'Not fast food anymore': Students leave without food after 1.5-hour wait at McDonald’s

[UPDATE: April 18]

McDonald's told AsiaOne that it has reached out to the affected customer to offer their "sincere apology" regarding the incident.

"We had earlier reached out to the customer, and are grateful that our most sincere apology was accepted with grace," the fast-food chain said in a statement on Tuesday (April 18).

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What happens when fast food isn't fast anymore?

One woman took to Facebook to air her grievances about McDonald's, after her daughter's disappointing experience at the fast food giant's Khatib outlet.

Not only did the student and her friend endure a wait of more than 1.5 hours, they eventually had to leave without their food as they had to return to school for lessons.

In a post shared to the Complaint Singapore page on Friday (April 14), a user named Sherry Awie stated that the students had placed their orders at 12.30pm but at 1.45pm had still not received their meal.

A photo of the receipt showed that they'd ordered a cheeseburger meal with criss-cut fries and a caramel frappe, along with a McFlurry.

"They approached the staff at the counter total of three times and was told to wait and wait and wait," Sherry shared.

But as the girls had to head back to school, Sherry added that "they left McDonald's without the food".

After learning about the unpleasant incident from her daughter, however, Sherry insisted that they return to the fast food outlet to show staff the receipt and ask for the food they'd paid for.

"Finally at 1.55pm [Mcdonald's staff] passed them their food. A 1.5 hour wait even during lunchtime is not acceptable," Sherry wrote, indicating that she had called McDonald's following the incident to demand an explanation.

In a sign that Sherry might not be alone in her experience, her post has since garnered more than 200 comments, with many netizens sharing in her unhappiness.

"This is not fast food anymore," wrote one commenter. "Slow food sia," echoed another.

Another stated that staff should have refunded them the money "instead of asking them to wait till infinity".

Many commenters also chimed in with their own encounters of poor service at "problematic outlets" belonging to the fast food chain, and offered possible explanations for the long wait.

Others reminisced on a time when customers would be compensated when faced with a wait of longer than a few minutes.

Yet one netizen thought it to be a point of national embarrassment, possibly alluding Singapore's reputation for efficiency.

AsiaOne has reached out to Sherry and McDonald's for more information.

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candicecai@asiaone.com