Live data from Hacker News

McDonald's to retire self-service soda fountains by 2032

sj-r.com

11–20 of 68 posts

Re: McDonald's to retire self-service soda fountains by 2032

#11
post #4

This article made me grieve the loss of my precious chicken selects. Damn those were good. And my angus third-pounder with red onions.

I noticed it mentioned that in the article. Did those get discontinued in the US? They're definitely still a thing in the UK, along with the McPlant (which I'm not sure was ever successful stateside). It's interesting how the menu differs geographically.

The actually edible chicken option was taken off the menu in my area a long time ago, I'd guess around 2015.

Re: McDonald's to retire self-service soda fountains by 2032

#12
A Chick-fil-a near me recently remodeled and moved to a dine-in model where you don’t order at a counter- you sit down and someone comes to take your order on a tablet. I suspect we’re 5-10 years out from McD and others trying to incentivize tipping for order takers, and eliminating dine-in from some locations entirely. McD fries just aren’t the same when delivered!

Re: McDonald's to retire self-service soda fountains by 2032

#13
I wonder what the primary reasoning is. They mention health concerns, theft, and delivery orders but all three seem like fairly weak reasons to justify the increase in labor and the cost of a new cup each time.

Also, I don't think I've been in a McDonald's since they've started offering self serve soda. For some reason, when I stopped being interested in the playroom, I completely stopped going inside, even though I will with other fast food. Not really sure why.

Re: McDonald's to retire self-service soda fountains by 2032

#14
post #8

If only they can fix their milkshake dispensing machines.

It works fabulously. If a McDonalds has a "broken" milkshake machine it most likely means the workers did not maintain it in a hygienic manner. Stop eating food from that store. Requiring these machines in the stores is a hidden gift from McDonalds corporate to your intestinal tract.

That's not necessarily the case

https://youtu.be/2uCpY3tFTIA

Re: McDonald's to retire self-service soda fountains by 2032

#15

I wonder what the primary reasoning is. They mention health concerns, theft, and delivery orders but all three seem like fairly weak reasons to justify the increase in labor and the cost of a new cup each time. Also, I don't think I've been in a McDonald's since they've started offering self serve soda. For some reason, when I stopped being interested in the playroom, I completely stopped going inside, even though I…

Cost and Profit. A corporation very rarely, if ever does anything for health reasons.

Re: McDonald's to retire self-service soda fountains by 2032

#16

The writing between the lines is that McDonald's is preparing to do away with human order-takers altogether, replacing that role with a food runner that can occasionally take an order but mostly just takes food to people's seats. The ordering will move to digital kiosks and online. And when you do all of that, having the fountain machine on the customer side makes almost no sense.

A lot of McDonalds around me are already like that. There is no ability to place an order at the counter. They still have a register and menu but all in-store ordering is via the kiosk.

The one I visit the most already removed the self-service fountain drink station and you need to ask them for refills.

Re: McDonald's to retire self-service soda fountains by 2032

#17

I wonder what the primary reasoning is. They mention health concerns, theft, and delivery orders but all three seem like fairly weak reasons to justify the increase in labor and the cost of a new cup each time. Also, I don't think I've been in a McDonald's since they've started offering self serve soda. For some reason, when I stopped being interested in the playroom, I completely stopped going inside, even though I…

Don't forget liability. Why risk customers damaging or contaminating something that might hurt other customers?

Re: McDonald's to retire self-service soda fountains by 2032

#18

I wonder what the primary reasoning is. They mention health concerns, theft, and delivery orders but all three seem like fairly weak reasons to justify the increase in labor and the cost of a new cup each time. Also, I don't think I've been in a McDonald's since they've started offering self serve soda. For some reason, when I stopped being interested in the playroom, I completely stopped going inside, even though I…

Cost and Profit. A corporation very rarely, if ever does anything for health reasons.

That's a given, though health concerns can drive down profits. I'm wondering specifically, given the increased cost per refill.

Re: McDonald's to retire self-service soda fountains by 2032

#19
post #12

A Chick-fil-a near me recently remodeled and moved to a dine-in model where you don’t order at a counter- you sit down and someone comes to take your order on a tablet. I suspect we’re 5-10 years out from McD and others trying to incentivize tipping for order takers, and eliminating dine-in from some locations entirely. McD fries just aren’t the same when delivered!

Those tablets also help speed up the drive-thru line (and huge lines in malls) by taking orders and payment from anywhere in the line.

They run (or did, last I heard at least) kubenetes at the edge from an article I saw years ago.

Re: McDonald's to retire self-service soda fountains by 2032

#20
post #16

The writing between the lines is that McDonald's is preparing to do away with human order-takers altogether, replacing that role with a food runner that can occasionally take an order but mostly just takes food to people's seats. The ordering will move to digital kiosks and online. And when you do all of that, having the fountain machine on the customer side makes almost no sense.

A lot of McDonalds around me are already like that. There is no ability to place an order at the counter. They still have a register and menu but all in-store ordering is via the kiosk. The one I visit the most already removed the self-service fountain drink station and you need to ask them for refills.

This is mostly due to understaffed (cough underpaid staff at) locations needing to help in the kitchen so often that having a cashier only increases frustration for customers that are waiting in line and don’t see it moving. Easier to place a sign saying “order at kiosk” to make sure the kitchen has enough staff to keep up.
Post reply on HN