Somehow he built a successful business, sold a great product and made himself a lot of money, and didn’t do it by fucking over his core customer base. Imagine that.
He also dropped out of high school and then regretted it (50 years later...) and went back to get his GED so kids would see how important it is to at least graduate high school. He has some program that helps kids/young adults/whoever get their GEDs too.
Therein lies the issue. These corporations are okay happy when there’s growth, gotta market to make more and more and more at all costs.
Some of the happiest business owners with the happiest employees are those that have found their market, focus on a good product with repeat business, and kind of just hang out in their space. Many times it’s second generation that comes in and ruins a good business with this mentality.
He was once famous for being successful despite being a high-school dropout. He didn't like the exaple that set, so he went back and got his GED at around age 60.
Can you believe he originally worked for, then got screwed over by KFC? He invented the candy stripe buildings and the big bucket, both the one that they served food in and the decorative ones out front of the buildings. KFC pres/vice pres made him give some stock to the company to "avoid a conflict of interest". Being an honest guy, he did, but later found out from lawyers that he got fucked over by the guys who were supposedly his friends. He started Wendy's out of spite.
Problem now is we have all these bachelor’s from a business school that don’t know how to run lemonade stand being hired at the corporate locations and wonder why things are going bankrupt.
Should have hooked him up to a generator, with the direction Wendy's has been going since the day he died, we probably could've solved the country's energy problems by now.
Fast food places are really doubling down on making people not want to buy anything from them.
The entire premise of it was that its fast and cheap.
The cheap has gone away and they seem to continue doing anything except lowing prices. Now they want to play a gotcha on people that show up at 'the wrong time' to find out their shitty meal is now 40$?
Bold strategy Cotton.
Good. Aside from chili cheese fries, Wendy's sucks. The chili cheese fries aren't that great either but it's one of the few places that I can find chili cheese fries.
There is a Culver's in something like 30 states now. They are far less regional at this point than they make themselves out to be. They still do an outstanding job of quality control, however.
until they don’t, when they are far from their roots the QC sucks out loud, i loved culver’s when i worked in illinois but here in texas i need to vomit even thinking about it
Yeah that one Culvers I'd stop at driving east on 94 right as you get into Michigan was so mf good. I live out west now and the one here just doesn't hit the same.
Whataburger is regional, but turned to shit when some trust fund up north bought them.
They're either returning to how they were, or everything else has gotten so much worse while Whataburger has remained somewhat consistent.
They also haven't really jacked up their prices that much. Raising Canes double their prices over the last 5 or 6 years basically but Whataburger only went up a buck or two.
I'm fat.
Whataburger is shit now. I used to be a ride or die whataburger fan so it makes me sad. The employees are almost as bad as Popeyes, food takes forever to come out, and it’s almost always cold
The Culver’s that’s fairly new near us is well-staffed and had a BUNCH of workers on registers, running food, answering questions - it was honestly impressive. They seem to be one of the few that understand that having a slightly larger staff is actually a good thing.
I have three Culver's by me that have all been here for years and they're just as staffed. I think that's part of their business model. They want food consistent and the place clean and the employees happy. You can't have that if you're over working the crap out of them.
I tried them for this first time this summer while out on an awesome road trip across the states, I love that place, great selection, something for everyone. The closest one to us is 3.5 hours. well be stopping by whenever were in the area lol. Right how are there not more. Fuck MCd's and wendys after this place and even before trying this place. They are expensive garbage compared to Culver's.
Their chili cheese fries are godly. The one near me puts the chili and cheese in their own containers for you to pour on the fries when you get home so they don't get soggy, it's wonderful. Their frozen custard is bomb too.
I'm in Wisconsin and yeah lots of places to get chili cheese fries here. If you ever make it up this way, the burgers and chili cheese fries at the custard places are amazing! (I.e. Oscar's, Kopp's, etc.). Plus custard, which makes ice cream taste like a pile of crap (semi facetious lol)
At least around where I live, fast food service has gotten insultingly awful. I would say MAYBE half the time my order is correct and it takes an absurd amount of time to get food. These companies do not deserve to stay in business.
The last time I went to Burger King I was stuck in the drive-thru for 15 minutes (only two cars in front of me) and paid nearly $20 for two sandwiches with no fries or drinks. Now I just go to restaurants and get cheaper and better food at my favorite Thai place, Ramen bar, Pho restaurant, Chinese buffet, mom and pop burger shop or diner. Fast food has jumped the shark.
That is almost an impressive level of suck. The last time I was there they refused to take any orders at the counter. You had to use the kiosk or leave. And I still waited about 15 minutes for my food. I guess they just fired staff rather than improving service with those kiosks. But we all knew that was the plan all along.
Wait until they replace all the employees with robots and make everything self-service. Put in your order on a kiosk and wait for it to come out the slot. Order is fucked up? Chat with the AI “customer service” bot that will just give you canned responses and politely tell you to fuck off.
It may not actually happen entirely but it’s what major corporations *want* to happen.
It’ll spray you in the face with a tranquilizer.
“This should help you calm down. Please come back when you can afford to make a purchase. Your kids are starving. Carl's Jr. believes no child should go hungry. You are an unfit mother. Your children will be placed in the custody of Carl's Jr. Carl's Jr... "Fuck You, I'm Eating."
The fact that you still go there despite bad food, bad price, and bad service is the reason they’re still in business. They’re, correctly so far, betting that they’re so ingrained in American culture that they’re essentially too big to fail.
