I thought this had to be a mistake. But Google shows multiple news sources. I wonder if this is true nationwide? Overcharging 40 cents a meal could add up fast on a national scale. A class action lawsuit might be needed.
I can’t find a menu with prices online. I’ll spot check with my calculator next time I’m there.
I guess they aren’t legally required to discount a combo meal. But, overcharging does seem a bit greedy.
Another link with more details.
I would have tried another location too. Thinking it was an error at one store.
This link claims it is a class action lawsuit. I wonder how many people are represented?
It worked for Mr. Miggle at Miggle’s Emporium.
Deck us all with Boston Charlie…
McDonald’s has always been weird with their pricing.
I used to be able to buy two 4-piece nuggets at $1 a piece. But a 6-piece would cost nearly $3.
From the link.
It doesn’t specify who it was an extra value for, now does it?
One wonders whether there exists a legal definition of “extra value” that would contravene this franchise’s pricing practices.
I know from my time managing a Jack in the Box that there were ways you could play around with the POS terminal to ring things up so they’d come out to a lesser total than the menu price. (For example, you could ring in a Big Cheeseburger for 99 cents, then add veggies for free, which made it the same as a Jumbo Jack with cheese, which had a menu price of $1.69. Or you could order the Jumbo Jack with cheese for $1.69, replace the bun with sourdough bread for 20 cents, substitute the American cheese with Swiss cheese for free, add bacon for 50 cents, and leave off the lettuce, onion, and pickle, and you’d have the $3.79 Sourdough Jack. Or you could ring in a 99-cent Breakfast Jack, substitute a croissant bun for 30 cents, and substitute the ham for sausage for free, and you’d get the Sausage Croissant which was on the menu for $2.29.) But I digress.
In any event, I feel I must now visit my local McDonald’s after work tonight so that I can get a look at their menu and figure out just how deep this conspiracy goes.
I don’t know if this is true or not, but a person on another forum said that if you order all of the items in the Value Meal separately, the computer automatically combines your order into a Value Meal and charges accordingly. Can anyone verify?
If that is true, I can see the guy’s point. You look at the menu and add up all prices and order the individual items and you get charged a higher price than advertised. McDonalds didn’t disclose that you had to place and pay for separate orders to get the advertised price.
By the way, this lawsuit is only accusing one franchisee of doing this, not the enter McDonalds chain.
To be sure, I never have much money spare, but I can’t imagine caring if I was over-charged 40 cents.
Can’t imagine this suit going anywhere. Unless the plaintiffs can prove McDonald’s was charging more than their advertised price (or committing shenanigans like Alley Dweller suggested) then there’s no fraud. The onus is on the customer to ensure they’re getting the best deal possible.
Doesn’t the E.V.M. also come with a nice little box and a toy?
No, that’s the Happy Meal.
You’re thinking of the happy meal. And who knows, maybe they don’t charge an extra 40 cents for that.
I think a reasonable person expects the cost of a cheeseburger, fries, and medium drink to be the same as ordering it as a combo.
Combo’s save the business time. The cashier can ring up a combo with one entry. The cost shouldn’t be higher than individually ringing up the three items.
I guess it comes down to expectations and whether McDonald’s is charging a hidden fee.
‘let the buyer beware’ - as long as the business was charging the correct price as noted on the marquee, the ‘value meal’ nomenclature does not necessarily mean they are ‘saving money’ or getting a discount over the cost of the individual items.
Most likely what happened is that the prices were raised on the combos, but no one raised the individual prices - sure, they likely realized that no one checked to see that the individual prices would end up cheaper - but there is no requirement that they be in sync.
This seems strange. Usually combos are cheaper. But if the price was advertised and was slightly more expensive, not sure this is illegal. And I’ve never seen this at McDonald’s except for when drinks are $1 or you only want small fries. Caveat emptor.
It’ll be interesting to see where this goes. Any legal experts out there?
On another forum I visit, one of the posters said that when they worked at McD’s a long time ago, his manager instructed him to punch in the individual items whenever someone would order the value meal so that no one would notice the cost discrepancy and complain
I wonder if McDonald’s could argue that the extra cost is a convenience fee, since it is easier to order the “Number X” than all the individual items.
I think you are all missing the most important question here. Why would an adult with any amount of education above the 4th grade level eat that stuff in the first place?
[Moderating]
justmeetee, if you don’t want to be part of the discussion, then stay out of the discussion. Comments like that don’t do anything worth doing.
[Not moderating]
Most fast-food terminals I’ve seen, if you ask the cashier for a sandwich, medium fries, and medium drink, the terminal automatically converts it, and your receipt says “<sandwich name> combo meal” or the like, for the combo meal price. So it’s possible that even people who were ordering the items individually were still getting upcharged.
I saw this many, many years ago at Dunkin’ Donuts.
They had a “Special” - Coffee, Donut, OJ - that was 5¢ more than if you ordered each item separately.
I made a point to place my order individually, and then say “and I don’t want the special!”
I thought it was just stupidity on their part at the time, but if it was deliberate, it was awfully sleezy.