McDonald's experiences huge delivery driver queues on first day of reopening

13 May 2020, 21:10

By Nick Hardinges

@NHardinges

McDonald's saw queues of delivery drivers piling up around street corners as the fast-food chain reopened its doors for hungry customers.

With 15 McDonald's stores opening back up across the country on Wednesday, ravenous customers were quick to get their Big Mac orders in via delivery services.

But with fewer chains came huge demand, as delivery drivers from Uber Eats and Deliveroo were spotted queuing around the block outside some restaurants to collect orders for their customers.

But some punters were left empty-stomached as they complained about being unable to place purchases through Uber Eats.

McDonald's closed its doors to customers on 24 March following the government's decision to enter lockdown the previous day amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Branches are now running reduced menus and shorter opening hours (11am to 10pm) due to fewer numbers of staff working in kitchens.

The fast-food chain has also introduced a £25 spending limit on Uber Eats in a bid to control the number of orders coming through.

McDonald's also plans to reopen 40 drive-thru lanes from next week, where the restrictions on orders will remain in place. However, dining areas will remain closed to the public in the meantime.

But some customers were left disappointed upon the return of the chain.

One woman tweeted: "My Watford one has gone off the website and app completely, i got to checkout, put in all my details and it just disappeared."

A second wrote: "How come Tooting McDonald’s isn’t showing up on the Uber Eats App? I live very close to it. Has it been overloaded with demand?"

Another person tweeted: “I’m within two minutes of McDonald’s Boreham why is it saying I’m too far away.”

An Uber Eats spokeswoman said: “As some McDonald’s stores begin to reopen in the UK, demand is very high, and we urge customers to be patient as we work with McDonald's to help to ensure that orders are fulfilled.”

A spokesperson for McDonald's responded to customers on Twitter, saying: "Some of our restaurants are currently experiencing very high levels of orders and may not be able to facilitate all delivery requests and deliveries may become temporarily unavailable."

A separate tweet from the firm read: "Our pilot restaurants are operating differently, with social distancing and smaller teams, this means we are unable to process as many delivery orders as usual.

"Please bear with us as we adjust to the new ways of working and prioritise the safety of our people."