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Customers of popular fast food empires have not been very impressed with the wait times at some of the restaurant chains.
Intouch Insight recently launched its 24th Annual Self-Service Studywhich presents an average number of slow wait times in the self-service.
The numbers were decided based on the average time someone waits for an employee to take their order and the average time it takes a worker to serve a customer at the drive-thru.
Intouch Insight asked mystery shoppers to place orders at major quick-service restaurant (QSR) chains across the country between 5:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.
Shoppers made more than 1,600 drive-thru visits, and based on the information provided, Intouch Insight calculated a final count of which restaurant chains have the longest average wait times.
Intouch Insight recently released its 24th Annual Self-Service Study earlier this month, featuring average drive-thru wait and service times.
Intouch Insight asked mystery shoppers to place orders at major quick-service restaurant (QSR) chains across the country between 5:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.
Carl’s Jr and Hardee’s
Carl’s Jr is one of three major QSR chains that have an average drive-thru time of 339 seconds.
Carl’s Jr and Hardee’s are two of the top three QSR chains that have an average time of 339 seconds.
Both fast food chains have more than 1,000 restaurants in the US and have managed to serve their customers 51 seconds after approaching the drive-thru window.
Unfortunately, the amount of time it takes Carl’s Jr and Hardee’s employees to serve their customers has slowly increased over the years.
Average service time in 2024 at Carl’s Jr was 288 seconds
Recent data from Intouch Insight shows that this year’s average service time at Carl’s Jr and Hardee’s restaurants was 288 seconds.
It’s the second-slowest service time of any restaurant chain on the list, and seven seconds longer than its 2023 total.
king burger
Burger King has a total average of 339 seconds based on their wait and service times.
Burger King is the second largest fast food hamburger restaurant franchise in the world with a total of 339 seconds based on wait and service times.
However, its average service and order-taking wait times were lower than those of Carl’s Jr and Hardee’s restaurants.
It’s also an improvement over his 2022 and 2023 averages.
The average time it takes a Burger King employee to help customers has decreased dramatically, from 96 seconds in 2022 to 69 seconds this year.
The fast food empire’s average service time decreased from last year, going from 275 to 271 seconds.
Raising cane
This was the first year Intouch Insight added Raising Cane’s to its studio.
Intouch Insight added Raising Cane’s to its study for the first time in its history and described it as a “fast-growing brand in the chicken category.”
It also has a whopping 370 seconds average total time for customers looking to place and receive an order.
The brand stood out for its average service time, which was 244 seconds.
Raising Cane’s average wait time was also far from perfect, coming in at 126 seconds, the second-highest average total time of all the featured QSR chains.
McDonald’s
The average time it took a McDonald’s employee to take an order in 2023 was 122 seconds, and this year it was 104.
McDonald’s, the global fast food empire, came in second slowest in average total time customers spend in a drive-thru at 376 seconds.
However, what appears to be a high number is also a decrease of almost 40 seconds from its 2023 time.
McDonald’s average wait and service times also saw a massive decline compared to Intouch Insight’s 2023 results.
The company’s study indicates that the average time it took a McDonald’s employee to take an order in 2023 was 122 seconds, and this year it was 104.
The fast food chain’s average service time went from 291 in 2023 to 272 this year.
Chick-fil-A
Chick-fil-A also had the highest average wait time, going from 124 seconds in 2023 to 181 seconds in 2024.
For the third year in a row, Intouch Insight found that Chick-fil-A had the slowest drive-thru wait times of all the chains featured in this particular study.
Chick-fil-A’s average drive-thru time was 479 seconds, and it’s the only restaurant chain in the study to hit the 400 mark.
Chick-fil-A also had the highest average service and wait times, with its wait time going from 124 seconds in 2023 to 181 seconds in 2024.
On a positive note, Chick-fil-A’s average service time of 299 seconds this year is lower than its 2022 and 2023 results.