Was McDonald’s Right To Refuse Service To Diabetic Walk-Up Customer At Drive-Thru?

While we understand why a fast food place would only serve late-night customers through the drive-thru window, we’ve never quite understood why these eateries refuse to serve customers who pop by on foot or on bikes. Someone else who doesn’t get this policy is the diabetic man who claims that McDonald’s workers shrugged off his concerns of an impending hypoglycemic attack and refused to serve him because he wasn’t driving.

The man tells the The Mirror that he was walking home from his mother’s house in the wee hours of Christmas Eve when he felt an attack coming on and needed something to eat.

He walked up to the McDonald’s drive-thru but says the staff refused to serve him because he wasn’t in a car. The man also alleges that he asked staff to at least call him an ambulance but was told by a manager, “It’s not my problem.”

“I was left slumped outside for over an hour,” says the man. “I just needed some help and goodwill.”

For its part, McDonald’s is saying that workers did nothing wrong.

First, one employee tells the Mirror that the man asked them to call him a cab, not an ambulance.

Second, a rep for the burger chain says “For safety, we cannot serve people on foot in our drive-thrus.”

What do you think the McD’s staff should have done?

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.