Tauranga McDonald’s worker tells customers to halve order and ‘ration it’

A Tauranga woman who made a late-night run to Maccas was told by a worker to halve her order and “ration it”.

Reremai Cameron filmed her encounter at the Cameron Rd branch of McDonald’s in Tauranga after visiting about 3am on Sunday.

She told the Herald she was travelling with two other carloads of mates after a night on the town, with sober drivers delivering tipsy pals for a much-needed fast-food fix.

Two cars waited in the carpark while Cameron and her friends went through the drive-thru, planning on ordering two dinner boxes.

The share meals, which contain four burgers, four fries, and four drinks, were exactly what the revellers wanted.

But upon reaching the drive-thru, a note of unhappiness crept into the meals.

A McDonald’s spokesperson said they were aware of a video on social media, and looking into it to establish "what might’ve happened”. Photo / Reremai Cameron

They asked for their dinner boxes and were told “no, can you just order one?”, Cameron claimed.

After a second refusal, Cameron began to record the encounter.

“Have you only got one?” a voice from the car asked.

“I could do two, but it would be nicer for me if you did one,” a weary voice responded.

After being told there were a lot of people waiting, the drive-thru worker responded.

“I’m sure you could ration it,” he said.

Eventually, he relented and instructed the group to move to the second window to pick up the full order.

A McDonald’s spokesperson told the Herald: “The restaurant has been made aware of a video on social media, and is looking into it to establish what might’ve happened”.

Cameron said she understood that working a night shift at the weekend must be challenging.

However, the worker had displayed a poor attitude and also threw the Eftpos machine into the car when they reached the pay window.

“He was over it,” she added.

She said they had given him no reason to be antagonistic, and his behaviour was “not normal”.

Cameron said her advice to the worker was that he should “question it in your mind, not out loud”.

And the food?

“There’s nothing you want more than a burger and chips after a night out in town, and that’s why it was so frustrating.”

Cameron reports the burgers were “top tier”. But the chips were “stale as”.

Chris Marriner is an Auckland-based journalist covering trending news and social media. He joined the Herald in 2003 and previously worked in the Herald‘s visual team. His usual Maccas order is Quarter-Pounder combo with Coke No Sugar.

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