Two Sundays ago Susie dined at a McDonald's in Windsor, Connecticut while driving to New Hampshire. It was her first time to eat at McDonald's in 15 years. She was not pleased. The Chicken Sandwich that she (finally) received was raw inside. The rest of her story, in her own words is below this photo of the sandwich:
Here's a larger version of the raw chicken at Susie's Flickr site. You can also read about it on her blog, Felber's Frolics.
"At McDonalds my husband ordered 2 coffees and two grilled chicken sandwiches -- what we considered to be the healthy option.
Much time passed. Ten minutes later neither the coffee nor the sandwiches were ready. The store was not busy at all, there was never a line. But people who ordered burgers and fries were being served. However, when we arrived, a guy was fighting with the employees because he had paid for his breakfast item, but apparently they were all out of breakfast food.
My husband noticed people shuffling back on forth from store to behind the counter, some of whom were not in uniform. He got the impression that they possibly didn't work there and were just hanging out with their friends. Not sure, but it was odd.
My husband asked where our food was. They said it was coming. Then he asked if the coffees were ready. They were. Apparently they had been put by the drive thru window.
After about 20 minutes the sandwiches arrived. I was hungry and in a rush with a squirmy baby, but surprisingly I didn't eat it immediately, as I noticed there was heaps of mayo spilling off of it, so I opened the sandwich to rake as much as possible off.
I ate two bites. It wasn't good, but as it was road food, I didn't expect it to be great. It was hard to eat as the mayo kept making the chicken slip out of the mushy bread. I noticed the cheese hadn't melted, but that didn't bother me. On about my third or fourth bite, I noticed something was very wrong. I spit it out and yelled, "Oh my god, it's raw!"
Long story short, the McDonalds workers didn't apologise. They gave back our money in a resigned way that suggested this wasn't uncommon. The manager looked dully at me and her only answer was, "yeah...um...I don't know how that happened." But this was only after demanding an explanation as they seemed like my husband and I were making a stink over nothing even after showing them the raw sandwich.
It was a degrading experience, all the way around.
I was sick for a few days, but don't know how much was physical and how much was from the idea of it. I don't think I'll be eating chicken for a long time to come. And I'll never eat at McDonalds again."
44 comments:
People given minimum wage didn't care ? Wow, I am shocked at this development.
Like they say, she got what she paided for.
I hope that Susie reports this to McDonald's directly, too. Aside from the lack of customer service, this incident almost makes clear how much value McDonald's places on its "healthier" options. The photo is really just so disturbing...
I don't feel sorry for her at all. I mean everyone knows McDonald's is bad for you. She was complaining about a chicken sandwhich with too much mayo. First off, ANY chicken sandwhich from McD's is just bad, forget about the excess mayo.
eat better food, pack veggies.
This doesn't even look like a McDonalds grilled chicken sandwich.I eat there alot and the grilled chicken doen't look like this.
i dont feel bad for you if you seen what you described and thought that you were going to get better sevice then you are wrong sec. if you wait 20 mins for coffee and there was no long lines then you cant be too brite.
I work at McDonalds.
The grilled chicken meat takes 8 minutes to cook.
And Chicken Mcgrils are NOT supposed to have cheese on it? It is a sesame seed bun, Grill chicken, Mayo, Tomato, and leaf lettuce.
same thing happened to me ten years ago at a Checkers in Athens, GA. They were like "so do you want another one or what?" Um no, refund please.
Non-English speaking, possibly illiterate immigrants, retarded adults and punk kids are all I ever see in McDs. Hardly makes me confident in the kwality of my purchase there.
wow. anonymous people are so sweet, aren't they?
that said, take this up the chain. health violations up the wazoo, they DEFINITELY need to be shut down. Raw chicken contamination can lead to many more people getting sick, even if they ordered something else. Raw meats at fast food places should always ALWAYS be properly handled and cooked, no matter HOW shoddy the restaurant.
FYI - That's not a McD bun. Nice try.
sweet! i would have put some wasabi on that. i love me some chicken sashimi from time to time, although probably not from a mcdonald's bird lol.
