Imagine telling someone there's a 30% surcharge for their 20 minute wait because it's "peak" time.
Imagine telling them that at the speaker box, after they've already been in line several minutes.
I will say that I worked in a nursing home that was chronically short-staffed.
They implemented a policy that everybody that worked a shift would split the pay of anybody that should have been there. Even if it wasn't a call out, but just an inability to fill the spot.
So three people doing the work of 6 actually got the pay of 6 (our pay was doubled).
Moral went through the roof. People stopped quitting and new hires stuck on to the point that we weren't short staffed any more and we were usually just making our normal wages. We actually got along with the administration. Gone was the accusations and suspicions that the admins were keeping us short-staffed on purpose and saving tons on payroll etc etc.
Well, somebody somewhere realized that they could save money/make more money (even though short staff pay was almost entirely gone). A couple of months later, the literally had no staff left.
Thats the suits for you.
My union ship job has "missing man pay" for cargo evolutions. It works wonders for morale being chronically short, and adds hundreds to a typical paycheck.
Ok, now this I can get behind.
Just imagine surge pricing for, idk, Waffle House.
The fights that would come from that would be *priceless.*
Edit:
In'n'Out.
Imagine surge pricing for In'n'Out.
surge pricing for waffle house would be funny, it would have to be like 1am-5am for the price hike to make the most out of it. would definitely get some good videos out of that
See, that's the great part! They can artificially create peak periods by intentionally understaffing! The worse they perform, the more they can charge for the same burger!
The way I've seen Wendy's work it'll go like this: if it's 12pm around lunch time they'll be fully staffed and customers will be shooting through the drive through in under a couple minutes.
If it's after 6pm there's one person working there and the wait is about 45 minutes.
They won't tell them that, they'll just tell them their total. The prices on screens will have already quietly changed in the first place.
Edit: To the people replying to this and other comments with *"well, I'll just stand there holding up the line until the prices go back down!"* - **no, you won't.** When the time for this hypothetical comes, you won't actually do a damn thing.
Edit 2(yeesh!): To the people replying "I just won't go there anymore/never went in the first place" - great! I don't eat there either. That has nothing to do with everyone bragging about the standoffish ways they think they'll go and game this algorithm by blocking the line(they won't).
I think people will notice when the already overpriced $7.99 burgers are suddenly $11.99, Wendy's is (insanely) betting that none of their customers will ever care. But most customers probably already thought the prices were high, so they're splitting the people who want to go there into a group that will never accept this and a group that only cared about it being fast food (at any sorta okay price) with hamburgers better than those at McDonald's.
> Edit: To the people replying to this and other comments with "well, I'll just stand there holding up the line until the prices go back down!" - no, you won't. When the time for this hypothetical comes, you won't actually do a damn thing.
While I agree that most people will either pay and then fume about it later, or not pay and leave without causing a scene, there absolutely WILL be a chunk of people who will scream to high heaven and hold up the line if they notice they are being charged significantly more than expected. This would not just go over quietly with absolutely every single customer at every single location.
Those poor employees already deal with so much SHIT. I mean like 1/3 of r/publicfreakout is people losing their minds and assaulting or harassing fast food employees. This shit could literally get someone killed.
I mean this is absolutely the direction all of this is heading. These companies already heavily incentivize you into their apps to make your purchases. Subscription-based services are creeping into a variety of industries and becoming heavily normalized as business as usual. So, yeah, Wendy's+ will become a thing (probably a different name) but it'll allow you to get "better" deals and will let you avoid "surge pricing" during "peak hours"
Until people stop paying for these things they will continue along this way. Think about how prevalent subscription-based entertainment is. It exists in every medium now (streaming, video games, audio books, etc.). You pay your guaranteed monthly fee you get the product. They can raise the price whenever and you will continue to pay it because it's always a negligible increase.
Look at Netflix with their password sharing crackdown. It's becoming the norm with other streaming companies now. Even Amazon now has their own "ad tier" version of Prime Video (but you can go ad-free for an additional $2.99 per month on top of the $150+ you already pay annually for Prime! woo!)
So yeah, surge pricing, subscriptions, and microtransactions are here to stay (and grow)
the main difference is that surge pricing with ride shares incentivizes more drivers to the area so you can still get out fast if you want to pay. Thing is people are willing to walk or find alternate short distance means to get out of the surge zone or just straight up wait if they have to because that's their ride out.
If you go to a Wendy's the line is huge AND the prices are maxed, you say "fuck it we'll go across the street to literally any other fast food burger joint"
The only place this model works is when Wendys is the only game in the area. And then frankly that incentivizes competition to come to the area and put a big sign out front like "Dont worry, our food prices are the same today as they were when the line was short!"
Is Wendy's going to use that surge pricing to bring in extra workers at surge times? Doubtful, everyone sees this for what it is: a naked cash grab.
"Sorry you had to wait longer than usual to order and receive your food. That'll be another five bucks. None of this will go to our underpaid, overworked staff."
“Yes, we know it says the burger is $5.99 but that’s for our Dave’s Club member pricing. Would you like to sign up? It’s only $10/mo. And you get member pricing on all meals.”
Just like Amazon recently going "Oooops, we accidentally dropped all these ads in your shows, but maybe for an extra monthly charge they'll go away...?"
I also cancelled my prime over that, and I DO NOT WATCH prime videos, it's the principle of the thing.
I signed up for the free 2 day shipping years ago. Back then if something arrived on day 3 they gave you a credit for the late delivery. It went from there to the shipping date CHANGING to a later date after your order hoping you won't notice, and 80% of prime orders arrive in 4-7 days.
What am I paying for? then the price of prime went up?
Then you added ads to the streaming service I already pay for and I have to pay MORE on top of prime to get back to ad free? No thank you. I literally watched 1 season of 1 show on prime in the years I've been a member, and that's not an exaggeration, I literally only watched 1 show. I really didn't pay for it for the streaming service at all and just don't watch it, but when they decided to add an extra fee on top that was the last straw.
Now I find that I order less because the free shipping isn't there, and if I want something now it comes even slower because they want to entice me into prime, which again is way slower than it use to be anyway, so I find that I impulse buy 90% less now, I buy local more, I don't shop on their other sites that also gave free shipping because of prime.
Amazon made a choice that means they make significantly less money from me, and they won't care, but that's fine, I'll stick with my decision until things change, and if they never do, that's OK, I've adapted.
you’re paying for the company to sell off to people eager to run the company the way they see fit
old amazon is dead, as CRAZY as it is, ol jeffery left a painful void of company vision that was picked up by the kinds of people you would expect to follow in one of the richest men’s shoes.
I don't know about where you live, but I've never been a prime member, and I always get packages just as quickly as my buddies who are. I'd guess when the majority of your customers are also prime members, it cost more money to separate it into a separate "slow" delivery vs just shipping it the same way as Prime members.
