Tried the drive-thru versus mobile ordering at McDonald's and one was way worse

I compared mobile ordering to the drive-thru at a McDonald's in Austin last week and the difference was wild. The mobile order took 22 minutes to get my food and they still messed up my sandwich, no pickles on a McDouble but it came loaded with them. The drive-thru took 8 minutes and everything was correct, even forgot to ask for ketchup packets and they tossed a handful in. So the whole "skip the line" app thing is a lie in my experience, at least at this location. Has anyone else had better luck with mobile ordering or is it just a gimmick here?

3 comments

3 Comments

ruby65911d ago

I go to the McDonald's on Lamar and 6th in Austin all the time and mobile ordering is way faster for me most days. The trick is picking the right pickup time, not just hitting order now. I schedule mine about 15 minutes ahead before I even leave the house. The drive-thru line there can be 15 cars long at lunch so the app saves me from sitting in that mess. Sorry your order got messed up though, that definitely stinks. Maybe try a different location near you because mine seems to have it together.

colethomas10d ago

I actually read something about this the other day where a guy did a whole breakdown of how McDonald's mobile orders get prioritized in the kitchen. Basically the app orders pop up on a separate screen and sometimes they just sit there if the store is busy. That might be why some locations screw up the timing while others nail it. Have you ever had them just ignore the order completely and make you wait anyway?

evan_davis9d ago

That scheduling trick is interesting, but does the app actually communicate your selected pickup time to the kitchen?