Sonic Drive-In
Reviews and Complaints

Oh, and if the button is programmed correctly, then while you are waiting it is either supposed to light up or flash until the station has been answered or deactivated. I would take you issue to corporate by calling 1-800-OK-SONIC and explaining the situation. The customer service reps are typically very helpful.

The way it works, Dan, is like this:

You drive up and press the button that says "Press To Order". Pressing it multiple times before anyone answers your call doesn't do anything. Do not let anyone tell you it does, because it doesn't.

After you press the button, your order is placed in line to be taken. If there is no line, of course you should be answered promptly. You are perfectly within your right to become irritated if they don't answer within about 15 seconds. Sonic has set the ideal reply time (the time it takes for someone to answer you) to 8 seconds with over 30 seconds being ridiculously slow. Each location has, on average, three speakers with which to answer calls.

However, if you do move to another stall after waiting for a few seconds or minutes, it will increase the amount of wait time you must experience because the system is not able to choose which orders it answers. It always just takes the next in line according to how long that particular stall has been waiting. When you moved, you were placed at the end of the line again.

However, I still say that you have a right to be irritated because the service at this location seems to be terribly slow.

Never said I kept pushing that damn button. I may have pushed it a second time because at the restaurant I visited, there aren't even directions, just a little button staring at you. The whole process is apparently poorly thought out. Sonic mgt or corporate needs to address this. My complaint was never directed at anyone in particular, including the local store workers. Only that something is wrong and needs fixed. And how in the hell is a customer supposed to know if his red button is working or broken if there is no way of letting him know he is in some sort of cue. When you make a phone call to a company and get put on hold, this is why you hear music---to let you know you are in a cue and connected. I can't blame a worker who is forced to work with a flawed system. Assuming what you say is true about not being able to answer and say they'll be right with you, then there is the problem. They need to be able to do this. If you can't understand my point then we'll let it be at that.

[Let me explain something to you...When 5 people push that little red button the headset inside beeps and the orders just stack up. They can't just answer and say they'll be right with you. It doesn't work like that. They probably need more help, but it is not possible to answer it until all of the people that pushed the button before you have placed their order...]

Yeah, if you keep pushing that damn button, it stacks up, and they're gonna have to turn off the machine, then turn it back on. And GOING TO ANOTHER STATION DOESN'T HELP! It just repeats the cycle all over again.

Let me explain something to you, it doesn't matter why you can't acknowledge customers. It just matters that they aren't acknowledged, they can't tell if the store is closed or closing and if someone doesn't fix the situation, people will leave. Look at all the complaints about Sonic posted on complaintsboard.com. Seems like a lot of unsatisfied customers. Be glad people take the time to complain. It might give management or corporate a chance to fix a big problem.

Let me explain something to you...When 5 people push that little red button the headset inside beeps and the orders just stack up. They can't just answer and say they'll be right with you. It doesn't work like that. They probably need more help, but it is not possible to answer it until all of the people that pushed the button before you have placed their order...

I've never been to Texas but I had a similar experience today in Uniontown, PA. I realize the town just had an Independence Day celebration at the nearby mall and the Uniontown Sonic was busy. But I don't see any reason to ever sit at one of the stalls for 25 minutes and not have someone at least acknowledge your presence and give you an estimated wait time. I pushed the button several times, tried another stall etc. To make things worse, nowhere could I find any indication of the restaurants hours. There were a few carhops moving about some of the cars. None ever came over to tell us anything. Were some of the stalls broken? Should have a sign or something posted so you don't waste your time. Was the store closed? All the lights were still on at all the stalls, the drive-thru, inside and at the outdoor tables. And again, no store hours anywhere to be seen. As a last resort, I tried the drive thru and waited behind several cars, all of which waited their turn, waited for someone to answer, then drove away out of the drive thru lane. Why all the lights still on? Why not put out some cones to let people know it's closed? I can't appreciate a place that doesn't respect my time or my business.

Sounds like they should make a better slushy machine then.

The slushie machine does that, when ALOT of people order slushies during happy hour. Plus its hard for the machine to maintain the slush, when it has to freeze some slush and defreeze some slush. Sometimes there's no watery slush, makes it thick, sometimes there's too much, makes it watery.

UGH the same thing happened at my Sonic today. No fruit, no juice, no anything, just ice with a squirt of red.

after work last evening we stopped and placed an order, after about 20 minutes the wrong order was delivered to our car . the drive in only had two customers at the time . Finally after another 15 minutes and two other wrong orders delivered, we finally got the right order . and then the food was cold. So we paid and left This drive in was on Wilmington Pike in Kettering Ohio . Very Poor service

Just today I had been asked to train a new employee, which I'm ok with. But then when am a customer came to our drive in, and asked if i could bring her ice cream out to her, my general manager told the employee taking The order to tell the customer to take their request and shove It up her ###, this was the last straw. I found out i knew the girl personally and i am done working there. Anyone know where i can file a complaint to the corporate HQ?