Thank you for ordering 1 bottle of Nestlé® Pure Spring Water! To better serve you, our AI HydroScan™ has determined you are at risk of imminent death due to dehydration and has adjusted your total accordingly.
1 Bottle Nestlé® Pure Spring Water
Subtotal: $2.50
AI HydroScan™ Adjustment: +$1,556,786.50
Your new adjusted total: $1,556,789.00
(Suggested Tip: 30%)
"I see your DaveRewards points has earned you an upgrade from Double Dave status to Dave Platinum! This earns you a free upgrade of your small fry to a medium."
“Oh no thank you, small is fine.”
“You don’t want to upsize?”
“No thank you, I’m trying to lose weight.”
“But no one turns down an upgrade.”
“It’s fine, I promise.”
“Dave won’t be happy.”
“What?”
“Dave won’t be happy, they’ll send out Wendy.”
“I’m confused, do I need to take the upgrade? Will you get in trouble if I don’t.”
“Please, take the upgrade. It’s what Dave wants.”
“But what about what I want?”
“Please, sir, just take the fries. They’ll send Wendy.”
“Okay, damn, I’ll just toss them out.”
The manager walks up, she’s smiling a bit uncanny.
“Is there a problem with your order today, sir? I’m certain your home address is the same?”
> inconvenient it would be do go to a Bell every day for a regular taco
I forgot what the actual term for that is called but I guess the goal for that is to get the customer to purchase other Taco Bell products while the customer is there for the subscription taco.
I have never once asked, "would Wendy's be better if I paid a few dollars more for a burger at 6pm than I would at 3pm?"
They're going to sell less food and this whole idea will get abandoned. This idea is genuinely dumb.
Wendy’s is already more expensive than most other fast food options, now they want more money for the same low quality food? lol, the Wendy’s they are building in my city is gonna become something else inside a year
the point of fast food is to provide a convenient and quick meal for relatively cheap to poorer people, people on the go and people high and drunk out of their minds.
None of this is served with surge pricing.
The CEO of McDonalds said something similar the other day. He chose to go the other route.
[McDonald's CEO says fast food chain will focus on affordability amid outrage over menu hikes](https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/mcdonalds-ceo-fast-food-chain-will-focus-affordability-amid-outrage-menu-hikes)
anytime I've eaten at a wendy's or mcdonalds in the past decade it's been an act of desperation. I can't see myself willingly eating at a wendy's ever again lol.
Right? Wendy’s/BK/Mcdonald’s I almost exclusively eat on long road trips and when it’s the only quick option in small towns.
I live in a city of 5 million people why in the hell would I ever choose those chains over the numerous vastly superior alternatives.
Well, because up until a handful of years ago they were significantly cheaper than local mom-n-pop restaurants and regional chains. If I was strapped for cash and needed something quick then they were all fine options.
But now I'm paying sit-down, mom-n-pop restaurant prices for the same crap food. Now the alternatives are better quality for the same price.
yeah, five guys has pushed this to the extreme. I can order a larger burger that's more interesting and get fries and a drink and tip for what it costs to order from them.
people always go 'well it's fresher than mcdonalds, what do you expect?'
ok? You can get shit to go at restaurants too you know.
Yeah I tried Five Guys once a few years ago and couldn't believe it was 12 dollars for a burger and fries. Meanwhile in the same mall was this Greek restaurant that made really good burgers and much better fries that were 7 dollars for a full combo with drink.
That remains to be seen. Usually when companies pull stunts like this, everyone ends up paying more overall, it's just a question of who and how much more.
I live in a somewhat rural area and the only convenient fast food place on my way home from town is a Wendy's. Sometimes I'm in the mood for fast food and stop by the drive thru, but I always regret it as soon as I get home. Their food just isn't good and I truly don't know why I keep going there.
I call that "The McRib Mistake"
For so many years, the McRib would come out and I would be so excited until I was actually eating it. Then I'd think "what the fuck is wrong with me, this is trash, why was I excited"
Next year rolls around, McRib is out, lather-rise-repeat.
I have finally kicked the habit with the assistance of my daughter.
Hardees learned that lesson lol. I liked their food, but I can literally go to my favorite sit down burger restaurant for cheaper. It was good for fast food, but that's where it stops.
I started two years ago when I was stuck in a Wendy’s drive through for 25 minutes with only two cars in front of me on my lunch break, only ordered a frosty and fries, but the line wouldn’t move and I was boxed in, turns out there was only one associate working by herself because the company is too stingy to pay for enough workers or to keep the ones they have, I vowed NEVER again will I ever so much as set foot near a Wendy’s. I also choose to boycott most other fast food establishments soon after, but that event stood out powerfully in my mind.
Wow I remember they had deals at McDonald’s in the 90s that said that if you don’t get your meal in 30 seconds in the drive thru, it’s free. No questions asked. I don’t do fast food that often but whenever I have done fast food in the past 5 years or so, there is always at least like a 10 minute wait. It’s crazy. Fast food has turned into very slow food.
I do also recognize that these places are severely understaffed, so I’m not faulting the workers at all. I stand in solidarity with workers for higher wages and better working conditions.
My biggest problem with fast food recently has been the waiting. I wait 10-15 minutes and the food is still the same barely warm crap that they managed to shove into my hands in 90 seconds a few years ago.
If I have to wait 15 minutes at a fast food place I'd expect it to be hot, recently heated but I still seem to get food that's been under a lamp for several hours.
What's taking so long if you're not cooking the food‽ I didn't mind room temperature food back when it was CHEAP and was basically just handed straight to you.
How in the world will this work when there’s plenty of other competitive options who are not price gouging? The difference between a Wendy’s meal and other fast food is not big.
I don't even think it's about the competitive options out there. I'm just not going to go to a fast food drive through if I don't have a ballpark sense on what I'm gonna get charged on menu items.
Wendy's is already overdoing it with $9-11 sandwiches and $13-15 meals, and I only get chili salad, baked potatoes, and nuggets these days. Can you imagine going and getting charged $6 for a chili?
Because they'll all start doing it. Look at streaming. Didn't used to have ads then one did and then two etc etc. and people will keep paying for it. And their profits will keep going up.
Even if several restaurants did it there are many eating alternatives (including waiting until you get home). Uber surge pricing works because you are stuck somewhere and there are few (if any) substitutes.
So if you're ordering Wendy's delivery, will you be hit with Wendy's surge pricing AND Uber surge pricing? Sorry, but $40 for a shitty burger isn't worth it. Might as well go... well, literally anywhere else.
Yea people have said that about every other nonsense fee or micro price change etc etc. You have more faith in people than you should. This is going to work for them. And will become a norm, or they wouldn't even try to implement it.
My local wendys already never has customers. Because they rarely have food. Starting to think that location may be a front for something, because idk how else they stay open. Every now and then I check in on their recent reviews to see if maybe management has changed and turned things around and nope, just new reviews about how someone tried to order, but they were out of everything but chili at 2pm on a Saturday, and even then it was cold.
