Burger King Bashing

[TheFugitive]

Ran thru the drive-thru for lunch today as I was out running some errands.

I ordered a double cheeseburger, a small onion rings, and a small coffee with cream and sugar.
The cashier seemed to have a terrible time hearing me.  She kept asking me over and over again
how many creams I wanted in my coffee.  This as the words "small Coke" kept appearing and disappearing
on the order screen.  Finally after five tries she got the coffee in there and I proceeded to the window.

Drove away and discovered that I was given fries and not onion rings.  Did not feel like going back
so I ate them.  They were fine, but not what I ordered.  Then bit into the burger and the bun was
hard and stale.

Worst was the coffee, which was somewhere between lukewarm and tepid.  Strange because part
of the cup was bubbled as if it had suffered heat damage.

I could see if I had ordered something exotic, but we can't handle a cheeseburger, O-rings and coffee?   ???

[Ameskid]

It sometimes seems that BK restaurants are the worst, appearance-wise, of the "big three" (McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger King). Whereas McD's and Wendy's have made conscious efforts to reinvent their image in recent years, Burger King doesn't seem to have done much at all.

They're probably not going the way of Burger Chef any time soon, but BK locations often seem to play second fiddle to McDonald's and Wendy's - and rightfully so.

[Hudsons81]

It sometimes seems that BK restaurants are the worst, appearance-wise, of the "big three" (McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger King). Whereas McD's and Wendy's have made conscious efforts to reinvent their image in recent years, Burger King doesn't seem to have done much at all.

They're probably not going the way of Burger Chef any time soon, but BK locations often seem to play second fiddle to McDonald's and Wendy's - and rightfully so.

There are quite a few around here that have remodeled into something that looks like this:

[Bdubs]

They just renovated the Cromwell, CT location. Looks similar to the photo above.
A couple years ago, all the BKs in the South Eastern part of the state were all torn down and rebuilt from the ground up. They were all rebuilt looking exactly the same. The dining room is just one big room with high top tables around the perimeter some booths and regular tables and chairs in the middle.
Very drab and boring. All the play places were removed as well at those locations.

[MikeRa]

It sometimes seems that BK restaurants are the worst, appearance-wise, of the "big three" (McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger King). Whereas McD's and Wendy's have made conscious efforts to reinvent their image in recent years, Burger King doesn't seem to have done much at all.

They're probably not going the way of Burger Chef any time soon, but BK locations often seem to play second fiddle to McDonald's and Wendy's - and rightfully so.

There are quite a few around here that have remodeled into something that looks like this:

Most BK in the Philadelphia area still looks like they haven't been remodeled since the 1980's, except for the modern signage on the outside of the locations

[TheFugitive]

Went through the drive-thru yesterday morning and ordered their Sausage and Cheese Muffin Sandwich, hash browns and coffee.

I was told "I'm sorry, we discontinued the muffins."

This despite the fact that I was looking right at a drive-thru menu listing several sandwiches
made on English Muffins.

"We have croissants" she told me.

I said "no thank you" and headed off down the road to McDonalds.

[busman_49]

I try to avoid breakfast at BK whenever possible.  I'll get something from Speedway or another gas station before I buy BK breakfast.

[buzz86us]

Burger King Crossiants > muffins..
Why would you want an english muffin when you can have a crossianwich

[Chuck E. Cheese]

^ I do agree on a bias, but the fact that it was still on the board uncovered is bashable.

[TheFugitive]

Most of the staff at my local BK is actually very courteous and friendly.
I think BK corporate makes some boneheaded decisions though.

Now they have added hot dogs to the menu.  Yesterday was the first day for those,
and complete chaos was breaking out behind the counter.  I waited a very long time
for my order.

To their credit the manager apologized and gave me a free Snickers pie for my trouble.

[Chuck E. Cheese]

^

[Hudsons81]

To their credit the manager apologized and gave me a free Snickers pie for my trouble.

Burger King is now selling actual pies too?

[TheFugitive]

To their credit the manager apologized and gave me a free Snickers pie for my trouble.

Burger King is now selling actual pies too?

Yes and actually it was quite good.  Sort of a cream pie with a chocolate crust and
ground up Snickers bar.

[BillyGr]

To their credit the manager apologized and gave me a free Snickers pie for my trouble.

Burger King is now selling actual pies too?

Unless this is different, they've had those for a long time.  That is, if it looks like a slice of pie in a similarly shaped box.  They just switch what type(s) they offer from time to time.