Yea screw Sonic Drive in here in Austin Texas. All of the supervisors just care about the money each and every store is bringing in. I have worked for Sonic for almost 8 years and i am proud to say I no longer work there. I have seen and heard it all. People getting fired for no reason, and the GMs and area supervisors write some fake documentation up to block unemployment claims. They sacrifice customer service to save labor, cut corners to keep food cost down, just to line their own pockets with dividends and bonuses, that dont go to the employees but to the supervisor of the particular store.

Have you ever heard of the song, "Take this job and -shove it?" by Johnny Paycheck. Listen to it. Unless you want burger flinging to be your lifelong career, I would study like crazy in HS school and college so you don't have to resort to working in places like that. You can't change the boss but you can change you and the place you work at. I would spend time looking for another job before you lose this one. Here's a secret- Keep the drama out of work. Nothing in life is fair and you will go through your entire life with jobs where people get treated unfairly.

i work at a franchise sonic an the manager is never their. The assistant manager is usually their but when it gets busy an our orders get full he tends to leave to take a break an usually takes one of the cooks with him an i end up getting stuck with just one other person left to fend for ourselves an it sucks because its unfair if he gets paid to be their to help us, then why does he leave. And the manager gosh she is so rude, she thinks she has it made since one of her family members is partial owner to some franchised Sonic's. Its just ###ed we get treated unfairly all the time, usually the manager talks behind out backs... eventually it gets back to us.. sonic sucks thats all i have to say.. also with the hours usually i get sent home because labor is so high its not my fault like why do i get scheduled to come in an i cant work my full hours i am told i will get

i appreciate what you are saying but it also seems it is obvious he is trying to make her quit so she can not get unemployment. You can not tell me that employees do not have the right to be treated with respect especially when the management in these restaurants are always demanding you treat them with respect.

employment is 'at will' which means your friend can leave at any time. Conversely, she can be fired for any reason at all (except because of race, age or gender.)

being a mean boss isn't grounds for a lawsuit. neither is cutting your hours and saying its because you cost too much.

I worked at the sonic in elkins arkansas for a year. When i was hired management was good but it was only temporary. The store manager when i had started had taken over after a previous one had passed away. The manager when i started was going to attend college the next semester and would be transferring to another location. That is why Bryan Davis was brought in from the Sonic on College to be the new store manager for elkins.

In the beginning i can understand why Bryan would have trouble. He had never done most of the tasks he was suppose to do as manager. So i helped him out as much as i could and tried to make the other employees understand that he would get better as time progressed.

As time went on Bryan still could not do his managerial duties correctly. I was the only assistant that ran my own shift on most days (with no other Assistants on duty) And not having proper amounts of products ordered nearly every week drove customers away. I of course would take some of the heat for that.

For anyone who has ever worked for the fast food industry then you will understand this. Labor stayed at about 27% daily even on the weekends. Elkins is a small town so not a whole lot of business to begin with. But the previous manager had been able to keep labor Around 22% or lower. around 16 or 17% on weekends.

Bryan davis would Schedule way too many people for my shifts and tell me not to send anyone home early. and When labor went up I would take ALL of the blame for it.

The reason i left The Sonic after taking all of that crap is simple. He blamed me for him getting in trouble from The General Manager for our Sonic. So when i told him that i had to move from my apartment a couple days later he said NO bcuz he isn't going to cover for me because of The GM getting on to him.

I either had to work and have all my stuff confiscated by my previous landlord or Quit and keep all of my stuff.

I travel so I get an opportunity to visit many fast food places at all times of the day and all days of the week. I was very happy a few years ago when Sonic put in a drive-in in our small town, but now I say take it out and I will drive the 10 miles to the next one. They never have what you order. I have been told "I am sorry but we can't fix milkshakes today, our ice cream is runny like water", "can I just give you a large instead of a route 44 because we are out of the 44 cups". One night we drove up town, my whole family, to get milkshakes, they brought us the milkshakes, but we could not get a strawberry one because they said they were out of strawberries. So we ordered a different flavor, when they brought them I noticed that there was no cherry and no whipped cream, I ask the girl about that and she said "yeh, we're out of whipped cream". I have never been able to get what I want at the Sonic in Bloomfield, Missouri, my hoetown, Dexter is 10 miles away and many of the people I go to church with say they don't even stop at the Bloomfield store anymore, they either go to the gas station or they drive to Dexter. You might as well close the one here in Blooomfield or get a manager who knows what they are doing.

