Surge in Wendy's complaints exposes limits to consumer tolerance of unstable prices
Surge in Wendy's complaints exposes limits to consumer tolerance of unstable prices
A social media backlash to media reports that said fast-food chain Wendy’s had plans to increase menu prices during its busiest hours shows a limit to where, when and for what U.S. consumers will trade more cash for convenience.
This whole thing was a stunt to test public response. Had we not said anything they would have implemented it. I won't hear otherwise.
117Which means it will be back every couple of years until people get tired of fighting it, and then every fast food chain will implement it
892030 "News"
Gen Z are bankrupting every fast food chain you love.
Why does Gen Z hate freedom?
22They will just implement it backwards and with another name. It will be "off peak hours" pricing and it will start off being a discount to buy during off peak hours. Then after we get use to getting a deal between 2-4 and maybe 7-9, they will raise the prices of everything. The price of the off peak hours will be the "normal" price and the "normal" price will turn into surge pricing without the name.
11I hope they see a permanent reduction of sales, even if small. CEOs typically move around like trading cards, so if/when this one does, his successor will learn the lesson too. And he won’t be inclined to try this again at the next company he pilfers. After a few shifts, maybe all the CEOs will postpone this plan indefinitely (who wants to be the guy that hurts shareholder value by trying this again?)
There are definitely people who will not return because of this. I still don’t buy Kellogg’s products, and that was over a temporary strike. A temporary boycott led to a permanent one when I realized generic corn flakes are just as good— and really, who needs Wendy’s that bad? Same with Pepsi for their support of Russia, Nestle for the incredible breaches of ethics, Burger King for intolerable taste, Hobby Lobby for the anti LGBT donations, In-n-out for the banning of masks for their employees, and more. Capitalism might actually work if people truly voted with their wallets for everything. (Of course this is nigh impossible these days because, in the late stages of capitalism, almost every corporation is unethical)
5
The only way to stop it would be for Wendy's to go bankrupt as a result of their little test.
Unfortunately, that won't happen because the sociopaths in charge of our lives are right. People are stupid.
12People have limited time, money and brainpower. If you've been working 8 hours and you have to go home and do housework, put the kids to bed, walk the dogs etc., you're going to choose the easiest option for dinner even if you disagree with the prices or the company. As long as it's not taking the piss, it's not worth the hassle. This is the squeeze that "the sociopaths in charge" have put most of the working class in - don't blame individuals caught in shitty circumstances for being stupid when this setup was done on purpose
12
If anything the lesson they learned is to not announce anything and to just do it hoping people don't catch on. I don't think enough people buy fast food so regularly that they have the prices memorized. :/
3What in politics is called a trial balloon.
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Just like American consumers stood up to Netflix when they cracked down on password sharing?
67I canceled my account.. but yes, sad trombone noises all around.
39They've been spamming me with emails since I canceled a year ago. Apparently they're also raising prices again so fuck them
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I think part of the intolerance with Wendy's is that it's food. One can live without entertainment, but not without food. There's also the fact that tmobile (and I think verizon) gives its customers access to Netflix with their phone plans
19No one needs Wendy’s. A lot of vocal people are annoyed with all this stuff, but I think it’s not their core customers being vocal. I for one stopped going there when their app started allowing me to order, but the restaurant receives a payment failed notice and never makes my food. Been through support multiple times and no one knows anything. Then I tried to relogin and Google login was down for weeks.
12Verizon gives Hulu and D+ but both with ads
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We showed them! 😅😥
4Actually yes.
Subscriptions went up in general but down in the areas where they implemented the change.
4
I don't think it's intolerance to unstable prices. It's intolerance to higher prices.
If they also dropped the price substantialy when demand was lower, I'd assume many more would be OK with it. Instead this looks like just another trick to raise prices
65I don't think it's either of those so much as intolerance to openly price gouging.
Higher prices reduce demand (or at least overall sales). That's basic economics and we have seen a lot of that over the past 3 years.