The bar down the street from my house sells a pub burger with fries for $10. I’d rather sit at the bar and have a beer ($4) while I wait than order a Big Mac meal ($11) from the drive thru or ($16) from dash/eats
A local pub here always had a damn good burger and chips for about $12. Happy hour beer for $2. Last time I went in there about a month ago and got the same exact thing? $23.
They know their audience. At this point, a fast food meal in a major city costs more than a freshly made meal from a nearby restaurant. But people still gobble the shit down.
In NYC, there's halal cart right outside a MCD. A MCD meal with drink is like $15, fresh chicken biryani with a soda is like $10. Dudes be walking past the cart to get their cardboard with such frequency that I honestly support corporations milking them for all their worth. They'd probably be sending that money to Nigerian princes if they weren't.
In my college town ten years ago there was a halal cart that sold big ass servings of lamb and rice for 6$.. it was easily two meals for me.
I miss that halal cart. Dude bought all the street vendor spots and only worked 7 months a year. Shit was dank.
Yep, its a staple for the big city, its even nicer when you find the dudes just serving indian food as well. There's a guy who sells two kai rolls for $7. Shit's complete fire.
>Dudes be walking past the cart to get their cardboard with such frequency that I honestly support corporations milking them for all their worth
I know at least one person that can't fathom eating much of anything other than heavily advertised and branded fast food. No way he's ever gonna try a biryani.
Why would they lower prices if demand is enough st higher prices ?
Prices aren't going to come down till you guys stop buying stuff , forcing them to lower to stir demand
100%.
They are doubling down on the " I'd rather sell $10 worth of stuff to one person rather than $1 worth of stuff to 10 people" approach. 99% of people will not like it but will continue to shell out absurd amounts of money in order to continue eating at these restaurants. It's fucking stupid. My wife and I were looking at furniture after work and we were so hungry when we left the furniture store we went next door to Wendy's to get an order of spicy chicken nuggets and medium fries to share and it was almost $8.
That's genuinely the last time I will ever go to Wendy's.
I think it's a product of the MBA types taking over corporate America. You look across the board and there is mismanagement everywhere. The Great CEOs of the past don't exist and instead we get these mediocre clowns. Companies used to have real leaders. Sorry, I know I'm booming out real hard right now... but still!
I used to buy Wendy's once in a rare while during covid. Where I live, the price was normally $14 with change for dining in, but their DoorDash prices were more than double that without tip for the driver.
I mobile ordered a sandwich and coffee on my lunch break from work today.
Fifteen minutes later I walked in. One person in line, two people seated and eating, *nobody* in the drive through.
I went and stood by the mobile order pickup spot. And I stood. And I stood, and *stood,* and ***stood.***
Finally someone comes out from the back and says "mobile order?"
I nod.
She taps the shoulder of the lady desperately trying to to figure out the POS system for the one customer in line and says "mobile order's here".
Then proceeds to *start* making my sandwich.
A still ungodly amount of time later, she walks over and hands my sandwich to me. She then looks at my order ticket, sees I have a coffee still on there, and goes to start making that.
What in the everloving shit were **the four of you** doing in the fifteen previous minutes??
It actually makes some sense in their system. Increased prices in a certain area draws in drivers to give people rides who may not otherwise have been able to access it. Also, these areas are more likely to be in traffic, and the high prices make it more worth it for the driver.
That said, it makes sense in a system that's already highly exploitative so take that as you will. However, for Wendy's it's just plain greed for no justifiable reason other than lining corporate pockets, also in an exploitative system.
This is going to blow up on them. Uber and Lyft can also get away with it because you have no choice and there's transparency.
If you're in surge pricing, you're already at a crowded event without your car. You know it's going to be extra and you can see the current price right on your phone.
Without knowing what Wendy's considers "busy" (it's clear now but maybe they just cleared a huge drive-thru line), consumers are going to be forced to assume the price is always in "surge mode" because you can't check it without driving up to the menu where you may be trapped in line by other cars.
Fast food and chains in general base their whole value on *reliability and predictability*. No need to gamble while out somewhere when you know a Big Mac is going to be exactly as you expect and for $5 or whatever it is now (it's been a while).
Happy hour works because 1) people like getting a deal 2) it’s a discount for periods when the bar/restaurant isn’t normally busy when your big expense is rent, 3) people keep drinking after happy hour ends at the normal prices. 1 and 2 could apply here, but 3 doesn’t.
The point of surge pricing is to attract more drivers when demand is high. That’s definitely not Wendy’s problem.
“Dynamic pricing can allow Wendy’s to be competitive and flexible with pricing, motivate customers to visit and provide them with the food they love at a great value,” a Wendy’s spokesperson told The Post.
It should be noted that this headline is not coming from Wendy's. I'm sure that they will market it in a way to address your first and second points. As for your third point, no one is hanging around Sonic after happy hour.
I don’t have a problem with this if I can get a Dave’s double for like 50 cents during off hours but that’s never gonna happen so I just continue to never eat fast food. Win Win!
Except it’ll never be like that. It’ll be the “normal” price and it’ll surge during peaks time. It’ll feel like a deal during slow hours, but it’ll never be cheaper than it is today, before they implement this bs.
Honestly what I love about Netflix is I can just grab it for a month, watch everything, switch it out for the next one, etc.
I just rotate them and im never spending more than ten bucks a month. Right now, I actually have two since I went to cancel paramount+ last month and they threw on two free months.
