• Ghostalmedia
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    1443 months ago

    Dear Wendy’s CEO,

    This is not Uber. This is a Wendy’s.

      • KingJalopy
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        193 months ago

        I haven’t been in years. Their food has been terrible ever since they changed their fries so many years ago. I used to eat there when I could get jr bacon cheeseburgers for 99 cents but now even that’s like $3.

        • @[email protected]
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          133 months ago

          Yeah, just a run of the mill chicken sandwich combo is 15$ and it looks like a toddler slapped it together with food he found in the trash.

          • @[email protected]
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            43 months ago

            toddler slapped it together

            They’re going to start charging for the boogers, which are not optional.

          • @maness300
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            13 months ago

            and it looks like a toddler slapped it together

            I think it’s funny how food quality is down, service quality is down, yet they still want to charge higher prices.

            Like, it’s not even worth getting fast food because I don’t want to deal with the disgruntled employees who blame me for making them do their jobs.

        • @BonesOfTheMoonOP
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          43 months ago

          I thought the burgers tasted like sawdust myself.

          • KingJalopy
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            63 months ago

            Indeed but as a broke teenager on my own those 99 cents deals kept me somewhat fed.

  • @[email protected]
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    3 months ago

    This new CEO of Wendy’s would be wise to remember that fast food is a convenience not a necessity. I’ve got a nice little propane grill in the backyard and I know how to make a square patty. I don’t need you, you need me.

    • @DoomBot5
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      -223 months ago

      I’ve got a nice little propane grill in the backyard and I know how to make a square patty

      Good for you, unfortunately there are many people out there that can’t afford a propane grill or a backyard.

      • @[email protected]
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        3 months ago

        Okay? Skillets exist. Countertop George Foreman grills exist. Either of which can be purchased for $30 or less and will last for years. There are multiple affordable ways to make a hamburger without a yard if you’d like to do so. Not sure why you’re trying to shame me for daring to say that I have an outdoor grill so I’m just gonna go ahead and block you. This isn’t worth a moment more of my time.

        • @maness300
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          13 months ago

          Yes. The burgers I make myself in a pan are better than just about any restaurant and all fast food because I can season it myself.

          It’s actually sad how bland burgers taste in comparison. They don’t need to be that way.

      • @[email protected]
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        33 months ago

        If you aren’t able to own a grill, perhaps you should be avoiding fast food since it’s a rather small amount of food for the cost?

  • @IamLost
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    573 months ago

    Where I am, the price of fast food is just about equal to some restaurants. There’s no point in doing fast food anymore.

    • @Crackhappy
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      223 months ago

      There is a local hamburger joint 3 blocks from my house that is far superior in taste, with lower prices, why the fuck would I ever go to endys?

      • @maness300
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        03 months ago

        If that place isn’t getting enough business, maybe you should suggest they advertise their prices.

        A simple sign showing how their prices compare to the competition’s goes a long way.

        I probably wouldn’t stop in a hole in the wall, just because they usually charge as much or more than chains. Doing what I suggest would change my mind, if the prices were right.

        • @Crackhappy
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          13 months ago

          I wasn’t implying they don’t get enough business. They definitely do, it’s the local jam. I’m not sure that they would appreciate any advertising, word of mouth is clearly enough.

    • @BonesOfTheMoonOP
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      83 months ago

      Same with me in Canada. I go local almost all the time other than my annual Burger King impossible Whopper

    • @[email protected]
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      3 months ago

      I say this to some many people. Wendy’s can get some good deals sometimes. Like BOGO spicy chicken, but if I order a meal from any fastfood place around me then just no. I would be better off just going to my Mexican restaurant across the street. On Tuesday is taco Tuesday (obvs) and you get 3 tacos, beans and rice for like $8-$9. They other deals weds, Thurs, but not as good as that Tuesday deal.

    • @maness300
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      13 months ago

      Seriously. Fast food just isn’t for poor people anymore.

      We have to use grocery stores.

      Thankfully, grocery shopping online is much easier now.

  • @aeronmelon
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    573 months ago

    I remember when Dave Thomas was still alive. I loved Wendy’s quality over most everyone else, so I would prefer them even if something else was closer or cheaper.

    THE VERY NEXT WEEK after Dave died, there was a very noticeable drop in burger patty size and quality. I basically stopped eating at Wendy’s after that.

    I’m sure this is also what Dave would have wanted.

    • @[email protected]
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      3 months ago

      Dave Thomas is up in hamburger heaven with a list of mfers he’s gonna beat with a spatula for ruining his restaurants over the last 22 years.