Mary Thornburgh,
19717 CR 514
Bloomfield, MO 63825
[protected]
[protected] (cell)

Dustin,
Im sorry to hear about that. You should have taken your concerns to the General manager or supervisor of the sonics in your area. That is high labor and depending on the weather is may or may not have been avoidable. There should always be a minimum of two in back and 2 or 3 employees in the front depending on business. Our labor stands at 24 on our worst days so I can understand how unorthadox it was for you.
I hope your move wasnt too taxing and did you transfer out or...?

Well, what an interesting dip into the fictional world of sean macy. Good one sean. Clever way to vent your frustrations I suppose. If I wrote forums lying out my ### trash talking people online to try to make up for my own failures in life, I would be nothing more than a loser with a guatamalan bullfrog of a girlfriend... oh snap. Sean quit without notice after being criticized for video footage revealing himself and two other crew members playing computer games and chatting at the desk for over an hour straight. If he hadn't taken this initiative, he was to be terminated shortly thereafter. Sonic of elkins has never been more prosperous. It seems without mr. Macy and his protoges, business has been considerably better. In an era of economic crisis, we continue to increase profit margin and boost sales. But yeah, that Bryan Davis guy..what does he know.

You know what they say in the movie Lethal Weapon? "They f you at the drive-through." It's true for all drive- throughs.

First of all it's called spell check, do they not have that in Huntsville, Arkansas? The sign does say specifically what it is for, and it doesn't say MALTS! Not false advertising just consumers failing to read the signs correctly, but not a surprise here.

FYI Tracy,

When you purchase water you are not paying for the water, you are paying for the cup, lid and straw which do cost us money to produce. Therefore, like every other company operating today, we pass that cost onto the consumer so we can make money. Believe me, we don't make that much off of your .30 cent water!

Anna,

The commercials and signage have always very clearly stated in BIG BOLD LETTERS that Happy Hour, from 2pm-4pm, is for soft drinks, teas, and slushes - NOT MALTS!

Your wrong... It's only fountain drinks, and slushes... not MALTS! Idiot.

Right that's what the sign says, but it took us 5 minutes to locate it on one of the modulars.

It also doesn't cover water, for those who desire water, which used to be free. :)

*fountain drinks, slushes, and limeades

You read the sign wrong. It says that Happy Hour only applies to fountain drinks, slushes, and malts. It's not the manager's fault that you don't know how to read.

Hi,
I work for Sonic Drive-In and have so for 2 years. I was a part of the company when Happy Hour started and since it's launch the advertisements have only claimed half price "fountain drinks, slushes, and limeaids." Any product containing ice cream will not be given half price, period. This includes sundaes, blasts, cream slushes, shakes, etcetera.
I hope this helps.
This isn't false advertisement.

It is all in your job description. Read the fine print.

At the Sonic i work at i have to make drinks, take orders, cook, clean do everything an i''m not exaggerating this the manager is never their an when the assistant is all he does is take freaking breaks to go smoke an takes for ever to come back. Were short hand on staff, the manager tends to have favorites an the rest of us that didnt make it to her good side have to work 5 times harder then her favorites.

i have been working for sonic for the last month and they have dont nothin but screwed me over in any and every way that they could! i finally quit today because they held me check for three pay days and i got paid today and my check was only $77.34 and i am about to go to jag if i do not get the rest of the money they owe me!

A finger? Wow...Did you find it's owner?

A finger? my ###. what are you trying to do? sue Sonic like how that [censored] woman tried to sue Wendies with that same ### in her chili?

Seriously? You had a finger in your cup? And all you did was call the manager? I call BS

