McDonald's to 'rethink' prices after first sales fall since 2020
McDonald's to 'rethink' prices after first sales fall since 2020
Sales at the fast food giant slip 1% as cost-conscious customers spend less.
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I live in Ireland and I like McDonalds occasionally. But there is no doubt that there food is quite expensive and they aren't innovating. Once a month there will be some new burger which is usually just the same as a normal burger but with bacon or bbq sauce or some shit but it's just boring and lazy marketing. What is worse than the food is the entire ordering experience - those bullshit kiosks are very time consuming and aggravating to use and then because they're cutting staff you can look forward to a 5 or 10 minute wait for food to appear. I remember when I worked in McDs at peak periods you'd get your food almost as soon as you ordered it (unless it was a grill item) but not any more.
I only have positive vieuw on the kiosks. Easy to adjust your burger and i get the right stuff after. When in quick i can t ajust the burger on the kiosk and have to order old fadhioned. Then i often get a normal made.
I find them frustrating, because they are slow. There's no reason why they couldn't put a decent processor in them and have them actually function properly. Half the time I press a button and then end up hitting it again cause I don't know if it read the first press, since the feedback it so slow.
The Lowes near me just recently switched to newer self-serve kiosks that actually work, it's amazing how much better an experience it is.
There's no reason they can't hire more staff, give them adequate training, and pay them a living wage. But there is a rea$on why they won't.
Now that they're looking to replace as much of their staff with cheaper alternatives, it's not really surprising that they'd go for the cheapest option. After all, it's exactly what they do with their human resources.
I used to eat at McDonald's a LOT, and the main reason was you could get a large quarter pounder meal for under $10. Now it's $12+, depending on where you go. I used to get a solid quarter pounder, now it's a 50/50 chance the thing is so soaked in grease that it soaks through the cardboard and the bag, and the fries are 50/50 already luke warm.
But the innovation thing got me thinking: right before the pandemic, McDonald's in the US was doing "Meals from around the world," and it was basically McDonald's items you could only get outside the US (I think they had a French one, definitely a Canadian one, I think Brazil, etc). They changed every couple months, and it was cool! You go to try something that you may not otherwise get to.
They also used to have a lot of them open 24/7 (as did a lot of businesses), and then the pandemic shut everything down and they stopped doing it. When I worked nights and would get out of a catering event at 2 am, I'd be able to swing by McDonald's on the way home and I knew I was getting a decent meal. Now?
I'm lucky if when I order a large meal with a large drink, I actually get a large drink. Idk if this is happening all over, but I'd say 6/10 times now, I order a large meal and the cashier automatically puts in a medium drink. When I ask about it, they say they'll let the people know up front, and then they don't. And then I feel like a jackass for having to tell the people at the window my drink was supposed to be a large (I know they're the same price, but if I ordered a large meal, why would I order a medium drink?), and they usually give me a look or an eye roll.
Whereas before the pandemic, I was once asked to pull up to the second window to wait for my food. I wanted 5 minutes, tops, and the manager brought me my food and gave me 2 free meal tickets for the inconvenience. I went last week and waited 10 minutes and the kid didn't even confirm my order before basically dropping it through my car window and walking off.
I don't blame the employees, even in my state McDonald's wages are laughable, so who gives a fuck? But wtf happened to the corporation, where's the care? It's disappointing to see, not that I have sympathy for a billion dollar corporation.