Sonic Drive-In review: very unprofessional manager behavior 83

I work at Sonic in Shelby N.C and they are very respectful. You have see us having a good time and working our ### off.. but the only thing i dont get is why do the cooks get paid more than the carhops when their doing all the work, i mean they have to order the food take, serve it, and check back on the costumer. What do the cooks do? Cook the food and hand it off. Can somebody please answer my question.

The first time I ever had Sonic was in Lewisville Texas and I loved it. The workers were friendly, and the food was amazing. I now live in Sun Valley Nevada and I went to Sonic last night ( July 3rd, 2013) with my family in the Sun Valley/Sparks area. The girl that took our order messed it up twice while we were ordering, and as we tried to correct her, she talked over us. She was extremely rude and seemed like she didnt know what she was doing. Also as she read our order back to us for the 3rd time, we could not hear her because there was just talking and laughing in the background. She seemed as though she did not want to deal with us and wanted us to leave. Extremely rude. I was not very busy, but it took them over a half hour to bring our food out to us, I figured they had to cook some of our food. Turned out I was wrong. I only live about 5 minutes away from the Sonic out in Sun Valley/Sparks location so our food would still be hot by the time we got home. Well all of our food was cold. I love the tots and they were disgusting. They tasted like cold tots that were heated in the microwave, I tried to eat what I could because I was starving, but I cannot eat cold food. Put it this way, I gave the tots and the rest of my order (popcorn chicken) to my dog, who eats everything and he would not touch it. My chocolate shake I ordered without a cherry and no whipped cream came with a cherry and whipped cream and it just tasted like vanilla ice cream and milk. I had to go home and add chocolate sauce and blend it to even get a chocolate taste. My father asked for a strawberry banana slush that he always gets when we eat at any Sonic, and the girl told us that they dont do that anymore, (when it was on the menu) but she said she would do it anyway. When my dad drank it, it was nothing but strawberries. Not even a banana flavor. The next day (July 4th, 2013) me and my family are very sick. My stomach has been upset, but the remainder 3 people in my family have been vomiting all day long now. Ive eaten at this place before and each time I go there is always something new wrong with that place.

At Springhill Sonic in Louisiana this is what we walk through. They only fix right before audit. The drains backed up. The white bucket has spoiled 50/50 mix (ice cream) in it & serving it... Theres more!

The Sonic in springhill louisiana is so unprofessionally managed. They are never on the same page. Employees are confused cause they have been told several different things. Managers sware at us if we dont know something & have 2 ask them. They let certain employees eat free & eat while they're preparing food for customers... others they dont favor much are treated like slaves. They say we cant have cell phones but the managers allow certain people 2 play music on their phones others will be fired if they do the same. Members of leadership have warned employees of the manager editing peoples time. They serve spoiled icecream, we have to walk thro drainage back up. The fountainette was broken for about 10mnths. We were serving items that was not the correct temp. I over heard management say dont get it fix until audit time cause they're gonna take it out of our bonus. We were told no one not even managers will get paid vacations but later a member of management informed us that they were getting paid vacations. They tell us we can wear nails until audit comes but then when the head manager walk in they pretend they didnt know we had on nails. They're always in the back whispering plotting up on people when they should be helping us through lunch. The only time they care about their avg time is when Mr. Chris is there. When he aint there half of the time theyre MIA when we need help. I can go on & on but it'll never make a difference. Corporate & management stick together & will fire you for standing up for your rights. They wi fire you if they know that you're aware of a dirty scheme they have planned. I was told never contact corporate, call HR instead... I think thats my next. step because someone need to save those employees. If they werent affraid of being fired they would all talk...