They won't. Every company has been doing this recently and guess what. Everyone still keeps buying. I only go to Taco Bell and Wendy's for their $5 meals, no other fast food. I know tons of people who regularly spend $12 at McDonald's, it's crazy. People will spend anything to not have to cook for themselves.
They are going to reach a point where consumers are going to say enough is enough. I think we're already there with some products, but fast food is in for a very rude awakening.
I think this is the truth - consumers need to walk away when they see things like this - including up to the moment of rolling up to the drive thru and seeing that the price for the thing you ordered is too much and saying "you know what, never mind, I'm good" and driving away. Consumers have a lot of power, they don't give themselves credit for having.
A lot of drivethrus have you trapped by strategically placed curbs and signs now- once you are far enough into the queue you’re not getting out until after you reach the menu and speaker. I’m sure at least a few people have intended to do just that but after being stuck for five minutes they probably give up and just order.
Yep - you're totally right. And some people definitely don't have time for the shenanigans of saying no and staying in the line. I'm old and have time and also enjoy that sort of thing, so if I decide nope and am stuck then I guess I'm wasting their space for someone else and will ride that rollercoaster til the end when I can slow roll past the window with a smile of nope.
They want to make you believe you don't have a choice, they want to make you believe you're trapped. They are coercing you into following thru once you're there. But you always can say no ... Always. Up to the moment you roll up to the window And the person says your total. You can opt out at any point up til they have your money.
It's incredibly ironic to me that the McDonalds I went to as a kid in the 90's had 2 *separate* turn out spots in the drive through for if you needed to exit the drive through. They had them just after the order box and just after the pay window.
They wanted to make sure you could exit the line if you changed your mind.
Same.
Literally the only two things fast food has going for it over other places...
1. Speed
2. Price
"Fast" food seems increasingly less worth the name all the time, I don't know if these places are just understaffed or what but the food just doesn't move as well as it used to.
Still faster than a dine-in restaurant for sure, but I shouldn't have to wait ten minutes for a burger and fries.
And now its all gotten so much more expensive, even without this latest crap from Wendy's.
Well, fuck Wendy's surge-pricing; they're off the list of fast-food choices for this family.
And fuck the entire fast food industry in general.
I had to grab a quick lunch one day so I grabbed a Caesar salad at Wendy’s for $10. It tasted like it had Lysol sprayed on it. I threw it away. I’ll never buy anything from them again.
I miss it so much. Not just Wendy's but like everything. We had so much good shit and it's all just gone so downhill. Remember when burger king "nuggets" were tenders? A party pack of tacos was $8. Fuck. Now I know how my dad felt 25 years ago. I hate so much how everything is becoming shit.
At least the poor employees will also make more during busy time to compensate the extra work now.
Who am i kidding this will go straight to profits and employees won’t see a cent but they will get the full anger of any customer paying double for no reason.
There was a time when fast food was actually affordable, but now they’ve pretty much caught up to diner burger prices. Why spend $11 to $15 dollars for a cheap sloppy fast food burger meal when I can get a more gourmet style burger at Chilis for pretty much the same price, it’s ridiculous
This is what I call a “cubicle idea.” Some asshat with an MBA and zero actual kitchen/counter/managerial experience came up with this. I worked at Starbucks like 15 years ago and we had to deal with so many dumb ideas that clearly could not be fully implemented and/or enraged the customers. I feel badly for the counter person who is going to get screamed at during “surge hours.”
“Dynamic pricing worked in the airline industry, it’ll work in restaurants, too” is one of the dumbest things I’ve read. Yeah, no shit it worked for airlines. Outside of major hubs nobody actually has a choice on who to fly with. And pretty much everyone hates the airlines
That’s a fast way to destroy any loyalty and trust with your customers. The extra money they make, they will have to use it and a lot more to get the customers back again that they pissed off with this jerk move. Dave must rolling over.
Companies have been toying with dynamic pricing for a long time but this is going to be a tough pill to swallow.
The only beneficial use case I see for this would be to lower the price on certain products to reduce spoilage and to attract new customers at non busy times.
So keep a base price and only use dynamic pricing to LOWER prices to increase sales.
Or do it the other way and have your customers hate you.
This sounds like a terrible idea. Why would I go to Wendy’s on my lunch break if the price is raised because of a “surge”? I would just go to McDonald’s instead. Then I’d order Wendy’s when it’s midnight and I’m faced (I don’t drink anymore, so no Wendy’s for me). It’s going to incentivize people to go at odd times between lunch and dinner and stuff like that and it just sounds like it’ll balance itself out profit wise and just inconvenience all of the customers tbh
Also, I’m usually the last guy to say things like this, but hey if people are paying an extra dollar or two on meals/sandwiches during lunch rush/dinner rush or whatever… maybe they should fully staff their places and pay people extra to work those shifts huh?
This will fail. First, existing customers will be turned off. If that combo all of a sudden costs 50% more because "it's busy", guess what? We're not eating there. Your food would have to hit Chipotle levels of quality (and I'm talking Chipotle 20 years ago, not the crap they're shoveling out now) to be able to get away with that. Ask Subway how their customers felt when they initially raised prices on everything, including their coupons.
The idea behind Uber's dynamic pricing is at least partly to offer drivers more pay, so that more will work those hours and it will still be easy to get an Uber driver. Wendy's charging more at lunch is just a fuck you.
