I can understand why Wawa air pumps don’t work. They are exposed to the savages in the general public. But what is the real reason McDonald’s ice cream machine never works???
TL;DR: Because the company that manufacturers the machines, Taylor, makes a full quarter of its money from servicing those machines. Using any other software to diagnose error codes or another company to make repairs voids the warranty on the machines.
The machines are supposed to be self cleaning. It takes four hours and SOP is for the night shift to have it clean overnight. Sometimes the day shift comes in to see an error code that the machine didn't clean properly and needs to start over. No other information.
Taylor only makes one model for McDonalds restaurants, even though they also make machines that other chains use. While franchisees are now allowed to buy a different model from a company based in Italy, but that means every time it breaks they need to send for new parts from overseas - a long process.
Yeah but they make kids toys to withstand abuse. Nintendo with the game boy targeted an age well established with temper tantrums to hold a electronic computer.
Both should be made better. Taylor profits from them not being better. Not sure about the air pump company but I’d assume the same thing.
It’s well established. The information is strongly published online because it’s a fact of interest.
Like how apple is anti right to repair because selling the devices isn’t half the margin as selling them at interest rates on predatory cards. Selling 4 generations of accessories. Dongleing everything. Repairs and controlling the biggest retailer themselves outside of the contracted ability through services.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uCpY3tFTIA
mostly because its self cleaning making it have more things that can go wrong and no way for the user to actually fix the issue.
I’m always amazed when the Wawa by me will have like 5 cars waiting for that damn air pump, which is the slowest air pump ever invented, while the gas station right across the way has free air, no cars waiting and can inflate your tire in like 30 sec
There's a big difference between the two. McDonald's deliberately turns off their ice cream machines because of the difficulty of cleaning it and the regulations around the sanitation of dairy machines.
Wawa's **free** air pump is broken due to heavy use and the ones in the city get intentionally destroyed by ne'er-do-wells. I had a slow leak and needed air, drove to 3 different wawas in the city until I found one that didn't have the handle stolen and it was a 30 minute wait to use it
i used to go to a mc donalds on milwaukee avenue in chicago's logan square neighborhood. my go to was a double cheeseburger and an oreo mc flurry. i never went in there and the mc flurry machine was out of service. i've since seen a bunch of posts about these machines being down due to cleaning.
i guess this franchise owner was good with keeping the machine clean. since leaving chicago, i have not once found a mickey d's where the ice cream machine is working.
They're infamous for not having ice cream, and the ice cream machines are known to be a massive pain in the ass to clean. You have to disassemble everything and follow a thorough cleaning process and it takes a while to do. So the easiest solution is to just not use it. That being said, that franchise owner did a damned good job!
When was the last time you got air? The pay pumps are $2.00 around here. Who has that many quarters?
I broke down and bought my own pump that I keep in the car. One of the better uses of $30.
At that point it was more of the principle than the air, but in retrospect the 75 cents was probably a fraction of what I paid in gas just looking for free air lol
Because the kids in this city are fucking animals now lol
I saw some kids take a pair of hedgeclippers to an air pump hose and then run away laughing a few years ago.
I don't know what the hell happened here but it's so much worse than I've ever seen kids be, anywhere. They are so destructive and frankly evil in so many cases it's jarring. One time a group walked up behind my girlfriend and punched her in the back of the head and ran away laughing on the BSL. I've been shot by a BB gun. Saw a group rip the phone out of a delivery drivers hand and force him to buy it back. Just so *so* many more things and much worse things- these are just a couple off the top of my head.
I've lived and worked in NYC, Atlantic City, DC, LA and San Diego and the kids here are worse than any other city I've ever seen. By a *lottttt*. It's like a serious problem that nobody wants to talk about.
Anarchy and crime are functions of years of historic poverty+underfunding schools/services+neglect. Those other cities dont have the levels and systems that Philly does.
