Nobody Goes There Anymore, It's Too Crowded

This is a great statement on America. McDonald's finished last in customer satisfaction based on this survey. They serve 68 million customers a day. What's wrong with this picture? Is it masochism? Americans flock to places they hate? Are we a country of whiners? What would happen if the customer satisfaction score went down and the number of customers went up? Would they invest money in improving their facilities and service or would they release a swarm of cockroaches to piss people off even more? It's almost a reverse marketing model.

I think McDonald's is doing well because people are going broke and Macky Ds is the best they can do. As long as America keeps failing their business should be good. They could probably increase profits by NOT spending the $1.5 billion on WiFi and this other crap. Just hire some recently laid off surly types and they're all set.

Over the past two years McDonald's stock has jumped from $70 to $90 a share. The message from Wall Street to McDonald's management is clear, "everything you're doing is just great. Screw 'em." In a related note, ALL of my kids hate clowns, and they love McDonald's anyway. People love...what they hate! Clear as mud.

Guess many McDonald's customers aren't lovin' it. McDonald's finished last in a ranking of its restaurant peers in a report released Tuesday by the American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Fast food restaurants Papa John's, Subway and Taco Bell all scored better than the burger giant. Among restaurants specializing in burgers, Wendy's led the pack, followed by Burger King.

The ranking isn't new territory for McDonald's, which serves 68 million customers per day. Except for 2009, when McDonald's edged ahead of of KFC and Burger King by a percentage point, McDonald's has consistently placed last in the ranking since 1995.

But Mickey D's is steadily improving. Its 73 percent satisfaction score in 2012 is a substantial gain from its all-time low of 59 percent in 2000.

McDonald's issued a statement in response to the findings: "At McDonald’s, customer satisfaction has, and continues to be, a top priority. We take all customer feedback seriously. Our internal and third-party research shows that we continue to make progress in satisfying our customers. Business results also reinforce this. In fact, the producers of the American Customer Satisfaction index said that McDonald’s customer satisfaction is at an all-time high. Still, we know we can do more by continuing to offer our customers great value, menu variety and a positive service experience every time they visit our restaurants.”

The company plans to spend $1.5 billion this year to make over its restaurants with more comfortable seating, WiFi, and McTV, reports Forbes. Recent menu changes have included smoothies, oatmeal, and bakery items. In May, McDonald's announced plans to stop buying pork from farms using gestation stalls that confine animals during the breeding and post-birth processes, a move the Humane Society of the United States considered a victory. And there is, of course, their latest claim that nothing on the menu is "unhealthy."

[Shine from yahoo!]