Anyone find it amazing how the gm's entire family ends up working at their store? I have worked at five different sonics and encountered this amazing trend! In one case the gm was really young but please believe she had her mother, grandmother, great grandfather, sister and all of her sister's kids working there. The funny thing is nobody knew anything so they expected me to run around like a fool and [censored] while they basically clocked in, ate and chilled on the clock for 10-12 hours a day. In most cases they would come click in and leave and show back up in the evening to sneak and clock out. I've experienced the husband gm and the wife asm with all the children falling in line wearing the seniority hat, yet they all had to rely on me because they know nothing. The husband was an extreme pervert and the wife knew it so wherever he went in the store, she followed. Whatever hours he worked, she worked. Needless to say I quickly got the hell out of the there. Then there was the lesbian gm who was married to another gm whose store was wayyyy on the other side of town. She got so many complaints because her customers needed her but she was never at her store due to the fact that she was always at her wife's store trying to watch her every move. There was a time when the gm hired her crackhead boyfriend along with his friend and before you knew it, the entire hood was working in the store. You better know that food cost went through the roof because the majority of the truck order was going g off the truck and straight into someone's car. I couldn't believe it. Lastly, there's the old crackhead gm, her daughter, son in law and all of her grandkids. It was just brought to my attention that her daughter was fired from another store and can't be rehired but she now shows up to her mother's store in full uniform as if she is still a sonic employee. She'll come in barking out orders but everyone ignores her because they all know she is no longer a sonic employee. Anytime someone important shows up like the auditor or owner of the store, she takes off running out the back door! Why run if you're not doing anything wrong? This place no matter how or where you look at it, IS A JOKE!

I wouldn't even suggest an enemy of mine to work for this company, they are terrible; the employee treatment, and how I've been spoken to on a daily basis is the worst employment experience I've ever had! It is atrocious! Screw this Company!

From Florida...

I agree with all of the comments posted above! I've had a few jobs, and this is by far the very worst ever!

Omg finally I'm not the only one having so much trouble. I fricken hate it so much! I've only been there 2 weeks but I can't deal anymore. That tells me something that it isn't good at all.

Hello everyone...I did not work for sonic but my 17 year old son did here in east texas. Well he was always working almost everyday going in at 5 pm and not getting off till 11 pm or even midnight some nights and then going to school the next day. He stated working there in sept of 2015 and he went almost a month before they even put him in the system. He worked 3 weeks before he got his first paycheck. Well no he no longer works there because one of the employees went and bought alcohol and he made a stupid decision to drink on the clock. No i am not condoning what he did by no means...I have even went to the extent of filing a report with our local police department and they told him he will get arrested as well as the other guy who actually went and bought the alcohol. The manager on duty supposedly doesn't know anything that happened or what went that night. This location is so screwed up and needs to be shut down.

I really need to get a hold of someone in corporate because one of the GMs at the Sonic in Denton TX put her hands on me. If someone can please give me a phone number or an email. That would wonderful. Thank you!

I work at 2 sonics and between the two jobs i work 20 days in A row and both managers know i work at 2 different sonics but they dont fn care. In the past month 3 people have quit at one of the stores and i completely understand why. My aunt drops me off in the morning before work and picks me up after she gets off and my gm knows that and says she will schedule me to where i wont have to hang out in a bad part of town but she never does. She has me work 8 hr shifts with no break but. Omeone who has only been there for an hour gets her break. The only reason i have stayed at this job is beccuse i need the money to buy a car and to py for tuition at college. There is so much favoritism that i cannot stand it. My gm will not give me any hours and talks about everyone behind their back. She caused me nd my bf to break up by threatening our jobs. SONIC IS THE WORST JOB EVER!

I went to the Sonic in Denton, Texas at I-35 E and US 380/University Dr. Now, I enjoy good Limeade, on 08/22/09 at 15:46 hrs according to the Sonic receipt, I placed my order. My credit card receipt shows I paid for it 5 minutes later. I look in the parking lot to find there are only 5 vehicles in the parking lot. I notice a younger male carhop, looking over a Honda Passport for sale in one of the drive-up slots for over 5 minutes. I think there must just be one carhop working as I am sure the manager could not get off their ### to bring an order out to a customer. As I continue to wait for my limeade I notice the male carhop, go back in to the store and proceed to start texting from his cell phone. By this time I was furious and ready to just leave. Needless to say a few minutes longer and I get my drink and leave, looking at the time on my cell. phone it was not 15:58 hrs. 12 minutes to get a limeade, way, way too long! I go to Sonic because traditionally they are very fast. I think I may have to use a different one.

The sage continues, as I try to call to voice my complaint to the Manager, Samantha Crow, according to the receipt "Questions, Comments, Concerns? MGR Samantha Crow [protected]." Not such and easy thing to do, apparently they give the number out but when you call the Manager is never in. The staff must be trained to always tell you the manager is never in. I called the day of the incident, then next day and again the following day. I was told she would be in at 5 on Monday after 5 I call, she’s again not in she works tomorrow at 11 am, I call in at 1 pm on Tuesday, yet again interference is ran and suprisingly she doesn't come in until 11 am on Wednesday. Good thing I know people who know the owner of the Sonics here in Denton and am in the process of tracking his number down. This is not the way to run a business! Be it the age of the manager or the age of the carhop, there has to be some training as to the customer perception of what you do in their presence. If I constantly check my text messages and looked at vehicles or even check my messages while with my customers, I would expect to be out of business very shortly. It send the message you can wait what I’m doing is more important, be in a $1, $4 or $10 sale.