    • @maness300
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      03 months ago

      There’s a reason why the powers that be have been focusing on promoting businesses over people.

      People have standards. People have pride. They can feel shame. Businesses can’t. There’s no one to blame when they lower their standards. They’re predictable and easy.

      Pretty sure there’s a similar story with the Costco founder being the only thing keeping them from raising the price of their hot dogs.

  • @irotsoma
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    503 months ago

    We’re so bad at employee management and don’t want to pay a living wage, so we’ll charge you extra when we’re busy. But wait, there’s more, we’re still not going to pay a living wage to hire more employees, so you’re not only going to pay more, but your wait will still be the same.

    • @BonesOfTheMoonOP
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      83 months ago

      Why not just hike the prices and be done with it?

      • @agitatedpotato
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        163 months ago

        They will, after everyone tells them how much they hate this, they’ll ‘backtrack’ to higher pricing. They’re letting their first idea eat the hate and resistance so they can execute plan B.

      • @Grimy
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        83 months ago

        I think this is exactly the plan. If the prices are constantly fluctuating, it will be easy to slowly rise them by a bit every week without everyone noticing.

        Boiling frogs is literally becoming a business plan

  • @brygphilomena
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    493 months ago

    Damn, I like some of their food. I guess this is a good reason to stop going there.

    Fuck you, Wendy’s.

    • @BonesOfTheMoonOP
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      273 months ago

      Patronize your local burger joints instead, it’s an excellent opportunity to get to know the local businesses.

      • Toes♀
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        3 months ago

        In my town there are only tourist traps and major chains left. One of the last mom and pop style restaurant that was around for 100 years was demolished.

      • @brygphilomena
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        73 months ago

        I do that too. But they don’t have a drive thru and are getting rarer and rarer.

      • @[email protected]
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        13 months ago

        There are no local burger joints. For several hours drive in every direction from me, every burger place is a chain. Sure some local restaurants also serve burgers, even the Mexican places because burgers are such a staple of American food, but none of them dedicate any real skill or quality to it. No local place dedicated to burgers would stand a chance competing against all the chains and every other bar and grill that makes everything else in addition to burgers.

        • @BonesOfTheMoonOP
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          13 months ago

          Oh that’s unfortunate. Come visit me and I’ll take you for a really good burger.

  • vraylle
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    453 months ago

    Yeah, and I’m introducing “no more eating at Wendy’s” pricing.

    • @BonesOfTheMoonOP
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      213 months ago

      Wendy’s seems blissfully unaware that’s there’s plenty of adequate competitors in the burger market. It’s a great time to get to know your local restaurants.

      • @SkyezOpen
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        143 months ago

        McDonald’s is already out of the running. A mcdouble and medium fry is 8 bucks.

        • @BonesOfTheMoonOP
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          113 months ago

          Burger King is my go to, Impossible Whopper is great for vegan me and it’s reasonable still. I mostly go to local places though. It’s worth it.

        • @rdyoung
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          43 months ago

          I only eat from the deals menu, redeeming points or when they do something like the chicken sandwiches 2/$6. You have to be smart about eating at mcdicks, if you just roll up and order whatever you will definitely spend more money than the food is actually worth.

  • @[email protected]
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    433 months ago

    In an environment of painful (almost insulting) food price increases everywhere, Wendy’s decides to remove price predictability from the equation, ensuring that I never know what I’m going to pay, except that I can guarantee I’m going to be gouged when I most want to eat.

    Yeah, I don’t care what they sell. I don’t want to be treated like that.

  • Rentlar
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    373 months ago

    The next logical step is to use facial recognition to discriminate estimate how much money is in each customer’s wallet to dynamically price the food.

    • @maness300
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      23 months ago

      The funny thing is, businesses already do this.

      Prices for ‘digital goods’ tend to vary depending on the country the user is paying for them in.

      It’s just another shining example of how businesses charge the most people are willing to pay, not the minimum to keep the lights on.

  • TheOneCurly
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    343 months ago

    Imagine walking in, seeing a price on the board, waiting behind someone with a big order, and by the time you get to the counter the price has increased. I forsee yelling and fights happening in lines.

    • @RedditWanderer
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      243 months ago

      I foreseee never stepping into a restaurant like that.

    • @[email protected]
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      193 months ago

      They will stop doing this when the poorest people are just sitting around the restaurant waiting for the price to go down.

