McDonald’s pressed over ‘menu item that actually doesn’t exist’

The fast food outlet came under fire after a customer made multiple failed attempts to get their hands on a pack of shaker fries.

McDonald’s has been pressed on the legitimacy of one of its menu items after a customer claimed they were told the product didn’t even exist.

The diner, based in Tasmania, expressed his gripe online last week after making several attempts to get his hands on some Chicken Salt Shaker Fries.

He explained how after ordering the shaker fries in a takeaway meal through the MyMacca's app a few weeks ago, he was devastated when he got home and they weren’t in his bag.

“I was annoyed, and assumed someone forgot to put them in,” he wrote of the experience.

On Monday last week he made a second attempt to acquire shaker fries, ordering at the counter for a dine-in meal.

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McDonald’s has been pressed on whether a particular menu item actually exists. Photograph: Cameron Bates

“The order arrives. No shaker fries, again,” he recalled.

Understandably peeved, the disgruntled customer then confronted a staff member about the issue.

“So I go up to the counter and they tell me ‘sorry, we don’t sell shaker fries’,” he wrote.

He expressed how the situation had been made all the more frustrating after he realised the store could be knowingly charging people for a product it didn’t stock.

“You don’t sell them, but you’re happy to include them in all of your menus and charge people money for them? Maybe don’t do that,” he wrote.

“Twice I’ve purchased and paid for a product that I didn’t receive. And I bet this has happened to a lot more people.”

The diner was shocked at how seemingly no one at the store had done anything to stop customers from being able to purchase shaker fries.

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Chicken Salt Shaker Fries were apparently not available at a store in Tasmania. Picture: McDonald's

His post, which described the matter “pretty unsatisfactory”, later received a response from a McDonald’s employee who agreed the situation was concerning.

They attached a form to lodge a complaint and the employee promised the issue would be “fixed up for you”, but again, the man ran into trouble.

“After I submitted the contact form, it took me to a blank page, with ‘Error’ in the browser title bar. I am hoping the message went though … it didn’t let me send it a second time (captcha session re-use),” he added in a comment.

A McDonald’s spokesperson told news.com.au the shaker fries were supposed to be available in all stores but occasionally there were supply troubles.

“Unfortunately, there may be times when certain menu items may be unavailable at an individual restaurant or on the MyMacca’s App,” they said.