Sonic managers are known for taking advantage of the car hops and stealing from them

My local Sonic is terrible! They abuse their workers terribly. My daughter asked for a weekend off when she was hired. The date was 2 months away and I had bought her concert tickets out of town. When the date came they said she had to work! Told her she would be fired if she didn't show! They also expect her to skate when it is raining out and don't care if she falls or gets cut or anything. They just tell her to get back to work. Now she is sick and for fear of her job she went to work anyway and almost passed out. She spent the next day on my couch with a fever. She had to call in sick and they are making her bring a doctor's note for one day of missed work when they know she is sick. Whatever she has, it is contagious. It has spread through my whole family within a couple weeks. I think she was the last to get it and it is miserable. If you have eaten at the Pasco, WA Sonic in the last few days, well good luck and I hope you don't get sick, but if you work there you are probably out of luck. Hope they don't treat you as badly as they treat her.

I am from Anderson passing through Easley when I went to sonic, I notice someone from my town serve me, I knew him cause we went to school together and he is on the sex offender list. This Sonic In Easley is less than a Mile from the middle school and his charges are COMMIT OR ATTEMPT LEWD ACT ON CHILD

what happend to the candy in the sonic blast ? we use to get candy all the way through a blast now its only on top . so good bye sonic hello dairy queen . whats bad you ask for extra candy they say the cant even if you want to pay for it

i have been to the sonic in orange city and the management leaves alot to be said. the manager has a big mouth and while i was there witnessed him being very unproffecional with his employees calling them vuglar names. this is not the kind of place i want to eat or even send one of my children to work. the staff is alot of younger people and just think that this is not a way to run a business! people are in the back smoking pot god only knows what else there doing? think your people should look into the way your stores are being run and the way the employees are being treated! very disappointed and probably will never be back due to the unproffecional way your stores are being run

Getting jewed at the drive-thru... never heard of that before. [/sarcasm] If it was so terrible, then just don't go back.

11:00-10:46=14 minutes

Anyway, most food places stop serving food at a certain time before closing. Sounds like your old job was one of the exceptions to that rule. I understand not making fries, but I figure they could have made the drink at least.

Also, closing times aren't when you can slip in a start ordering/shopping. It's when you're supposed to be out of the place.

Rood? Seriously?

Over the past month or two I have notice that the co manager at Circleville sonic in Ohio has been insulting and yelling and screaming at all the employees and she is trying to find reasons to fire people... and I have alot of proof that she is doing this and she texted my daughter and insulted her and belittled her and mad her cry and when other manages do something wrong they don't get in trouble they over look it and don't say anything but when it comes to my daughter she gets everything shoved in her face and I want something done about it immediately

i normally would of but didnt until I got back to work. I did call management and all they could tell me was to come back and get a coupon for a free 44 oz drink. So not worth my time.

I was currently working at Sonic Drive-In in Ennis, TX. I will say this working at fast food resturants is horrible, not the customers ; the treatment. We get treated like slaves. I see the cooks not washing their hands and cooking food. I see them picking at foods and then serving them. They are horrible at cleaning. They pick up cups from the floor and serve them to customers. They also pick at the ice in the ice containers. Rarely ever do workers wash their hands. Its discusting. I just got fired today, 08/22/11 by the general manager Phillip Conner. He fired me because there was RUMORS that i was stealing from Sonic. He has cameras but says he has NO PROOF. He believes what other workers have to say. Apparently I make TOO MUCH tips. I really do suggest NOBODY goes to that Sonic. EVERRRR !

I went to my local sonic and the food was so gross I couldn't even eat it. The burger was soggy and cold, the onion rings were burnt and tasted like those french stick things. The tea was spoiled. Just very unhappy. That was the worst food I have ever had. I work hard for my money and believe me I will no longer be buying lunch at that sonic. Plus all the car hops look dirty like bums off the streets. Where is the management at this location?

The Camby Indiana Sonic that is located in Heartland Crossing near Mooreville, Indiana has some of the most air head employees that I have ever seen working at any fast food service. They have never gotten a order correct in the two years that we have been going there. We only order the combo meals # 1 and # 2. The #1 meal is with mayo, no ketchup or mustard, no cheese. It is never right. What is so hard about taking that order. For one thing they start asking you if you want cheese on it after you tell them no cheese every time and they miss getting the mayo only part. Management needs to do some keep your mouth close while customer is ordering long enough for the customer to get finished, then repeat the order for correctness. We have had to take meals back almost every time. Or we drive away and then find we only have part of the order. We will probably not go back to this Sonic anymore. To bad for us, because I am sure management does not care out customers, because this happens to a lot of customers and in the two years they have been open, there has not been any improvements. I know Sonic has had a hard time staying in Indiana, but maybe there is a reason why!

