I am writing this letter to inform you about the reduced treatment and discontent that I encountered at one of your locations. Sunday September 21, 2008 was my daughters 3rd birthday; she wanted to have it at McDonald’s as she is quite in love with the Play Place. I made arrangements three months ago with the location on Markham Rd. and Progress in Scarborough. That location hosts birthday parties and they have a very nice Play Place.
The party was to start at 6:00 pm and we had arrived to McDonald’s fifteen minutes prior to make sure everything was set up and we can get ourselves organized before the guest’s had arrived. I had fifteen children and eight adults that were attending. When we arrived nothing was set up. They didn’t have the section closed off for us and there were other families in our section enjoying their dinner. We went to go enter the Play Place and saw a sign on the door that read “PLAY PLACE IS NOT OPEN”; to our disbelief we were shocked. The Whole purpose of us having the party at McDonald’s was for the Play Place. I was hosting a 3 year olds birthday and they love the Mc Donald’s Play Place as any child would. At this point I was very upset. I had all of my guest’s and their children just sitting there. The kids were starting to get boisterous because there was nowhere to play.
I spoke with the Manager on Duty - her name was Naomi who did not assist me in any way. She told me there was nothing she can do for us. As she was saying this she was laughing and smiling the whole time. Almost as if she was amused at my situation. This is not very professional. So I asked her when the Play Place broke and she told me that it happened that day (Sunday September 21, 2008) in the morning sometime. I asked her why is it that no-one notified me regarding the play place when it was deemed unsafe? This way at least I would’ve been able to make other arrangements with a participating McDonald’s for my daughter’s birthday. Her response was “I don’t know” still with a smile on her face. I asked Naomi for the head office’s phone number so I can call and let them know that the experience I had was quite unacceptable. She went in the back and was talking to someone on the phone for 10-15 minutes. This time frame is not an exaggeration as you can verify this with the security camera for that day to see how long she was gone. I asked her for a phone number and then she went on the phone. Upon her return from her lengthy phone call I was extremely upset so I asked her who she was talking to. She informed me that she was on the phone with the district manager. (Why would she phone the district manager and speak to that person for so long when all I wanted was the phone number to head office?) May I add - that when she finally provided me with the phone number it was a wrong number.
I asked Naomi what time she started her shift that day (Sunday September 21, 2008) she told me she started at 3:00pm so I asked her whether or not as a Manager On Duty was it not her responsibility to make sure everything is handled in a professional manner and that all problems should be handled quickly and efficiently to SATISFY your customers?? She just laughed with no response.
She was aware that at 3:00 pm when she arrived for her shift that the play place was closed and failed to inform me about the situation. ONE phone call - that’s all it would have taken to rectify the situation and she failed to do that. She could have offered something as compensation or at least tried to make us feel like we were being helped, instead I felt like I was speaking with a child that didn’t understand or comprehend what I was saying and the ONLY thing she was doing was laughing. I could not believe what I was seeing as I was under the impression that she is not taking the scenario at hand seriously at all. I asked her that since the PLAY PLACE is closed and the party area that was meant to be set-up for my guests wasn’t - that I please have the Loot Bags that are provided so that I at least have something to give to the kids. (I was not asking for free food and I think that this request is fair given the circumstances.) Providing me with the Loot Bags should have not been an issue that this location had made it out to be.) When you book the package loot bags are provided. It was after 6:00 pm on a Sunday and I wouldn’t have been able to run out and buy the kids loot bags - everything was closed! She said “no I cannot give you the loot bags because I am not charging you” smirking while she was saying this. What was I suppose to give these kids that are attending my child’s birthday, a verbal thank you for attending? Am I supposed to turn to these children and say: “Sorry you don’t have anywhere to play and I do not have any loot bags for you either? ” This is what kids live for when they come to a McDonald’s birthday party.
By this time my Husband had called another McDonald’s that does have a functioning Play Place and explained what had happened and asked if it was ok that we have our party there. That Manager was very HELPFUL and took us in. We went to the location on Mc Cowan Rd. and Finch. This location does not host birthday parties and their play place is much smaller, but given the circumstances that was our only option. We managed to do that without the help of your McDonalds staff at that location and your Manager on Duty. Why weren’t they able to do that for us? We asked her many times if she could help out and she just kept on saying “There is nothing I can do for you.” That was the poorest customer service I have ever seen. There were no signs of remorse, guilt, sympathy, or embarrassment. I had left my sister at the counter to speak with Naomi to get to the bottom of why we couldn’t at least receive these loot bags. Upon my return to my sister to tell her that we had made other arrangements at a different McDonald’s I saw that she was speaking with a different person. His name was Harrod or Henry or something very close to that. I asked him were he came from and he told me he was in the basement or back office, and he told me that his title was store manager.
So I explained everything AGAIN to Harrod/Henry about the big mistake that was made and how Naomi was NOT VERY helpful and was finding my irritation and the situation at hand all very amusing instead of trying to rectify the situation. Well then Harrod/Henry (my apologies for not remembering his exact name) explained to me that he started working at 7:00 AM that day and that the Play Place broke down around 3:00 PM and that it wasn’t safe for the kids to play in there, therefore they closed it. I want to make clear that I did NOT expect McDonald’s to open the Play Place even though it was deemed unsafe. I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND that if it is broken and reckoned to be unsafe then I would expect it to be closed. Safety where children are concerned especially should always be first priority. He informed me that he tried calling a company to come out and fix the Play Place but because it was Sunday, the company was closed. I asked him after he phoned the company and realized the Play Place would NOT be available for my daughter’s birthday why he didn’t call me to inform me of the situation? His response was “I don’t know.” I asked him what he meant by that and how he planned on assisting me. He gave me NO response. So now I asked him for the Loot Bags as well. I explained to him that since the Play Place was CLOSED and NOBODY thought to inform me and I have all of these kids and their parents waiting for me that the least he could do was provide me with these loot bags. After arguing with him for about fifteen minutes he said OK. He then approached Naomi and asked her if that was ok. If he is the store manager and she was the manager on duty - why would he ask her that question? Shouldn’t he have higher authority? We took the fifteen Loot Bags and went on our way.
By this time it was close to 7:00 PM and the kids still have not eaten anything. Now I was left with the big bad job of telling ALL of these kids and my little Birthday Girl that we have to leave. I’d rather not discuss fill you in on the sad faces and the temper tantrums that followed as my goal of this letter is to make you aware of the treatment delivered by the staff at this location.
This three paged letter is all in result of not receiving a simple phone call when the Manager on Duty/Store Manager had found out that the Play Place was deemed not available, that there was no help in trying to arrange an alternate location and putting up such a struggle for fifteen little Loot Bags.
I am a very loyal customer and I do understand that unavoidable situations can and do happen that can not be rectified right away - and at the attempt to avoid being so repetitive, in this situation a simple phone call to me would have prevented ALL of this from happening, but unfortunately in my situation that wasn’t the case. I do hope that this does NOT happen to anyone else that wants to have a birthday party at McDonald’s for their child.
I am VERY disappointed as to the way the situation was handled and how my party was treated. I didn’t even mention to Harrod/Henry the fact that my party was not set up for us upon our arrival I just wanted the loot bags to avoid anymore embarrassment on my part and displeasure amongst the kids so I could leave and try to enjoy the rest of my daughter’s Birthday somewhere else.
Seeing how McDonald’s such a vast conglomerate I would have never expected that to happen and the treatment that I received was in no means CUSTOMER SERVICE FRIENDLY.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Yours truly
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