4 ms·

I think the "machine is always broken" meme is mostly confirmation bias. I can't even remember the last time I swung through McDonalds for a cone and the machin

by cmckn 5y ago

I think the "machine is always broken" meme is mostly confirmation bias. I can't even remember the last time I swung through McDonalds for a cone and the machine was down. It's probably been 5 years. Not that I do this very often, but still. Obviously, if you pull up within an ~hour of closing, the supervisor may have made the call to go ahead and start the lengthy cleaning cycle, and ice cream isn't available. You'll find that many other menu items aren't available under these circumstances either. Worth the FTC investigating? I doubt it. edit: I wasn't aware of the racket that is the ice cream machine business -- apparently franchises pay for expensive support contracts and the inner workings of the machine is a closely guarded trade secret.

deleted 5y ago
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bretpiatt 5y ago
Here's actual data: https://mcbroken.com/ https://mcbroken.com/ As of my posting: 9.73% overall Currently Broken (all locations), 28.57% in New York, 18.75% in Seattle, 17.95% in Philadelphia, 17.74% in Houston, 16.36% in Dallas, 13.79% in Phoenix
- cmckn 5y ago
  I don't really have any way to contextualize these rates -- like how often is the Icee machine at 7-11 down? 30% is definitely crazy high, though. Would love to see it broken down by franchises, because I'd wager that the machine is out more often at specific locations.
  - hadlock 5y ago
    Generally commercial/industrial grade equipment has an uptime measured in 9s, the only time it goes down is during scheduled maintenance. When was the last time you ordered french fries and they told you "our french frier is out" or "sorry we're not serving burgers today, the grill is down". The main failure mode for this device is in the automated nightly sterilization process. Granted, this ice cream machine is pretty complex, it basically autoclaves itself at medium/high pressure nightly to sterilize any residual dairy mix, but it's well documented that the failures caused by the autoclaving process could be fixed with a couple of small changes. Even without these improvements, the machines could be user serviceable with better error codes. It's not completely air tight case against the manufacturer wanting more maintenance revenue, but the FTC certainly has enough evidence to go investigate further.
    - sumtechguy 5y ago
      What is more crazy is the mcd's let it go on this long... They are the kind of whale customer you hate to get. They order tons of stuff from you but if they jump you are in a world of hurt. This should have been along the lines of the mcd's CEO calls the Taylor CEO and says 'fix it' and that is the end of the call.
ramesh31 5y ago
> I can't even remember the last time I swung through McDonalds for a cone and the machine was down. It's probably been 5 years. Not that I do this very often, but still. Really? I've literally stopped even bothering to ask, since the actual uptime seems to be about 20%, and only during peak times.

by cmckn 5y ago

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

bretpiatt 5y ago

Here's actual data: https://mcbroken.com/ https://mcbroken.com/ As of my posting: 9.73% overall Currently Broken (all locations), 28.57% in New York, 18.75% in Seattle, 17.95% in Philadelphia, 17.74% in Houston, 16.36% in Dallas, 13.79% in Phoenix

cmckn 5y ago
I don't really have any way to contextualize these rates -- like how often is the Icee machine at 7-11 down? 30% is definitely crazy high, though. Would love to see it broken down by franchises, because I'd wager that the machine is out more often at specific locations.
- hadlock 5y ago
  Generally commercial/industrial grade equipment has an uptime measured in 9s, the only time it goes down is during scheduled maintenance. When was the last time you ordered french fries and they told you "our french frier is out" or "sorry we're not serving burgers today, the grill is down". The main failure mode for this device is in the automated nightly sterilization process. Granted, this ice cream machine is pretty complex, it basically autoclaves itself at medium/high pressure nightly to sterilize any residual dairy mix, but it's well documented that the failures caused by the autoclaving process could be fixed with a couple of small changes. Even without these improvements, the machines could be user serviceable with better error codes. It's not completely air tight case against the manufacturer wanting more maintenance revenue, but the FTC certainly has enough evidence to go investigate further.
  - sumtechguy 5y ago
    What is more crazy is the mcd's let it go on this long... They are the kind of whale customer you hate to get. They order tons of stuff from you but if they jump you are in a world of hurt. This should have been along the lines of the mcd's CEO calls the Taylor CEO and says 'fix it' and that is the end of the call.

ramesh31 5y ago

> I can't even remember the last time I swung through McDonalds for a cone and the machine was down. It's probably been 5 years. Not that I do this very often, but still. Really? I've literally stopped even bothering to ask, since the actual uptime seems to be about 20%, and only during peak times.