To Sonicgood- If you know they are stealing, why don't you just fire them? The reason this policy becomes unfair sometimes is that employees end up sharing pouches. That's the problem my husband constantly ran into. Whenever no one else touched his pouch, he was always right on. But whenver certain employees would use it before it could get counted down or whatever, he was always short and he always had to pay part of the difference. That's not fair to him. So yeah, it's a good policy as long as the manager is enforcing it the way it is supposed to be. But if you have a boss that doesn't stick to to Sonic's so-called rules, well, you get screwed.

Theres alot of crazy stories going on here. I am a sonic general manager and have been for 11 years. As far as employees having to pay back shortages I completely agree with. I have had several kids hold back money and come up short on purpose. I know this because several if them are shirt so often it's aparent that they are stealing not to mention they brag to other crew members about stealing the money. I have had more employees than I can count steal from me. They will ring up an order on drive thru then when the customer comes to the window to pay they will clear off the order & take the money

I WORKED FOR SONIC IN KINGSPORT FOR 2 YEARS AND KNOXVILLE FOR 2 I WAS A CREW LEADER I WORKED MY TALE OFF FOR THEM I HAD TO HAVE CHEMO FOR 6 MONTHS. MY HUSBAND WAS TRAINING A CO MANAGER WHO I WAS SO CLOSE TO, HE MADE HER A MAQNAGER, HELPED HER GET HER OWN STORE AQND HECK SHE WOULDNT SHOW UP HALF THE TIME HE ALWAYS VOVERD HER BUTT...WELL AFTER SHE GOT HER STORE I STARTED SCHOOL AND SHE TOLD THE GIRLS I WENT TO SCHOOL WITH ALL ABOUT MY CHEMO...WHY WOULD MY FRIEND AFTER ALLL WE DID FOR HER DO THAT TO ME ?HOE PROFFESSIONAL?JAMIE FARRIS ON BROADWAY IS SO PROFFESASIONAL I REALLY HOPE SHE GETS WHAT'S COMING TO HER I BELIEVE GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF YHIS ONE AND THIS GIRL IS MORE THAN WILLING TO WRITE A STATEMENT IT WAS ON SONIC PROPERTY AND SHE WAS YOUR EMPLOYEE...HOPE CHRIS IS DOING GOOD ON HIS METHADONE...

That number doesn't work

Until three weeks ago, mu husband worked at the Brigham City, Utah Sonic. It is the worst job that he has ever had. The comments posted about the manager that put on a farce when the upper people come is so true. My husband's manager would let the employees say or do whatever the heck they wanted. They could use whatever language they wanted, tell as many crude jokes as they wanted and neglect the cleanliness of the restaruant as much as they wanted. He doesn't care because he is paid on salary and he doesn't stick around enough to make sure his restaraunt is being run professionally. But as soon as the Health Department or one of the owners was going to show up, oh, he was right there to make sure things were running smoothly. My husband said that the only reason he (my husband) was able to get hired was because he was hired under a different manager. If he had tried to get hired when Kris took over, there was no way he would have made it because he doesn't have cleavage to show off and he's not related to Kris. And in reference to the people who have had food that they are allergic to served to them at Sonic- yeah, the one time that I lowered myself to eat at Sonic, I had the same problem. I'm allergic to onions, too. I specifically said no onioins because I'm allergic. My husband reinforced this. They brought out my food. I thought we had strongly told them two times that I'm allergic, they should have gotten the hint. Nope. Luckily, I saw the onion before I ate it. My husband went inside and complained. Out came the assistant manager. I thought I was going to get an apology. Nope again. She recognized me as being friends with someone that she hates who was a bridesmaid at my wedding. So she began to tell me what a witch my friend is. Yeah, Sonic is so disgusting and I will never eat at one ever again- no matter where they are located, because from most of these comments, it sounds like it's a problem at all of them.

i work at sonic in southeast texas where my general manager told me that a 16 yr old carhop had to at least show him her tits if she wanted to get the promotion and raise he already promised her.

