A woman has shared a TikTok video detailing a frustrating encounter at a McDonald’s drive-thru. She claims she was denied a refund for an unavailable apple pie and that woman says employees called the police. The video, posted by a user named CookAndRex, has sparked discussion about customer service and refund policies.
The video begins with a woman speaking directly to the camera. She narrates, “I’m just not sure how the cops got called. I went to McDonald’s, ordered an apple pie. When I got to the window, they said they didn’t have one and refused to refund my money.” The footage then cuts to a view from inside a car looking at a McDonald’s drive-thru window. An employee’s face is obscured by a yellow smiley face emoji in the video.
The customer is heard asking the employee, “What, you don’t have a cash drawer?” The employee replies, “I do, but I cannot do the refund. I was told no refunds by my supervisor.” The video cuts back to the woman, who reacts with apparent disbelief, saying, “Wait, what? I paid for a product, you don’t have the product, and you won’t get my money back? Huh?”
Second employee intervenes before police are reportedly called
The footage returns to the drive-thru window. A second employee, also obscured by an emoji, steps into the frame. On-screen text reads, “Then another employee steps in to ask if I need a refund…” This second employee asks, “You need a refund?” The customer confirms, “Yep, sure do.” The second employee then asks, “Okay, what was it for?”
The first employee, now off-screen, is heard saying, “I just saw Tanisha, she said no, don’t do it.” The second employee responds, “Oh, never mind. My bad,” and appears to walk away from the window. The video cuts back to the narrator one final time. She concludes, “Then they called the cops on me. Somehow I’m the bad guy in this situation. I don’t get it.”
The video’s public caption states, “I just wanted an apple pie. 🍎😂 McDonald’s was out of pies, so I asked for a refund. Another employee offered to help… but was told she couldn’t. Then they walked away from the window. What I didn’t know? They had called the police. 🚔 The officer arrived, took my information, and told me it was a civil matter. All this… over an apple pie. 😳🍎 What would YOU have done?”
The video’s comment section featured numerous reactions from viewers. One commenter wrote, “so they robbed you.😳” Another stated, “that’s illegal.” A comment from a user claiming to be a former McDonald’s manager offered a potential explanation: “Yes they can, the reason they say this is refunds are a different line item and it’s often a performance metric as well. So they tell employees to do anything to prevent giving out a refund and over time the words gets tossed around to just no refunds…”
Other comments included suggestions for legal action. One user advised, “It is a civil matter so pay the filing fee and sue them for the few dollars plus you can add to it for emotional distress and your time and you would be doing it as matter of principle not hard to find out who owner is.” Another comment simply read, “It’s cold lying they didn’t have the product they shouldn’t have sold it to begin with call the police. According to the video’s creator, i know it’s not much but still they’re stealing your money.” The principle of disputing a charge extends beyond fast food, as a woman in Hawaii was charged a ‘kitchen appreciation fee’ on her restaurant bill.