I work near a Sonic in Memphis, Tn. My co-worker went to get both of us something to eat. I ordered a BLT and some Cheddar Peppers. She ordered some Sweet Tea. 30 minutes went by and she pressed the button to see what was going on. They told her it would be out in a minute. So she waited 10 more minutes before ringing for service again. Come to find out they had given our order to someone else. When she asked for the mgr to complain, the mgr told her he/she was sorry and that the order would be free of charge. When they finally got around to delivering the food, the carhop made my co-worker pay for the whole order. The mgr never followed through with his/her offer to take care of the food. When I received the food after my co-worker got back to the office, everything was ice cold, the bread on my BLT was soggy, and nasty, and the Cheddar Peppers looked like they had been skewered. My co-worker is actually on the phone with the Regional office now! at 12:27 pm on 3-18-09 has been for the past 30 minutes. WOW! thats all I can say...

The computer is automatically programmed to happy hour prices. At our store the half price drinks and slushes start ten min. before 2 and ends ten min. after 4 to allow for people whose clocks are a little off. I think our general manager does all the programming his self. This is definitely a problem with that certain store or that certain computer (switchboard). You should absolutely let them know because they might not even realize that it is messed up. And yes the combo has nothing to do with the discount. I also don't know how someone could be overcharged $10 for a blast. when you are placing your order and they tell you the total if it is not correct you should mention that and then if they don't fix it then you should't even pay for it.

It could have been a computure error. I work at sonic and the person taking your order doesnt give you the discount, the computure just does it on its own. However, if you got there at 1:59, or at 4:01, you won't get the discount because, like I said, the computer gives the discount, and there is nothing any of the carhops can do about it.

dent1013, some locations have been discovered to have programmed the incorrect pricing into their system. The way it worked before we upgraded was each "add-on", including candies and flavors, were charged separately in slushes, drinks, blasts, etc. However, with our new system, all of the add-ons are supposed to be zeroed out and have no priced value unless you ask for extra. Some locations were either confused about the new programming or thought that they could scam you, the customer, for a little extra change and you never notice. The store I last visited was doing just that. However, Sonic does not endorse that type of behavior in any way. Most supervisors that catch it will correct the problem with the management or fire the GM, as we consider it a form or stealing.

I'd definitely say something about that next time you are there. As far as ordering combos during Happy Hour, there is a combo credit as well as a Happy Hour drink credit. The combo credit should show up as being about $0.10 during happy hour(s) since your drink is already discounted. The happy hour drink credit doesn't show up as a subtraction from your ticket, however it is still there.

The discount is on Drinks by themselves. You people are likely ordering combos, which your already getting a discount for. In actuality, your saving money.

Computer Error... NOT. Over the past 2 months I've been consistently overcharged $.10 for a Blast. I've notified the manager and general manager multiple times. They don't care their company is false advertising and stealing. They've acknowledged the error but done nothing to fix it. Poor business practice!

Computer Error, it happens.

I agree.
I work at Sonic Drive-in and it was obviously a computer error.
Take your receipt back and they should offer you a refund of the appropriate amount.

You should have definitely taken that order back. The system at the locations is designed to give you the discount regardless of who took your order. In theory, you could not be denied your discount.

If the comment is bad enough just like this one yes they will report it to sonic corp. and they will inform the proper franchise

If she does live with 7 other people, things must be tough. She's probably doing what SHE thinks is the right thing to do to survive. Maybe you shouldn't interfere with her life and just live your own. If you're not directly affected by her "drug dealing" leave it alone. Its probably just schwag anyways. And if they are serving their own meat, its probably a lot better quality than the meat sonic provides them. I'd feel much better eating a burger that was not prepackaged.

Why don't you just go up to the Sonic she works at and report her there? You do realize that this site is not for the companies to read and respond to right? I just thought I would let you know so you wouldn't think you posted for nothing.

They offered you napkins and your money back? How dare they?! I guess they should have come out there and hosed you off themselves.

How dare they bring you hot coffee. You should sue the crap out of them-oh wait coffee is supposed to be hot you ###! Go back to school and learn how to read and write, a little grammar usage wouldn't hurt either. My 3 year old daughter just ate half of a raw chicken strip-that is a legitimate complaint. Sheesh! Hot coffee, what kind of whiney ### is this?!

Ma'am, I hate to break it to you but a Super Sonic Jalapeno Burger is a standard double cheeseburger + peppers.