8 ms·

This it's why the right to repair movment it's important. Should be seen as an add-on to anti-trust laws, not only consumer rights. When I saw the Harris video

by javchz 5y ago

This it's why the right to repair movment it's important. Should be seen as an add-on to anti-trust laws, not only consumer rights. When I saw the Harris video, I could only facepalm when I hear the "if any 3rd party (no matter the credentials) touch the machine, it can be dangerous for the consumer"... it's an ice cream machine for god sake, not a nuclear plant reactor core. There are a lot of professionals out there that are able to give maintenance and service to those machines, with zero risks to the customer.

colechristensen 5y ago
I keep feeling like mcdonald’s just doesn’t need federal help to defend itself against a supplier.
- belltaco 5y ago
  The suspicion is that McDs also profits from this. It's the franchisees that are hurt.
  - javchz 5y ago
    Yeah, here the main person affected it's the restaurant owner that rents the McD franchise. They are affected with downtime in one of their products, and can only hire 1 company to do the repairs, the one authorized by McD.
- perl4ever 5y ago
  I believe something like 93% of McDonald'ses are franchised.
- topspin 5y ago
  You're not following the plot here. Most McDonalds are franchises. The franchisee must pay for McDonalds authorized repair resources to repair machines they're mandated to operate. In other words the people that have to pay for the repairs don't have a choice in the matter. So naturally they neglect it; 'sorry, the machine is down now.'
  - behringer 5y ago
    As a consumer, the fact that McDonald's requires the manufacturer or authorized personnel to repair machinery is the main reason I even go there. And by there I mean whichever one I'm near. Oh sure the mcflurry machine might suck. But I nearly never get a bad coke, bad coffee, undercooked food or crappy fries. It's always the same no matter where or when I go. I'm willing to pay a little extra knowing I'm not wasting time or money stopping by. This I think is what McDonald's is trying to protect.
    - scrps 5y ago
      I am not trying to be snarky but I could see it coming across that way... How have we kept humanity fed for most of human history without the corporations to keep us safe?
      - behringer 5y ago
        Well for me it's not about safety, but quality. I know my drink isn't going to taste funny or my food taste off. Part of that is stringent and high quality repair and calibration. There's a reason I go to McDonald's more than, say, burger King, KFC, or wendy's for my junk food fix.
        scrps 5y ago
        That isn't mcdonald's or taylor's argument though, they are spinning this as safety issue to scare people into believing someone sorting out their horrible engineering is going to lead to food borne illness.
      - colechristensen 5y ago
        Are you serious? Before health codes and competent companies the quality of food was shockingly bad all over the place, and there are still so many issues. People think covid is bad have very little idea how dangerous basic life used to be, and in no small way was this caused in part by food safety.
- postingawayonhn 5y ago
  McDonalds corporate has a cozy relationship with the various equipment suppliers that includes a cut of sales to their franchisees. Due to this relationship they have essentially turned a blind eye to the behaviour of the company that supplies the ice cream machines.
api 5y ago
> it's an ice cream machine for god sake, not a nuclear plant reactor core. You sure? Do we know what a McFlurry is made of?
Retric 5y ago
Softserve machines can be quite dangerous to consumers. Combine a nearly an ideal growth medium with lots of little nooks and crannies for stuff to sit around indefinitely and it’s easy to start serving something that’s deadly. Which isn’t really a defense of current practices, but I can definitely see how things broke down. McDonalds corporate might actually prefer it’s franchises to be stuck with such a poor deal simply to minimize risks.
- swiley 5y ago
  The correct thing to do would be to say that they need cleaning not that they’re broken. Much like the right to repair the problem here is that the manufacturer is lying, it’s just that the lie is slightly different.
  - tedunangst 5y ago
    What if the machine does say it needs cleaning?
    - void_mint 5y ago
      If "it needs cleaning" is hidden behind an error code that is pay-to-decipher over the phone, it clearly doesn't.
- javchz 5y ago
  Look you have a point, of course a bad DIY operation could be dangerous, but that's not what I'm referring to, or Right to repair it's. Imagine if your house, could only be repaired (electric, plumbing, etc) by one corporation that is friends with the real state agency that sold you the house. Yes, electric DIY it's a bad idea, but you want the option to hire another trained / certified professional to do the job, maybe because price, quality, speed or reliability. Monopolies have the tendency to end bad for the user. Their PR of the "one and only" company to do "safe" repairs, and that 3rd party are dangerous it's a lie. Other fast food restaurants are proof of this, they use the same machines, but can hire other companies to repair them, so they have much less downtime. Edit: Fixed typos
dmix 5y ago
I highly doubt any major corporate franchise is going to risk repairing any of their own industrial machines or have a 3rd party do it, without a warranty. Taylor already said McDonalds franchises are free to fix the machines themselves but it breaks the warranty. This is usually for a good reason.
- nullc 5y ago
  This isn't even a question of repair. Mostly what they need is a tool that gives them human readable error messages so they can correct whatever minor issue that they'd be told to correct with a service call.
- josefx 5y ago
  As others mention most of the problems seem to be tank is too full or not full enough to complete a heating cycle. Most consumer grade machines would just display that directly or at least list the error code in the manual, the McDonalds machines don't.
koolba 5y ago
Operating a franchise eliminates nearly all your individual rights. You’re paying for the privilege of selling a preconfigured product based upon its legal owner’s contractual guidelines. If you open McJavchz’s burgers and get your own frostee machine then you’ll have that option. But if you are living in the McD world then you’ve signed that away.
chengiz 5y ago
Just pointing out this is a Johnny Harris, who put out a video [1]. I was wondering what the vice president has to do with McDonalds icecream machines. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrDEtSlqJC4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrDEtSlqJC4
ALotOfBees 5y ago
We cant let our guard down. its not a nuclear plant reactor core yet, but the moment we let our guard down creates an opening for the Soviets to drop a rod of Uranium-235 into the ice cream machine and then who's laughing? not mcdonalds customers that's for sure.
lukewrites 5y ago
> When I saw the Harris video, I could only facepalm when I hear the "if any 3rd party (no matter the credentials) touch the machine, it can be dangerous for the consumer"... it's an ice cream machine for god sake, not a nuclear plant reactor core. Well, an uninitiated third party might do something like open the gate to the cage of rats that's factory installed in each McFlurry machine, or flip the "Inject Asbestos Pellets In Ice Cream Mix" toggle to yes.

