experience in fast food, these time goals are usually set way too low. For example, Taco Bell has a 3:30 or under "time goal," which yes, keeps the drive-thru moving quickly. However, it causes massive strain on the employees to get orders out in that time and is also 100% accurate every time. Although it is not impossible, it can be extremely difficult to do so if you don't cut some corners. For example, at Taco Bell, each and every tortilla used for an order needs to be heated for at least 5-10 seconds. For smaller orders, this isn't too troublesome. Also, we aren't supposed to stack two or more tortillas on top of each other to save time, since both sides of each tortilla should be equally warm. We pretty much have to disregard that "rule" if they want us to reach that goal. Also, each crunch wrap and quesadilla we make. The tortilla has to be warmed for 5-10 seconds, put together (quesadillas must be steamed, which takes about another 5-10 seconds), and finally thrown on the grill. Which has a 17-second timer that you have to wait for. As you can probably see by now, for larger orders, that 3:30 seconds runs out quick, just on mandated time allotment for certain food items. Also, keep in mind that the people making your food have to read from a usually very clustered screen. With not only your food and your modifications to it, but the next person's order as well. These screens that we read from are usually small enough to fit comfortably in front of us without disrupting our workflow. Which comes with a few caveats, like a relatively small font and an even smaller font underneath that shows your modifications. The modifications (at least for Taco Bell) are color-coded. Either RED for something removed or GREEN for something added. A lot of the time, we're staring at a Christmas tree of an order, trying to make sense of it all while also making the food, rushing to hit a time goal that was set for us by people that aren't even in the building. Heck, they barely ever even visit to get any sort of real feedback from their employees. Let me get back on topic. Let's say you order a party pack of 12 tacos, which is probably one of our best deals. Each of those 12 tortillas needs to be warmed up for at least 5-10 seconds; it should be closer to 10 since I'm guessing you want at least warm food. So, 12 times 10 seconds would be, if my math is mathing, 120 seconds (2 minutes). Plus, don't forget we still have to put the food in the tacos and wrap each one properly. Let's say decent line work can make a regular taco start to finish in about 10-20 seconds. Again, this is on top of the time already spent just to warm up the tortillas. Which again is 2 minutes if you are doing it by the book. Let's say it takes 15 seconds on average to finish each taco, which is 15 seconds times 12 = 180 seconds, or 3 minutes. So adding that all up for that one party pack of 12 regular tacos is 2 minutes for the warm-up plus approximately 3 minutes to actually make and wrap the taco. You get... About 5 minutes, if we are doing it by the book. Obviously, some workers are faster than others. For the average employee trying to do their job 100% accurately, according to the book, that 3:30 time goal is pretty much impossible if we don't cut corners by stacking tortillas or by pulling things off the grill a few seconds early. Remember, that was just for that one party pack? People can and will order more on top of that sometimes, which makes that time goal even harder to achieve. So please, when you're at a drive-thru, be patient. We are trying our best, or at least the ones of us who actually care about the service we provide for you. Also, when we hand you your order, please pull up to a parking space to check your food if something is wrong. Please, come in. As long as you keep your receipt, we have to fix whatever mistake was made. If you sit at the drive-thru window, the sensor that tracks cars and our times is still being tripped by your car, and our times will continue to go up if you do not move. There have been countless times where we serve food under 3:30, but people decide to check their bags at the window, which causes us to cross that 3:30 threshold. That one car may be the decider between a 3:30 or a 3:31 day, which not only looks bad on us but could get us reprimanded, or even worse, fired. Even if we weren't the actual reason for that happening, that is what it looks like to the higher-ups, who just look at the numbers and aren't actually in the store witnessing what is happening with each order. Anyway, if anyone actually reads all of this, I really appreciate you, and I hope you have a fantastic life. I also hope this puts "fast food" into perspective for you. It's so stressful knowing one car could potentially be the reason you are fired or reprimanded. So please be patient with us, because we have to be patient with you. Much love; peace out.