We've seen scarcity lead to increased prices (see eggs). This also led to reduced sales but not outrage, because most consumers understand how a chicken disease can lead to the loss of huge portions of egg laying chickens and how an event like that can lead to temporary price increases.
Even with Uber surge pricing, while it does indeed piss people off and reduce demand, even those who hate it can at least understand the principle that some of that increase is passed on to the drivers as an incentive to get more drivers to serve areas and times with high demand. You're still seeing the economic function of a price increase, but at least some of it is going toward a measure to mitigate the issue.
But in this case there's no factor that makes a burger at noon cost Wendy's any more than a burger at 3pm. I think that's where the outrage comes from. It's Wendy's basically saying, "We're increasing prices at this time because we like money."
Are they paying employees more at surge times? Is their food more expensive to buy and prepare at those times? Are they increasing staffing for a few hours to ensure that wait times don't increase?
Nah. It's still the same old thing on their end, they've just decided they want more money.
It's intolerance to blatant greed.
34I have news for you: Uber increases prices based on their guesses about how much you'll pay. They have been caught increasing prices for different customers at the same time in the same exact place.
For example:
They read your phone state and battery life. If they know you have 10% battery left, they will raise your price because they know you probably can't wait for another car. If they think you are a woman and you look at rides after midnight and your battery is low, they are going to charge an arm and a leg.
I try to keep my battery charged at 100% when I go out. I also check the price 10 minutes before I need it on both Uber and Lyft. That way they see someone load the app, check a price, and close the app quickly. This looks like a cheap person who they think can be enticed by a low price. They will routinely drop the price because they think I'm considering driving or something.
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Sure, but in that situation, the surge price becomes the new base price, and you wind up with the same thing just reframed as a low demand discount instead of a peak demand increase.
15Pretty much the entire US economy has been surge-based pricing since 2021 in that case.
11Which is what they'll ultimately do later on when this blows over.
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Do you honestly think that this scheme was anything but a ploy to make the customer pay more? This has nothing to do with 'adapting to a market' and everything to do with profit seeking.
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The whole idea of a franchise is so people can get the same menu at the same quality at the same price no matter where they are. Having dynamic pricing means you can't even be assured of the price at a single location, let alone being in a new city with an unfamiliar restaurant.
If you don't know what you are going to be able to buy with your $5, then might as well go to someplace different.
34Um, the whole idea of a franchise is for the owner to make money.
20For the consumer I am pretty sure they meant. There is a lot of surprises and uncertainty but when you go to a place like that you know exactly what you are going to get for the price you expect.
9
McDonald's already has different prices from the location next to my house, and the one 10 minutes away by my work. Aren't they franchised as well?
17Yeah, what op said isn't exactly accurate. There are promos that will all be the same price.
But like, a McDonald's near me offers jalapenos, and another does not. It's not all the same. It's all 95% the same.
Also, not every McDonald's is franchised! But iirc <1%. I think it's like a few dozen stores are genuine McDonald's brand stores and not franchises.
6Depends on where you live I guess. In my country (not USA), no matter where you go all franchises of major chain restaurants have exactly the same prices. Having worked adjacent to the fast food industry in my country and dealing with the brand owners, price and consistency is very important, not only for their customer satisfaction, but also it made the marketing material easier.
Ironically, when I worked in this industry, part of the appeal of the company that I worked for is we allowed dynamic pricing exactly like what Wendy's is proposing. The brand owners rejected the idea because marketing felt it would confuse customers, and technical didn't want to do it because consolidating the incoming data and and standardising the POS data across franchises was a nightmare.
1
same price no matter where they are
This is not at all true. Here is a map showing Big Mac prices across the US:
16Whenever I am abroad I usually go to a franchise place at least once just out of curiosity. Rarely buy anything. The prices are usually identical.
1
Boycott em anyways
24This would send a message not just to Wendy's , but to any other company thinking of "Opportunistic Gouging".