by javchz 5y ago

colechristensen 5y ago

I keep feeling like mcdonald’s just doesn’t need federal help to defend itself against a supplier.

belltaco 5y ago
The suspicion is that McDs also profits from this. It's the franchisees that are hurt.
- javchz 5y ago
  Yeah, here the main person affected it's the restaurant owner that rents the McD franchise. They are affected with downtime in one of their products, and can only hire 1 company to do the repairs, the one authorized by McD.
perl4ever 5y ago
I believe something like 93% of McDonald'ses are franchised.
topspin 5y ago
You're not following the plot here. Most McDonalds are franchises. The franchisee must pay for McDonalds authorized repair resources to repair machines they're mandated to operate. In other words the people that have to pay for the repairs don't have a choice in the matter. So naturally they neglect it; 'sorry, the machine is down now.'
- behringer 5y ago
  As a consumer, the fact that McDonald's requires the manufacturer or authorized personnel to repair machinery is the main reason I even go there. And by there I mean whichever one I'm near. Oh sure the mcflurry machine might suck. But I nearly never get a bad coke, bad coffee, undercooked food or crappy fries. It's always the same no matter where or when I go. I'm willing to pay a little extra knowing I'm not wasting time or money stopping by. This I think is what McDonald's is trying to protect.
  - scrps 5y ago
    I am not trying to be snarky but I could see it coming across that way... How have we kept humanity fed for most of human history without the corporations to keep us safe?
    - behringer 5y ago
      Well for me it's not about safety, but quality. I know my drink isn't going to taste funny or my food taste off. Part of that is stringent and high quality repair and calibration. There's a reason I go to McDonald's more than, say, burger King, KFC, or wendy's for my junk food fix.
      - scrps 5y ago
        That isn't mcdonald's or taylor's argument though, they are spinning this as safety issue to scare people into believing someone sorting out their horrible engineering is going to lead to food borne illness.
    - colechristensen 5y ago
      Are you serious? Before health codes and competent companies the quality of food was shockingly bad all over the place, and there are still so many issues. People think covid is bad have very little idea how dangerous basic life used to be, and in no small way was this caused in part by food safety.
postingawayonhn 5y ago
McDonalds corporate has a cozy relationship with the various equipment suppliers that includes a cut of sales to their franchisees. Due to this relationship they have essentially turned a blind eye to the behaviour of the company that supplies the ice cream machines.