[@Polinize]

@@broKen73484 thought those were genuine questions. Sorry I answered. Bye, Forever.

[@Polinize]

@@broKen73484 sorry I spelled a word wrong. Sorry. I rap, I write music. Sorry I'm not perfect. Sorry I tried to have a conversation with somebody. You could've easily explained yourself, but didn't. I'm 22, I know absolutely nothing. I know I'm nothing, and conversations like this don't help. Lemme help ....

[@fictionisgood7226]

That was very well put. And you didn’t even get into the issue of not being payed enough, often being understaffed, and rarely having more than a day or two of training to learn each position.

[@wishmaster98]

i think the question should be also be do certain chains need drive-thrus? as someone who worked at Panera Bread they have been adding drive-thrus to their stores and i find it more harming than helping. Sure a soup and baked good is easy to whip up for a order but having to make sandwiches and salads can take time, time that even as a consumer doesn't work. Also if your order through the drive here your order is put in a queue, the same queue that sit down orders, curbside orders, delivery orders, to-go orders are in. So when getting food the worst time to get it is lunch and dinner cause every one is doing the same thing. Like it was never a surprise to see the occasional order take a hour to make cause we are just that jammed.

[@thatonellamawhoissoobsesse8138]

I get so excited when I see a new theory video. I'll be sad when matpats no longer voicing it, but I feel better knowing that the people who write these episodes, the people who edit and produce, they're all staying about the same. Theory videos will still be theory videos, just a new voice. It might just be the next best thing but the world will never be the same.

[@crayray7429]

Gotta love the spam ruining the comments section

[@RoseeUlva]

something mind boggling is that in all my years of ordering food through kiosks, apps or in person I can count the amount of errors with just my hands. How are they getting all these orders so wrong?? I order McDonalds quite often and I have yet to experience this Ps: I don't live in America, I live in Türkiye

[@ReeseHosgood]

I usually don’t get incorrect orders either even though I don’t often get super customized items anyway.

[@baphomeat]

It's a location thing I think. My local McDonald's is pretty good normally minor things like not removing the ice in my drink. Only had two major issues in 4 years. First one was when a whole burger got left behind and the second was an extra patty on a free sandwich, used rewards points for a free quarter pounder, decided to add a second patty (nearly $3 when the double quarter only costs about 5 on its own) and I didn't get it. Went inside and initially the kid at the desk asked 'what do you want me to do about it's and even in front of everyone asked his manager if they could just refuse service. She said no, stated that I had paid for it already and yadda yadda. That kid didn't last long didn't see him after a couple of weeks. But usually my store is great, few mess ups and friendly managers (I love them so much, the Head manager is a peach). However my burger king is a different story. Used to have 3 locations all run by he same regional, one closest to me shut down after COVID and is now a taco joint, the second one the regional never goes too is a dumpster fire which can't even manage to get a single order correct and the third is ok... The third is he farthest from me sadly.

[@WaZZaKZZ]

As @baphomeat mentioned, it's a location based thing. I work one of the busiest stores in my country, trying to combat near $5000 hours at peak times. On Drive-Thru alone, the average customer orders about 4-6 items, with busier periods having about 100 cars an hour, that's on the high end of 600 items one member of staff had to check on and make sure is accurate, whilst trying to keep those target times as low as possible. It's just not feasible these days.

[@hamingnu6610]

It's also systematic issues. It'd be easy to prepare lunch for yourself no matter how complex it is because you're one person preparing one meal that'll last for a longer period of time until the next meal has to be made, but when an ever-increasing local market is fitting in hundreds of orders a day with underpaid and probably half-amateur staff having to deal with all of it. If you're in a place where the staff are ensured to be better trained (even if they're young staff. If you give them time to train instead of just teaching them all the things in the span of 4 days and leaving them to run your McDonald's, it'll lead to better results), are given better benefits, aren't being overworked, or where each franchise has more staff than others that are effectively always understaffed, then that's where you get fast food restaurants that aren't prone to so many errors.

