McDonald's to Replace Cashiers with Touch Screen Computers

Q. What does a UK student say after they graduates from college? A: "Hi, welcome to McDonalds." ...

Originally posted by p00hbear
Q. What does a UK student say after they graduates from college? A: "Hi, welcome to McDonalds." ...

it is "HELLO, welcome to mcdonalds"....sheesh someone didnt graduate lol

Originally posted by thegoods724
I am not sure how bad this is, its either you get a mexican that can barely speak english, or a kiosk that forces you to think on how to make an order. Both suck, if only they could pass the saving onto the customer. But if your actually eating mcdonalds to begin with well, your an idiot already.

My sentiments the same except i would have said 'snotty, idiotic teenager'. Just a regional difference i suppose.

Man, If this happens in the US the liberals are gonna be REALLY hacked off

There whole illegal immigrant block will shrink when they cant grab the jobs!

They will probably pass a bill banning it lol

Stopped using this Sh**hole when they gave donations to the IRA.

I can just see it now "Unexpected big mac in the baggage area, please remove and try again"

In all seriousness, McDonald's shouldn't be cutting staff. (I'm assuming they are cutting staff?)

First quarter profits were $1.2bn (£730m), up 10.9% from a year ago, with revenues rising 9% to $6.1bn.

Source: www.bbc.co.uk...


So there's been an increase of 9% which in the current climate is awesome, but it's companies like this who are just adding the the economical problem. McDonald's usually always makes a profit, so if anything, they should be giving back, not taking away.

I believe that the reason they bragged about hiring people was to make everything look rosey, by order of the admin. The sad thing is they no doubt did it for the tax breaks, and now that they got the breaks they can go digital... not suprisingly, unemployment will not go up...

Actually, my tuppence worth would be that I prefer to use the self servie checkout in supermarkets. Personally, I'm more than capable of ringing my purchases through, and considering that the technology is there, why is there a need for a fellow human being to degrade themselves by dressing up in a garish uniform, intoning special "haveaniceday" greetings, then taking my purchases off me one by one and passing them infront of a scanner that I can reach myself?

Of course, it only REALLY works in a Zeitgeist style world where all menial and demeaning jobs are taken away from human kind and given to machines, and we run and gambol in the fields, free of work and stress, until the bell tolls and we trot off into the cave to be eaten.

Originally posted by TheIrvy
Actually, my tuppence worth would be that I prefer to use the self servie checkout in supermarkets. .

especially if you saved over 50% on your shopping bill by not scanning some items...i love it too

reply to post by TKDRL


YES!!!

No more teenage mucus with my BigMac

I know I am probably not the first one to post this, but I couldn’t help it.

Not that I would ever eat at McD's, but I do like the idea of self-serve touch screens. I use them almost 100% at the grocery, as well as anywhere else they are available. They've been in use for check-in at the airport for years ... Honestly, I don't have the need for or the time to wait in line while some cashier/sales person has a meaningless chit-chat with the customer in front of me, thus holding me up. I don't consider that Customer Service. Yes, in these cases it is about getting on my way fast and efficiently.

*They better not replace the peeps at my local coffee shop though - I do love having my drink made for me before I even get to the front of the line. It is nice to be known, in some cases...

Bad idea of you ask me, soon other fast food outlets will follow suit and alot of people are going to be out of the job.

reply to post by kevinunknown


Why, are robots gonna start replacing the burger assemblers and the fry basket fillers too?

Just because the Mcdonalds in Europe does this doesn't mean the ones in the US will.

For example.

Do they charge for ketchup in the US? No

Do they charge for each refill in the US? No

Europe has their way of doing things and so does the US.

I remember going to a McDonald's when I was still in high school that used a touch screen to order. This was in Florida. If this system will work like the one that I remember, no one will lose their job. Essentially, the customer will just push what they want on the screen and then you would move on to the cashier, or whatever one'd call them, and they'd give you your food. Having worked at a fast food join myself, I can see the advantage of a system like this; the customer wouldn't be able to blame the cashier for them not understanding what a particular item is for example.

reply to post by Becoming



Ow you’re charged for it alright. It’s embedded into the total costs of the productline. So even if you don’t use ketchup or even when you don’t refill, you pay for someone elses.

I for one don’t like to pay for something I don’t order let alone pay for total strangers. Me think that is the mindset of a lot of europeans. Pay your own food, bugger!

They got it right for once. Free off charge is makebelieve.

ontopic:
For me working at an electronics plant, these screens will mean more work. Guess I’m getting to teach those mcletoffs a new trick.

Those screens don’t make themselves you know.

reply to post by D.Wolf


Careful.....

Those screens don’t make themselves you know.

Look! Behind you!!

Might be a robot, to make them....next.

Originally posted by thegoods724
I am not sure how bad this is, its either you get a mexican that can barely speak english, or a kiosk that forces you to think on how to make an order.

Okay, I'll bite on this one. I don't eat at McDonald's a lot but I understand your rant completely. I was on one store last month and the person taking my order had to get a manager to tell them what I was saying. I don't normally drink soft-drinks so I don't order their package meals. I have no doubt the workers manning the register can understand "Order #4" but when you try to piece it together yourself I find that there is often a language barrier and they have difficulty understanding what I'm saying.

I would welcome the automated, self-ordering kiosk personally if were not for the experience I've had with these things at a Wal-Mart. The machines work beautifully but half the people using them make me wish I had a cashier that couldn't speak English. Standing behind someone who is trying to figure out where a bar-code is on a product and then having them try to navigate the touch screen menu all alone without help... the stuff nightmares are made of.

You know what, I'm glad.

About 3 months ago I had to go whip some sense into my 20 year old cousin. He has a diploma, thank god, but he has never held a job in his life. I had to physically make him go and ask for applications. When we got into town he just walked around aimlessly until I went and forced him to do what we were there to do. The sad part, is the kid is the smartest person I know under 30. He just has zero common sense or drive.

Good for McDonalds, maybe when my cousin finally wants to be a contributing member of society, he'll get a newsflash.

I'm no fan of computers, but there are plenty of grocery stores kids can bag groceries in. Like many of them will...

I don't like the idea of people being replaced by machines, there aren't enough jobs as it is. However, most of the McDonalds staff in the UK are scruffy, and really can't be bothered, you can barely get a grunt out of them. The adverts where they have older, presentable friendly staff are misleading, the older staff are usually the ones cleaning the tables and emptying the bins. We have to talk to a machine to place our order in the drive-thru as it is because apparently it is too difficult for the staff to take your order and get you to pay at the same window, now you talk to a grunting person through the machine, then drive to the window, where the same grunting person can barely drag themselves away from their conversation with someone over the other end of the kitchen area, then you pay, and drive to another window where after a long wait your food is shoved at you.

I get it that the pay is not great and it is a thankless job, but I am always polite to the staff, and I expect it in return. They shouldn't replace them with machines though, they should just employ older people who are trying to get back into work, people who appreciate that they have a job, and will do a good job.

Haha I had bad service at McDonalds this evening, so there's my rant!