Argh, fscking McD's.

Back in November I believe it was, I went to a McDonald's with my wife. Long story short, her fish sandwich was dried out, so a complaint was entered with the McD's toll free cust service line, and we got two freebie coupons in the mail.

(The reason why we got two is because somebody had failed to follow up on the complaint. They sent one for a free big mac, small fries, and small drink as such, along with one for any sandwich and any size fry and drink, or any breakfast sandwich/burrito and cuppa joe or orange juice. Elsewise, it probably would have just been the latter.)

So I go in to one of the stores listed on the back of said coupon, and present my coupon. Employee consults with swing manager who shall remain nameless, who instructs her that it will only be small fries/drink.

Well, wait, the coupon doesn't say small only, it says "any size". So I ask for the manager. She tries to avoid that, but gets him, and then we start arguing.

First, he tries to explain to me that it's only for breakfast. I point out to him that no, it's for any sandwich, any fry, any drink.

Then he explains to me that it's only for small.

We argued back and forth on this point a few rounds before he finally bit. "OK, what size?"

"Large," I sez.

"And what kind of sandwich?"

"Double quarter pounder, extra everything."

He goes and deals with the food, then returns saying something along the lines of, "Here's your order. I don't have time to argue about the coupon."

I probably would have let it go if it weren't for that commentary.

At any rate, there was outside of this store a payphone, on which I promptly called the 800 number that McD's has for customer service here in the United States. Spoke with a very apologetic lady with a thick yet understandable north African accent of indeterminable origin, who of course was following a script - yet left me with knowledge that this would be dealt with.

Given the circumstances, I'm not sure I want to be in Pablo's shoes here. I mean, I got a card for food gone wrong, and then I get service gone wrong. Generally not representative of McD's as a whole, but at least calling that 800 number gets things dealt with.

Oh, yeah - my fries were flaccid (though hot, can't deny that), and my sandwich was a DQP, but didn't come with extra everything like I had asked.