[@Superstrike_11]

Definitely a location thing, but it also probably has something to do with your order. Do you often customize the items?

[@matthewlawton9241]

I know it's only anecdotal, but in my little town, Wendy's is also the worst of the worst when it comes to getting food correct, as well. Which is super unacceptable considering they're usually the most expensive of the big three here. (McDonald's, Burger King Wendy's)

[@sirsuccsalot1354]

I have never used a drive through myself. Whenever I want to get fast food I go in and use the kiosk or talk to someone, and I've never done it for the accuracy but because it's less stressful and literally faster. That should be a theory in itself, whether drive thru is actually faster than going in

[@Jack96724]

I CARE + UPP IS BAD I HOPE UPP LEAVES AND NEVER COMES BACK

[@orga7777]

Drive-thru is always slower because most people are lazy wastes that can't walk a few feet so would rather wait an extra 30+ minutes in a drive-thru line. I ALWAYS go in and it is always faster.

[@bella1021]

I think it depends on when you go in and which restaurants prioritize what. The one I work at does drivethrough counts and wants to keep the time down. Depending on the manager they prioritize DT unless it’s a small order they can get out fast

[@RogueMastermind]

Online ordering does it for me. So many customization options, set pick up times for a freshly made order, and constant loyalty program rewards and coupons. I typically have no errors at all despite making a lot of modifications, especially at Wendy's.

[@lordhosk]

I don't understand why the online order was worse than the kiosk order.

[@taylarmcfadden]

can you believe that Matt is gonna say “that’s just a theory” for the last time in one month 😭

[@lordshiva3916]

HOW DARE YOU, AT LEAST THIS GUY IS ACTUALLY SMART AND ENTERTAINING

[@Bellarina-e4e]

Bots are everywhere

[@Salo7i-bt1we]

I miss you so much I started rewatching everything😭😭😭

[@jacobg8640]

Apps are absolutely my favorite method. Not only can I take my time to enter my order and avoid the middle man, but I can order and pay for it from home while a family member picks it up on their way home.

[@jesuusch]

You also get points and save up for free items in the future!

[@moezmohamed1998]

1:01 I got jump scared lol by the 6 theories remaining😂

[@tanyoncloke713]

@Officer-topGbot

[@charlieasalgadosalgado1369]

@povyoucalledbelugasvideosc4937 shut up

[@carolyne6908]

Okay, I work at McDonald's, my usual position during lunch is order taking in the drive thru. There are a few things I've noticed over the years about our customers who get an incorrect order ( im not saying McDonald's isn't at fault, we absolutely make mistakes, but we also work quickly to fix them) 1. We can hear everything you're saying the second you pull up to the speaker. It's extremely difficult to get the order right when there are multiple people talking, you still have your music playing (please turn off your music) 2. Get off your phone, hang up the call. You're distracted, when you're distracted it's difficult for me to take your order because you're too preoccupied to confirm everything for me. 3. Stay off your phone, a lot of the time you got the wrong order because you paid for the wrong order, because you weren't paying attention to the crew at the first window trying to pay you out. Just be polite to the crew! Thank you for coming to my tedtalk

[@addiefalkner8390]

littéral facts

[@8moreno6]

This post is perfect, explains they can't do the basic tasks, but expect "livable" wages.... number three reasons but wrote at least 6

[@metrux321]

Well, I guess it differs from place to place, but my experience has made me stop going to mcdonalds. I tend to order from kiosks, less problems overall, but mc is the only chains where they consistently get the orders wrong. No, I don't speak outloud when ordering with a machine. I don't use the phone while ordering, because why would I? And the order in the paper is perfect, but when I get it never is. I don't even ask for any modifications, just normal combos, the most I used to do is trade a soda for a milkshake. Obviously, where you are from the situation is very different from mine, but I don't think your ideas are the main problem behind it.