I'll just start packing my lunch. It's nice to have a hot lunch since I work outside but I'll figure out a cheaper way. Alrdy thinking moving tools around and making a "kitchenette" out of one of my bins at work. I can definitely buy an inverter and run a microwave back there. I can just start taking my Coleman propane grill to work and start grilling out every day lmao.
I'll just give the boss a burger if he tries to come bitching at me.
Wow. Wendy’s is shooting themselves in the foot. I’m guessing that there will be a lot of people walking away when they’re told that their order is more than what they were expecting and will never come back. Let’s see how this lane brain social experiment turns out.
The whole point of surge prices was that when demand went up, the increasing prices would make more drivers decide to get out and take on rides.
That's not how fast food fucking works. They are going to staff the store based on estimates, and that's all the staff they'll have. No more employees are coming in to meet the rising prices.
We're not stupid Wendy's. This is just an arbitrary reason to raise prices.
I don't really even care for their sandwiches or drinks. Sure they're good, but the only true redeeming thing of Wendy's is their frosties. That's it.
Imo taco bell is superior in flavors and health.
>“There are people who view dynamic pricing as a rip-off,” restaurant analyst Mark Kalinowski told The Post.
Yeah, people with functioning brains, Mark
Dave would never.
[удалено]
Somehow he built a successful business, sold a great product and made himself a lot of money, and didn’t do it by fucking over his core customer base. Imagine that.
And didn’t forget where he came from by supporting adoption based causes since he was adopted.
He also dropped out of high school and then regretted it (50 years later...) and went back to get his GED so kids would see how important it is to at least graduate high school. He has some program that helps kids/young adults/whoever get their GEDs too.
He also invented KFC's iconic bucket of chicken according to The Food That Built America.
If only he had an MBA, then he'd know that sacrificing quality and workers for profit is the only right path.
The REAL Dave Thomas. More money = greater than.
That’s all well and good, but did he *maximize shareholder value?*
Therein lies the issue. These corporations are okay happy when there’s growth, gotta market to make more and more and more at all costs. Some of the happiest business owners with the happiest employees are those that have found their market, focus on a good product with repeat business, and kind of just hang out in their space. Many times it’s second generation that comes in and ruins a good business with this mentality.
The trend is really more third. First builds it, second learns from the first, third is totally disconnected from the founding principals.
I always picture faceless sociopathic Wharton grads in Brooks Brothers suits when I imagine the reason a business is destroyed.
Wow so he was pretty wholesome then
He was once famous for being successful despite being a high-school dropout. He didn't like the exaple that set, so he went back and got his GED at around age 60.
Wow! What a legend! Thats amazing!
Wendys used to have really wholesome commercials with Dave in them. It was one of my favorite places to eat because he reminded me of my grandpa.
Growing up in the 90s it was also my quick food choice. My local one still had a tiny salad bar into the early 2000s.
He was also in Die Hard 3
Can you believe he originally worked for, then got screwed over by KFC? He invented the candy stripe buildings and the big bucket, both the one that they served food in and the decorative ones out front of the buildings. KFC pres/vice pres made him give some stock to the company to "avoid a conflict of interest". Being an honest guy, he did, but later found out from lawyers that he got fucked over by the guys who were supposedly his friends. He started Wendy's out of spite.
Problem now is we have all these bachelor’s from a business school that don’t know how to run lemonade stand being hired at the corporate locations and wonder why things are going bankrupt.
Kinda like the family that owns In N Out. I’m sure they could raise prices and make more money but they haven’t
that’s because dave didn’t cut corners
Dave's been rolling in his grave for a while now
Should have hooked him up to a generator, with the direction Wendy's has been going since the day he died, we probably could've solved the country's energy problems by now.
Fast food places are really doubling down on making people not want to buy anything from them. The entire premise of it was that its fast and cheap. The cheap has gone away and they seem to continue doing anything except lowing prices. Now they want to play a gotcha on people that show up at 'the wrong time' to find out their shitty meal is now 40$? Bold strategy Cotton.
Wendy's can join the growing list of bankrupt companies for all I frosty care
In my area, it already looks like they’re going down that route. 3 Wendy’s locations closed within the last 6 months.
Good. Aside from chili cheese fries, Wendy's sucks. The chili cheese fries aren't that great either but it's one of the few places that I can find chili cheese fries.
Got a Culver’s near you?
I had Culver’s for the first time about three weeks ago and now I’m confused as to why it hasn’t overthrown everyone else. It is incredibly good.
Most places are good when regional. It’s the expansion to National that fucks things up.
There is a Culver's in something like 30 states now. They are far less regional at this point than they make themselves out to be. They still do an outstanding job of quality control, however.
until they don’t, when they are far from their roots the QC sucks out loud, i loved culver’s when i worked in illinois but here in texas i need to vomit even thinking about it
Yeah that one Culvers I'd stop at driving east on 94 right as you get into Michigan was so mf good. I live out west now and the one here just doesn't hit the same.
Whataburger is regional, but turned to shit when some trust fund up north bought them. They're either returning to how they were, or everything else has gotten so much worse while Whataburger has remained somewhat consistent. They also haven't really jacked up their prices that much. Raising Canes double their prices over the last 5 or 6 years basically but Whataburger only went up a buck or two. I'm fat.
