5 ms·

I stopped going to McDonald's (which I previously visited about once per month) mainly because they got very expensive, and the price does not match the quality

by nabbed 5mo ago

I stopped going to McDonald's (which I previously visited about once per month) mainly because they got very expensive, and the price does not match the quality of the food (and they also are not that fast anymore). If I am going to spend that much, I could spend a little more a go to a much nicer mom-and-pop place. A secondary reason is that they are American. Although I am American, I am currently a resident of another country that is targeted by American tariffs, so I am trying to buy local as much a possible.

nerdsniper 5mo ago
I stopped going because the McDonald's closest to me stopped serving water. The only way for employees to fill a cup with water is to use the sink, and that's not an option offered to customers. There's no way to buy or be served a water, not even a bottle of it.
- ranger_danger 5mo ago
  [dead]
- franktankbank 5mo ago
  That sounds illegal.
  - nerdsniper 5mo ago
    In some jurisdictions it is, but in most it is legal. It’s one of those things that just didn’t require any regulation in the past.
  - dd8601fn 5mo ago
    It’s required here. Same with access to the toilets. I always thought it was weird when traveling to have places like burger king charge you to use their bathroom. It’s uncivilized.
bko 5mo ago
[flagged]
- nothinkjustai 5mo ago
  It’s really not.
- messe 5mo ago
  Actually, it's not. Speaking from experience. I'm a sample size of one, but that's still one better than your extrapolation from zero. One of the local supermarket chains here in Denmark (Salling Group) even puts a star on the price tag for products of European origin. For larger purchases, I'm doing research on the product anyway. I still sometimes buy American at times; sometimes there's no avoiding it for certain items. But on the whole avoiding American goods isn't that hard, and doesn't require much effort.
  - danudey 5mo ago
    Given that the US is the only country in recent memory whose politics have shifted from "pretty normal for a western nation" to "unpredictable rogue state", it's not as though the list of "countries to avoid" changes that often. Countries like Russia, Iran, and China have been very consistent in their philosophies and actions; countries like France, the UK, and Japan have also been pretty consistent. The only real change lately is the US.
    - messe 5mo ago
      On a similar note: There was a period post-Brexit when I hadn't moved away from Ireland yet during which I also did my best to avoid UK produced goods too. Now that was a lot harder though due to the UK still being in the single market at the time, and on top of that just how integrated supply chains between the north and the rest of Ireland are. I'm cautiously optimistic that the UK is moving back toward sanity though.
  - tavavex 5mo ago
    > One of the local supermarket chains here in Denmark (Salling Group) even puts a star on the price tag for products of European origin. Many store chains in Canada have also started putting maple leaf icons on price tags for Canadian-made products over the last year or two, after the US did whatever they've done. But it's harder to avoid US-made products here, because so much is imported and it's the only country we share a real land border with.
bryanlarsen 5mo ago
In Canada they have a CAD$5 McValue meal deal, so USD$3.67 for a McDouble, small fries & small drink. Do they not have similar deals in your jurisdiction?
- jbm 5mo ago
  For what it is worth, I live in Calgary and the McDonalds near me does not have deals like that. There is apparently a huge range in prices across McDonalds in a city, so there may be geographic limitations. I don't go either, and the price is part of the reason. (I would go for the ice cream in summer, or for their cheap drinks promos).
  - dylan604 5mo ago
    > There is apparently a huge range in prices across McDonalds in a city, so there may be geographic limitations. Aren't the vast majority of McDonalds actually franchises vs corporate own where everything would be much more consistent?
  - red-iron-pine 5mo ago
    I can't speak for Calgary proper but I've hit McDs in Cochrane and Airdrie (outer 'burbs of Calgary) and they had similar. Ditto for Edmonton.
- HarHarVeryFunny 5mo ago
  A typical burger + fries + drink at McDonalds where I am in the US is now about $20. You can get something much better quality (& larger size) at FiveGuys for same price, and even some nice quality restaurants have lunch specials that cost the same. McD was never good, but when it was $10 it was still an OK occasional convenient lunch option. At $20 there is zero reason to go there.
  - bayesnet 5mo ago
    That’s bonkers. I’m on the east coast (not nyc) and a quarter pounder medium meal is $10.49. Meanwhile Five Guys is $20.29 for a regular meal.
danudey 5mo ago
There's a McDonald's near my home that I can order from if I'm craving garbage food quickly and don't feel well enough to leave the house, but they only get my order correct about 20% of the time. Another 20% of the time they make the wrong thing (e.g. the wrong kind of breakfast sandwich), and the remaining 60% of the time they forget to put half the order in (e.g. we ordered three of the Minecraft happy meal cube things a while back, plus an extra chicken sandwich, and we only got two of the cubes and no sandwich, plus we were missing two of the drinks for the meals). The tariff issue is another reason not to patronize them, but at the same time if everyone in Canada stopped eating at McDonald's then McDonald's corporation would take a hit and thousands of Canadians would be immediately unemployed and thousands of Canadian suppliers of ingredients (beef, eggs, chicken, vegetables, etc) would lose a ton of business, so while I'd rather order from A&W for dozens of reasons I'm not outright boycotting American chains the way I am with American products.
- mbirth 5mo ago
  I’ve actually switched from Just Eat to slightly more expensive Deliveroo because the latter one makes it extremely easy (at least in the UK) to report wrong deliveries and you get your money back in a matter of minutes. Also make sure to do the McD survey via the link on the receipt - that usually improves things for a while.
qwertyuiop_ 5mo ago
How do you communicate your guilt based purchases to the local citizenry ?
- nabbed 5mo ago
  Am I supposed to?
paleotrope 5mo ago
I seem to recall that Mcdonalds goes to pains to source locally.
- red-iron-pine 5mo ago
  wtf is that based on? McD's is the largest purchaser of beef in the US. it all goes into the slop bin and is delivered as patties to locations. ditto for the pink goo that makes the chicken nuggets. why do you think the CEO was so hesitant to eat the burger?
Eddy_Viscosity2 5mo ago
It's also slow. It's not 'fast food' anymore. You order than wait for 15 or 20 minutes. I've waited 40 minutes at an airport McDs for food after ordering. The food is expensive, not very good, and slow. So yeah, I don't go to Mcdonalds anymore.