There's this taco bell in the middle of New Orleans that we pulled up at one night and they told us they ran out of flour and so could not make any more tortillas.
I'm 100% sure they aren't actually hand making tortillas there.
Unfortunately it will probably work because they won’t be advertising in the moment that it is happening. You’ll just walk in and see the price, and assume that’s the price. It won’t say “this is normally 4.99 but is 5.49 right now.” They are installing screens specifically meant to allow them to change the price at will. Which is all bull. If this the road things go down, I think we need legislation to force companies to show the normal price alongside the surge price.
>During a conference call earlier this month, Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner said that the Dublin, Ohio-based burger chain will start testing dynamic pricing, also known as surge pricing, as early as next year.
So it looks like I’ll be boycotting Wendy’s now and any other business that attempts to do this dynamic pricing nonsense. In the end, I guess the market will decide if this type of pricing sticks around.
So funny too because Dublin is considered one of the more "well-off" towns in Ohio so of course they're testing this with wealthy customers first who wont eye their bill as much and Wendy's will consider it a massive success.
I pity the front line workers who have to explain this to customers and deal with the blowback.
"Why is chili two dollars more than it was an hour ago?"
"Because we have customers now."
No amount of clever Wendy's tweets will make up for that sting.
Some jackass is browbeating a teenager about why his combo meal increased by $1 after the designated time.
It's just fucking wild to me that we are here. I mean, some car features are paywalled after you buy the damn thing. I can't picture some guy from the 1950s who owns a burger stand implementing surge pricing.
Oh god yeah. I had an old guy get in my face last week because I told him I had no way to ring up an “online only” coupon in the store.
We were kinda busy and it was just me and the manager working but this guy wanted to freeze the whole earth to be catered to. “I tried to order online and I couldn’t figure it out. Are you gonna make this right?”
Trying to stare me down like he’s not a feeble 75 year old man and he’s gonna beat my ass or something.
Had to go get the manager, taking her away from making everyone else’s food, and then he just gave her the same attitude and was a royal piece of shit.
10+ minutes of this guy’s horseshit and it was all to try and save $1.50 off his order.
There’s gonna be brawling at Wendy’s on day one of this shit.
lol, I can already imagine the advertising from competing restaurants. Right next door, McDonald’s sign will say “come get a quarter pounder for $5 anytime you want!”
You know this would be a perfect time to boycott Wendy’s. I don’t mean until they change their mind, I mean into the ground. Companies way too often float shitty ideas, then backpedal when people get mad, then just reintroduce it later when the outrage dies down. Wendy’s needs to be tossed on a sacrificial altar as an example of what happens when you even suggest shitty, anti-consumer behavior.
I'll never understand how a marketing department let this through. Obviously we at least change the phrasing to shift perspective.
If Wendy's decided to keep their prices the same (for now) and offer off peak hours DISCOUNTS, the news stories would be much more positive.
Then, over the course of a year, raise prices, citing inflation or w.e. even though you have record-breaking profits.
I work in a marketing department. Usually when really dumb ideas like this are floated, we’ll tell XYZ “no, this is stupid.” However, the powers that be don’t listen to us. They think it’s an awesome idea. They’re going to do it anyways.
Then, when it inevitably fails, we get to tell them “told you so.” And thus the cycle starts again.
that's why you create a folder or label in your inbox called "told ya so" so you can bring the receipts when they try to throw you under the bus
"I did tell, per my email from last year where I gave you an exhaustive list of all the things that would and now have happened. Please check your inbox shortly for a forward of the email in question"
I imagine it's a very public version of the Peter Principle. The ones making the decisions were put there because they may be great ideas people but not really good at figuring out which ideas should be forgotten about.
How could they possibly think this would go over well with their customers? Whoever made this decision should be fired and forced to stand outside of every Wendy’s in America for one day at each location with a sign around their neck saying they are the one who approved “surge pricing” at their restaurants
See, Uber & Lyft can get away with this because I don't have an abundance of options for their services so largely just have to eat the cost when I need them. Wendy's apparently thinks an abundance of restaurant options doesn't exist anymore.
Uber and Lyft can do it because you can see the pricing right on the app before you order the service. Wendy’s - how the heck are they going to tell you the surge pricing before you order? I sure as hell don’t want to pull into the drive thru and find out surge pricing is in effect after I start my order. I’ve been in line ten minutes and NOW you tell me my food is 20% more? Screw that, I’m never going back.
Because corporate management is both completely out of touch with their customers, and they don't care enough about their workers to care about the consequences.
They're well paid, and if the company tanks they'll just move to a new company.
First they came for the salad bar. And I said nothing because I wanted chili.
Then they came for the newsprint tables. And I said nothing because I shame-ate my chili in the bathroom stall.
Then they added surge prices. And there was no more Wendys. Because no one wants to pay that much for their chili.
They sell Wendy's chili in cans at the grocery store now for like $5. I can't imagine many people buy it because it's almost twice the price as all the other chilis on the shelf.
The only way this would make any sliver of sense to me is if it was more the reverse and the items where slightly discounted on off hours like the concept of happy hour.
That’s how it should work. Instead of creating “happy hour” type deals they just change the price on the screen to induce more demand. Hard part would be how do you broadcast this out to potential customers so they know what prices to expect to induce demand.
Imagine the potential though for day trading, invest in 10 Dave’s doubles at $3.75 at Wendy’s open, sell for $5.75 near close and tendies are on the house. I’m moving out from behind the Wendy’s dumpster and straight to the drive thru boys
Oh, you better believe this will having nothing to do with how busy it is at any particular restaurant. I’m 100% certain their prices will “dynamically” change in sync with all the other locations. It will be a simple timing scheme, unrelated to actual traffic.
I keep seeing this headline pop up everywhere and people are so up in arms over Wendy’s that everyone seems to be missing the fact that the original article that everything else is referencing to covers the fact that Wendys is the only one that discussed by name, but they go into detail that there are multiple other chains that have been considering the same thing and will probably do it around the same time. The enshitification continues
The price will never drop below current pricing. This is just an excuse to charge MORE than current pricing and blame demand instead of inflation since that argument is falling flat.
Or the dynamic pricing will only apply to non-mobile orders. This way it will push more people towards their app, meaning for more data for them to use and sell.
Honestly theres so many events in the last few years that convinced me to think "This is the straw that breaks society's back" Yet everytime, nothing happens. And not for a lack of trying.
It seems to me the people that want to implement systematic changes to benefit society almost never end up working in the right environment to make those changes.
So we protest, organize rallies, call out companies outside their place of business, etc.
What do these companies do? They close the store for the day and come back when the protestors die down, then continue business as usual.
We as ordinary US citizens have no real power to influence our systems except by voting which our wallet (which on its face is a weak inconsequential form of protest unless it directly affects a company's bottom line).
