Beverage "Up Charge" at McDonalds
I asked for "NO ICE" in my drink and saw a funny little thing on the receipt.
$0.06 Drink Upcharge!?!??
I hardly dine at McDonalds and could care less about a measly six cents, but are they seriously charging MORE money for taking something OUT of the order?
Do they charge more on a Sandwich if you say "No Lettuce"???
It's really just the principle of the matter, that if you change your policy then it should be clearly displayed or stated by the employee.
It's bad enough that fast food chains make a Killing on soft drinks, spending less than 1 cent per soda and selling it for well over $1. But do they really have to add a fee for someone who doesn't want their overpriced soft drink to be watered down with an absurd amount of ice?
Gotta love those money hungry corporations that keep reducing our meal portions while increasing the prices all the way!
I think this is a job for Paco.
surrounding it is way cheaper than a cup
of pop only. 30 years ago the vending
machine at work gave you 3/4 of a cup
if you pushed the No Ice button.
Quote: IbeatyouracesI go inside and get my own from the self serve. If they try and charge me extra for no ice, I'll tell them to shove it then leave.
self-serve soda fountains at McDonald's are free refill, so you can get as much as you want.
Miplet broke down the cup and food cost. That food cost (for a 12 oz coke) included ice. Now, we need to know the cost of ice and the percentage of volume filled by ice.
On the next page, he told us that the cost of a 30 oz. coke is about $0.20 for the coke/ice. Interesting that the food cost of a 12 oz was about $0.10, so the two drinks must have a different coke/ice ratio.
casino fill the cup with ice and dribble some pop
on it. If you get it without ice, it comes out cold
and stays cold in the cup for the duration. I doubt
if most people even know it comes out cold, they're
just automaton's.
Side note: I wouldn't eat there if you can help it. My opinion is any excuse to switch food for something artificial, they will and it's where most of the profit comes from. You think you're getting something but you're not but getting McDonald's take on it. Spend an extra buck or two and get Wendy's or Arby's.
Six cents though is just silly and I bet the employees might not even know because they just hit the pictures since they're required to be illiterate to work there if I'm not mistaken.
Doubt it comes out 33 Bob. You seem to be saying we've all just been fooled into thinking ice actually keeps liquids cooler for God knows how many millennia. This conspiracy must go way back. Me I'm just Dumb and use the coffee cups and ice thinking it actually keeps it cold for the duration never even knowing I was just using voodoo.Quote: EvenBobI see most people at the beverage station in the
casino fill the cup with ice and dribble some pop
on it. If you get it without ice, it comes out cold
and stays cold in the cup for the duration. I doubt
if most people even know it comes out cold, they're
just automaton's.
Quote: bigfoot66The worst experience with stupid and short sighted MacDonald's pricing I have ever experienced was probably 5+ years ago. I don't remember the exact numbers but it must have been a deal where Tuesdays hamburgers were 49 cents and Thursdays cheeseburgers were 59 cents, regular price must have been about $1.29. I was there on Thursday and since I don't like cheese on my burger I ordered a few cheeseburgers, hold the cheese. The gal said she had to ring that up as a hamburger $1.29. WTF? Put the cheese on the side. I can do that sir, but I have to charge you the regular price. Are you effing kidding me? I am not normally a very angry person but I got really pissed. They treated me like I was trying to defraud the company. I left and bought nothing. Whoever thought that treating me this way was appropriate is a real idiot. It costs them less to make a hamburger than a cheeseburger! I should have asked to speak with a manager but there was an in n out burger 1/4 mile away. Not sure if the kid behind the counter decided that this was the rule or if her superior made the rule up but I still understand how someone could think that this is a smart policy.
probably because if the register/computer rang it up as a cheeseburger with no cheese, it automatically went as a hamburger, and the price was higher. the only way around it would have been to ring them as cheeseburgers then shout to the cooks to not put the cheese on. maybe the clerk didnt think of that or wasnt allowed to do that.
you should have just took the cheeseburgers and took the cheese off yourself.
Quote: sodawaterprobably because if the register/computer rang it up as a cheeseburger with no cheese, it automatically went as a hamburger, and the price was higher. the only way around it would have been to ring them as cheeseburgers then shout to the cooks to not put the cheese on. maybe the clerk didnt think of that or wasnt allowed to do that.
you should have just took the cheeseburgers and took the cheese off yourself.
