Chick-Fil-A Wins Big For Kindness, But Takes A Big L For Drive-Thru Service
Aaahh, Chick-fil-A. My happy place. My lunchtime ace in the hole. My #1.
In a new study, fast food customers across the country seem to agree with me that Chick-fil-A is #1 in customer service and food quality. However, and I agree with this too, they are some of the slowest fast food restaurants when it comes to drive-thru service.
Ouch. I hate to break it to you, but you'd think they'd just be happy to keep us happy. That includes powering through the drive-thru lanes during morning rush hour breakfast runs (I miss you, chicken minis), and the lunch time craziness.
In the industry's quick service restaurant drive-thru study, customers say that they love the Chick-fil-A drive thru for accuracy, taste, and customer service. But speed - took the 'L'.
The average wait time at Chick-fil-A clocked in at 488.8 seconds, or just over 8 minutes.
Another chicken joint beat out Chick-fil-A in the speed category. That win goes to KFC! They're wait time is just over 4 and a half minutes.
And if breakfast really is your thing, you may want to run to Dunkin'. The study found that Dunkin' has the quickest drive-thru in the business, with an average wait just over 3 and a half minutes.
The other heavy-hitters - Taco Bell, Burger King and McDonald's - all clocked in an average between 5 and 6 minutes.
The study attributes Chick-fil-A's drive-thru challenges with "constantly crowded lanes that aren't showing any signs of dying down in the near future." Customers are also picking up mobile orders in the drive-thru.
The report also says customers waited an average of 4 and one quarter minutes from speaker to order window in 2019. That's about 20 seconds longer than in 2018.