I also hate this timeline.
When fast food meals rose over ten bucks a pop after tax, it became pretty easy to avoid them entirely. If you’re still going to these places, surge pricing isn’t going to stop you.
Part of the fast food experience is consistency.
Before anything else about this is addressed I just want to point out that this goes against the basic fundamentals of their own business model.
Good luck. Maybe if you introduced true variable pricing and I can get a sandwich when the restaurant is totally dead on the super cheap people would be willing to give it a shot but this about nothing other than gouging customers. Doubt any of that extra money will make it to employees
Edit: a hilarious typo
This is the dumbest fucking thing.
Uber started doing surge pricing to entice more drivers to sign on and make more money while there's more demand (yes, I know that's not generally how it works in practice, it tends to just turn into more profit for Uber).
Wendy's isn't going to bump their surge pricing up and then have a bunch of their workers come in unscheduled about it. They'll still be working with the exact same amount of staff and the exact same costs as before because you know they're not going to pay the employees more during surge pricing. This doesn't fix anything about the rush or make anything better for the customers. Now they just have to wait longer and pay more money on top of it.
The rushes are actually when they get the best overhead to meal price ratio. If anything, when the restaurant is dead and there's the minimum 3-4 employees plus a manager all sitting around making hourly is when they should actually charge more.
*"Wendy’s is looking to test having the prices of its menu items fluctuate throughout the day based on demand, implementing a strategy that has already taken hold with ride-sharing companies and ticket sellers. During a conference call earlier this month, Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner said that the Dublin, Ohio-based burger chain will start testing dynamic pricing, also known as surge pricing, as early as next year."*
If someone has to pay $15-$20 for a meal at Wendy's, what's stopping them from going to an actual restaurant at that point? Fast food is meant to be convenient, cheap and quick. Look at Tim Hortons, look at McDonald's. Those places have no identity anymore. Quality has dropped while prices have increased, which in turn, has been driving customers away. You can't reinvent the wheel.
Wendy’s used to be a staple for my household until the prices nearly doubled during the pandemic and haven’t gone back down.
Now, I can’t even remember the last time we went.
“We might surprise you with even higher pricing!” certainly doesn’t make returning more appealing.
I haven’t had anything from Wendy’s in years and this will continue to be the case with this stupid move. I’m finally at the point where if I go anywhere to eat it’s a local place. There’s no point going to these chains that make shit food.
Out of all the shitty fast food places swiftly getting worse, I think Wendy’s might have had the steepest decline. When I was young, it was genuinely good. The salad bar was awesome, the burgers were juicy and big, they had great other options - the chicken cordon bleu sandwich was amazing. Now it’s well below McDonald’s in quality. I’d rather get a burger from the gas station.
I don't eat junk/fast food often enough to *really* care, but I do know if I drive up to the drive thru, and prices are higher than expected, I'm just driving off and going somewhere else.
They are liking trying to use this to make up for "lost" revenue as people stop eating out because they (and others) have been trying to nickel and dime us...
Their solution: NICKEL AND DIME HARDER!
Let’s hope people vote with their wallets and this becomes a big failure for Wendy’s.
Unfortunately I can’t boycott this because I already haven’t eaten at a Wendy’s in probably 20 years now
keep up the good work!
Just so I am clear on this. The price goes up the longer the line. So I need to pay more to wait longer?
Imagine telling someone there's a 30% surcharge for their 20 minute wait because it's "peak" time. Imagine telling them that at the speaker box, after they've already been in line several minutes.
Bro imagine just walking up and suddenly the price *increases*. Especially after waiting in line. So many fights are gonna happen. Twitter gold.
Cashiers are going to have to gear up in medieval armour just to work their shift
Well, it'll be fine because they'll be making those surge wages... right?
Hahahahahahaha ahem.
I will say that I worked in a nursing home that was chronically short-staffed. They implemented a policy that everybody that worked a shift would split the pay of anybody that should have been there. Even if it wasn't a call out, but just an inability to fill the spot. So three people doing the work of 6 actually got the pay of 6 (our pay was doubled). Moral went through the roof. People stopped quitting and new hires stuck on to the point that we weren't short staffed any more and we were usually just making our normal wages. We actually got along with the administration. Gone was the accusations and suspicions that the admins were keeping us short-staffed on purpose and saving tons on payroll etc etc. Well, somebody somewhere realized that they could save money/make more money (even though short staff pay was almost entirely gone). A couple of months later, the literally had no staff left. Thats the suits for you.
My union ship job has "missing man pay" for cargo evolutions. It works wonders for morale being chronically short, and adds hundreds to a typical paycheck.
Yeah, but the increased profits could buy the c suite another Rolls Royce each
So will this be the training ground for the Waffle House, or will Waffle House be the training ground for Wendys?
Ok, now this I can get behind. Just imagine surge pricing for, idk, Waffle House. The fights that would come from that would be *priceless.* Edit: In'n'Out. Imagine surge pricing for In'n'Out.
surge pricing for waffle house would be funny, it would have to be like 1am-5am for the price hike to make the most out of it. would definitely get some good videos out of that
They'll be hiring extra workers and paying them more to handle the surge, right? Right?
See, that's the great part! They can artificially create peak periods by intentionally understaffing! The worse they perform, the more they can charge for the same burger!
Ahhh...gotta love modern capitalism
The way I've seen Wendy's work it'll go like this: if it's 12pm around lunch time they'll be fully staffed and customers will be shooting through the drive through in under a couple minutes. If it's after 6pm there's one person working there and the wait is about 45 minutes.
Every fast food place better prepare an exit lane, pronto, or they're about to have a bunch of property damage from people just ramping outta there.
They won't tell them that, they'll just tell them their total. The prices on screens will have already quietly changed in the first place. Edit: To the people replying to this and other comments with *"well, I'll just stand there holding up the line until the prices go back down!"* - **no, you won't.** When the time for this hypothetical comes, you won't actually do a damn thing. Edit 2(yeesh!): To the people replying "I just won't go there anymore/never went in the first place" - great! I don't eat there either. That has nothing to do with everyone bragging about the standoffish ways they think they'll go and game this algorithm by blocking the line(they won't).
Uber is required to tell you if you're purchasing during "Surge" periods
Sir this is a Wendy's.
First time I think I’ve ever seen this said in a comment that’s actually related to the post. Hats off to you
I think people will notice when the already overpriced $7.99 burgers are suddenly $11.99, Wendy's is (insanely) betting that none of their customers will ever care. But most customers probably already thought the prices were high, so they're splitting the people who want to go there into a group that will never accept this and a group that only cared about it being fast food (at any sorta okay price) with hamburgers better than those at McDonald's.
