How asking for a receipt at McDonald's can get you a nicer meal

Nowt wrong with McDonald’s, in my book. Personally, I only get it when I’ve had ‘a couple’, as I’m sure many of you do, but again - nowt wrong with that. In fact, my friend was once so drunk in a McDonald’s (in the middle of the day, natch), that he ordered, and this is verbatim:

“A hot mac… and a normal… with food.”

Top stuff. Anyway, for those of you that like a trip to McDonald’s, whether sober or, erm, not, I’ve got a tip (or ‘hack’, as people like to call them) for ya: if you want the best burger, make sure you ask for a receipt. Seems strange, but there’s a reason behind why it works. 

This top bit of advice comes from Kamran Adnan, an employee who worked in various McDonald’s restaurants around London for about a year. He suggests that if you want the freshest meal, i.e one straight off the grill and not from the heated slide, then you’ve got to ask for a receipt as you place your order. And you’ve got to do it between the hours of 12-2pm or 5-7pm.

Why? Well, it’s because those specific hours are when the mystery shoppers visit. The people employed to disguise themselves as regular punters and check whether everything is going hunky dory at any given branch. Adnan told Quora:

“In the UK we have two periods which are known as Gapbuster Times. Basically between 12-2pm and 5pm-7pm workers have to be extra careful because that is when gapbusters (mystery shoppers), who are paid, visit McDonald’s restaurants and rate their experience.

“This then goes to the overall store rating and every store manager will do everything to ensure this rating is as positive as possible.

“If you ask for a receipt in that time everyone will be immediately alert that you could be a potential gapbuster and they’ll make sure to serve you the freshest burger and fries and give you priority over everyone else.”

You see, mystery shoppers ask for receipts so that they can be reimbursed for their meal, back at Secret Diners Incorporated or whatever shady government initiative it is that’s testing all the burgers.

So essentially, by doing this you’re sneaking a bit of a white lie and pretending to be a mystery shopper to get the best tasting meal on offer. Not the most dishonest thing you’ve ever done, is it?

Extra tip: I’ve found that ordering your food wearing an overcoat, fedora and holding a newspaper in front of your face with two eye holes cut out really hammers home the point, too.

(Image: iStock)