      If you only had $3 and the price of a burger was above that, you would just wait. The restaurant is sometimes nicer than sitting outside. They can’t kick you out, because you’re waiting to order. Now they’re going have like 3-5 bums waiting around for the price to drop.

      It’s just stupid. Although I did go to a bar like that once that was pretty fun. It had a stock market board with drink prices that went up and down. You would go up there hoping to get a particular drink, but come back with something else because it was half off. It’d be like “tequila shots $7” but “red wine $3.50”! Wine it is!

      • @TK420
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        13 months ago

        Austin had/has a bar like that.

      • @maness300
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        03 months ago

        Bars are scams.

        You can get an entire bottle of liquor for $11.

        You can get an entire bottle of wine for $3.50.

  • @[email protected]
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    333 months ago

    People are not gonna like that. They will pull into the drivethrough line to buy the same thing they paid $3 for the day before, and leave or buy something cheaper when they see it’s $4 right now.

    • ThrowawayOnLemmy
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      343 months ago

      Most of them are going to be on their lunch break, and have already wasted 15 minutes waiting in line to order. So they’re going to order anyways, because they’re stuck. They won’t have time to get in the new line somewhere else. They just won’t come back afterwards.

      • @rdyoung
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        3 months ago

        This right here. This is what would piss me off. On the off chance I walk in and order, the price changes by the time I get to the register to order.

        People need to just go old school and start packing a lunch. It’s probably time I got back in that habit. I drive for a living and I keep a stash of meat sticks in my car, I should probably start bringing some hard boiled eggs and maybe some meat and cheese wraps for when I am really famished.

  • @notannpc
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    303 months ago

    What a bullshit idea. I fucking hate this timeline we’re on.

  • ArxCyberwolf
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    3 months ago

    A Dave’s Single combo already costs 12 bucks here. Fuck off Wendy’s, like hell we’re paying more for that.

    Edit: And that’s for a small combo. Want a large? Fuck you, pay 15.

  • @[email protected]
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    3 months ago

    … planning to invest approximately $20 million to roll out digital menu boards…
    Wendy’s will also invest an additional $10 million over two years…

    Have you tried not spending $30 million dollars to sell hamburgers?

    I mean, holy shit. You sell burgers and fries. Does everything need to be digitally and AI enhanced?

    A spokesperson for Wendy’s confirmed the news with Food & Wine, stating the company is focused on providing “great-tasting” food and is “making a significant investment” to grow its digital business, including rolling out digital menu boards in some U.S. restaurants. “Beginning as early as 2025, we will begin testing a variety of enhanced features on these digital menuboards like dynamic pricing, different offerings in certain parts of the day, AI-enabled menu changes and suggestive selling based on factors such as weather. Dynamic pricing can allow Wendy’s to be competitive and flexible with pricing, motivate customers to visit and provide them with the food they love at a great value. We will test a number of features that we think will provide an enhanced customer and crew experience.”

    • mephiska
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      73 months ago

      The digital menu boards are there so they don’t have to hire as many cashiers.

    • @[email protected]
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      53 months ago

      It’s why Five Guys and In-n-Out have been gaining market share the last 10 years. Give me a good burger, good fries… that’s all I want.

      • @SpaceNoodle
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        93 months ago

        Five Guys is more expensive than the vastly superior local burger joints now. Not a great comparison.

        In-N-Out is an unbeatable value, but is only franchised in very limited areas in order to control quality.

        • @doingthestuff
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          63 months ago

          Yeah Five Guys is priced higher than almost anywhere else in my area and has been meh when I’ve gone. In n out doesn’t exist here.

        • @[email protected]
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          23 months ago

          It is expensive, but when faced with the choice of a $15 meal from Wendy’s or a $15 meal from Five Guys, I’m always choosing Five Guys.

          Also, my local Five Guys is amazing. I haven’t had any issues with quality that others seem to regularly have.

          • @SpaceNoodle
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            3 months ago

            And why are you not supporting your local hamburger restaurants?

            Edit: downvotes from Ronald McDonald’s alts

              • @SpaceNoodle
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                03 months ago

                fast food

                Well there’s your problem

                • @[email protected]
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                  3 months ago

                  Isn’t that the whole context of the thread?
                  If we were talking about a sit down restaurant and $20-30 a plate, it’d be a whole other discussion.

    • @Stamau123
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      3 months ago

      Why would I, as a customer, be ‘motivated to visit’ to see your magic price changing menu? I’m going to a restaurant that can’t fucking do that.