To Susie Felber,
It's terrible that some people feel the need to call you names in order to get their point across. Perhaps your story is true, however, your photo looks like it wasn't the one you took at the McDonalds. There is no cheese on the McDonalds Grilled chicken sandwich, and the bun appears to be whole wheat in the picture. The fact that you don't have any McDonalds wrappers, trays, or signage shown gives the image very little factual weight to go along with your upsetting story. And it seriously took you three bites before you realized it was raw chicken?? I don't know about you, but I can tell in the first chomp if my food is raw or not. ( I know this from having been accidentaly fed raw duck at a Holiday dinner) I sincerely hope your diarrhea stops... take that in whichever way you like.
What's the problem? McDonalds only serves sushi grade chicken.
That's some nice lighting and depth of field in that photo. It's gotta be tough hauling that bulky SLR rig and a baby everywhere you go.
come on guys.... McD only uses precooked chicken. Besides, as many before me here pointed out, this is not a McD bun ;) nice try though but in the end just another hoax
Yup, sorry. Next time you try to spread FUD about McDonald's (I mean, let's be honest here, we don't need anyone to tell us it's bad; we already know), here are some pointers:
1) GO TO MCDONALD'S. I think this is the big step you forgot about.
2) ORDER A SANDWICH THAT ACTUALLY EXISTS. I've eaten the grilled chicken sandwich there a few times, really, because it actually is the healthiest thing on the menu. It ain't half bad, either.
3) GET IDENTIFYING PACKAGING IN THE SHOT. All I see is a box with some green on it.
4) TAKE THE PIC WITH A CRAPPY CELLPHONE CAMERA. No one believes such a pretty picture.
Better luck next time.
re: Hoax
You people may have missed that her Flickr photo set has the box, the restaurant and the original receipt.
McDonald's Horror photoset
OUCH! that's my hometown, AND that McD's is at the same exit as my old home. I recall there was some resistance to them building it, but we moved away before it was completed.
Hahhahaha. That doesn't look like McDonalds chicken. All of there food comes precooked.
And the bread doesn't look like anything I've seen come out of that place.
one of the interesting things about the internet is the anonymity-- the people posting here who cast doubt on your claim could very well be making an honest point, or could be shills for McD's Corporate who are "running interference" by trying to quell any perceived inadequacy in their product. Different McD's in different parts of the country serve slightly different menus, especially if they are test marketing a new sandwich, so if you've "never seen a McChicken like that", well, so what?
Perhaps the blogger has a vendetta against McD's, or perhaps they're completely honest-- but I DO know that these things DO happen: burgers occassionally get undercooked, mice fall into the deep fryer, a bag of frozen chicken wings sometimes has a battered chicken-head in the mix (just like hot dogs have a certain amount of rat hairs in them, and fig newtons have a certain amount of insect parts in them)-- These things happen.
Hey critical dipshits . . . quit trying to claim it's not a McD's sandwich based on your own fond recollections of working at the place some years ago. There's a whole set of photos on Flickr to provide the context, and it's obviously one of them swanky "premium" chicken sandwiches that they started serving a couple of years ago.
Seriously, can anyone explain what could possibly motivate the people who feel the need to attack Susie for posting this? Don't worry, folks, you won't lose your own fast food jobs over this, I promise!
That is a McDonalds bun. They started using those buns on their "premium" chicken sandwiches about a year ago. The only meat that comes pre-cooked to McDonalds is the sausage for breakfast. The chicken comes to the store pre-marinated, but still raw. She could have always ordered the sandwich with cheese. I think this story is legit, but I think that she could have less bitchy about it. I worked at McDonalds for 5 years when I was in school. I can tell you that people who work there don't care and don't have any reason to. Any time some pain in the ass came in complaining about some stupid mistake that one of us made and thinking they're superior to us do you really think anyone gave a rat's ass? If you want good customer service all you need to do is ask nicely.
"If you want good customer service all you need to do is ask nicely."
Bullshit - you don't get to do nothing for 20 minutes, grudingly give someone what they ordered, THEN ask for people to be nice to you. You do your job right and people are nice. After you wait 20 minutes for something, there's no way asking nicely is going to get you anything from those asshats. They. Don't. Care.
Mcdonalds menu search if you need it.
I wouldn't make a blanket statement that all McDonald's are bad. It depends on who is managing that particular store, who the employees are, etc.
There's a Wendy's in town that has one good English speaker, the manager. All the rest of the employees are Hispanics who can't (or won't) speak English. You have to point to what you want and if you need anything special, you have to wait for the frazzled manager to come and help the employee figure out what you want. After 2 bad experiences at that Wendy's, I've never returned to that particular one.
hahahahaha, that last comment was hilarious. I see why you'd still be in school, but I seriously doubt your claim to be a college student. It's just too rich.
