An angry takeaway customer who staged a one-man drive-thru protests over missed items in his UberEats order claimed he has received a ‘refund and apology’ from McDonald’s.
Father-of-four David Shepherd, 51, approached McDonald’s head office after his fries and drinks were missing from his £73 order and was issued with a ‘full refund with a sincere apology’.
Mr Shepherd claims the the fast-food chain agreed with his position, concurring that he had every right to expect fresh meals delivered to replace his incorrect order.
McDonald’s agreed that managers should have been able to use their discretion instead of sticking rigidly to a policy under the threat of sacked by their superiors, according to Mr Shepherd.
Kent Police attended the scene at the McDonald’s drive-thru in Whitstable, Kent, after a second call was made alerting the force that a man was becoming ‘aggressive’.
David Shepherd was joined by his children on the counter of McDonald’s in Whitstable, Kent, as he demanded they replace his full order after it was delivered with items missing
McDonald’s described this escalation of the situation, involving the police, ‘completely unnecessary’, according to Mr Shepherd.
He added the fast-food chain agreed that the police were called due to the ‘manager’s stubbornness to resolve the issue by simply giving me the meals that I’d paid for’.
A manager reportedly spoke to Mr Shepherd of there being ‘enough of us’ to remove him, which Mr Shepherd took as a veiled threat, was branded as ‘unacceptable’ by McDonald’s, according to him.
Mr Shepherd claims McDonald’s also informed him that feedback on the back of his complaint would be shared with the managers on duty, their superiors, and the franchisee.
Since Mr Shepherd’s drive-thru protests, McDonalds will be further investigating the Whitstable branch after becoming aware of hundred of complaints similar on the local social media pages, according to Mr Shepherd.
McDonalds head office told Mr Shepherd that penalising the customer with the third party delivery company policy was avoiding the issues being faced by the branch.
Mr Shepherd said: ‘Hopefully, my protest worked insofar as they will be forced to improve their service to reduce errors and complaints, and may even improve the refund process in the future.’
During the drive-thru sit in, Mr Shepherd sat for two and a half hours on the counter – vowing not to move until his order was fulfilled – and then moved his car into the drive-thru for a further hour, Kent Online reports.
He filmed the chaotic scene as other drivers reversed out of the blocked drive-thru and police arrived.
Mr Shepherd, of Herne Bay, Kent, said: ‘It’s basically a little guy taking on the ridiculous and unfair policy of a multi billion pound corporation.’
After two and a half hours sitting on the counter, Mr Shepherd moved his car and blocked the drive-thru for a further hour
Mr Shepherd explained how he had spent over £70 on a delivery for his family and one of his son’s friends who was staying with them.
He said: ‘We were having a sleepover with my children and one of my son’s friends and we decided as a holiday treat to get a McDonald’s order in.
‘When it arrived about a third of the order was missing. Half of the drinks were missing and there were no fries.
‘The policy is you need to get in touch with Uber who will refund you the missing items. But the thing is, it’s not Uber who packed the bags, it’s McDonald’s.’
Although Uber refunded Mr Shepherd £21 for the missing items, he went to McDonald’s to ask for the correct order – noting that his children had missed out on their holiday treat.
As proof, he took the food order with him in order to show staff which items were missing.
He said: ‘I told them we want to eat the meal together. The food was getting cold.
‘In the past, if there’s been a mistake they’ve happily exchanged the full meal. I got to the counter and asked for a full replacement. One of the duty managers said, “we’ve stopped doing that now”.
Mr Shepherd’s McDonald’s receipt, which included orders for two large fries, five medium fries and several drinks which weren’t delivered
The McDonald’s drive-thru in Chestfield in Whitstable, Kent, where Mr Shepherd staged his protest
In order to make his case, Mr Shepherd took along his order to McDonald’s to show staff which items were missing, He says the food got cold and they refused to provide a full replacement
‘I said, “it’s not good enough”. At that point I sat on the counter.’
In protest, Mr Shepherd remained sat on the counter for two and a half hours, joined by his children. He said during that time he chatted and joked with other customers.
He said: ‘They all thought it was a bit of a laugh.
‘One of the managers said to me, “what kind of example are you setting your children” and I said, “to take responsibility when you’ve made a mistake”.
‘This is about a bigger issue, while I was sat on the counter there were numerous people complaining about their orders. Their policy doesn’t work.’
After a confrontation with another manager, Mr Shepherd left the counter and moved his car from the car park. He spent a further hour blocking the drive-thru.
At this point, police were called and Mr Shepherd agreed to move on after spending three and a half hours at loggerheads with shop staff.
The full-time musician maintains he was not aggressive during his protest.
Mr Shepherd, 51, pictured last night sitting on the counter of the McDonald’s in Whitstable, Kent, where he remained for two and a half hours before using his car to block the drive-thru
Footage showed cars reversing out of the drive after Mr Shepherd blocked it with his car
Police later came on to the scene and gave advice to Mr Shepherd, who agreed to move on
A Kent Police spokesman said: ‘Kent Police was made aware of a civil dispute at McDonald’s in Thanet Way, Chestfield, at around 6.45pm on Wednesday 6 April 2023.
‘As no criminal offences were being reported, management were advised to try and resolve the matter amicably but told to call back if they have any concerns for their safety and that of their customers.
‘At around 8.20pm the force received a second call reporting that a man had become aggressive. Patrols attended and spoke to the man who agreed to settle the matter. No offences were reported.’
McDonald’s and UberEats have been contacted for comment.