Imagine Starbucks charging more for coffee in the morning Imagine bars charging more for beer during games Imagine gas stations charging more for gasoline after a natural disaster. Actually you don't have to imagine that: many have tried it, and they've gotten massive fucking fines when they do, because Opportunistic Gouging is fucking unacceptable.
Pass Laws, you fools.
6In an emergency situation it should be illegal. Because too many people want it shouldn’t be. Annoying, shitty, sure. But supply and demand is not getting overturned.
1We would need a functioning legislature to pass laws. We can’t even pass a budget.
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I’ve never been to Wendy’s and currently it doesn’t look like I will go there in the foreseeable future
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After I paid $4.31 a while back for a large chocolate Frosty, was handed a 12 ouncer, and was assured that it was not a mistake when I insisted that I'd ordered a large, I decided to part ways with Wendy's. Shrinkflation with the Frosty's, hyperinflation with their burgers...fuck 'em. I'll make my own burgers.
23How many ounces did their large frosty used to be?
2It was 20 oz. for a long time, but I feel like I remember a time in the mid 90s when it was 24 oz. And the price has gone up as well, I definitely wasn't paying $4 and tax for a large Frosty back then.
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The funny thing is, it doesn't even make sense. Wendy's doesn't run out of stock, costumers just wait a little longer. Uber might have limited cars available so """"""it makes some level of sense"""""" (please don't kill me)
Having the kitchen fully staffed and still working 100% is the most profitable situation for them. This is just a"fuck you because we think we can" situation.
15Having the kitchen half staffed but spreading the customers out so they still get the same revenue is what they were aiming for.
It's a "fuck you" and "fuck our employees" policy.
9Having the kitchen staffed and working 100% of the time will turn into burnout really fucking quick.
Beancounters need to learn humans are not machines.
2Not 100% of the time, but working at 100% capacity during the rush hour.
I worked in a McDonald's, and 1-2 hours working at full capacity was very manageable. It's much worse when it's not very busy but it's extremely understaffed.
3
If the poor assholes working get surge wages during the rush I'll go along with it
10hahahahaha not under our current corporatocracy!
2Corruptocracy
3
Plus with surge pricing at Wendy's I assume there is still a floor for prices, right? Like at 3pm it's probably still the normal/regular menu price and not some crazy firesale of 99 cent meals
6My decision to no longer eat at Wendys 2 decades ago has certainly paid off.
Please activate the surge pricing Dave!!6Weird that consumers tolerate surge pricing on Uber, but the mere mention of it on Wendy's and it's bedlam.
2At least with Uber the point is to get gig economy workers picking up people in inclement weather, and is a much needed service by many. Nobody likes it but when you're stuck you're stuck.
11Weird that consumers tolerate price changes for services with limited use units, but the mere mention of suggesting the same thing when you almost never see a fast food place run out of food, and the 'surge' doesn't result in saturated use units but instead translates to maybe an extra 120 second wait and they get angry.
The fact that so many people support your hyperbolic apples to oranges comparison just shows how far Lemmy has fallen in just a few months.
2Marketing and surge pricing was a thing from day one or almost.
When the public was learning about this new fangled ordering a car on your phone. Surge pricing was baked into that learning and a reasonable explanation for it given. (Encourage more drivers)
For Wendys, people have been buying fast food for 60+ years. And there is absolutely no reasonable explanation for surge pricing other than gouging the customer.
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If Wendy's hadn't announced/advertised their new variable pricing strategy, fewer people would've noticed, And there wouldn't be this backlash.
People don't really notice fast food prices until theyve already paid and sometimes they still don't even notice until much later In retrospect.
2Wendy's was the first to try market price for fast food. I've heard of market price for lobster but never for crappy food.
1Well yeah, change like this is so rarely to the benefit of the consumer.
People know this would end up with a thing they like just costing more money.
1It never started.
How does it expose or measure tolerance?
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