On Thursday, August 12, 2010 at exactly 3:02PM, my partner and l went to the McDonald’s Restaurant, located at 3838 S. Semoran Blvd., Orlando, FL (inside Wal-Mart, store number 1084) and ordered two cheese burgers and two fries. We also asked for two ice waters and was told by the hispanic clerk, Enid, that the company is no longer giving free cups for water; that we would need to purchase drinks. As angering as this is, we agreed to purchase drinks, even though we do not drink soda.
After receiving our food, we both sat down and started to eat at which time we witnessed blatant discrimination. One female, hispanic Wal-mart employee approached the counter at McDonald’s and asked for a cup. The same employee (Enid) gladly gave her the cup and collected no money. The Wal-Mart employee proceeded to the fountain and filled the cup with soda. About 1 minute later, another customer (also a hispanic woman) approached the counter and asked for a water cup. Again, the McDonald’s employee gladly gave the cup to the customer with no hassle.
After feeling extremely discriminated against, I immediately called the phone number for customer complaints at 3:04PM, 3:08PM, 3:09PM, 3:19PM, and again at 3:20PM. Each time, I reached a voice mail for someone named “Kenny” with the HR department for some company (not McDonald’s) and left a voice mail message. I never received a return phone call.
Later that evening, I called the toll free customer service number for McDonald’s, 1-800-244-6227 and spoke with a customer service representative by the name of Kenny. He took the entire complaint and gave me reference number. He apologized for the “inconvenience” and said that he would personally be contacting the franchise owner that evening and that I would receive a phone call that same night regarding this incident. No one called.
At approximately 11:42AM, Friday August 13, 2010, I received a call from someone at the same company (assuming the franchise) and asked me if anyone ever called me. I told her no. She said she would have a manager call me and hung up. At 1:16PM on the same day, I received a call from someone that identified herself as Yvonne Isabarra and asked me what happened.
I explained the entire situation to her. During the course of the phone call and my explanation, I feel that I was being patronized by Yvonne Isabarra and after my explanation, I was told, “Thank you for your feedback. We apologize for the inconvenience and you will be receiving a letter from McDonald’s”. I explained to this person that my constitutional rights were violated by McDonald’s; I was discriminated against because I am either a man, middle aged, gay, or white and this is all that McDonald’s can do? She asked me what I wanted out of it and I told her that it is nothing to do with what I want out of it but at the minimum, I want to make sure the problem is resolved and understand McDonald’s has committed a serious offense against a customer.
I further explained to Yvonne Isabarra that I was fully aware of the gay couple that was attacked by a McDonald’s employee in Louisville, KY and this is the same type of thing. She told me she would have another manager by the name of Sam contact me. I told her that I do not want to speak with store managers, supervisors or leads. I want this handled on a district or corporate level. I asked her who Sam is; what his title is and she said “supervisor”. The conversation ended.
This is how McDonalds Hamburgers treats their customers!!! In the meantime, I have contacted the ACLU and thinking of hiring an attorney. Don't let this happen to you! Everyone in this country is equal regardless of age, sex, national origin, race, sexual orientation, etc!