So im allergic to peanuts. I order a CHOCOLATE CHIP (no peanuts) m&m shake. When im eating it i get to about the middle and i see this brown piece of what i thought was chocolate that was sort of melted. Yes. It was a reeses peanut butter cup. I didnt eat it but it was there. IF YOUR DEALTHY ALLERGIC BE CAREFUL. (because it was mixed in pretty well)

Oh and i had trouble breathing after that and almost went to the hospital.

A couple of points...

Yes, it's very common to have issues at fast food restaurants. It's fast food----the majority of people working there are teenagers, college students or people who can't get a job anywhere else and this is the last resort. If you're expecting 5 star service and wine and dining, go to a 5 star restaurant--not a fast food joint. I'm not saying that you shouldn't expect basic decent customer service and cleanliness, but some of these complaints are ridiculously petty.

Onto the employees. Okay--Mom or Dad--if your kid had to pay money b/c HIS/HER money was off for the night, maybe they DID do it themselves. It's great that you're so quick to defend your kid, but there's always two sides to a story. One of the NUMBER ONE TOP RULES when it comes to handling money is COVER YOUR OWN BUTT! I don't care if you have 50 people breathing down your neck, a manager yelling at you, a rabid dog attacking you and the Antichrist has decided he wants a burger...if YOU have your OWN drawer or money containers and you have to allow SOMEONE ELSE to use them---you COUNT THAT MONEY and you have that person SIGN a little slip showing the date, time and how much money they're taking over. That's just common sense. If you don't cover yourself like that, it IS YOUR FAULT regardless of who took the money. I love the excuses too "He didn't have time--he was too busy! He was forced!" I'll bet you now that he lost $40 of his own money he won't be too busy or too much of a coward to take responsibility for his own drawer.

As for the girl with laryngitis, if a manager actually had her on drive through where she HAS to talk a LOT, then she obviously could be heard so the laryngitis wasn't too horrible. Secondly, if she comes home sobbing each night b/c people make comments about a girl with laryngitis working the drive through in a fast food restaurant, I think she needs to get another job. The NUMBER ONE RULE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE is LET IT GO. You cannot take things personally no matter what because people suck--period. As far as contacting corporate, your daughter has access to all of those numbers as an employee.

Oh and managers of Sonic don't get paid $7.00 an hour----that's below the federal minimum wage level. But you're right in the fact that they don't get paid overly much. By the same token though, they CHOSE this job. If they don't want to deal with customers and sucky situations for the amount of money they get paid, then they shouldn't be working there. Yes I know the job market sucks right now, BUT, you have to take pride in your work. A person who is in charge of other employees needs to step up and not be afraid to be "the boss". You can always tell when a place has a "buddy-buddy boss" and a "real boss". The buddy-buddy place has employees that constantly mess around and do shoddy work while the real place runs a decent establishment.

Soooo...in regards to all of these complaints, if you keep having issues with Sonic over and over and over again, call Corporate and don't go back. That was simple wasn't it? If your kid works there and got screwed over, there's a 98.9% chance your kid had a huge role in what caused it. Lastly, if you want to receive the most excellent customer service of your life, don't go to a fast-food place---especially one that's predominantly run by teenagers and people in their early 20's. Common sense people.

I live in santee, CA and went to sonic last night for dinner with my cousin. our dinner was really good, we had no complaints about that. we ended up going back just a few minutes later to get some ice cream. i decided to drive through the drive thru so that it would be faster and we didnt plan on staying. as i pull up to the drive thru window and look in, i see a teenage girl working there, "amber" who took her hair out of her ponytail, put it back up, then PUT HER HAND in the ice bucket, pulled some ice out, played with it, DROPPED THE ICE BACK IN THE ICE BUCKET, then playfully threw some at her co-worker. WTF?! i was so disgusted to see that kind of behavior inside a restaurant, fast food or not! i also noticed that the ice machine next to the window had an ice scoop in it, that stayed there. that is so un sanitary to keep the scoop that EVERYONE touches inside that ice machine where bacteria will build. YUCK! i will NEVER return to that Sonic. EVER!