by nabbed 5mo ago

nerdsniper 5mo ago

I stopped going because the McDonald's closest to me stopped serving water. The only way for employees to fill a cup with water is to use the sink, and that's not an option offered to customers. There's no way to buy or be served a water, not even a bottle of it.

ranger_danger 5mo ago
[dead]
franktankbank 5mo ago
That sounds illegal.
- nerdsniper 5mo ago
  In some jurisdictions it is, but in most it is legal. It’s one of those things that just didn’t require any regulation in the past.
- dd8601fn 5mo ago
  It’s required here. Same with access to the toilets. I always thought it was weird when traveling to have places like burger king charge you to use their bathroom. It’s uncivilized.

bko 5mo ago

[flagged]

nothinkjustai 5mo ago
It’s really not.
messe 5mo ago
Actually, it's not. Speaking from experience. I'm a sample size of one, but that's still one better than your extrapolation from zero. One of the local supermarket chains here in Denmark (Salling Group) even puts a star on the price tag for products of European origin. For larger purchases, I'm doing research on the product anyway. I still sometimes buy American at times; sometimes there's no avoiding it for certain items. But on the whole avoiding American goods isn't that hard, and doesn't require much effort.
- danudey 5mo ago
  Given that the US is the only country in recent memory whose politics have shifted from "pretty normal for a western nation" to "unpredictable rogue state", it's not as though the list of "countries to avoid" changes that often. Countries like Russia, Iran, and China have been very consistent in their philosophies and actions; countries like France, the UK, and Japan have also been pretty consistent. The only real change lately is the US.
  - messe 5mo ago
    On a similar note: There was a period post-Brexit when I hadn't moved away from Ireland yet during which I also did my best to avoid UK produced goods too. Now that was a lot harder though due to the UK still being in the single market at the time, and on top of that just how integrated supply chains between the north and the rest of Ireland are. I'm cautiously optimistic that the UK is moving back toward sanity though.
- tavavex 5mo ago
  > One of the local supermarket chains here in Denmark (Salling Group) even puts a star on the price tag for products of European origin. Many store chains in Canada have also started putting maple leaf icons on price tags for Canadian-made products over the last year or two, after the US did whatever they've done. But it's harder to avoid US-made products here, because so much is imported and it's the only country we share a real land border with.