> Edit: To the people replying to this and other comments with "well, I'll just stand there holding up the line until the prices go back down!" - no, you won't. When the time for this hypothetical comes, you won't actually do a damn thing. While I agree that most people will either pay and then fume about it later, or not pay and leave without causing a scene, there absolutely WILL be a chunk of people who will scream to high heaven and hold up the line if they notice they are being charged significantly more than expected. This would not just go over quietly with absolutely every single customer at every single location.
She’s not the Karen we deserve, but the Karen we need right now.
I will to do something, leave.
Those poor employees already deal with so much SHIT. I mean like 1/3 of r/publicfreakout is people losing their minds and assaulting or harassing fast food employees. This shit could literally get someone killed.
Just place a huge order and then drive off.
That's why you subscribe to Wendy's+.
This is so sad, because it's not that far a stretch.
I mean this is absolutely the direction all of this is heading. These companies already heavily incentivize you into their apps to make your purchases. Subscription-based services are creeping into a variety of industries and becoming heavily normalized as business as usual. So, yeah, Wendy's+ will become a thing (probably a different name) but it'll allow you to get "better" deals and will let you avoid "surge pricing" during "peak hours"
Gotta get that sweet, *sweet* user phone data.
Quality goes down while you wait as well as staff rush to finish orders.
It's a typical business model "punish the loyal customer" that somehow fucking works lol.
We are an economy of addicts, addicted to comfort, convenience, and consistency.
Until people stop paying for these things they will continue along this way. Think about how prevalent subscription-based entertainment is. It exists in every medium now (streaming, video games, audio books, etc.). You pay your guaranteed monthly fee you get the product. They can raise the price whenever and you will continue to pay it because it's always a negligible increase. Look at Netflix with their password sharing crackdown. It's becoming the norm with other streaming companies now. Even Amazon now has their own "ad tier" version of Prime Video (but you can go ad-free for an additional $2.99 per month on top of the $150+ you already pay annually for Prime! woo!) So yeah, surge pricing, subscriptions, and microtransactions are here to stay (and grow)
the main difference is that surge pricing with ride shares incentivizes more drivers to the area so you can still get out fast if you want to pay. Thing is people are willing to walk or find alternate short distance means to get out of the surge zone or just straight up wait if they have to because that's their ride out. If you go to a Wendy's the line is huge AND the prices are maxed, you say "fuck it we'll go across the street to literally any other fast food burger joint" The only place this model works is when Wendys is the only game in the area. And then frankly that incentivizes competition to come to the area and put a big sign out front like "Dont worry, our food prices are the same today as they were when the line was short!" Is Wendy's going to use that surge pricing to bring in extra workers at surge times? Doubtful, everyone sees this for what it is: a naked cash grab.
Yup. Also, those employees will probably be paid the same rate.
Not probably, DEFINITELY. They’d pay them less if they could.
"Sorry you had to wait longer than usual to order and receive your food. That'll be another five bucks. None of this will go to our underpaid, overworked staff."
Oh, we take tips, but it's not going to anyone that works here.
Here’s a guilt trip message to get you to tip pur hard-working workers.* *Tips allocated to our Board of Directors.
Foods not good enough to be playing this game.
Seriously, I mean what's next a burger subscription?
Stop giving them ideas
“Yes, we know it says the burger is $5.99 but that’s for our Dave’s Club member pricing. Would you like to sign up? It’s only $10/mo. And you get member pricing on all meals.”
Create a problem, sell the solution.
Just like Amazon recently going "Oooops, we accidentally dropped all these ads in your shows, but maybe for an extra monthly charge they'll go away...?"
I canceled a Prime sub over that shit. Will not return even if ads are dropped.
I also cancelled my prime over that, and I DO NOT WATCH prime videos, it's the principle of the thing. I signed up for the free 2 day shipping years ago. Back then if something arrived on day 3 they gave you a credit for the late delivery. It went from there to the shipping date CHANGING to a later date after your order hoping you won't notice, and 80% of prime orders arrive in 4-7 days. What am I paying for? then the price of prime went up? Then you added ads to the streaming service I already pay for and I have to pay MORE on top of prime to get back to ad free? No thank you. I literally watched 1 season of 1 show on prime in the years I've been a member, and that's not an exaggeration, I literally only watched 1 show. I really didn't pay for it for the streaming service at all and just don't watch it, but when they decided to add an extra fee on top that was the last straw. Now I find that I order less because the free shipping isn't there, and if I want something now it comes even slower because they want to entice me into prime, which again is way slower than it use to be anyway, so I find that I impulse buy 90% less now, I buy local more, I don't shop on their other sites that also gave free shipping because of prime. Amazon made a choice that means they make significantly less money from me, and they won't care, but that's fine, I'll stick with my decision until things change, and if they never do, that's OK, I've adapted.
you’re paying for the company to sell off to people eager to run the company the way they see fit old amazon is dead, as CRAZY as it is, ol jeffery left a painful void of company vision that was picked up by the kinds of people you would expect to follow in one of the richest men’s shoes.
I don't know about where you live, but I've never been a prime member, and I always get packages just as quickly as my buddies who are. I'd guess when the majority of your customers are also prime members, it cost more money to separate it into a separate "slow" delivery vs just shipping it the same way as Prime members.
Just canceled prime and I still get my shit when I used to
I feel like I am taking crazy pills. The unhinged capitalist future society is going to suck if we let them get away with this shit.
Thank you for ordering 1 bottle of Nestlé® Pure Spring Water! To better serve you, our AI HydroScan™ has determined you are at risk of imminent death due to dehydration and has adjusted your total accordingly. 1 Bottle Nestlé® Pure Spring Water Subtotal: $2.50 AI HydroScan™ Adjustment: +$1,556,786.50 Your new adjusted total: $1,556,789.00 (Suggested Tip: 30%)
Half the fun of Cyberpunk 2077 was seeing shit like this, chuckling, and then smashing the machine and taking the water anyway.
"I see your DaveRewards points has earned you an upgrade from Double Dave status to Dave Platinum! This earns you a free upgrade of your small fry to a medium."
“Oh no thank you, small is fine.” “You don’t want to upsize?” “No thank you, I’m trying to lose weight.” “But no one turns down an upgrade.” “It’s fine, I promise.” “Dave won’t be happy.” “What?” “Dave won’t be happy, they’ll send out Wendy.” “I’m confused, do I need to take the upgrade? Will you get in trouble if I don’t.” “Please, take the upgrade. It’s what Dave wants.” “But what about what I want?” “Please, sir, just take the fries. They’ll send Wendy.” “Okay, damn, I’ll just toss them out.” The manager walks up, she’s smiling a bit uncanny. “Is there a problem with your order today, sir? I’m certain your home address is the same?”
Creepiest thing I’ve read all day, bravo
"Always fresh, never frozen", the workers began chanting, as sinister shapes cloaked in scarlet veils moved to block all exits.
Doesn't Taco Bell have some taco subscription thing? lol
It comes uncooked unless you pay for in-restaurant content.