[@Superstrike_11]

Good stuff. I worked at McDonalds, and I'd say a bigger problem than all of these are the people who speak quietly. Shy baked kids were a real issue for me on the night shift, so I literally just told them to pull up to top booth and i'd take their order there. I pulled about $200/month in tips. I wouldn't have quit if the management hadn't been so awful. All they'd talk about is how badly they want to go home.

[@aliciaannettaphotography7077]

I know what you mean, I ask is this your order on the screen they just say yes. But when the next person comes they say that they had a nuggets not the Sunday, customers have two eyes is it really that hard to look were not mind readers.

[@GojoSatoruDies]

It’s safe to say Matpat really went all out on his last theories😅

[@elianasilva4314]

As a McD's employee, I would like to give some insight into what happens inside the restaurant for the drive-thru. I am one of the people who trains the new employees and it's tough to explain to them the times we need to respect in the drive-thru. The times are just ridiculous, we need to have everything ready in 120 seconds or less, meaning that a normal order should take between 10 to 60 seconds, the time to pay should be around 10 seconds and to collect around 20 to 30 seconds. Not just that but we need to follow the "3 golden rules", do it correctly, make it special and, most important, be quick. It is difficult to be quick when you don't have any previous experience, and yes, people understand that you are new but rapidly lose patience. For the first couple of months, I had this one manager who was always screaming at me because I wasn't being fast enough. It's incredible how fast new employees just leave, every time I go on my vacation, there's always a new employee that enters and quits without me knowing them

[@sinepari9160]

That's also why no one speaks English in the back, and we have to use kiosks...

[@stupidvideogameclips]

Imagine being able to afford to go on vacation.

[@elianasilva4314]

​@@stupidvideogameclips when I say, vacation, I'm actually referring to pay time off, since I live in Europe I have around 4 weeks of it

[@SavannahMeercat]

Kiosks and Mobile Orders are absolutely the best ways to order fast food! I work in a fast food place, and it's so aggrevating to have the order taker ask the same questions over and over and still get it wrong. I work in the kitchen, so I do my best to hear the order and modifications and build it off of what I hear, but sometimes it's just too busy for that and I have to go by what the order taker put on my screen. Whenever a mobile order or a kiosk order comes in I know it's exactly what the customer wants and I don't have to hesitate on all the modifications. Tbh it can be fun to get those crazy modded orders; makes you actually wake up and pay attention instead of being trapped in a grease-lined daze until quitting time 😅

[@QuimaZzo_Pro]

We’ll miss you Matthew Patthew

[@GermanyZNTP]

WHO‎ ASKED‎ +‎ MY‎ CONTENT‎ IS‎ WAY‎ BETTER‎ UTTP‎ AND ZNTP IS‎ WAY‎ BETTER‎ THAN‎ MATPAT I HOPE MATPAT NEVER RETURNS

[@PanteraRossa]

i always order on the apps for pickup at the counter. Usually this is pretty accurate and if I made many mods you can double check before leaving the restaurant to make sure they get it right. Some restaurants kind of sucks for mobile ordering because they make you feel like you're cutting in front of others trying to get your order when it's crowded. Wendy's is the worst because they literally don't call out mobile orders as they're ready they just store them away even if you're standing right there waiting the whole time. I don't understand why nobody's come up with some form of locker section or something where you can pickup mobile orders without having to bother the person bagging it twice. In McDonald's too they often just hide it across the kitchen and it would save time for everyone involved if it was just kept up front so you can grab and go.

[@levithornton7986]

I worked at McDonald's for a long time, mostly in the kitchen. It's been my experience that the most efficient way to dictate the toppings on your burger is to use the terminology "only" and then list everything you want on the burger. (Only ketchup, only mustard, only pickle). If you want extra of any of those toppings, ask at the end. (Only ketchup, only mustard, extra pickle.) When you say 'only' you start with a clean slate and there's less confusion, when you say 'extra', 'add', or 'no', you're burger becomes a math problem. Lots of people are bad at math.