[giantsfan2016]

They eliminated the sizes of their smoothies and milkshakes. And every time I want ranch dressing for my onion rings they usually only give me one.  >:(

[buzz86us]

those are the franchises that I never visit again... I always get pickles and onions on my rodeo burger and they do it for free ..this is why I prefer Carols BK franchises... some franchises will charge like $0.10 per add-on or like $0.20 cents for condiments beyond ketchup... Carol's has BBQ sauce on tap

[BillyGr]

those are the franchises that I never visit again... I always get pickles and onions on my rodeo burger and they do it for free ..this is why I prefer Carols BK franchises... some franchises will charge like $0.10 per add-on or like $0.20 cents for condiments beyond ketchup... Carol's has BBQ sauce on tap

Although there are probably still quite a few people that wish they had their own brand still on tap rather than being a BK franchisee ;)

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Every time BK follows their competitor's lead, they almost always get creamed by the competition. The only advantages Burger King has is the size of their burgers and the fact that their burgers are fire grilled in a broiler.

[Pikapower]

There was a time where I thought Burger King was better than McDonald's, but now Burger King is just as gross as McDonald's!

[TheFugitive]

Went thru the BK drive-thru on Saturday.  Ordered spicy nuggets, onion rings, and a drink.
My total came to $4.16.

I pulled a $5 bill out of my wallet, and picked-up two dimes that were laying in my dash console.
My change would therefore have been $1.04.

For unknown reasons a manager walked over and took over the transaction from the drive-thru cashier.  She proceeded to get my change WRONG, giving me 94 cents.  The line was backed-up around the building behind me so I did not want to sit there and argue about a dime.  But disturbingly this is the second time in a few months where I went through a fast-food drive-thru and the adult manager could not figure my change correctly.

I'm not really sure why she involved herself in the first place as that cashier
appeared to have things under control.

Oh, and when I sat down to eat I found they had given me regular nuggets
and not spicy.   :(

[TheFugitive]

Stopped at a Burger King in Maryland on my way to a wedding out-of-state.

After my meal I went to the restroom.  There was one stall and one urinal. 
The stall was tied-up by a dad with a small kid who was trying to go.  Three
guys were lined up waiting for the urinal, which was occupied by a Burger King employee.

After a few minutes it became obvious that the employee was no longer actually
going but was just standing at the urinal, facing the wall, texting!  This as four of
us paying customers were lined-up waiting to use it.  Despite some yelling that seemed
to preview an imminent fight, the guy just stood at the urinal and kept texting. 

Not wanting to stick around for the fight that seemed about to break out I left and went
to a gas station across the street.  Seriously???

[TheFugitive]

Went to a Burger King in the Pittsburgh area (not the store I usually frequent).

Went in and used a coupon they had sent me for a Whopper meal.  I asked for
no mayo on the Whopper.  In my instance I guess the special order DID upset them
as it took them around twelve minutes to give me what I ordered.

While waiting I looked at a large brushed metal panel behind the cashier.  It was filthy!
Something greasy had been smeared all over it in a circular pattern and some sort of
black drippings were visible along the top edge.

There was no ketchup at the condiments station in the dining room.
I went back to the counter and asked for some.  The girl cheerfully complied.
The ketchup packets she gave me were sticky.  It looks like either maple syrup
or honey had been spilled all over them.

I used my receipt to log onto the BK Survey website to tell them about the poor
cleanliness of the store only to discover that the website had gone down.

[shore72]

I can't remember the last really good experience I've had at a BK. Mostly I'll just stop there for an ice cream cone as they're cheap and you don't have to wait long. (While other customers are waiting around for their food, the clerk will just go and handle the cone themselves right away.) One day a better-than-average clerk talked me into a piece of pre-made ice cream pie as she said it was so hot back there that the soft-serve was soupy.

Do first impressions matter? Back around 2000 my wife and I went into the Seaford, DE BK and the floors were sticky (I guess too much soap in the mop bucket?) That was the last time we went there and almost every time we drive by she mentions that floor. 18 years! They have remodeled it recently but I still don't know that she'd give it another chance.

[giantsfan2016]

My local Burger King (Queen Street Southington) started taking names when you place an order. And they still tried to give me the wrong order yesterday.  >:(

[TheFugitive]

This morning I went through the drive-thru and ordered a sausage biscuit and some hash browns.

I was told "I'm sorry, Sir, we're out of biscuits."

Seriously??  ???

[Ameskid]

I've noticed that the overall cleanliness of Burger Kings around here is generally much worse than McDonald's or Wendy's. I'm sure it's not just in my area, either.