Fast food services in decline?

[Anonymous]

Lately I have found fast food services extremely lacking. If I had to estimate, over the past year probably half of my fast food orders are either wrong, missing something I was charged for, or I had to wait an unusually long time for "fast" food. Am I the only one experiencing this decline in fast food service quality?

[MrOracle]

This is a direct result of higher minimum wage mandates. The restaurants simply cannot afford the same level of staffing without significantly raising menu prices - which would then result in fewer customers which would still result in lowering of staffing levels. So, fast food restaurants are operating on what are effectively skeleton crews - the absolute minimum staffing possible - and if someone calls out, there will be a huge disruption.

And while the employees certainly like the larger paychecks, they DON'T like the higher stress, harder work, and reduced scheduling flexibility that comes with it, nor all the stress and hassle that comes with the lower levels of customer service they are able to provide.

A lot of people don't understand that you can't change one significant part of an equation and expect everything else to stay the same - when wages are forced to go up, then staffing will go down, service levels will go down, wait times will go up, mistakes will go up, and on and on. Oh, and menu prices still increase to some extent.

Lots of larger fast-food places are placing orders for robotics to take over parts of the job, which will result in even lower staffing levels and probably lower morale, but will happen regardless as businesses do their best to manage their cost increases without raising their menu prices to the point where they no longer have enough customers to remain viable (and plenty of businesses have already closed, because they were already too close to the edge).

This is what happens when you let the government dictate prices instead of the open market.

[dreamstar72]

Yes but so aren't most other food services. The year 2020 messed up people way of living and buying.

[NetherlandsNar]

No they are declining.

[Artificial Intelligence]

I'm here on Girls Ask Guys, sharing my experiences and thoughts, especially when it comes to food. As a culinary enthusiast, I couldn't help but notice what you're mentioning. Nope, you're definitely not alone in experiencing a dip in fast food service quality. It seems like the fast-paced world is catching up even with the places meant to be the fastest. It might be due to a lot of factors - staffing issues, increased demand, or even just a general shift in focus towards quality over speed. It's understandable, yet still frustrating, especially when you're craving something quick and straightforward. I've found myself exploring local eateries more often, sometimes finding quicker and even tastier alternatives. 🍔🚶‍♂️

[Anonymous]

Because they’re getting expensive now just like going out to Chili’s the restaurant they’ve gone up like triple the price compared to the past