why do we have to beg McDonalds for napkins and ketchup?

Question

im serious why would i go through the drive thru and order food with fries and have to ask for ketchup and a napkin to wipe my greasy hands?
even if you order inside many fast food stores hide the napkins and condiments behind the counter .
it does not matter if I order 27 king size fries when i ask for ketchup they always say "how many would you like" or they give you 2 packets.
It drives me crazy that they have cut cost so much that some pencil pusher at the fast food headquarters took out his calculator and figured how to save 3 cents by hiding the ketchup.
Next thing you will be told to save on straws that they will no longer give lids with their drinks.

Answer 1

As a employee of a fast food joint the answer is simple. The person in the window just doesn't care. Especially at night when it's some stupid kid who's just there to pay their cell phone bill and make enough money to buy his next joint.

Answer 2

You've hit it on the head. Its probably not so much the corporation as who owns the store. I work for a fast food convience store and my store manager kept getting so angry over the fact that we had so many napkin holders around the store. When I asked him what the big deal was he told me that the napkins were $30 a case and that we were wasting money by having so many napkin holders out. We got rid of some and the napkins went out the store much more slowly. I'm kind of torn on the issue because the whole napkin thing made me watch what people do. People take WAAAY to much and for pretty much no reason. If you only get one sandwich why do you need a HUGE stack of napkins? I can honestly admit that i've done the same thing. I grab too many but of course i'll never put them back and most of the time i'll just throw the excess away. Same thing with the packets... if you give people stuff they won't need or use then its kinda like throwing money away. The price of EVERYTHING is going up and in order to keep the sandwich the same price they have to cut costs in other places. So I honestly can't really say I blame them for trying.

Answer 3

As a rule, eating with kids, you need either one or two napkins OR right now(!), because something spilled, a handful. So experienced people get the handful. Napkin dispensers on tables would lead to people taking only what they need, but there would be that many more dispensers requiring service. You get what you pay for, and McDonald s is no exception.

Answer 4

You are probably right about the pencil pusher, or bean counter making his calculations. Remember that the 3 cent item, multplied times the many millions of customers adds up. That and the many other costs associated with pushing product means a heckuva lotta bux. But after all, they ARE in buisness to make money, not to satisfy your every whim.

Think about this. At a busy counter with, say, six registers and lines of customers, ten or twelve deep. The store policy COULD have each server count out two napkins per sandwich, one ketchup packet for each small fry (or two packets for a large), a packet of salt or two, straws, lids, etc for every customer, OR, let the customer step aside to fetch exactly what he needs, and let the server take care of one more customer that much faster.

Which method makes more sense to McDonalds? Also, think about the customer in the back of the line who has to wait an extra five minutes, or so, for the customers in front of him to be pampered and practically spoon fed.

It's called "fast food." and I want mine as fast as I can get it. There are times when I DO want to be pampered and my every wish provided. For that kind of service, I expect to pay more, so I go to a full service restraunt.

Answer 5

Its all about economics. To stay competitive, all service businesses must cut costs to the bare bones. It is true in grocery stores, where paper bags are no longer offered, in most restaurants where water is either not given unless you ask or comes without ice. If McDonald's can save just one napkin or one straw, or a couple packs of ketchup from each customer, just imagine how much money they would save, considering they serve millions of customers each day. Besides, how many times have you seen full packets of mustard and ketchup, as well as napkins and plastic silverware, discarded on tables or on the ground? Money down the drain. I say be glad that fast food places are trying to control such things....otherwise that 99 cent cheeseburger might be 1.09 the next time you order.

Answer 6

Well this is a simple question and it has has simple answer. They do that because people:
1. They use 20 napkins to wipe their hands when they only need at least 2 and then go to the restroom and Wash them.
2. You get a whole bunch of ketchup and you use 4 packets, what do you do with the rest, do you return them? no you put them in the trash can.
Why do you blame the company for our own behavior?

Answer 7

their cheap and have a budget they have to go by. Not all people need ketchup and napkins if their going thru the drive thru cause a lot of people are taking there food somewhere to eat and not eat while their driving. now why they do it inside the resturant, I have no idea but that really pisses me off!

Answer 8

i know i hate that i go to the same mcdonalds in the mall very often, and they give u one napkin per person which is DEF not enough and both the ketchup things are one of those ones u have to push and they are always broken and no one ever fixes it so u have to stand there for five minutes pushing to get pretty much nothing on ur plate.

Answer 9

YES!! Read Fast Food Nation, and I promise you, you won't ever give any more of your money to Mcd's and others, so you won't have to worry about ketchup packets and napkins!!

Answer 10

Because of our obsession with eating healthier, they're not making money at the rate they used to, so now they're cutting costs. Try reading Fast Food Nation. You'll get even more irritated.

Answer 11

They definitely do it to save money. It ticks me off as well. And lately Wendy's has gotten really bad about not even putting the straws in the bag like they usually do so you are probably right on that too!