Wendy's announces Uber-like surge pricing model…

BeDome said:

Wendy's put me off once by making us wait way too long for our 4 Baconators. But that was not the biggest problem.

It was getting late and we had been at my daughter's graduation since the sun was high up in the sky. We thought a quick food stop on the way home would be an easy solution.

After TOO long waiting, the manager came out and asked why we were parked there in the wait spot, since they had no orders pending.

I told him our order and he said he would check on it.

A few minutes later he came back to get my order and apologized for the wait.
Then he said, Sorry but he works with a staff of complete idiots.
He would get our order prepared himself and be right out as soon as possible.

Of course I was not pleased at the way he blasted HIS staff in such a demeaning way. I am sure some people would have liked his treatment of the underlings.
That was seven years ago, I remember it well and I have not gone back to ANY Wendy's since, even though one of those chocolate Frostys sounds great right now.

Click to expand...

femurphy77 said:

Hell, they've got us taking our own orders for them; how long will it be before we're building our own burgers? I'd be more interested to see how long before they install burger building robots.

Click to expand...

foszoe said:

They want you to lock in price using app before you get there

Click to expand...

ZurokSlayer7X9 said:

The burgers at my local pub are cheaper than a lot of fast food burgers and are twice the quality. I can also order beer with it as well.

Click to expand...

BehindBlueI's said:

If that were the case, there would be no need for 'surge pricing' and 'AI enabled menu changes.' They would just do what various sit down restaurants have done for years, a lunch menu and a dinner menu. Since beef isn't subject to blue laws, they could do hamburger happy hours and advertise lower prices between 3p and 5p to attempt to drive more foot traffic.

This is one of two things, IMO:

1) A headline grab for free publicity with no expectation of implementing it

2) Somebody with an MBA thought "AI is sooo hot right now, how can Wendy's get in on that?" and nobody from marketing was there to strangle zem.

Click to expand...

Wendy’s says Tanner didn’t mean “surge pricing” when he said “dynamic pricing.” The company spokesperson told NBC there are “no plans” to raise prices at high-demand times.

“We said these [digital] menu boards would give us more flexibility to change the display of featured items. This was misconstrued in some media reports as an intent to raise prices when demand is highest at our restaurants,” the Wendy’s spokesperson said. “We have no plans to do that and would not raise prices when our customers are visiting us most.”


“Any features we may test in the future would be designed to benefit our customers and restaurant crew members,” the spokesperson sadded. “Digital menu boards could allow us to change the menu offerings at different times of day and offer discounts and value offers to our customers more easily, particularly in the slower times of day.”

Click to expand...

Super Bee said:

Fast food is getting crazy. Bought lunch for myself and an employee at McDonalds last week. . $27.00. And I did not even get a drink.

Click to expand...

DoggyDaddy said:

I like Wendy's generally, but I've had some bad experiences with the one closest to me. Namely them constantly running out of things that they should never run out of. For instance, when they were promoting their croissant breakfast sandwiches, I ordered online and went to pick up my order, only to be told that they were out of croissants. Another time, they were out of spoons for the Frosties. (Seriously? Spoons?? They don't go bad. Order TF out of them and stick them out in a shed!) More than once, they've run out of seasonal Frosty flavors (heavily promoted, both in their ads, and on the website), and not near the end of the promotion, but smack dab in the middle of it. The most recent was when they ran out of sweet 'n sour sauce for their chicken nuggets. Again, that stuff isn't going to go bad any time soon, so order more than you think you need!

After one such incident I called and asked to speak to the manager. I asked him who does the ordering for his store. When he said that he did, I told him that he really needed to step it up, because he wasn't very good at it. He got pretty flustered and hung up on me.

Click to expand...

DoggyDaddy said:

I like Wendy's generally, but I've had some bad experiences with the one closest to me. Namely them constantly running out of things that they should never run out of. For instance, when they were promoting their croissant breakfast sandwiches, I ordered online and went to pick up my order, only to be told that they were out of croissants. Another time, they were out of spoons for the Frosties. (Seriously? Spoons?? They don't go bad. Order TF out of them and stick them out in a shed!) More than once, they've run out of seasonal Frosty flavors (heavily promoted, both in their ads, and on the website), and not near the end of the promotion, but smack dab in the middle of it. The most recent was when they ran out of sweet 'n sour sauce for their chicken nuggets. Again, that stuff isn't going to go bad any time soon, so order more than you think you need!

After one such incident I called and asked to speak to the manager. I asked him who does the ordering for his store. When he said that he did, I told him that he really needed to step it up, because he wasn't very good at it. He got pretty flustered and hung up on me.

Click to expand...

Cameramonkey said:

If they do actually put it into play, you know what would be a hilarious and painful protest if they raise prices during peak insead of discounting off-peak? (sit downs already do this with early bird dinner specials)

Get tens of thousands to play along.
Each Calculates the normal off peak cost of their meal. Lets say its $10.46 for this discussion.
During peak, they GO TO THE DRIVE THRU. (This is key)
They place that exact same order.
When they get to the window and the person says "That will be $14.03." Say "What?!? That's supposed to cost $10.46! I just bought this exact same meal yesterday afternoon! "
As soon as they explain the cost is higher during certain times, "Well I'm not paying THAT much!" and drive off.

Meanwhile the food and drink is already made and has to go into the trash, causing them pain. Pain that will hopefully translate into consequences that will cause them to reverse course so they quit losing money.

Yeah, they may pass off your stock burger off to the next guy, but its still going to be painful trying to figure out what food they can substitute down the line while telling the grill workers to ignore THAT order because we already have one from the cheap SOB that wouldnt pay the higher price. LOL

Click to expand...

Brandon said:

I always had issues after eating at the one I am guessing you are talking about. Every single time.

Another reason I do not miss that job.

Click to expand...

radar8756 said:

they did that last year

Mcdonald's Robot Texas

Click to expand...

Super Bee said:

Fast food is getting crazy. Bought lunch for myself and an employee at McDonalds last week. . $27.00. And I did not even get a drink.

Click to expand...

femurphy77 said:

Hell, they've got us taking our own orders for them; how long will it be before we're building our own burgers? I'd be more interested to see how long before they install burger building robots.

Click to expand...

Ingomike said:

The order will be set on the app, no surprise at the window. And if they ever did implement this which seems unlikely based on @BehindBlueI's post, it likely will be discounted or special no-surge pricing. Maybe like this.

Drive through is empty, store computer notifies the system, the app tracking you pops up and says baconator for $1.99 if you order now.

Click to expand...