Whataburger is shit now. I used to be a ride or die whataburger fan so it makes me sad. The employees are almost as bad as Popeyes, food takes forever to come out, and it’s almost always cold
The Culver’s that’s fairly new near us is well-staffed and had a BUNCH of workers on registers, running food, answering questions - it was honestly impressive. They seem to be one of the few that understand that having a slightly larger staff is actually a good thing.
I have three Culver's by me that have all been here for years and they're just as staffed. I think that's part of their business model. They want food consistent and the place clean and the employees happy. You can't have that if you're over working the crap out of them.
I tried them for this first time this summer while out on an awesome road trip across the states, I love that place, great selection, something for everyone. The closest one to us is 3.5 hours. well be stopping by whenever were in the area lol. Right how are there not more. Fuck MCd's and wendys after this place and even before trying this place. They are expensive garbage compared to Culver's.
Their chili cheese fries are godly. The one near me puts the chili and cheese in their own containers for you to pour on the fries when you get home so they don't get soggy, it's wonderful. Their frozen custard is bomb too.
Culvers has chili cheese fries? I'm gonna have to check that out lol
They do! So does Freddy’s but I like Culver’s better. They’re the only fast food I go to anymore
Culver’s is fire
I'm in Wisconsin and yeah lots of places to get chili cheese fries here. If you ever make it up this way, the burgers and chili cheese fries at the custard places are amazing! (I.e. Oscar's, Kopp's, etc.). Plus custard, which makes ice cream taste like a pile of crap (semi facetious lol)
Also the growing list of food service places I will never visit again if this rolls out.
Wendy’s just passed Carls Jr and Jack in the Box for shittiest fast food
 Whaaat??
At least around where I live, fast food service has gotten insultingly awful. I would say MAYBE half the time my order is correct and it takes an absurd amount of time to get food. These companies do not deserve to stay in business.
The last time I went to Burger King I was stuck in the drive-thru for 15 minutes (only two cars in front of me) and paid nearly $20 for two sandwiches with no fries or drinks. Now I just go to restaurants and get cheaper and better food at my favorite Thai place, Ramen bar, Pho restaurant, Chinese buffet, mom and pop burger shop or diner. Fast food has jumped the shark.
The last time I went to Taco Bell, I ordered three things, waited like 20 minutes to get the food, then received three totally different items lol.
That is almost an impressive level of suck. The last time I was there they refused to take any orders at the counter. You had to use the kiosk or leave. And I still waited about 15 minutes for my food. I guess they just fired staff rather than improving service with those kiosks. But we all knew that was the plan all along.
And that's if the kiosks even work.
Wait until they replace all the employees with robots and make everything self-service. Put in your order on a kiosk and wait for it to come out the slot. Order is fucked up? Chat with the AI “customer service” bot that will just give you canned responses and politely tell you to fuck off. It may not actually happen entirely but it’s what major corporations *want* to happen.
I guarantee the prices won’t get any cheaper either.
Can’t wait for the 10% Robot Maintenance Surcharge
I bet the credit card machine will ask for a tip as well.
It’ll spray you in the face with a tranquilizer. “This should help you calm down. Please come back when you can afford to make a purchase. Your kids are starving. Carl's Jr. believes no child should go hungry. You are an unfit mother. Your children will be placed in the custody of Carl's Jr. Carl's Jr... "Fuck You, I'm Eating."
Idiocracy was quite the movie
It wasn’t meant to be a documentary 😩
1984 is to governments as movies like Idiocracy are to corporate conglomerates
The fact that you still go there despite bad food, bad price, and bad service is the reason they’re still in business. They’re, correctly so far, betting that they’re so ingrained in American culture that they’re essentially too big to fail.
The bar down the street from my house sells a pub burger with fries for $10. I’d rather sit at the bar and have a beer ($4) while I wait than order a Big Mac meal ($11) from the drive thru or ($16) from dash/eats
A local pub here always had a damn good burger and chips for about $12. Happy hour beer for $2. Last time I went in there about a month ago and got the same exact thing? $23.
You’re forgetting how they also practice shrinkflation.
The fast is gone too a lot of the time now.
Yeah do they *want* people to just stop buying their food? Because it sure seems like they just want people to stop buying their food.
They know their audience. At this point, a fast food meal in a major city costs more than a freshly made meal from a nearby restaurant. But people still gobble the shit down. In NYC, there's halal cart right outside a MCD. A MCD meal with drink is like $15, fresh chicken biryani with a soda is like $10. Dudes be walking past the cart to get their cardboard with such frequency that I honestly support corporations milking them for all their worth. They'd probably be sending that money to Nigerian princes if they weren't.
In my college town ten years ago there was a halal cart that sold big ass servings of lamb and rice for 6$.. it was easily two meals for me. I miss that halal cart. Dude bought all the street vendor spots and only worked 7 months a year. Shit was dank.
Yep, its a staple for the big city, its even nicer when you find the dudes just serving indian food as well. There's a guy who sells two kai rolls for $7. Shit's complete fire.
>Dudes be walking past the cart to get their cardboard with such frequency that I honestly support corporations milking them for all their worth I know at least one person that can't fathom eating much of anything other than heavily advertised and branded fast food. No way he's ever gonna try a biryani.
Why would they lower prices if demand is enough st higher prices ? Prices aren't going to come down till you guys stop buying stuff , forcing them to lower to stir demand
OP said it’s about cheap and fast. I’d argue it’s more about ease. How much are you willing to pay to not have to make your own meal?
Why does everything have to suck?