Absolutely, but its the principle. I thought that McD's cheese was gross so taking it off may have left some behind and I would have not enjoyed it as much. Its just so stupid, how far out of your way are you willing to go to please your customer? Like I said, there was no apology here, she treated me like I was trying to scam them out of something and that pissed me off more than anything else.
Quote: bigfoot66Absolutely, but its the principle. I thought that McD's cheese was gross so taking it off may have left some behind and I would have not enjoyed it as much. Its just so stupid, how far out of your way are you willing to go to please your customer? Like I said, there was no apology here, she treated me like I was trying to scam them out of something and that pissed me off more than anything else.
Then please have some backbone and never patronize there again.
I can't stand b.s. like this. I had a place that would put hot sauce on something no problem, but ask for it on the side, and it was an extra $0.60. SIXTY CENTS! Eff all that mess.
If your establishement's actual name is Nickels and Dimes, and they charge for every little thing but also let you opt out of every little thing, only then can it be tolerated.
Quote: IbeatyouracesExactly. But even if I'm not staying there I'll do the same. And not limited to McDonalds either.
Have you ever eaten in a Five Guys burger restaurant? They have the new Coke Freestyle machines, which are just awesome.
Also, here is a spreadsheet I made about the math involved when ordering a Five Guys burger.
Click on the image for a bigger version.
I'm hatin' it.
The first thing is the fact that they, Universally, have the worst coffee I have ever tasted in my life. Bland, insipid, no aroma, slight hint of dirt. I played in the mud a good deal as a kid, indulged in five worms once, (on a dare, eight years old, won me $5.00) and I am qualified to say that McDonald's coffee tastes like hot water with just the slightest bit of dirt added to it. It's somewhat insulting that they'd even call it coffee.
I also think back to when I was a vegetarian, I recall asking for them not to put meat on the sandwiches, but rather to put some mushrooms instead, and of course there was an upcharge for that, even though I was merely replacing the meat with what pathetic few mushrooms they would deign to stick impotently to the underside of the top bun...maybe three of them.
The only other dump to charge a customer for replacing the meat with mushrooms was Steak & Shake, but I won't say too much, because their burgers aren't God-awful and many of their deals are actually pretty reasonable for what they are.
The other great thing about McDonald's is that, if you order one of their stupid sandwiches without the meat but do not ask for mushrooms, it does not affect the price in anyway whatsoever! Although, it sounds like I am lucky not to have been assessed a, "Brain charge," which is being charged extra for the fact that one of the employees is required to use his/her brain and remember to not put meat on the sandwich.
The only time McDonald's reduced the price is when you got an Egg McMuffin without Canadian Bacon.
At least you have place such as Burger King, Hardee's, and to a smaller extent, Wendy's. I think Burger King and Hardee's have some decent food, again, for what it is and that (most importantly) Burger King has some very good coffee. Probably better than any other fast food place.
Never seen a vending machine that added ice for you. It would make sense if it was a auto fill soda machine, that less soda would come out, considering most people add ice and the machine dose not want to over flow your cup.Quote: EvenBobA cup of frozen water with pop
surrounding it is way cheaper than a cup
of pop only. 30 years ago the vending
machine at work gave you 3/4 of a cup
if you pushed the No Ice button.
I remember a Subway restaurant having a promotion a long time ago for $3 footlongs on Tuesdays. I ordered a club (ham, turkey, bacon, cheese) hold the turkey, and when I went to pay they tried to charge me for a ham and cheese add bacon. I kept arguing and eventually told them to just keep the sub and walked out. I'm sure that was worth the extra dollar to them!
Quote: sodawaterHave you ever eaten in a Five Guys burger restaurant? They have the new Coke Freestyle machines, which are just awesome.
They installed one of these Coke machines at the Fallsview Casino Deli. The thing is bloody amazing, and I was quite impressed.
You can pick your beverage and then you can pick all the flavorings in the beverage. So, under Coca-Cola, you can do all the variations of Coke: Vanille Coke, Cherry Coke. and about 6 - 7 other variations.
Quote: sodawaterself-serve soda fountains at McDonald's are free refill, so you can get as much as you want.
Not all of them. The one at the D is NOT self serve. I heard before bums would come in with a coin cup pour soda into it.