api 5y ago

> it's an ice cream machine for god sake, not a nuclear plant reactor core. You sure? Do we know what a McFlurry is made of?

Retric 5y ago

Softserve machines can be quite dangerous to consumers. Combine a nearly an ideal growth medium with lots of little nooks and crannies for stuff to sit around indefinitely and it’s easy to start serving something that’s deadly. Which isn’t really a defense of current practices, but I can definitely see how things broke down. McDonalds corporate might actually prefer it’s franchises to be stuck with such a poor deal simply to minimize risks.

swiley 5y ago
The correct thing to do would be to say that they need cleaning not that they’re broken. Much like the right to repair the problem here is that the manufacturer is lying, it’s just that the lie is slightly different.
- tedunangst 5y ago
  What if the machine does say it needs cleaning?
  - void_mint 5y ago
    If "it needs cleaning" is hidden behind an error code that is pay-to-decipher over the phone, it clearly doesn't.
javchz 5y ago
Look you have a point, of course a bad DIY operation could be dangerous, but that's not what I'm referring to, or Right to repair it's. Imagine if your house, could only be repaired (electric, plumbing, etc) by one corporation that is friends with the real state agency that sold you the house. Yes, electric DIY it's a bad idea, but you want the option to hire another trained / certified professional to do the job, maybe because price, quality, speed or reliability. Monopolies have the tendency to end bad for the user. Their PR of the "one and only" company to do "safe" repairs, and that 3rd party are dangerous it's a lie. Other fast food restaurants are proof of this, they use the same machines, but can hire other companies to repair them, so they have much less downtime. Edit: Fixed typos

dmix 5y ago

I highly doubt any major corporate franchise is going to risk repairing any of their own industrial machines or have a 3rd party do it, without a warranty. Taylor already said McDonalds franchises are free to fix the machines themselves but it breaks the warranty. This is usually for a good reason.

nullc 5y ago
This isn't even a question of repair. Mostly what they need is a tool that gives them human readable error messages so they can correct whatever minor issue that they'd be told to correct with a service call.
josefx 5y ago
As others mention most of the problems seem to be tank is too full or not full enough to complete a heating cycle. Most consumer grade machines would just display that directly or at least list the error code in the manual, the McDonalds machines don't.

koolba 5y ago

Operating a franchise eliminates nearly all your individual rights. You’re paying for the privilege of selling a preconfigured product based upon its legal owner’s contractual guidelines. If you open McJavchz’s burgers and get your own frostee machine then you’ll have that option. But if you are living in the McD world then you’ve signed that away.

chengiz 5y ago

Just pointing out this is a Johnny Harris, who put out a video [1]. I was wondering what the vice president has to do with McDonalds icecream machines. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrDEtSlqJC4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrDEtSlqJC4

ALotOfBees 5y ago

We cant let our guard down. its not a nuclear plant reactor core yet, but the moment we let our guard down creates an opening for the Soviets to drop a rod of Uranium-235 into the ice cream machine and then who's laughing? not mcdonalds customers that's for sure.

lukewrites 5y ago

> When I saw the Harris video, I could only facepalm when I hear the "if any 3rd party (no matter the credentials) touch the machine, it can be dangerous for the consumer"... it's an ice cream machine for god sake, not a nuclear plant reactor core. Well, an uninitiated third party might do something like open the gate to the cage of rats that's factory installed in each McFlurry machine, or flip the "Inject Asbestos Pellets In Ice Cream Mix" toggle to yes.