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Burger chain Wendy’s looking to test "surge pricing" at restaurants as early as next year

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.

Wendy's has responded but now we gave them the idea.
Damn they went there

“Wendy’s will not implement surge pricing, which is the practice of raising prices when demand is highest. We didn’t use that phrase, nor do we plan to implement that practice,” the company said in an email to The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Wendy’s Co. plans to invest about $20 million to launch digital menu boards at all of its U.S. company-run restaurants by the end of 2025. It also plans to invest approximately $10 million over the next two years to support digital menu enhancements globally.

Wendy’s said that its 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.”

So stance one is: "we never said that"
Stance two is: "we'll offer discounts during slower times of the day" <-- which is just a fancy way of saying they'll be raising the price when they're busy
 

GloveSlap

Member
Was jonesing for Wendy's burgers a couple of weeks back. Went through the drive-thru, ordered two double-stacks, nothing else. Got to the window, she said it was $8 and change (basically just under $9 here in north Georgia). I freaked the fark out. Hadn't been to fast food in a while, and the last time I ordered a double-stack, I think they were about a $1.25.

Fast-forward about a week. It's my wife's birthday, we take the family to Texas Roadhouse, I order my usual half-pound burger with fries. Total cost for my dish was $10 and change. Thing was cooked perfectly -- I mean perfectly -- medium.

Why would I pay almost the same price for that shite from Wendy's when I can eat real food that taste a 1000-times better. And the servers at the roadhouse are actually friendly.

FUCK THAT!
Similar thing happened to me recently. Had a craving for McDonalds so i went inside because i didn't even know what was on the menu anymore. Saw a simple combo would have been over $10 after tax and noped out. I probably looked cheap in front of my girlfriend, but i don't care. The place looked like a doctor's office inside as well.
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Burger King claps back

e0HPsfh.png
 

Paltheos

Member
Damn they went there



So stance one is: "we never said that"
Stance two is: "we'll offer discounts during slower times of the day" <-- which is just a fancy way of saying they'll be raising the price when they're busy

The really impressive part is that the PR statement could have just cut off those phrases by the end ("particularly in the slower times of day") and not have so clearly given the game away.
I don't know for a fact that they also plan to increase prices during periods of high activity, but the arrangement they described is literally surge pricing.
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
The really impressive part is that the PR statement could have just cut off those phrases by the end ("particularly in the slower times of day") and not have so clearly given the game away.
I don't know for a fact that they also plan to increase prices during periods of high activity, but the arrangement they described is literally surge pricing.
Very true, without the last part of that statement they would just keep us guessing.

And you don't have to increase prices during periods of high activity to make this into surge pricing. The fact that it will be higher than other times means it is more expensive by nature. Additionally, nothing stopping them from raising prices across the board then offering discounts during non-peak times - thus effectively creating surge pricing with extra steps.
 

Puscifer

Member
Stop eating fast food folks. If you're over the age of 24 and you still eat this garbage you need to assess your life and figure some shit out.

Said with love.....by your friendly neighborhood Poodaddy.
I mean honestly people should get an air fryer, it cooks like they do in fast food and with the right seasonings you can pretty much mimic what you want from these places.
 

Mr Reasonable

Completely Unreasonable
I rather like the idea of the burger prices being displayed on a ticker

ring of honor market GIF

And the amusement of one person buying their meal and then their friend getting it cheaper because the prices have changed and the seething resentment it could cause.

😈
 

Mr Reasonable

Completely Unreasonable
Stop eating fast food folks. If you're over the age of 24 and you still eat this garbage you need to assess your life and figure some shit out.

Said with love.....by your friendly neighborhood Poodaddy.

This is true, and yet once every 6 months or so I really want a big mac and fries. If it happens when I've been drinking, there's a mcdonald's on the way home, AND there's no queue...

Well, you can bet that I'm going to be saying "meh, it's ok" fairly soon after.
 
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poodaddy

Gold Member
This is true, and yet once every 6 months or so I really want a big mac and fries. If it happens when I've been drinking, there's a mcdonald's on the way home, AND there's no queue...

Well, you can bet that I'm going to be saying "meh, it's ok" fairly soon after.
Yeah that's fair I think. When I've had a few beers I always, ALWAYS, crave pizza, without exception. I honestly would probably indulge in some awful food if not for the fact that my wife is, fortunately, an incredible pizza chef and she makes them from scratch, so I'm a bit spoiled on that one. If she wasn't here, I'd probably be hitting the closest pizza place and guzzling oil garbage every time I have a beer haha.
 

Krafter

Member
Already happened to me and it got me out of the fast food game completely.

I live within 5 miles of a six flags, with all the food places, Top Golf, ect. that have sprung up around it. Stopped by Burger King because my daughters were hounding me about it one night and they charged me like 11.99 for a Whopper Jr meal when the real-food bar and grill has a real 8 oz Cheeseburger for 9.99 right up the street. When I brought up that it seemed excessive, he told me 'seasonal pricing', meaning six flags was in session. This was 2 years ago, I'm sure it's worse now.

Drives me nuts sometimes, as every time I leave the house I have to go past a murderers' row of those kind of stores: Burger King, McDonalds, KFC, Taco Bell, Wawa, Popeye's and a Panda Express.
 
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DeafTourette

Perpetually Offended
I understand surge pricing when it's raining or it's high volume traffic... For Uber and Lyft.

But for FOOD?! STFU!
 

UltimaKilo

Gold Member
Do employees get paid more during those hours too? Bet they won't do that.

The price increase for some places are due to rising wages. However, most of those jobs will be eliminated by next decade, which will make entry level jobs increasingly difficult to find.

Then again, why do people eat this junk?
 

DeafTourette

Perpetually Offended
The price increase for some places are due to rising wages. However, most of those jobs will be eliminated by next decade, which will make entry level jobs increasingly difficult to find.

Then again, why do people eat this junk?

Naw. The company can afford the wage increases without raising prices. This is just pure greed.
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
I haven't eaten from Wendy's in years. They, just like seemingly every fast food joint, has gotten worse over the years. Wendy's used to have a salad bar, they had way more sandwiches, their ingredients were fresher.
 

DeafTourette

Perpetually Offended
Thanks for letting me know. Glad you're able to see their books.

You know you can actually look this stuff up? It's this great invention called Google.


According to Wendy's Company's latest financial reports the company's current revenue (TTM) is $2.17 B. In 2022 the company made a revenue of $2.09 B an increase over the years 2021 revenue that were of $1.89 B.

Like I said, greed.
 

UltimaKilo

Gold Member
You know you can actually look this stuff up? It's this great invention called Google.




Like I said, greed.

13% net was what they last reported. There’s no way to see their projections due to upcoming wage hikes.

Like I said, most of these entry level jobs will be eliminated soon anyway.
 
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