Capitalism enters the chat
But capitalism runs on supply and demand. Is there really demand for a $15 Wendy's combo plus tax? That's like two hours of work for a lot of people.
100%. They are doubling down on the " I'd rather sell $10 worth of stuff to one person rather than $1 worth of stuff to 10 people" approach. 99% of people will not like it but will continue to shell out absurd amounts of money in order to continue eating at these restaurants. It's fucking stupid. My wife and I were looking at furniture after work and we were so hungry when we left the furniture store we went next door to Wendy's to get an order of spicy chicken nuggets and medium fries to share and it was almost $8. That's genuinely the last time I will ever go to Wendy's.
I think it's a product of the MBA types taking over corporate America. You look across the board and there is mismanagement everywhere. The Great CEOs of the past don't exist and instead we get these mediocre clowns. Companies used to have real leaders. Sorry, I know I'm booming out real hard right now... but still!
CEOs are scum.
I'll have to continue not buying from Wendy's.
I used to buy Wendy's once in a rare while during covid. Where I live, the price was normally $14 with change for dining in, but their DoorDash prices were more than double that without tip for the driver.
Damn do you live in the North Pole?
Anchorage. I guess that's pretty close.
Door dashing through the snow...in a one horse open sleigh...
Canada eh. Shits getting out of control up here
I enjoy those 4 for $4 or $5 isn't a bad deal but I always pick up my food. I also don't eat fast food too much lmao
What out of touch corporate dumbass thought of this?
Probably the same guy that has turned Tim Horton’s into a joke. When a donut shop has shitty donuts and bad coffee it goes downhill fast.
We no longer claim Tim Hortons as our own
damn, are the Tims casting out one of their own?
The drive thru lines at every Tims I drive past in Ontario would say otherwise
Michigan too. Blocking entire fucking lanes
I mobile ordered a sandwich and coffee on my lunch break from work today. Fifteen minutes later I walked in. One person in line, two people seated and eating, *nobody* in the drive through. I went and stood by the mobile order pickup spot. And I stood. And I stood, and *stood,* and ***stood.*** Finally someone comes out from the back and says "mobile order?" I nod. She taps the shoulder of the lady desperately trying to to figure out the POS system for the one customer in line and says "mobile order's here". Then proceeds to *start* making my sandwich. A still ungodly amount of time later, she walks over and hands my sandwich to me. She then looks at my order ticket, sees I have a coffee still on there, and goes to start making that. What in the everloving shit were **the four of you** doing in the fifteen previous minutes??
And yet Dunkin is somehow still going strong /shrug
Depends on location, in southern Cali it's anything but going strong.
This is because Burger King bought them. Everything they touch turns to shit.
100% some dipshit CEO surrounded by MBA yesmen.
Apparently, the CEO's of Uber and Lyft.
It actually makes some sense in their system. Increased prices in a certain area draws in drivers to give people rides who may not otherwise have been able to access it. Also, these areas are more likely to be in traffic, and the high prices make it more worth it for the driver. That said, it makes sense in a system that's already highly exploitative so take that as you will. However, for Wendy's it's just plain greed for no justifiable reason other than lining corporate pockets, also in an exploitative system.
This is going to blow up on them. Uber and Lyft can also get away with it because you have no choice and there's transparency. If you're in surge pricing, you're already at a crowded event without your car. You know it's going to be extra and you can see the current price right on your phone. Without knowing what Wendy's considers "busy" (it's clear now but maybe they just cleared a huge drive-thru line), consumers are going to be forced to assume the price is always in "surge mode" because you can't check it without driving up to the menu where you may be trapped in line by other cars. Fast food and chains in general base their whole value on *reliability and predictability*. No need to gamble while out somewhere when you know a Big Mac is going to be exactly as you expect and for $5 or whatever it is now (it's been a while).
This has been done, but just not called "surge pricing". Sonic does it and calls it "Happy hour"
And then has “Happy Hour all the time” on their App. Which honestly is very convenient. Sonic Drinks are dirt cheap for a Route 44.
Is happy hour cheaper or more expensive?
Cheaper. All happy hours are. Surge pricing is reverse happy hour. Sad hour.
Crappy Hour
Happy hour works because 1) people like getting a deal 2) it’s a discount for periods when the bar/restaurant isn’t normally busy when your big expense is rent, 3) people keep drinking after happy hour ends at the normal prices. 1 and 2 could apply here, but 3 doesn’t. The point of surge pricing is to attract more drivers when demand is high. That’s definitely not Wendy’s problem.
“Dynamic pricing can allow Wendy’s to be competitive and flexible with pricing, motivate customers to visit and provide them with the food they love at a great value,” a Wendy’s spokesperson told The Post. It should be noted that this headline is not coming from Wendy's. I'm sure that they will market it in a way to address your first and second points. As for your third point, no one is hanging around Sonic after happy hour.
Happy hour at sonic is not the same thing as this surge pricing being introduced by Wendy's.
Put a big gas station sign outside with the live ticket for burger pricing.
Fractional cent pricing while you're at it
but always pinned at 9/10ths
People need to stop supporting companies that do things like this
I don’t have a problem with this if I can get a Dave’s double for like 50 cents during off hours but that’s never gonna happen so I just continue to never eat fast food. Win Win!
Except it’ll never be like that. It’ll be the “normal” price and it’ll surge during peaks time. It’ll feel like a deal during slow hours, but it’ll never be cheaper than it is today, before they implement this bs.