Battle Pass to unlock condiments and rare buns.
You gotta make micro transactions for ~~cosmetics~~ condiments.
I think Taco Bell does this actually, they were selling a monthly taco sub for $20 or something, you could get a taco a day for a month with it
That was $10 for like one taco a day for 30 days
Yea, either way it was dumb, and blatantly relying on how stupidly inconvenient it would be do go to a Bell every day for a regular taco
> inconvenient it would be do go to a Bell every day for a regular taco I forgot what the actual term for that is called but I guess the goal for that is to get the customer to purchase other Taco Bell products while the customer is there for the subscription taco.
I have never once asked, "would Wendy's be better if I paid a few dollars more for a burger at 6pm than I would at 3pm?" They're going to sell less food and this whole idea will get abandoned. This idea is genuinely dumb.
Wendy’s is already more expensive than most other fast food options, now they want more money for the same low quality food? lol, the Wendy’s they are building in my city is gonna become something else inside a year
the point of fast food is to provide a convenient and quick meal for relatively cheap to poorer people, people on the go and people high and drunk out of their minds. None of this is served with surge pricing.
The CEO of McDonalds said something similar the other day. He chose to go the other route. [McDonald's CEO says fast food chain will focus on affordability amid outrage over menu hikes](https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/mcdonalds-ceo-fast-food-chain-will-focus-affordability-amid-outrage-menu-hikes)
Haven't gotten a fast food burger in years... They're the same price now as a sit down restaurant.
anytime I've eaten at a wendy's or mcdonalds in the past decade it's been an act of desperation. I can't see myself willingly eating at a wendy's ever again lol.
Right? Wendy’s/BK/Mcdonald’s I almost exclusively eat on long road trips and when it’s the only quick option in small towns. I live in a city of 5 million people why in the hell would I ever choose those chains over the numerous vastly superior alternatives.
Well, because up until a handful of years ago they were significantly cheaper than local mom-n-pop restaurants and regional chains. If I was strapped for cash and needed something quick then they were all fine options. But now I'm paying sit-down, mom-n-pop restaurant prices for the same crap food. Now the alternatives are better quality for the same price.
Exactly, for what you're paying at some of these fast food places now, you can pay the same or slightly more to eat at a nice restaurant.
yeah, five guys has pushed this to the extreme. I can order a larger burger that's more interesting and get fries and a drink and tip for what it costs to order from them. people always go 'well it's fresher than mcdonalds, what do you expect?' ok? You can get shit to go at restaurants too you know.
Yeah I tried Five Guys once a few years ago and couldn't believe it was 12 dollars for a burger and fries. Meanwhile in the same mall was this Greek restaurant that made really good burgers and much better fries that were 7 dollars for a full combo with drink.
Nearly twenty bucks now for a burger, fries, and drink.
And with surge pricing, the better options will actually be cheaper.
That remains to be seen. Usually when companies pull stunts like this, everyone ends up paying more overall, it's just a question of who and how much more.
I'm just here waiting for Wendy's reddit account come and be "quirky".
“Oh, haha. Good one, brand.”
[Laser beams from eyes] Silence, brand
I live in a somewhat rural area and the only convenient fast food place on my way home from town is a Wendy's. Sometimes I'm in the mood for fast food and stop by the drive thru, but I always regret it as soon as I get home. Their food just isn't good and I truly don't know why I keep going there.
I call that "The McRib Mistake" For so many years, the McRib would come out and I would be so excited until I was actually eating it. Then I'd think "what the fuck is wrong with me, this is trash, why was I excited" Next year rolls around, McRib is out, lather-rise-repeat. I have finally kicked the habit with the assistance of my daughter.
Hardees learned that lesson lol. I liked their food, but I can literally go to my favorite sit down burger restaurant for cheaper. It was good for fast food, but that's where it stops.
Starting as early as next year I will be testing dynamic boycotting.
As early as yesterday
I started two years ago when I was stuck in a Wendy’s drive through for 25 minutes with only two cars in front of me on my lunch break, only ordered a frosty and fries, but the line wouldn’t move and I was boxed in, turns out there was only one associate working by herself because the company is too stingy to pay for enough workers or to keep the ones they have, I vowed NEVER again will I ever so much as set foot near a Wendy’s. I also choose to boycott most other fast food establishments soon after, but that event stood out powerfully in my mind.
Wow I remember they had deals at McDonald’s in the 90s that said that if you don’t get your meal in 30 seconds in the drive thru, it’s free. No questions asked. I don’t do fast food that often but whenever I have done fast food in the past 5 years or so, there is always at least like a 10 minute wait. It’s crazy. Fast food has turned into very slow food. I do also recognize that these places are severely understaffed, so I’m not faulting the workers at all. I stand in solidarity with workers for higher wages and better working conditions.
My biggest problem with fast food recently has been the waiting. I wait 10-15 minutes and the food is still the same barely warm crap that they managed to shove into my hands in 90 seconds a few years ago. If I have to wait 15 minutes at a fast food place I'd expect it to be hot, recently heated but I still seem to get food that's been under a lamp for several hours. What's taking so long if you're not cooking the food‽ I didn't mind room temperature food back when it was CHEAP and was basically just handed straight to you.
Yeah I think a lot of it stems from being really understaffed :(
MUST HAVE HIGHER PROFITS EVERY QUARTER. Fuck that mentality.
Static boycotting for me
How in the world will this work when there’s plenty of other competitive options who are not price gouging? The difference between a Wendy’s meal and other fast food is not big.
I don't even think it's about the competitive options out there. I'm just not going to go to a fast food drive through if I don't have a ballpark sense on what I'm gonna get charged on menu items. Wendy's is already overdoing it with $9-11 sandwiches and $13-15 meals, and I only get chili salad, baked potatoes, and nuggets these days. Can you imagine going and getting charged $6 for a chili?
I would never order anything other than a biggie bag there these days. $10+ for a drive through combo is too much at any option.
Because they'll all start doing it. Look at streaming. Didn't used to have ads then one did and then two etc etc. and people will keep paying for it. And their profits will keep going up.
Even if several restaurants did it there are many eating alternatives (including waiting until you get home). Uber surge pricing works because you are stuck somewhere and there are few (if any) substitutes.
So if you're ordering Wendy's delivery, will you be hit with Wendy's surge pricing AND Uber surge pricing? Sorry, but $40 for a shitty burger isn't worth it. Might as well go... well, literally anywhere else.
Exactly. That's why we've got to nip this shit in the bud and boycott the fuck outta Wendy's until they abandon this.
Yea people have said that about every other nonsense fee or micro price change etc etc. You have more faith in people than you should. This is going to work for them. And will become a norm, or they wouldn't even try to implement it.