[@Dr._Squid]

I use the app for all eating out whenever possible. Cuts down on interacting with people, cuts down on errors in my order dramatically, and they often have rewards/discounts through the app that are totally worth it for McDonalds, Taco Bell, and Wendys. Also, you can choose between drive-thru, in-store, or curbside. It truly is the best of everything, lol.

[@alexanderseldon8875]

How old are you?

[@Josh-md1bc]

I work at CFA- and the accuracy in this video regarding in person orders and drive thrus is scary to me. I’ll give you the best advice 1) Be nice to the person taking your order. If you’re nice not only do they display more interest in what you want, neither of you are bored or anxious. Just don’t overdo it so you don’t distract them, but don’t be afraid to ask them to repeat your order- most of the time they’re expected to do so. 2) Repeat your own order even if they won’t. Where I work, we’re expected to repeat the orders we take, and it’s become an essential habit as a result- I would say that this step alone halves the chance your order is incorrect. I never get any complaints about the orders I take. 3) If you’ve got the time, please place a mobile order either while your on the block of where you’re going or whilst your already in the restaurant. You do not want your food to be food that was sitting around. Stickers on bags at some restaurants display the time everything was stored, but not every place will automatically remake your food just because you showed up late. Better Safe than soggy. 4)DOUBLE CHECK YOUR BAG. If you’ve got less than or equal to 2 meals worth of food- there’s absolutely zero reason why you can’t take the 5 seconds out of your day to make sure that the items you got are correct. PS. I’m not speaking in terms of my restaurant alone, I understand that quality is NEVER consistent especially when the human touch is involved, and especially in the fast food industry, that human touch is usually viewed and replaceable. Don’t be afraid to speak up when someone makes a mistake on your order, at that point you’re literally paying for an incorrect product. It’s simpler than it seems.

[@Josh-md1bc]

Some people might not believe there’s a right way of doing things, but at least when it applies to this scenario- think about it for a second- the employees have to order too… I bet you they get consistent quality at least 95% of the time, and it’s not because of any power they may have within the restaurant, it’s just that they actually know the measures to ensure they get their order taken accurately and served properly.

[@seanrobbins7125]

So what I'm learning is we need to get rid of the cashier position

[@kaylame95]

​@@seanrobbins7125 yes and no. As someone who also works at CFA but answers the phone complains you'd be surprised by the amount of mobile orders that are "wrong" bc Guest don't check their own orders. The fact is that it's all human systems so it's gonna be flawed. If you're going to order from a fast food restaurant u derstand that 60-90% of the stuff are teenagers and mistakes happen. We don't try and mess up orders... it ends up being more work for us

[@RingerDaClown]

I've noticed that the older the staff gets, the worse they are at the job. Back in the 80's and 90's when really the only adults working in fast food were managers and college students. Now it's some 40 something flipping burgers and just doesn't care. At least in my city.

[@nyodex]

I used to work at a McDonalds. My coworkers purposefully left out ingredients or items if they didn’t have them ready and didn’t want to bother getting them

[@pineapplequeenb8097]

@@ceciliacole5098do your job Jesus Christ you know what you signed up for??

[@FitzgeraldStanburyWeissV]

@@ceciliacole5098 Well, you're not get paid more if you develop an attitude like that, are you. Lol.

[@pineapplequeenb8097]

@@ceciliacole5098 yes of course, that makes it okay then 🤌

[@ethanacton408]

​@@pineapplequeenb8097Then report them to their supervisor. I doubt you've actually worked in fast food. Because even if you get a customer's order wrong, you still get paid the same money no matter what, so it's very easy to not care.

[@mintee264]

@@ceciliacole5098I hope things become better for you

[@dearyvettetn4489]

Another good advantage for using app based ordering is that you don’t have to keep re-creating your special preferences. They’re usually stored in the app and you just go to your previous order and pick them. This even protects me from getting an order wrong because I forgot to add or omit something.