I appreciate people wanting the carhops and everyone else working inside to look professional and all, but in Eldorado KS, in this 106 degree weather I do happen to see everyone wear black dress pants. That is ridiculous, then I see at other Sonics throughout the area wearing nice capris, or reasonable length of shorts. Is it really that bad of management if they won't let them cool down a bit? I hear a lot of complaints about this, but is it too much to ask to change up their uniform a bit?

We just left the Sonic in Easley, SC. We've had problems in the past with Sonic playing with the clock in order to close early or get out of pricing drinks at happy hour prices, but not at this location. Tonight we pulled up, it was around 10:30 p.m., all of the signage was on, all of the neon signs were still on, canopy lights were still on, people in the dining area, cars in the slots with customers in them. So we decide after about five minutes to get out of the car and sit in the dining area, we are out there about another five minutes and decide on our order. I walk up to the menu board (which had busted plastic on it), punch the button and wait. After a couple of minutes this giggly little girl voice says "Sorry, we're closed!". I couldn't believe it, after all, these people are running commercials talking about how great it is late, etc. so I said "Excuse me?". She came back and said "Sorry, we closed at 10:30 p.m.!" like she was imparting the news that I had won a new car. I looked around at this restaurant that was lit up brighter than Vegas, and said "Are you sure? Maybe you should cut some lights out next time." Her flip response was "We sure will!".

As we were leaving we couldn't find the Sonic Customer Service Number (866-OK-SONIC) on any of the menu boards or posters like it used to be, and could find no posted store hours anywhere, including the drive thru. Restaurant and road signage were still lit up when we left so we took pictures. When we got home we called Customer Service and told them about our experience. Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that this restaurant sits in a row with Wendys, A&W, Long John Silvers, Burger King, Ruby Tuesdays, Zaxby's, Chick-Fil-A, Firehouse Subs, Subway, Papa Johns...well, you get the drift. ALL of them were still open. As a matter of fact, the only fast food chain that closes that early around here is Hardees.

Maybe it's a little thing but it seems that anymore every time we visit Sonic it's a little thing...and while I appreciate the sentiments from employees seen above, those little things add up until a customer starts thinking that they should avoid a restaurant because EVERY time they visit there's a problem. Sonic certainly seems to have a problem when it comes to their clock.

I have had similar experiences with the sonic in jasper, tn. My hamburger tasted like pure salt. My child also works there and and the managers are crap, she has had to pay on shortage on her drawer cause they put more than one person on it without counting out and my child has had larangitis for the past 3 days and they've put her on drive thru therfore having the customers and co-workers to make fun of her she has come home crying because she's been humilitated. I have tried everything to get corporate's number and can't locate it. any help would be appreciated. And I don't think it's right for a whole family to be managers at one place when it is a corporate owned sonic.

Me and my husband went to sonics to get ice cream because all the other food is bad. The person at the drive thru is not paying attention, we get around the corner and he busy on his cell phone. Order was not all there. My son also works at sonic and the other night they were short on help. He was busy doing other things at work and another co worker took some of his tickets...so they made my son pay them $40. What kind of mess is that? Just thought I let everyone know, don't work to sonic. They don't tell you that when you get hired.

no man is perfect only training is lacking in this case other wise the quality is good ... since customer are our king pins should not show our attitude

@ Tammy: I do apologize for our brand with you receiving the incorrect order. That type of situation should be fixed immediately and without question of the customer. In addition, even receiving the incorrect order should not warrant your receiving cold food. It sounds as though the Drive-In you visited is very unprofessional. In the many years that i have been around Sonic Drive-Ins I have seen many of employees not taking things seriously and performing well at their jobs.