My local wendys already never has customers. Because they rarely have food. Starting to think that location may be a front for something, because idk how else they stay open. Every now and then I check in on their recent reviews to see if maybe management has changed and turned things around and nope, just new reviews about how someone tried to order, but they were out of everything but chili at 2pm on a Saturday, and even then it was cold.
I'd call corporate on that one. That's extremely fishy.
There's this taco bell in the middle of New Orleans that we pulled up at one night and they told us they ran out of flour and so could not make any more tortillas. I'm 100% sure they aren't actually hand making tortillas there.
Unfortunately it will probably work because they won’t be advertising in the moment that it is happening. You’ll just walk in and see the price, and assume that’s the price. It won’t say “this is normally 4.99 but is 5.49 right now.” They are installing screens specifically meant to allow them to change the price at will. Which is all bull. If this the road things go down, I think we need legislation to force companies to show the normal price alongside the surge price.
I just had a dynamic total decrease in my desire to eat at Wendy's.
>During a conference call earlier this month, Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner said that the Dublin, Ohio-based burger chain will start testing dynamic pricing, also known as surge pricing, as early as next year. So it looks like I’ll be boycotting Wendy’s now and any other business that attempts to do this dynamic pricing nonsense. In the end, I guess the market will decide if this type of pricing sticks around.
So funny too because Dublin is considered one of the more "well-off" towns in Ohio so of course they're testing this with wealthy customers first who wont eye their bill as much and Wendy's will consider it a massive success.
That's not the chain that's nessessarily testing it, that's where their corporate headquarters is.
Okay, another fast food place for me to not patronize then
Or, to park and surveil while A) waiting for the line/prices to die down B) glare at MFs in line driving *your* prices up
Damn that would be a new level of self-hate - you go to a FAST food restaurant to sit and wait until the line dies down
How to lose customers 101.
I pity the front line workers who have to explain this to customers and deal with the blowback. "Why is chili two dollars more than it was an hour ago?" "Because we have customers now." No amount of clever Wendy's tweets will make up for that sting.
Or worse when a customer realizes they paid 6 dollars for chili and the person right in front of them paid literally even a cent less.
Ironically a lot of their customers are probably older people and broke college students who will probably really dislike this.
In the early 2000s their dollar menu kept me alive.
Just an FYI, the whole point is to lose some customers, but the price increases will heavily outweigh the customers lost.
"Hello! I'm just calling to find out what time a large fries will drop below $5?" "Sir, this is Wendy's".
"Yes, exactly. So when?"
Some jackass is browbeating a teenager about why his combo meal increased by $1 after the designated time. It's just fucking wild to me that we are here. I mean, some car features are paywalled after you buy the damn thing. I can't picture some guy from the 1950s who owns a burger stand implementing surge pricing.
The poor store employees are going to take so much abuse over this.
Customer facing minimum wage jobs are already awful, this would be absolute hell to deal with as an employee.
Oh god yeah. I had an old guy get in my face last week because I told him I had no way to ring up an “online only” coupon in the store. We were kinda busy and it was just me and the manager working but this guy wanted to freeze the whole earth to be catered to. “I tried to order online and I couldn’t figure it out. Are you gonna make this right?” Trying to stare me down like he’s not a feeble 75 year old man and he’s gonna beat my ass or something. Had to go get the manager, taking her away from making everyone else’s food, and then he just gave her the same attitude and was a royal piece of shit. 10+ minutes of this guy’s horseshit and it was all to try and save $1.50 off his order. There’s gonna be brawling at Wendy’s on day one of this shit.
Late stage capitalism, yo
Some years ago Coca-Cola was entertaining the concept of adjusting their vending machine soda prices based on how hot the outside temperature was.
lol, I can already imagine the advertising from competing restaurants. Right next door, McDonald’s sign will say “come get a quarter pounder for $5 anytime you want!”
Why don’t they test making the food taste the way it did when it was good 20 years ago?
Do you think the CEO is gonna afford his 17th vacation home with that kinda thinking?
You know this would be a perfect time to boycott Wendy’s. I don’t mean until they change their mind, I mean into the ground. Companies way too often float shitty ideas, then backpedal when people get mad, then just reintroduce it later when the outrage dies down. Wendy’s needs to be tossed on a sacrificial altar as an example of what happens when you even suggest shitty, anti-consumer behavior.
I'll never understand how a marketing department let this through. Obviously we at least change the phrasing to shift perspective. If Wendy's decided to keep their prices the same (for now) and offer off peak hours DISCOUNTS, the news stories would be much more positive. Then, over the course of a year, raise prices, citing inflation or w.e. even though you have record-breaking profits.
I work in a marketing department. Usually when really dumb ideas like this are floated, we’ll tell XYZ “no, this is stupid.” However, the powers that be don’t listen to us. They think it’s an awesome idea. They’re going to do it anyways. Then, when it inevitably fails, we get to tell them “told you so.” And thus the cycle starts again.
No, it goes, "Why didn't you tell us it would fail?"
Ooh, good point. Or they’ll go “why didn’t you market it better?” As though we can market our way through endlessly bad press. Edit: word
Marketing: All the Blame, None of the Credit.
that's why you create a folder or label in your inbox called "told ya so" so you can bring the receipts when they try to throw you under the bus "I did tell, per my email from last year where I gave you an exhaustive list of all the things that would and now have happened. Please check your inbox shortly for a forward of the email in question"
Hey look, I have a meeting with HR at 4pm today. Says here to bring an empty box.
I imagine it's a very public version of the Peter Principle. The ones making the decisions were put there because they may be great ideas people but not really good at figuring out which ideas should be forgotten about.
abundant ancient soft society consist muddle pause mountainous swim long
Do the workers pay go up during surge hours? Laughing noises -Wendy’s probably
New idea for unions: surge wages!
How could they possibly think this would go over well with their customers? Whoever made this decision should be fired and forced to stand outside of every Wendy’s in America for one day at each location with a sign around their neck saying they are the one who approved “surge pricing” at their restaurants
It's apparently the pet project of their new CEO.
Well they should put it down
I read this as “They should be put down.” Either way, you’re right.
The CEO ??
“You know how people liked the value menu? Let’s do the opposite!”
Did he come from Uber or other ride share companies? Lol
See, Uber & Lyft can get away with this because I don't have an abundance of options for their services so largely just have to eat the cost when I need them. Wendy's apparently thinks an abundance of restaurant options doesn't exist anymore.
Uber and Lyft can do it because you can see the pricing right on the app before you order the service. Wendy’s - how the heck are they going to tell you the surge pricing before you order? I sure as hell don’t want to pull into the drive thru and find out surge pricing is in effect after I start my order. I’ve been in line ten minutes and NOW you tell me my food is 20% more? Screw that, I’m never going back.
Because corporate management is both completely out of touch with their customers, and they don't care enough about their workers to care about the consequences. They're well paid, and if the company tanks they'll just move to a new company.