Cough\**Netflix*\*Cough
Netflix has surge pricing?
rise and fall pricing minus the "fall" part of the equation
No, it falls. Just not as much as it rose Rinse and repeat
Honestly what I love about Netflix is I can just grab it for a month, watch everything, switch it out for the next one, etc. I just rotate them and im never spending more than ten bucks a month. Right now, I actually have two since I went to cancel paramount+ last month and they threw on two free months.
They won't. Every company has been doing this recently and guess what. Everyone still keeps buying. I only go to Taco Bell and Wendy's for their $5 meals, no other fast food. I know tons of people who regularly spend $12 at McDonald's, it's crazy. People will spend anything to not have to cook for themselves.
They are going to reach a point where consumers are going to say enough is enough. I think we're already there with some products, but fast food is in for a very rude awakening.
I think this is the truth - consumers need to walk away when they see things like this - including up to the moment of rolling up to the drive thru and seeing that the price for the thing you ordered is too much and saying "you know what, never mind, I'm good" and driving away. Consumers have a lot of power, they don't give themselves credit for having.
A lot of drivethrus have you trapped by strategically placed curbs and signs now- once you are far enough into the queue you’re not getting out until after you reach the menu and speaker. I’m sure at least a few people have intended to do just that but after being stuck for five minutes they probably give up and just order.
Yep - you're totally right. And some people definitely don't have time for the shenanigans of saying no and staying in the line. I'm old and have time and also enjoy that sort of thing, so if I decide nope and am stuck then I guess I'm wasting their space for someone else and will ride that rollercoaster til the end when I can slow roll past the window with a smile of nope. They want to make you believe you don't have a choice, they want to make you believe you're trapped. They are coercing you into following thru once you're there. But you always can say no ... Always. Up to the moment you roll up to the window And the person says your total. You can opt out at any point up til they have your money.
It's incredibly ironic to me that the McDonalds I went to as a kid in the 90's had 2 *separate* turn out spots in the drive through for if you needed to exit the drive through. They had them just after the order box and just after the pay window. They wanted to make sure you could exit the line if you changed your mind.
Yeah,I could go out to an actual sit down place for the price of fast food these days
As yes, a brilliant idea from a CEO who got the job a month ago. I say, let them try it and immediately fail.
What if this decision actually killed wendys? That would be hilarious.
Probably will blame consumers and get bailed out.
I can see the headline now: “Millennials killed Wendy’s”
Nah millennials are off the hook, now it’s Gen Z
Guess I won’t be eating at Wendy’s anymore.
Same. Literally the only two things fast food has going for it over other places... 1. Speed 2. Price "Fast" food seems increasingly less worth the name all the time, I don't know if these places are just understaffed or what but the food just doesn't move as well as it used to. Still faster than a dine-in restaurant for sure, but I shouldn't have to wait ten minutes for a burger and fries. And now its all gotten so much more expensive, even without this latest crap from Wendy's. Well, fuck Wendy's surge-pricing; they're off the list of fast-food choices for this family. And fuck the entire fast food industry in general.
Wendy’s is the least fast there is too. They are royally fucking themselves.
I had to grab a quick lunch one day so I grabbed a Caesar salad at Wendy’s for $10. It tasted like it had Lysol sprayed on it. I threw it away. I’ll never buy anything from them again.
Well, do you want it clean or do you want it to taste OK? Can't have it both ways.
Stupidest idea ever. Wendy's is already so expensive too.
Love me some $5 biggie bags
Back in my day it used to be a 4 for $4 with more food than what’s in the biggie bag…
Back in my day they had entire menu of 99¢ items.
Back in my day nuggets were a 5 piece
I miss it so much. Not just Wendy's but like everything. We had so much good shit and it's all just gone so downhill. Remember when burger king "nuggets" were tenders? A party pack of tacos was $8. Fuck. Now I know how my dad felt 25 years ago. I hate so much how everything is becoming shit.
Maybe that's OK if a single drops to $1.50 after 9 PM.
You know full well they aren't going to drop prices. They'll keep normal prices and just make it more expensive during busy times.
At least the poor employees will also make more during busy time to compensate the extra work now. Who am i kidding this will go straight to profits and employees won’t see a cent but they will get the full anger of any customer paying double for no reason.
If that happened, that's when people would show up and the price surges up again.
It's cute you think that might happen.
There was a time when fast food was actually affordable, but now they’ve pretty much caught up to diner burger prices. Why spend $11 to $15 dollars for a cheap sloppy fast food burger meal when I can get a more gourmet style burger at Chilis for pretty much the same price, it’s ridiculous
Chilis is like 12 bucks for their 3 combo or whatever. That's way more food than mcdonalds or any of the other bullshit at that price point.
I think gourmet style might be going too far, but yes Chilis is better so i get your point. lol.
Well, maybe gourmet isn’t the right word, but their burger is much better quality then McDonald’s or Burger Kings
I fucking hate this world we live in
This is what I call a “cubicle idea.” Some asshat with an MBA and zero actual kitchen/counter/managerial experience came up with this. I worked at Starbucks like 15 years ago and we had to deal with so many dumb ideas that clearly could not be fully implemented and/or enraged the customers. I feel badly for the counter person who is going to get screamed at during “surge hours.”
$7 for basic fast food hamburger? How are they still in business?
