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Ice cream machine hackers sue McDonald's

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Re: Ice cream machine hackers sue McDonald's

#141

Post by dawnerd »

jjkaczor wrote: post #108
infogulch wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact that the design intent is to reduce downtime does not mean it is achieved in practice. McDonald's ice cream machines constantly being "broken" is so well known that it's a meme among normal people. This is not the case for other fast food places that use Taylor machines. I've seen statements from employees confused about why it's such a big deal to clean the machine once a day because it's not that hard. (Pe…

It's not just a meme, but trackable enough that someone built a website: https://mcbroken.com/

That’s not even the full picture. Often the app will let you order only for them to tell you at pickup that their machine is down. The site relies on the restaurants keeping up with availability in app.

Re: Ice cream machine hackers sue McDonald's

#143

Post by loudtieblahblah »

rascul wrote: post #138
tfvlrue wrote: post #26

I've been following this story for a while. When people say the soft serve machine is "broken", they really mean "unavailable to serve ice cream to customers". That could mean something as innocuous as performing a pasteurization cycle during the day (because it failed to run at night for some reason, perhaps the machine's clock is set wrong). It could also mean there is a physical problem with some part of the machi…

Broken could also mean that nobody has bothered to refill the machine. In my experience working at McDonald's many years ago, it was actually incredibly rare for the ice cream machine to be down for any reason besides nobody has filled it. When cars are wrapped around the building, line is out the door, and you're short two people, nobody is going to take the five minutes to fill the ice cream machine.

I'm always torn between my disdain for swinging down at the working class and my experience from the time I was 14 until I was 26,

My politics have always aligned with something far more left wing than the Democrats. Pro-private unions, pro m4a, pro welfare assistance, higher minimum wages, I wish people had guaranteed sick and vacation time, better work safety protections, better paternity/maternity leave. And a culture that saw jobs that didn't take a degree as something that could still be worked with a since of dignity.

But in my actual experience working... I worked just about anything you can think of.. Starbucks, Applebee's, TGIFridays,a BBQ restaurant, Sallie Beauty Supply, CVS, Rite-Aid, CompUSA, video rentals, grocery stores, I worked construction, painted, did lots of odd jobs.

And the types of people I met along the way.... The adults in restaurants, pharmacies and retail stores.. who eclipsed me in years anyways, to be frank, were losers.

Lazy, shiftless people who had to be told, constantly, to do the basics even when you had entire days when there was little customizer traffic or stock to take care of

People who would openly lie about "oh my back" and sit on a stool not doing shit all day, then go off to party at night.

People who wouldn't see a customer for hours and couldn't be fucked to "front and face" or do some basic cleaning of the store without being told to.. At 40, 50, 55 years old.

I can't tell you how many people at various jobs who got arrested bc they were jacking shit from the store and selling hit items. I worked a toy store in a mall during the Xmas season once and the manager was cleaning the inventory out by 30% and flipping it every week.

These were always people with kids before they were 18, or had multiple kids from multiple partners, drug use was way more open and regular than anything you see in the office.

You go to McDonald's and you see more tattoos and "grills" than you see any sense.

Do you think they give af about an ice cream machine?

But the bigger question, is why in 2022 is anyone still buying toxic crap from fast food restaurants?

Buy a bag of beans, live a couple years longer.

Re: Ice cream machine hackers sue McDonald's

#144

Post by dang »

Topgamer7 wrote: post #140
dang wrote: post #97

Related: New emails released in the McDonald’s ice cream machine lawsuit - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29325507 - Nov 2021 (138 comments) McDonald’s unreliable ice cream machines reportedly under FTC investigation - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28407525 - Sept 2021 (41 comments) The Feds Want to Know What the McFuck Is Going on with the McFlurry Machines - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2838656…

I'm curious about how you keep track of these, you just filtering titles with wired and Mc that hits the front page? You're always on the ball dang!

Basically yes - I used HN Search to look for relevant titles, but the last link (which is by far the biggest thread) I ran into because someone posted it in one of the other threads.

Eventually I want to build software to support these 'related' lists so people can add links to them collaboratively.

Re: Ice cream machine hackers sue McDonald's

#145

Post by serf »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #122
throwaway73838 wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely true in Australia. You very often can’t get ice cream after a certain time of night.

They run the machine dry so that it can be cleaned out daily without wasting product.

that may be true, but it gives the customer the impression of a broken process -- and from the perspective of the unsatisfied customer it IS broken.

