Disappointed with Rewards Experience at McDonald’s

I’m a regular customer and frequently use the McDonald’s app to earn and redeem rewards. However, I’ve had a frustrating experience at the Vanderbijlpark branch. On multiple occasions, when I tried to redeem my points for food or drinks, I was told by staff and the manager that they cannot process app rewards because “the owner doesn’t allow it.”

While I understand this may be a policy specific to the franchise owner and not the fault of the staff, there are no signs or notices anywhere informing customers of this restriction. As a result, I end up placing an order through the app, lose my points, and then get told at the counter that they can’t fulfill it and they also can’t refund my rewards. That’s extremely disappointing and feels like a waste of both my time and money

If a location chooses not to honour the McDonald’s rewards system, that should be clearly communicated upfront both in-store and ideally within the app. Customers shouldn’t have to find out after they’ve already spent their points.

I hope McDonald’s takes this seriously and ensures consistency across locations or at the very least requires franchisees to clearly notify customers of any limitations. Right now, it feels like I’m being penalised for using a system that’s supposed to reward loyalty.