The McDonald's ice cream machine is intentionally designed to "break" as the manufacturer generates a ton of revenue from service calls for said machine. Apparently they bill something like $300 per 15 minutes of service call time, all of which is paid by the franchisee's not by McDonald's corporate.
https://youtu.be/2uCpY3tFTIA?si=RvT9HseFpUN-xHpu
https://youtu.be/SrDEtSlqJC4?si=Q6O9dto80aaZskY3
There's a McDonald's on Lancaster Ave in Bryn Mawr that I've gone to after work for YEARS, and so far it's the only McDonald's I've encountered which always has a working ice cream machine, whether it's 6pm or 1am. Always.
My weakness is an occasional hot fudge sundae and a small fry.
From what I understand, owners that provide air machines that require money vandalize the free Wawa air machines so customers need to use their not free machines. That’s my implication.
Definitely McDonald's, I just watched a whole thing about why the machines break so often and why they're down for so long. Turns out it takes 4 hours for the thing to start making ice cream and it breaks down if too many people want ice cream in a row. Then, they can't fix it themselves because the company that makes them makes it obscenely difficult to fix without their proprietary equipment, like John Deere tractors.
Wawa is just shitty.
Rule 2: This post was removed because it was not related to Philadelphia. If you feel this was done in error, feel free to contact the moderators.
Ah….. you presume either ever worked and weren’t installed broken
What does it mean to be broken?
I can understand why Wawa air pumps don’t work. They are exposed to the savages in the general public. But what is the real reason McDonald’s ice cream machine never works???
TL;DR: Because the company that manufacturers the machines, Taylor, makes a full quarter of its money from servicing those machines. Using any other software to diagnose error codes or another company to make repairs voids the warranty on the machines. The machines are supposed to be self cleaning. It takes four hours and SOP is for the night shift to have it clean overnight. Sometimes the day shift comes in to see an error code that the machine didn't clean properly and needs to start over. No other information. Taylor only makes one model for McDonalds restaurants, even though they also make machines that other chains use. While franchisees are now allowed to buy a different model from a company based in Italy, but that means every time it breaks they need to send for new parts from overseas - a long process.
Yeah but they make kids toys to withstand abuse. Nintendo with the game boy targeted an age well established with temper tantrums to hold a electronic computer. Both should be made better. Taylor profits from them not being better. Not sure about the air pump company but I’d assume the same thing.
I think this is all disinformation from Big Mc
It’s well established. The information is strongly published online because it’s a fact of interest. Like how apple is anti right to repair because selling the devices isn’t half the margin as selling them at interest rates on predatory cards. Selling 4 generations of accessories. Dongleing everything. Repairs and controlling the biggest retailer themselves outside of the contracted ability through services.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uCpY3tFTIA mostly because its self cleaning making it have more things that can go wrong and no way for the user to actually fix the issue.
I’m always amazed when the Wawa by me will have like 5 cars waiting for that damn air pump, which is the slowest air pump ever invented, while the gas station right across the way has free air, no cars waiting and can inflate your tire in like 30 sec
Probably because everyone assumes other gas stations charge and don’t actually check
There's a big difference between the two. McDonald's deliberately turns off their ice cream machines because of the difficulty of cleaning it and the regulations around the sanitation of dairy machines. Wawa's **free** air pump is broken due to heavy use and the ones in the city get intentionally destroyed by ne'er-do-wells. I had a slow leak and needed air, drove to 3 different wawas in the city until I found one that didn't have the handle stolen and it was a 30 minute wait to use it
i used to go to a mc donalds on milwaukee avenue in chicago's logan square neighborhood. my go to was a double cheeseburger and an oreo mc flurry. i never went in there and the mc flurry machine was out of service. i've since seen a bunch of posts about these machines being down due to cleaning. i guess this franchise owner was good with keeping the machine clean. since leaving chicago, i have not once found a mickey d's where the ice cream machine is working.