Re: Ice cream machine hackers sue McDonald's

#146

Post by josefx »

ojosilva wrote: post #62
tfvlrue wrote: post #26

I've been following this story for a while. When people say the soft serve machine is "broken", they really mean "unavailable to serve ice cream to customers". That could mean something as innocuous as performing a pasteurization cycle during the day (because it failed to run at night for some reason, perhaps the machine's clock is set wrong). It could also mean there is a physical problem with some part of the machi…

> the machine has determined it's unsafe to serve the contents Wouldn't that mean, though, that the Kytch device could be working around the issue in detriment of the patron's, or "end user", safety? The franchisees certainly were very happy with Kytch's reduction in their maintenance and downtime cost, caused by very temperamental, ill-designed machines. Franchisee's are clearly victims of a tightly controlled McD e…

> Wouldn't that mean, though, that the Kytch device could be working around the issue in detriment of the patron's, or "end user", safety?

From what I understand the issue the Kytch device solves is the cryptic error code displayed by the machines. It tells the user what is wrong and how to fix it, which may just be restarting the machines heating cycle with the correct amount of liquid.

> a PR nightmare and endless lawsuits.

Not that McDonalds would have any issues managing actual health problems, just set the same people on it like they did in the McCoffee case and they can spin the families of a few dozen deadly ill children trying to pay hospital bills into a group of hypochondriacs trying to make billions.

Re: Ice cream machine hackers sue McDonald's

#147

Post by ehPReth »

loudtieblahblah wrote: post #143
rascul wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Broken could also mean that nobody has bothered to refill the machine. In my experience working at McDonald's many years ago, it was actually incredibly rare for the ice cream machine to be down for any reason besides nobody has filled it. When cars are wrapped around the building, line is out the door, and you're short two people, nobody is going to take the five minutes to fill the ice cream machine.

I'm always torn between my disdain for swinging down at the working class and my experience from the time I was 14 until I was 26, My politics have always aligned with something far more left wing than the Democrats. Pro-private unions, pro m4a, pro welfare assistance, higher minimum wages, I wish people had guaranteed sick and vacation time, better work safety protections, better paternity/maternity leave. And a cul…

> But the bigger question, is why in 2022 is anyone still buying toxic crap from fast food restaurants?

because i’m sad and it’s easy, tastes good, and is fast

> live a couple years longer

not appealing

Re: Ice cream machine hackers sue McDonald's

#148

Post by loudtieblahblah »

ehPReth wrote: post #147
loudtieblahblah wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm always torn between my disdain for swinging down at the working class and my experience from the time I was 14 until I was 26, My politics have always aligned with something far more left wing than the Democrats. Pro-private unions, pro m4a, pro welfare assistance, higher minimum wages, I wish people had guaranteed sick and vacation time, better work safety protections, better paternity/maternity leave. And a cul…

> But the bigger question, is why in 2022 is anyone still buying toxic crap from fast food restaurants? because i’m sad and it’s easy, tastes good, and is fast > live a couple years longer not appealing

Everyone says that until their health starts failing and you realize the way to death is a slow procession of fear inducing, painful medical conditions that tortures you while youre on your way out

Re: Ice cream machine hackers sue McDonald's

#149

Post by joezydeco »

noasaservice wrote: post #121
joezydeco wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"It also needs to be said that similar machines provided by Taylor to McDonalds' competitors do not have anywhere close to the amount of downtime that McDonalds' machines have" But they're not similar machines. The machines in question are models developed for McDonald's that use internal heat treatment to pasteurize the machine and clean it on a more frequent basis. The intent was to keep the machine running longer…

> Source: I've done engineering work on the C602. I know how it works. After watching the videos on how these machines work, and all the hidden menus within hidden menus with self-sabotaging software/hardware.... Admitting you have dev'ed on this is plainly disgusting. As a fellow engineer, we need to put our foot down and not work for places that institute such unethical and/or illegal behaviors. The faster companie…

You shouldn't let things you read on the internet get you so fired up, especially when you can't verify them.

Re: Ice cream machine hackers sue McDonald's

#150

Post by bastawhiz »

loudtieblahblah wrote: post #148
ehPReth wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But the bigger question, is why in 2022 is anyone still buying toxic crap from fast food restaurants? because i’m sad and it’s easy, tastes good, and is fast > live a couple years longer not appealing

Everyone says that until their health starts failing and you realize the way to death is a slow procession of fear inducing, painful medical conditions that tortures you while youre on your way out

An occasional burger and milkshake isn't going to be the thing to send you into a painful downward spiral to your death.
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