I got some McDonald’s coupons in the mail. One was “Buy an Angus Burger and Make it a Meal for Free.” I was out doing stuff yesterday and had the coupon with me. So, at the drive through I ordered an Angus Deluxe burger and tell them I have a coupon to make it a meal.
“That will be $6.54 please pull up to the first window.”
“What? The burger alone is $6.54?”
“Yes. $5.79 plus tax.”
After getting my receipt I calculated the cost of the meal, without the coupon, at $12.83. I don’t think I’ll be buying many Angus Deluxe meals in the future.
That price sounds about right to me. A Big Mac value meal is generally in the $5-$6 range here, and has been for many years.
ETA: Oh, wait, you’re talking about the burger alone. Ah. That is a bit dear, to put it mildly. (I thought the offer was a buy-one-get-one-free, not buy a burger and get an upgrade for $12.83. Need to read more closely).
That can’t be right, it sounds like they mischarged you. I was last in McDonald’s the week before last and ordered that meal and those like chicken popper things or whatever, and I think it was $10.85. So either their pricing is very different by region, as in several dollars different, or they messed up. I’m better on the latter.
Well, I’m quoting from the receipt itself, so that most definitely is the correct price.
Don’t forget, although the US and Canadian dollars are pretty much on par, everything is more expensive in Canada, and is probably taxed higher to boot.
That’s still very high pricing, even for Canada. Of course, the stuff they give you for “free” is stuff that costs them almost nothing. It’s an inducement to buy high profit items like pies as well as the meal.
eta: Leaffan hit on it. Taxes are the killer. That’s twice what sales tax is in California.
I have only a 6.5% sales tax where I live, so one of the Angus burger meals from McD’s comes out to about $8. I live in a small town so there’s not any competition from the fast food burger side of that business (except for the McD’s on the other side of town). However, with the increasing cost I’ve switched to calling in orders to local pubs/restaurants as they have a comparatively close costs now ($5-$6 for a burger, $2-$3 for a side). One of my problems is I’m often an impulse buyer and don’t always have the patience to call ahead.
/I’m 'Merican damnit. When I want a calorie and cholesterol filled meal, I want it NOW!
Leaffan also gets screwed in his province - Ontario has HST so he gets taxed more on restaurant meals. In some other provinces they don’t apply a provincial tax to restaurant food, so we only pay the 5% GST.
AFAIK, Mickey D’s still has the Dollar Menu. A double cheeseburger is $1.06, with tax, in my state. If you must have fries (NG since they nixed beef tallow), add another $1.06. It’s not a bad meal for $2.12. Sure the Angus burger is better, but at 3 times the price?
And if you are getting a fountain drink, that’s REALLY a ripoff. Bring a soda can or bottle, or do as I do, drink 100% pure water, it’s free and really refreshing!
Well, the receipt has the cost of the items added, as if in a meal, and then deducted afterwards, like so:
2.19
(2.19)
1.89
(1.89)
Maybe the meal would have been less; I don’t know. I guess what initially made me go was that I paid $6.54 for a burger. I had a five dollar bill and some change in my pocket and had to use my freakin’ bank card for a single burger! It seems to me that when I used to take my kids for McDonald’s, the three of us ate for like $13.
McDonald’s prices vary widely even within a city, especially one like Chicago that tourists visit. The “Rock’n’Roll McDonalds” at 600 North Clark is going to be a LOT more expensive than one up north or on the south side. Toronto is the same way.
IIRC from my days working at McDonalds, whenever someone ordered a meal, you would ring in the three separate items and then hit another button that made it a “meal” by subtracting a certain amount from the total. In this case, there would have been to point to ring it up as a meal since the other items were free anyway and a meal at the regular price would be less than the price of the three separate items added up.
Is that really the way it is done now? It seems a lot of unnecessary work for the clerk to ring up everything separately when the customer asks for a “number 4 meal”. Why not just have a “Number 4 meal” button?
But I have no fast-food experience, so what do I know?
was that I paid $6.54 for a burger. I had a five dollar bill and some change in my pocket and had to use my freakin’ bank card for a single burger! It seems to me that when I used to take my kids for McDonald’s, the three of us ate for like $13.