Are you seriously suggesting that the price of McDonalds means that I have no right to expect to be dealt with professionally and with courtesy? Nonsense. You can get a pie and chips for less money at your local chippy. It will most probably be delivered just as quickly as a Big Mac meal, it will be hot, and no doubt you will have been served by a friendly and competent person. Hell, if I buy even just a pack of gum in a shop, I expect courtesy from the shop assistant, and I normally get it.

I already pointed out that McDonalds have systematically tried to remove common sense from their employees, but it clearly doesn’t always work. I have been served by professional, friendly and courteous staff in McDonalds, so it is clearly down to choice on the part of the individual.

There are plenty of jobs out there – if the employee doesn’t like it, go elsewhere. They shouldn’t take the pay packet if they don’t want to do the job, and they shouldn’t complain about the pay packet after agreeing the terms of their employment contract. We once employed a sales guy at Higher Sites who was in his fifties. He came to two interviews and indicated a real keenness to do the job. The wages we were offering were never questioned, and yet within a day of starting he was asking for more money, more petrol allowance and a company car. He did sod all for the entire time he was with us and badmouthed the directors to the other staff. People like this don’t deserve anything. If you agree the terms to a job, and you agree the wages, then the only thing you should be doing is completing your duties to the very best of your ability.

Any employee that regards their customers as “chumps” isn’t going to get anywhere, and will likely be receiving their P45 in short order.

If I went to work at McDonalds, and agreed the terms of remuneration, I would get on with the job, and I would treat customers with courtesy and respect. If I was cleaning toilets for a living, I would do that to the best of my ability too. I have worked hard in all my jobs – some have been well paid, some haven’t. That’s life. Put simply, low wages does not entitle a worker to do a half-arsed job.

Having experienced McDonalds from both sides of the counter, I can’t help but think you want more than is justified from the price of a McDonalds meal. McDonalds pay barely meets minimum wage, and furthermore, crew members serve a massive amount of customers every day, having to complete every order within a set time limit. Any intuition is crushed by endless policies that must be obeyed – to transfer your order to another till, with a working credit card reader, would have required the attention of a manager. If you changed your mind half way through the order and the crew member had to delete something from the till, it would require the attantion of the manager.

With this in mind, do you really expect the employee to take a personal interest in your order? It’s all very well saying that you’d be polite and hardworking if employed at McDonalds, but if you were actually to work in the greasy, hot conditions for the pittance of a wage the corporation offers, I doubt you’d give two hoots about the next chump who came in to order a Big Mac.

I’ll let you off Mike, and I have to say, if there’s a choice between a McBurger or the KFC Tower Burger, I’m afraid the Colonel wins every time!