After viewing thes photo's on Flickr, I guess the claim is legit. However, the receipts say those were Grilled club sanwiches, which come with mayo, bacon, lettuce, swiss cheese, and tomato, all of which didnt appear on the burgers they were given. Had they order them made special, the receipt would have said so. Just wanted to point that out.
Also, things happen, I'm sure the lady has NEVER undercooked food in her house. I'm sorry that her experience was bad, but she is also very sterotypical in saying all McDonald's and employees there are terrible. There is more the job than most customers can see, so please, have at least some respect for us.
Ive worked at mcdonald too and you would think for a billion dollar company they could hire better cooks not dumb asses that couldnt cook a grill cheese>On sunday may 18 my family and I ate two raw mcchickens.Not undercooked I meen raw! They are supposed to be precooked the manager said, but these were not.I told my boss,were I work. the story about the mcchicken that were pink and raw.
He tells me the same thing happened to him almost the same day. The mcdonalds this happened is over ten miles from were I ATE.THEY TOLD HIM MCCHICKEN WERE NOT PRECOOKED.
Somebody screwed up.When I brought the chicken back they acted like its no big deal not even an appology.
I wana give everyone in the world a warning that is not listed on the box.{Please check all chicken to make sure its not raw.Your family could get sick and die.
every time I think chicken I wana puke now.I seen a hungry guy chowing down a mcchicken today the same place my boss got his. I wander how many hungery people ate the mcchickens and didnt even know it was raw.Just to think my son could have eating that and would not have known. I need to figure out how to post my video and pictures.I used to love mcdonalds.I will never eat there again.I ve been on the phone with the owner,the health department, lawyers.They all want to see this sandwich.Im sure glad I didnt give it back.Why do they want it back so bad?Like I said I got pictures and video.So for all you corporate screw ups Im making paper hand outs since this warning is not on the box!
call me crazy, but even for minimum wage, I care.
No matter what my job. if I accidentally give someone the wrong drink cup, I apoligize, and I make it right. I understand this person's anger, i feel if you are parting with your hard earned money, you should walk away happy, but I also feel that generalizing minimum wage workers, and yes, even those they serve, is well, can I say wrong? Oh my gosh people, sometimes, ya just want MicKey D's, and that's okay! and hey guys, sometimes yer gonna get a whole entire crew of folks who really don't care. It stinks, but it's just what we in Missouri call a bad day, and then we move on. PEACE!
I just got home, its 4:23am. I was served a "southern style chicken sandwich" at the McDonalds on Effingham and London Blvd in Portsmouth, Va. I ate nearly half of it before I realized the entire chicken patty was completely RAW. Being late saturday-night/early sunday-morning I got an answering machine at the local "department of health". the manager wouldnt acknowledge me whatsoever. I had to quarrel with 911 to get a police officer to finally show up so I could file a report... just for him to tell me that this was a civil matter and I must take it up with....
the Helth Department.... [as i am showing him the RAW chicken sandwich that I had half eaten]
The manager approached me around two hours later (i REFUSED to just walk away and forget about it)
and I filled out a "McDonalds Complaint Form". Like the police officer told me... Im keeping the entire order - receipt, raw sandwich, cola's, fries and all, in the freezer until monday when someone actually gives a shit that I ingested RAW CHICKEN from a McDonalds at 3am.
I want answers. Someone is fucking around with my health/life. They picked on the wrong dude this time.
I am gonna raise hell like theyre worst nightmare.
that's not that bad... once i went to an asian chow in the mall, and ordered some orange glazed chicken.... omg.... i found about 4 chicken feet, and a head.... i noticed because i saw the beak and then I closely examined the rest of the pieces... and to my horror i found feet, head, and beak.... AGHHH
Perhaps you thought that this was a pathetic scheme to make McDonalds' look bad? If only you had taken the time to notice that the woman who had this experience has a Flickr account, which explains the photography of the sandwich. Yes most of us would have taken the picture on a cell phone, or average camera, hers obviously was taken on a good camera with a fair bit of skill. Oh if only you would have noticed the links to the other photos of the sandwich, perhaps the one of the receipt, or the photo identifying the McDonalds in the background? People are such Skeptics, and you guys really need to dig in depth before assuming its a scam. Pathetic people, very pathetic people.