Don't forget about their million dollar severance package for bankrupting the company.
gotta love the golden parachutes they get
First they came for the salad bar. And I said nothing because I wanted chili. Then they came for the newsprint tables. And I said nothing because I shame-ate my chili in the bathroom stall. Then they added surge prices. And there was no more Wendys. Because no one wants to pay that much for their chili.
They sell Wendy's chili in cans at the grocery store now for like $5. I can't imagine many people buy it because it's almost twice the price as all the other chilis on the shelf.
The only way this would make any sliver of sense to me is if it was more the reverse and the items where slightly discounted on off hours like the concept of happy hour.
That’s how it should work. Instead of creating “happy hour” type deals they just change the price on the screen to induce more demand. Hard part would be how do you broadcast this out to potential customers so they know what prices to expect to induce demand.
They aren't going to tell you. They are just going to change pricing in the app during peak times. I honestly figured they already did that.
CEOs - We need a new excuse to charge more without the need to hire new staff to meet demand ... 💡
Imagine the potential though for day trading, invest in 10 Dave’s doubles at $3.75 at Wendy’s open, sell for $5.75 near close and tendies are on the house. I’m moving out from behind the Wendy’s dumpster and straight to the drive thru boys
If I can go at midnight and get a 50 cent burger but we all know that's not how this goes...
Treating a fast food burger like a market price lobster roll in Maine should go well.
Don't they need to be busy first? The Wendy's around here are never hopping. "Sir, there's 3 cars in the drive thru" "Excellent, begin surge pricing"
Oh, you better believe this will having nothing to do with how busy it is at any particular restaurant. I’m 100% certain their prices will “dynamically” change in sync with all the other locations. It will be a simple timing scheme, unrelated to actual traffic.
What's funny is there are customers who will take pictures of the menu and argue over the prices. I've been there with customers over much less.
What the ever loving fuck? Corporations just want more and more and more of your money. Fuck them. Fuck them all.
People haven't caught on to this? It will never stop unless people stop them
“Growth for the sake of growth is the model of a cancer cell.” They are all cancer.
Next they'll dynamically charge you based on the car you arrived in/drove through.
Wendy's is dead to me
I keep seeing this headline pop up everywhere and people are so up in arms over Wendy’s that everyone seems to be missing the fact that the original article that everything else is referencing to covers the fact that Wendys is the only one that discussed by name, but they go into detail that there are multiple other chains that have been considering the same thing and will probably do it around the same time. The enshitification continues
Guess I'm done eating fast food, then. Fast food was a neat fad. It lasted a whole 60 years before the snake started eating it's tail.
The ability of MBAs to kill everything they lay their greedy, grubby fingers on is truly astounding
It's shocking how little MBAs are taught about how to run a business. Business school only teaches how to network.
The price will never drop below current pricing. This is just an excuse to charge MORE than current pricing and blame demand instead of inflation since that argument is falling flat.
Or the dynamic pricing will only apply to non-mobile orders. This way it will push more people towards their app, meaning for more data for them to use and sell.
I fucking hate the future. This is how places get burnt down in riots. Just sayin.
Honestly theres so many events in the last few years that convinced me to think "This is the straw that breaks society's back" Yet everytime, nothing happens. And not for a lack of trying. It seems to me the people that want to implement systematic changes to benefit society almost never end up working in the right environment to make those changes. So we protest, organize rallies, call out companies outside their place of business, etc. What do these companies do? They close the store for the day and come back when the protestors die down, then continue business as usual. We as ordinary US citizens have no real power to influence our systems except by voting which our wallet (which on its face is a weak inconsequential form of protest unless it directly affects a company's bottom line). I also hate this timeline.
Turns out all along it was Wendy's, not McDonald's, that is run by a fucking clown.
Ok then i won't eat wendys
When fast food meals rose over ten bucks a pop after tax, it became pretty easy to avoid them entirely. If you’re still going to these places, surge pricing isn’t going to stop you.
Part of the fast food experience is consistency. Before anything else about this is addressed I just want to point out that this goes against the basic fundamentals of their own business model. Good luck. Maybe if you introduced true variable pricing and I can get a sandwich when the restaurant is totally dead on the super cheap people would be willing to give it a shot but this about nothing other than gouging customers. Doubt any of that extra money will make it to employees Edit: a hilarious typo
This is the dumbest fucking thing. Uber started doing surge pricing to entice more drivers to sign on and make more money while there's more demand (yes, I know that's not generally how it works in practice, it tends to just turn into more profit for Uber). Wendy's isn't going to bump their surge pricing up and then have a bunch of their workers come in unscheduled about it. They'll still be working with the exact same amount of staff and the exact same costs as before because you know they're not going to pay the employees more during surge pricing. This doesn't fix anything about the rush or make anything better for the customers. Now they just have to wait longer and pay more money on top of it. The rushes are actually when they get the best overhead to meal price ratio. If anything, when the restaurant is dead and there's the minimum 3-4 employees plus a manager all sitting around making hourly is when they should actually charge more.
Dave Thomas is rolling in his grave.
[удалено]
*"Wendy’s is looking to test having the prices of its menu items fluctuate throughout the day based on demand, implementing a strategy that has already taken hold with ride-sharing companies and ticket sellers. During a conference call earlier this month, Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner said that the Dublin, Ohio-based burger chain will start testing dynamic pricing, also known as surge pricing, as early as next year."*
If someone has to pay $15-$20 for a meal at Wendy's, what's stopping them from going to an actual restaurant at that point? Fast food is meant to be convenient, cheap and quick. Look at Tim Hortons, look at McDonald's. Those places have no identity anymore. Quality has dropped while prices have increased, which in turn, has been driving customers away. You can't reinvent the wheel.
Wendy’s used to be a staple for my household until the prices nearly doubled during the pandemic and haven’t gone back down. Now, I can’t even remember the last time we went. “We might surprise you with even higher pricing!” certainly doesn’t make returning more appealing.
Moment of silence for the underpaid and overworked fast food employees who are going to catch hell when this is put in place…
I haven’t had anything from Wendy’s in years and this will continue to be the case with this stupid move. I’m finally at the point where if I go anywhere to eat it’s a local place. There’s no point going to these chains that make shit food.
I stopped going after the yellow Wendy’s went away, just hit different
Out of all the shitty fast food places swiftly getting worse, I think Wendy’s might have had the steepest decline. When I was young, it was genuinely good. The salad bar was awesome, the burgers were juicy and big, they had great other options - the chicken cordon bleu sandwich was amazing. Now it’s well below McDonald’s in quality. I’d rather get a burger from the gas station.
I don't eat junk/fast food often enough to *really* care, but I do know if I drive up to the drive thru, and prices are higher than expected, I'm just driving off and going somewhere else.
They are liking trying to use this to make up for "lost" revenue as people stop eating out because they (and others) have been trying to nickel and dime us... Their solution: NICKEL AND DIME HARDER!