Quote: Mission146McDonald's...
I'm hatin' it.
The first thing is the fact that they, Universally, have the worst coffee I have ever tasted in my life.
A few years ago the coffee changed in Canada. Now it tastes fine. One of the only things I order from them anymore.
When I'm in the states, I always tempted to order some nuggets, because I can get 20 nuggets for $5. In Canada, that pack size is over $10 now.
Quote: wudgedMy favorite pricing about McDonald's was there different-sized nuggets. I think they have finally fixed it most places, but for a while the prices were something along the lines of: 4 piece $0.99, 6 piece $2.59, 10 piece $3.99, and 20 piece $4.99.
I remember a Subway restaurant having a promotion a long time ago for $3 footlongs on Tuesdays. I ordered a club (ham, turkey, bacon, cheese) hold the turkey, and when I went to pay they tried to charge me for a ham and cheese add bacon. I kept arguing and eventually told them to just keep the sub and walked out. I'm sure that was worth the extra dollar to them!
Yeah they phased out the 99 cent nuggets pretty quick. I used to get 8 nuggets and be happy it was about 50 cents less than 6. For 4 dollars I would get those and 2 McDoubles and that usually carried me through a 12 hour shift.
Quote: PerditionYeah they phased out the 99 cent nuggets pretty quick. I used to get 8 nuggets and be happy it was about 50 cents less than 6. For 4 dollars I would get those and 2 McDoubles and that usually carried me through a 12 hour shift.
I would get 8 nuggets, a mcdouble (hold the onions, bleh!) and a small fry.
Quote: WizardI'd be interested to know the fair cost, or savings, to the customer for the "no ice" request. As was said, no ice means you can fit more soda in the cup. However, I thought the cost of the soda was just pennies per cup. But there is also an expense to buy the electricity to make the ice.
I think this is a job for Paco.
I'll do that tonight at work. The cost of ice? That isn't itemized on anything. Guess it depends on the ice maker. This one uses 4.45 kWh of electricity and 20 gallons of water per 100 lbs. of ice, while this one is 6.65 kWh of electricity and 12 gallons of water per 100 lbs. of ice.
Quote: wudged
I remember a Subway restaurant having a promotion a long time ago for $3 footlongs on Tuesdays. I ordered a club (ham, turkey, bacon, cheese) hold the turkey, and when I went to pay they tried to charge me for a ham and cheese add bacon. I kept arguing and eventually told them to just keep the sub and walked out. I'm sure that was worth the extra dollar to them!
We had a local pizza place that tried that crap with me, once. They had this pizza they called, "The Ultimate Hawaiian," which had seven toppings. I ordered a large, but asked to have no bacon on it, so they tried to charge me for a large pizza with five extra toppings! I didn't end up having to walk out, though, they eventually relented.
Quote: Sabretom2It's always prudent to order the drink without ice. According to the global warming crowd, if the ice melts, the drink will overflow.
(facepalm)
Quote: renoWhen you get right down to it, McDonalds just isn't as cheap as it should be. Case in point: their chicken wings were a flop, not just because they were too spicy, but also because at $5 for 5 pieces they were double the price of those 50 cent wings at my neighborhood dive bar.
They were most certainly too expensive, I didn't find them too spicy they just were plain terrible. I was always a fan of the chicken selects, when they first started the tenders were huge and had a great batter mix... Then they changed the batter and not to long after they started making the tenders smaller and smaller until they disappeared off the menu.
I know the McDonald's at O'Hare airport charges for water
Quote: EvenBobI see most people at the beverage station in the
casino fill the cup with ice and dribble some pop
on it. If you get it without ice, it comes out cold
and stays cold in the cup for the duration. I doubt
if most people even know it comes out cold, they're
just automaton's.
Had this conversation with a guy who used to manage some place while we were in line. We both asked for "no ice" by chance as the self-serve station was closed as they were switching the food service in our cafeteria. He mentioned that most health departments keep fountain stations to the 40/140 standard and your pop should be 40 degrees or less coming out. He agreed that having the ice in the cup "robs" you of almost half your beverage.
Any store that does this is being penny-wise and pound foolish. So you want to raise the margin on the drink from 80% to 81%? See if I ever show up again, ever.