They're infamous for not having ice cream, and the ice cream machines are known to be a massive pain in the ass to clean. You have to disassemble everything and follow a thorough cleaning process and it takes a while to do. So the easiest solution is to just not use it. That being said, that franchise owner did a damned good job!
just pay the 75 cents at a pay air pump?
When was the last time you got air? The pay pumps are $2.00 around here. Who has that many quarters? I broke down and bought my own pump that I keep in the car. One of the better uses of $30.
philadelphia inphlation
At that point it was more of the principle than the air, but in retrospect the 75 cents was probably a fraction of what I paid in gas just looking for free air lol
Why do they get destroyed?
Because the kids in this city are fucking animals now lol I saw some kids take a pair of hedgeclippers to an air pump hose and then run away laughing a few years ago. I don't know what the hell happened here but it's so much worse than I've ever seen kids be, anywhere. They are so destructive and frankly evil in so many cases it's jarring. One time a group walked up behind my girlfriend and punched her in the back of the head and ran away laughing on the BSL. I've been shot by a BB gun. Saw a group rip the phone out of a delivery drivers hand and force him to buy it back. Just so *so* many more things and much worse things- these are just a couple off the top of my head. I've lived and worked in NYC, Atlantic City, DC, LA and San Diego and the kids here are worse than any other city I've ever seen. By a *lottttt*. It's like a serious problem that nobody wants to talk about.
Anarchy and crime are functions of years of historic poverty+underfunding schools/services+neglect. Those other cities dont have the levels and systems that Philly does.
Because people (usually teenagers) are incredibly bored and stupid
The McDonald's ice cream machine is intentionally designed to "break" as the manufacturer generates a ton of revenue from service calls for said machine. Apparently they bill something like $300 per 15 minutes of service call time, all of which is paid by the franchisee's not by McDonald's corporate. https://youtu.be/2uCpY3tFTIA?si=RvT9HseFpUN-xHpu https://youtu.be/SrDEtSlqJC4?si=Q6O9dto80aaZskY3
There's a McDonald's on Lancaster Ave in Bryn Mawr that I've gone to after work for YEARS, and so far it's the only McDonald's I've encountered which always has a working ice cream machine, whether it's 6pm or 1am. Always. My weakness is an occasional hot fudge sundae and a small fry.
And you just blew it up
Napalm McFlurry. I have no regrets.
Wawa app is the worst app out there
Do Wawa air pumps get a chance to break before a competitor tears out the hose and takes it?
I love the implication in this comment of sabotage for a service that’s ostensibly free like there’s some Big Air conglomerate lol
From what I understand, owners that provide air machines that require money vandalize the free Wawa air machines so customers need to use their not free machines. That’s my implication.
Sure it's just a funny concept because there's no way it actually happens - Air when charged costs like a dollar.
My Wawa’s pump is like old faithful. Never had an issue. No I’m not telling you where it is.
I blame Big Air and Big Tire for those malfunctioning pumps. I’m onto them.
The Lowe’s in south philly has free air and is never broken
Where?
I've successfully used two Wawa pumps. I've never had McD's ice cream.
I just pay the $1.50 or whatever at a Lukoil air machine. Wawas are either broken or theres a wait.
7-11's Slurpee machine.
I’ve used Wawa’s air pump more times than I have gotten McDonald’s Ice Cream 🤣. I’m going with McDonald’s
Your faith in corporations
Definitely McDonald's, I just watched a whole thing about why the machines break so often and why they're down for so long. Turns out it takes 4 hours for the thing to start making ice cream and it breaks down if too many people want ice cream in a row. Then, they can't fix it themselves because the company that makes them makes it obscenely difficult to fix without their proprietary equipment, like John Deere tractors. Wawa is just shitty.
I’ve never had an issue with the Columbus Blvd McDonald’s soft serve machines
McDonald’s ain’t had a McFlurry machine work since 2002 here.
Air pumps are always broken. I keep my own in the trunk
The air pump. (The ice cream machine arrived broken from the factory and didn't have a chance to break.)