1 June 2011:
The thing about Macs and KFC.
Yesterday, I went to eat MacDonalds. Today, I went to eat KFC. First, here's what I had at Macs.
Filet O Fish McValue Meal. With one Filet O Fish burger (duh), one packet of fries, and Coke. $4.50.
And here's what I had at KFC.
Ultimate Value Box. With one Shrooms Burger, one mashed potato, one chicken drumstick, and Pepsi (or whatever drink that was anyway). $5.70.
I think I'll be avoiding KFC in a while. Why?
1. Service attitude. Maybe you could say that just so happens, the crew that served me at KFC were less than acceptable as comparted to the crew at Macs. At both places, there was a large group of students, who were having a meal before heading home, I guess. The scenario was about the same: almost no seat to sit, very long queues, and a noisy environment. Not that I blame them for all these. But the person who served me at KFC was almost talking to herself!
She went about her nth routine, asking "What would you like to have, sir?", following with whatever necessary. But the way she did it was almost - like what I said - as if talking to herself. It was not about the volume, but the attitude. She was very nonchalant about it, mumbling on and on from whatever response that her brain deemed fit. It was serioiusly as if she was slurring or something.
Would you compare that to the guy that served me at Macs. He was energetic (or at least looked like it), and sincere. He was rushing through my order, but I certainly would accept the reason that there were 10 hungry schoolboys behind me. May I add: he was still able to complete the whole process smoothly and successfully.
Right. I also remembered something. I was told that the Shrooms burger in my meal, would not be ready for 3 minutes. (Note: The lady serving me did exactly say "3 minutes".) Fine, I thought, I'll just wait for it. I started having the rest of my meal, while waiting for my Shrooms burger to arrive. I waited ... and waited ... for 10 minutes. And, I nearly "lost" my Shrooms burger. The burger was placed on a tray together with "late-coming" cheese fries (and some other foods) belonging to the students, and they got an old lady to bring it to them. She placed all of it on their table. Thankfully, the students were honest enough, and told her that the extra Shrooms burger was not part of their order. Next, the old lady walked aimlessly around the place, wondering very hard who could the burger belong to. So I asked her, and took my Shrooms burger.
My point being that: (1) don't commit to 3 minutes, if it would take 10. If it were 5, I'm alright. But having to eat a burger after almost all of my meal was finished is certainly not nice. (2) Can't they at least have the old lady remember that the burger was not part of the fries and all? I'm not blaming the old lady; it wasn't her fault that the rest of the crew were so ambiguous in their instructions. One of them just briefly poked in the students' direction, telling her to send it there.
There was no such problem during MacDonalds. Granted, you could say that this is slightly unfair, since maybe the same problem could have happened if my order was delayed in MacDonalds. So I shall move on.
2. "Value". I seriously think the Ultimate Value Box is an irony crafted by KFC. How is it "value" when I can find something of a similar portion when compared to McValue Lunch? It's $1.20 more expensive, yet the amount of food is about the same. For once, I really feel cheated. I do agree that this is not hawker fare, and don't expect it to be as cheap as $3.50, but ... $5.70? I'd rather have MacDonalds for a two consecutive days than this.
This, coupled with abovementioned service experience, really make me want to just stick with Macs for a long time to go.
Which brings me to ... Two days ago, Joanne Peh was ranting on Twitter how her experience in Nandos Tanglin Mall left her appalled. Apparently, what made her most angry was the fact that the staff applauded themselves for treating her that way. Frankly speaking, I do not think Joanne Peh would be one that throws diva fits (as mentioned by one of her followers). So ... let's wait and see what's going to happen now.
I don't expect KFC to give me an official reply, if any. I'm just saying what I experienced. This is not one of those posts that bloggers like Xiaxue use to embarrass people or anything. (I still remember the post she did about this guy who "undermines and insults [her] on Twitter"!)
TTFN.