The night managers at the Drive-In's i have been in quite often behave that way. Having been in that position once, I will say that things are a little different at night at a Sonic and things do get crazy inside sometimes. At night, it seems that things get even more busy than they do during the day. In addition to additional business, the night manager usually has to put up with more. The night manager typically receives a store which has been left completely dirty and unstocked from the day shift. In addition, he/she also usually has a handful of high school/college age employees who care about no one other than themselves and don't perform their job at all.

However, they should still be running the Drive-In in a very professional manner. As far as the phone pickup goes, it is usually very busy at night and hard to hear or get to the phone. It is not something I approve of happening, but it does. All I know to do is to tell you to keep trying to get through to them.

A word of advice to all here: If you receive a faulty order, bad service, or have to deal with a cocky manager with a horrible attitude towards you or your family this is what you should do. Simply stop conversation with the employee or manager of the Drive-In. After cutting off communication you should immediately call 1-800-OK-SONIC and report the Drive-In to the corporate office. They will then send someone from the corporate office to handle the complaint. The corporate office does not put up with this type of behavior against their brand. They have been known to strip a store of all its franchising rights and they can no longer operate if enough complaints are filed against them.

Furthermore, if you are in the Mississippi, Arkansas or Louisiana area or at the new store in Greencastle, IN, I ask you to take a different approach to bad service/food. Call the head of the chain of those drive ins at [protected] and ask for Ricky. Give him a detailed account of what happened and where you were when it did happen. If it is one of his stores, he will make a surprise visit on them and fire anyone who was associated with the incident after receiving a full account of what happened. I personally know this man and have worked for him for many years. The customer is the most important thing in his business. You will always come first.

we order food from sonic across the street from us in wichita ks and 2 night our food was very cold and they gave us the wrong order, and the night manager is very very rud to people. and when we try to call in it take's us 30 mins before they pick up the phone...they was even rud to my niece and she's only 12 years old. this has been going on every sence july of 2008 and im really sick of it...it's at #3137 store.. it's only the night manager .

I used to work in the Sonic in Northeast El Paso. The manager was very unprofessional, he'd use ever swear word in the book to get us to work, but when the people who came in to check on the restraunt to see how things were going, he'd tell everyone to not say a word and he would act differently, no swear words. He was very weird and rude, he also had 7 assistant managers, and most were teens. It was rediculous.

ok for one not all sonics do that. and for who ever said that a floor manager was flirting with i 17 year old is stuped. most sonic workers are cool with each other. and its a big family i love all the people i work with. we all work hard to get things up on time if you have a problem dont go there any more.

I love Sonic burgers, burritos, tater tots and limeades. I love onion rings, but I will never, ever eat another one at Sonic. I hate, loathe and despise sugar (can you believe it, sugar?!?) in the batter. What's the point? If someone thought sugar enhanced the flavor, they were wrong. I bought some for my husband and me. My husband is diabetic and getting the onion rings was supposed to be a big treat. It obviously turned out to be more trick than treat! The next burger and onion rings I have will be at Fuddrucker's, Purdy's or Jake's.

Yes sonic should have not put onions on your wifes burger, but they are only human they make mistakes and if your wife has a serious food allergy shouldnt she have enough sense to check her food before she starts shoveling it in her mouth it doesnt matter how hungery you are.

I ordered burgers for my wife and I, her burger was ordered with no onions due to a serious food allergy. When we got the order both of us were so hungry we just started to eat. After several bites my wife discovered that her burger had onions on it. I asked to see the manager, out come a college age female with an attitude. I explained my position and that the food was ordered specifically with no onions due to a food allergy, we could very easily end up in the hospital. Her response was unprofessional, uncaring and I wish I could find her district manager because this individual did not have a clue as to the seriousness of the situation. This happened December 12,2007 at the Sonic in Florence, Ms. My wife did have a reaction to the onions and sufferred throughout the night and the following day. WAY TO GO SONIC ! TEACH YOUR STAFF THAT PEOPLE DO HAVE FOOD ALLERGIES AND MUCH MORE CARE SHOULD BE TAKEN TO INSURE THIS IS NOT REPEATED !

Sonic has the worst service in Houston Texas. Ive never see an adult working there. The drive thru service is a joke too. Very unprofessional and nasty burgers.