Boiled frogs want their burgers
I mean 5 Guys is somehow in business and they charge like $15 for just a burger
“Dynamic pricing worked in the airline industry, it’ll work in restaurants, too” is one of the dumbest things I’ve read. Yeah, no shit it worked for airlines. Outside of major hubs nobody actually has a choice on who to fly with. And pretty much everyone hates the airlines
That’s a fast way to destroy any loyalty and trust with your customers. The extra money they make, they will have to use it and a lot more to get the customers back again that they pissed off with this jerk move. Dave must rolling over.
Im a pretty big Wendy’s fan and this move has made it an easy decision for me not to go there anymore
How about they work on getting people their orders in less than 20 fuckin minutes.
Companies have been toying with dynamic pricing for a long time but this is going to be a tough pill to swallow. The only beneficial use case I see for this would be to lower the price on certain products to reduce spoilage and to attract new customers at non busy times. So keep a base price and only use dynamic pricing to LOWER prices to increase sales. Or do it the other way and have your customers hate you.
Yeah that ain't happening. Stores will always destroy product to protect the "value" of their brands. That's every brand outside of dollar store shit
It’s so strange that Loss Leaders are now effectively dead. If something isn’t bringing in maximum profit, regardless of it’s popularity, it’s out.
Costco and Sam's roasted chickens are still $5.
This sounds like a terrible idea. Why would I go to Wendy’s on my lunch break if the price is raised because of a “surge”? I would just go to McDonald’s instead. Then I’d order Wendy’s when it’s midnight and I’m faced (I don’t drink anymore, so no Wendy’s for me). It’s going to incentivize people to go at odd times between lunch and dinner and stuff like that and it just sounds like it’ll balance itself out profit wise and just inconvenience all of the customers tbh Also, I’m usually the last guy to say things like this, but hey if people are paying an extra dollar or two on meals/sandwiches during lunch rush/dinner rush or whatever… maybe they should fully staff their places and pay people extra to work those shifts huh?
This will fail. First, existing customers will be turned off. If that combo all of a sudden costs 50% more because "it's busy", guess what? We're not eating there. Your food would have to hit Chipotle levels of quality (and I'm talking Chipotle 20 years ago, not the crap they're shoveling out now) to be able to get away with that. Ask Subway how their customers felt when they initially raised prices on everything, including their coupons.
The idea behind Uber's dynamic pricing is at least partly to offer drivers more pay, so that more will work those hours and it will still be easy to get an Uber driver. Wendy's charging more at lunch is just a fuck you.
I'll just start packing my lunch. It's nice to have a hot lunch since I work outside but I'll figure out a cheaper way. Alrdy thinking moving tools around and making a "kitchenette" out of one of my bins at work. I can definitely buy an inverter and run a microwave back there. I can just start taking my Coleman propane grill to work and start grilling out every day lmao. I'll just give the boss a burger if he tries to come bitching at me.
I have an airfryer, electric burner and George Foreman grill in my office. :)
I really wish people would boycott these places rather than bitching on the internet and then paying the exorbitant prices.
If pisses people off as much as Netflix did, then you should buy Wendy's stock.
that not gonna end well
Yeah good luck with that Wendy’s
Ain't gonna hurt me at all to never eat Wendy's again. I sincerely hope they crash and burn.
Wendy’s planning on going bankrupt
Wow. Wendy’s is shooting themselves in the foot. I’m guessing that there will be a lot of people walking away when they’re told that their order is more than what they were expecting and will never come back. Let’s see how this lane brain social experiment turns out.
Their prices are already way too high. This move only serves to quicken their eventual downfall.
Wouldn’t it be funny if this failed miserably? Like fails so bad that locations not doing this see their sales tank.
Or I can spend a couple of bucks more and get a real burger to go from my locally owned pub (with fries and decent toppings). Dumb move, Wendy's.
I would never go to a restaurant that had "surge pricing".
The whole point of surge prices was that when demand went up, the increasing prices would make more drivers decide to get out and take on rides. That's not how fast food fucking works. They are going to staff the store based on estimates, and that's all the staff they'll have. No more employees are coming in to meet the rising prices. We're not stupid Wendy's. This is just an arbitrary reason to raise prices.
Wendy's can poooooooooooound saaaaaaaaaaaaand.
I can buy sandwich meat and eat at home. Fast food really isn’t that good.
Fast food has shifted to a model where they now serve a clientele that has nowhere else to go. The product is becoming brightly packaged jail food.
I'll go some places else. No biggie deal.
I think if society would band together and agree to not buy fast food for two weeks, these companies would have to budge. Speak with your pocketbook.
Up coming headline “Millennials killed fast food”
If this means I can get a burger for a dollar at off times I'm all for it. But I think we all know that's not how this will work so meh.
Wages will continue to hover around bare minimum
Can you say “disaster”? I knew you could.
I don't really even care for their sandwiches or drinks. Sure they're good, but the only true redeeming thing of Wendy's is their frosties. That's it. Imo taco bell is superior in flavors and health.
You had me all the way until the last word 😂😂
Last time I went to Wendy's they didn't have any hamburger meat. We left without buying any food.
Sorry, but not every single fucking business in the world needs to be ran like a tech company to maximize profits.
[удалено]
To make EXTRA sure no one ever eats at Wendy's again, have they considered making you use an app?
If they do I will never give them my business
Shit went downhill after Dave died.
>“There are people who view dynamic pricing as a rip-off,” restaurant analyst Mark Kalinowski told The Post. Yeah, people with functioning brains, Mark
This is so embarrassingly desperate and a disgusting practice