Maybe she doesn't have a camera phone!! I don't. Sometimes I have my digital camera in my purse.
The Mc Chicken from Mc Donald is only a mixture from old fish and meat.
I have seen a documentary on tv and it was disgusting. They have shown what is inside of a Mc Chicken.
It is not tatsy if you know it. i will never go to MD again-Soryy!
Just when you think McDonald's food can't get any worse for you. lol
Some of these comments are just idiotic.
It doesn't matter what type of person she is, what she paid for it, what the employees get paid, or if the chicken was pre-made. Fast food or not, there is NEVER an excuse to serve raw chicken. It can kill people.
i will tell ya i will give u my name,,but the reason why im on this site,is because my daughter works at mcdonalds an ordered a chicken sandwich today for her lunch..almost a 3 dollars for the sandwich only..an when she got half way through it..it was raw...she got sick from it an had to come home early,,,so i know for a fact that mcdonalds does sell raw chicken...
Here's a similar case in Australia - the second time the same McDonald's has breached health laws ...
http://www.oneperth.com.au/2010/10/18/raw-wrap-mcdonalds-fourth-breach/
Don't go to McDonald's if you want a healthy choice, obviously.
To Ron Donaldson,
People don't appreciate the word "retarded." It is a horrible way to refer to people who are mentally disabled. Also, you want to talk about non-English speaking illegal immigrants? Maybe you should learn how to spell before you go ranting about other people. Kwality? Really?
I am a manager at a Mcdonalds in Michigan. I acknowledge that being served raw chicken is inexcusable. I believe that this part of the story is true. I do not believe this woman waited twenty minutes. Honestly, customers embellish their complaints all the time. I hear quite a few complaints because its a fast-paced environment and employees have little incentive to be anything but mediocre. When someone is yelling at me about a three dollar sandwich that was undercooked through no fault of my own, I often want to say, "I'm sorry, I can't monitor every movement of every employee every moment of every day, causing you to have a bad experience with a three dollar sandwich that I cannot even afford to buy because I only make eight dollars an hour." Unfortunately if I want to continue buying groceries and living in a house I have to apologIize and allow myself to be treated like crap. Raw chicken sucks, and so does working at Mcdonalds. That's life.
As a former Mcdonalds employee I can tell you this:
A) the grilled chicken does not come precooked
B) this was an employee oversight at that location, not a systemic failure
C) the transition from breakfast to lunch is the most hectic time of the day. The same grills that are used for sausage and scrambled eggs(also not precooked) are used for lunch food e.g. Grilled chix however they are at diff temperatures. So, you have to preheat the grill to the right temp at just the right time and pray that 1) you don't run out of breakfast food before 1030am and 2) your grilled chicken, hamburgers and nuggets and chicken etc are well stocked by 1030am. It's a gamble and a super tough judgment call every single day. A bus load of soccer players can ruin your day. It happens.
What happened here is that some 16 year old grill worker on his first day misjudged and probably didnt preheat the grill properly. A manager is supposed to check the temps of the first batch of all meats. Some pushy counter employee probably circumvented this measure, however. Or the manager sucks.
At any rate, consider this: you are paying bottom dollar for fast food. Their business model is VOLUME not creating a special experience and bond with each customer like your barber does. And as a reasonably intelligent American you already know this. Mistakes happen. It's not like they maliciously and systematically ripped you off like credit card companies do or misinformed you like 24 hour cable news networks do on a daily basis. Save your rage for a more noble cause.
You people do know that occasionally, chain restaurants; run out of products and have to substitute with stuff they have, or go to local grocery stores to get what they need? I know because I have seen them do it several times. Not only that, but you think someone who cooks chicken incorrectly, can't make another mistake, like using the wrong bread, or forget ingredients? And as another person said, she has full pictures proving it was from McDonald's.
You should all feel stupid.
I love how everyone jumps to defend a food chain, with history of being bad, and not the costumer, who is making a valid point, and not jumping to conclusions.
I am in MI. I ordered a southern chicken sandwich. It was raw. The manager only would make me another one. He said the guy cooking it was "new". I wanted my money back, he refused..only could compensate me with another sandwich. I was sick for 3 days. I called corporate after talking to him, they seemed to care. Yet I have never heard back from them, never got my refund in the mail. I will never eat there again. It was nasty!
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