Fast food giant McDonald’s is well known for its family friendly atmosphere and warm, welcoming vibes. But, for one man in California recently, his visit to his local Golden Arches was not very welcoming at all. In fact, as he went through drive-thru to make his order, an employee refused him service and accused him of being drunk. Turns out, though, that the man is actually on anxiety medication, and the side effect of this can cause him to shake, which is likely the reason why he was refused service.
The video is almost six minutes long and documents the man’s confrontation with both the manager of the California McDonald’s store, and the employee who refused him service in the drive-thru. It opens as he’s walking up to the counter, and is accompanied by the caption, “McDonald’s employee accused me of being drunk and refused service to me but didn’t take the time to question me about my disability!!!!“
After about 45 seconds of waiting at the counter, the young female employee who refused him service approaches. “Hey, I’m the drunk guy, remember?” states the man. “Oh, yeah, I remember you.” replies the employee who walks away for a bit, seemingly to get her manager. After a few moments, the customer clarifies to the worker, “You do know I’m not drunk, right? You said I was drunk, though.” Dismissively, the employee responds, “I believe you, I believe you.” and walks away, while the manager takes over to deal with the situation.
With genuine concern, the manager asks, “I’m sorry about that. What happened?” The man explains, “She said I was drunk and she–” though the next few words are hard to make out, as he mumbles under his breath. The next part is clearer, though: “I said I was on medication and she said that I was drunk and yo I’m drunk. She refuses to count me. You know what I’m saying? I don’t know why she was doing that to me for.” In response, the manager says, “I’m gonna talk to her right now. I’ve already talked to her earlier. I already told her not to say anything.”
Continuing on, the man states, “And she kept behind the window. And that wasn’t right. You know what I’m saying? She said ‘I was drunk. And yes you are drunk.’ And she says she smelt liquor on me. Do you smell liquor on me?” Clearly, the McDonald’s manager responds, “No, I don’t.” Going further, the customer explains, “It’s because my medication. I get anxiety and I shake. And she’s telling me that my disability is that. And that’s not right. That’s why I parked right here, and I came in here and I’m talking to you. And you’re doing the right things. But her? That’s not fair.” After a few more mumbled words, the frustrated patron declares, “She can’t be doing that to me. You know what I’m saying? She can’t be treating me like that. McDonald’s is — like, that’s not right. I want to pay for my bill.”
After a few moments, the manager returns with the customer’s order in hand and says, “It’s okay. I got you. I’m sorry about that.” As the man offers his money to pay, the manager kindly refuses to take his money, and gives the meal to him on the house. The customer, however, is still not fully placated and wants the name of the employee, to which the manager replies, “Chanel.” The man responds, “I’m gonna report this.” and that it is “so wrong of her to treat me like that.”
At this point, it sounds like the customer is so upset that he’s on the verge of tears. “I pay my taxes. I’m a manager at Wilko. I’m about to cry. It’s not fair.” The McDonald’s manager is very supportive and empathetic, and even asks Chanel to apologise to the customer. However, the first words out of her mouth are, “Umm“. and after a long silence, she says, “I’m sorry” but it doesn’t sound very genuine. “Why was I drunk for? I’m not drunk.” exclaims the man, with emotion in his voice. Judging by the employee’s face, she doesn’t seem to believe him, and even says, “Just go home, you know? It’s okay. You have your food, I think for free.”
“I don’t want it for free, though. I got money in my hands.” retorts the customer. “You can’t accuse me of being drunk.” To this, she again quickly repeats, “Yeah, I’m sorry about that.” before saying, “But you’re off medication?” which the man confirms. “Okay. Now I know that’s why you were acting the way you were.” replies the employee, although she then says in a patronising way, “Whatever makes you feel better. It’s okay.”
While the awkward video continues to circulate on social media, netizens took to the comments section to share their thoughts, and many criticised the employee at the hear of the drama. Over on TikTok, one comment read, ““Have a good day just go home” Basically telling him to sleep it off as if he’s drunk.” while another weighed in with, “how she said “well with you being on medication now I know why you were acting that way”… 😑🤬 she ain’t sorry an was being cocky there.” Elsewhere, another commenter wrote, “The girl’s response was wild. The more she kept talking, the more my mouth dropped.” A fourth simply read, “the voice crack got me.. i’m so sorry this happened to you no one deserves to go through something like this 🥺❤️❤️”
While it’s unclear what the fallout was after the incident occurred, one thing is clear: the McDonald’s manager was very professional and dealt with the situation well by de-escalating the incident as much as she could. The other employee on the other hand? I think she may need a little more training when it comes to customer service.