On the subject of the fancy Coke fountains at FG, they have them at Moe's Southwest Grill as well. I think they are great! Get a little variety.
Quote: PerditionThey had a coke freestyle machine at this upjumped Pizza Place by me for a while. It's all well and good until they want 3 dollars for a regular cup. I'd rather just go to 7-11 where they have been letting you mix coke and Pepsi products for 20+ years and get a 64oz refill for 99 cents. Also there I can get the nachos and add so much chili and cheese that it looks like a baby's diaper when I am done with it.
Beverages seem to be the product eating establishments figure people will swallow easier. I was at Red Robin last week and it was $2.99 or $3.99 for most refillables. Not that I am still expecting $0.99 but $4 for a soft drink is getting a little out of hand. But perhaps it will be $5 soon what with minimum wage bumps and other mandates on what they must give employees. I'll just end up having water only more often as I cannot drink most fountain beverages at sit-down joints anymore anyways.
Quote: AZDuffmanBeverages seem to be the product eating establishments figure people will swallow easier. I was at Red Robin last week and it was $2.99 or $3.99 for most refillables. Not that I am still expecting $0.99 but $4 for a soft drink is getting a little out of hand. But perhaps it will be $5 soon what with minimum wage bumps and other mandates on what they must give employees. I'll just end up having water only more often as I cannot drink most fountain beverages at sit-down joints anymore anyways.
The price of the soda is creeping up to that of the alcohol. Last month at Applebee's, my 22oz tap Miller Lite was priced at $3.00 and my wife's diet cola was at $2.79. The soda came with free refills, it would have been another $3.00 for another beer.
Quote: PerditionThey had a coke freestyle machine at this upjumped Pizza Place by me for a while. It's all well and good until they want 3 dollars for a regular cup. I'd rather just go to 7-11 where they have been letting you mix coke and Pepsi products for 20+ years and get a 64oz refill for 99 cents. Also there I can get the nachos and add so much chili and cheese that it looks like a baby's diaper when I am done with it.
Yum.
Quote: ewjones080McDonalds is the worst at nickel and diming people. And quite frankly I think they're food is terrible. I'd rather get a sub or Thickburger.
McD's is borderline gross. The service is a chinese fire drill. Fail/Epic Fail. BK's around here run a tight ship, the fries rule, and the BDCB is back on the value menu... $4 with val. Fries/soda. 80's Flash back not included :P
75 gallons of coke syrup costs $489.46. This makes 450 gallons (57,600 ounces) of Coke.
There are 87.5 serving units per gallon of syrup.
Crunching some numbers I get 1 once of Coke costs: $0.008497569444
Here is a summery of each cup size:
| Size Name | Units of Syrup | Cost | Actual Ounces | Cup Size | Amount of Ice | Cost of No Ice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| child | 1 | 0.07458438095 | 8.777142857 | 12 | 3.222857143 | 0.02738645238 |
| small | 1.38 | 0.1029264457 | 12.11245714 | 16 | 3.887542857 | 0.0330346654 |
| medium | 1.98 | 0.1476770743 | 17.37874286 | 21 | 3.621257143 | 0.03077188405 |
| large | 2.73 | 0.20361536 | 23.9616 | 30 | 6.0384 | 0.05131172333 |
Quote: mipletI'm going to use Coke in this example. Other sodas have different costs.
75 gallons of coke syrup costs $489.46. This makes 450 gallons (57,600 ounces) of Coke.
There are 87.5 serving units per gallon of syrup.
Crunching some numbers I get 1 once of Coke costs: $0.008497569444
Here is a summery of each cup size:
Size Name Units of Syrup Cost Actual Ounces Cup Size Amount of Ice Cost of No Ice child 1 0.07458438095 8.777142857 12 3.222857143 0.02738645238 small 1.38 0.1029264457 12.11245714 16 3.887542857 0.0330346654 medium 1.98 0.1476770743 17.37874286 21 3.621257143 0.03077188405 large 2.73 0.20361536 23.9616 30 6.0384 0.05131172333
Why does the 16 oz cup have more ice than 21?
And generally speaking, your estimate of ice is much less than Applebee's. They estimate that 12 oz of your 20 oz glass will be ice. And if I don't request "no ice" or "light ice" there, that's sounds about right.
http://www.applebees.com/~/media/docs/Applebees_Nutritional_Info.pdf