bryanlarsen 5mo ago

In Canada they have a CAD$5 McValue meal deal, so USD$3.67 for a McDouble, small fries & small drink. Do they not have similar deals in your jurisdiction?

jbm 5mo ago
For what it is worth, I live in Calgary and the McDonalds near me does not have deals like that. There is apparently a huge range in prices across McDonalds in a city, so there may be geographic limitations. I don't go either, and the price is part of the reason. (I would go for the ice cream in summer, or for their cheap drinks promos).
- dylan604 5mo ago
  > There is apparently a huge range in prices across McDonalds in a city, so there may be geographic limitations. Aren't the vast majority of McDonalds actually franchises vs corporate own where everything would be much more consistent?
- red-iron-pine 5mo ago
  I can't speak for Calgary proper but I've hit McDs in Cochrane and Airdrie (outer 'burbs of Calgary) and they had similar. Ditto for Edmonton.
HarHarVeryFunny 5mo ago
A typical burger + fries + drink at McDonalds where I am in the US is now about $20. You can get something much better quality (& larger size) at FiveGuys for same price, and even some nice quality restaurants have lunch specials that cost the same. McD was never good, but when it was $10 it was still an OK occasional convenient lunch option. At $20 there is zero reason to go there.
- bayesnet 5mo ago
  That’s bonkers. I’m on the east coast (not nyc) and a quarter pounder medium meal is $10.49. Meanwhile Five Guys is $20.29 for a regular meal.

danudey 5mo ago

There's a McDonald's near my home that I can order from if I'm craving garbage food quickly and don't feel well enough to leave the house, but they only get my order correct about 20% of the time. Another 20% of the time they make the wrong thing (e.g. the wrong kind of breakfast sandwich), and the remaining 60% of the time they forget to put half the order in (e.g. we ordered three of the Minecraft happy meal cube things a while back, plus an extra chicken sandwich, and we only got two of the cubes and no sandwich, plus we were missing two of the drinks for the meals). The tariff issue is another reason not to patronize them, but at the same time if everyone in Canada stopped eating at McDonald's then McDonald's corporation would take a hit and thousands of Canadians would be immediately unemployed and thousands of Canadian suppliers of ingredients (beef, eggs, chicken, vegetables, etc) would lose a ton of business, so while I'd rather order from A&W for dozens of reasons I'm not outright boycotting American chains the way I am with American products.

mbirth 5mo ago
I’ve actually switched from Just Eat to slightly more expensive Deliveroo because the latter one makes it extremely easy (at least in the UK) to report wrong deliveries and you get your money back in a matter of minutes. Also make sure to do the McD survey via the link on the receipt - that usually improves things for a while.

qwertyuiop_ 5mo ago

How do you communicate your guilt based purchases to the local citizenry ?

nabbed 5mo ago
Am I supposed to?

paleotrope 5mo ago

I seem to recall that Mcdonalds goes to pains to source locally.

red-iron-pine 5mo ago
wtf is that based on? McD's is the largest purchaser of beef in the US. it all goes into the slop bin and is delivered as patties to locations. ditto for the pink goo that makes the chicken nuggets. why do you think the CEO was so hesitant to eat the burger?

Eddy_Viscosity2 5mo ago

It's also slow. It's not 'fast food' anymore. You order than wait for 15 or 20 minutes. I've waited 40 minutes at an airport McDs for food after ordering. The food is expensive, not very good, and slow. So yeah, I don't go to Mcdonalds anymore.