# McDonalds sued for over charging value meals. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 21, 2016, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-sued-for-over-charging-value-meals/775285 "2016-12-21T08:23:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tenacious\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tenacious\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tenacious_j)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-sued-for-over-charging-value-meals/775285/21 "2016-12-23T00:12:48Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > To be sure, I never have much money spare, but I can’t imagine caring if I was over-charged 40 cents. It’s the principle. On my monthly breakfast run to McD’s I usually order a bacon and cheese biscuit. That’s not on the menu, so I almost always get dinged for a bacon egg and cheese biscuit and pay for an egg I don’t get. I need to tell them, nope, key it as biscuit + American + bacon to save me the 60 cents or so. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s the idea that I need the money more than they do-and BTW do your job correctly, not the easy way. Today, they got it right the first time!:eek:😃 ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-sued-for-over-charging-value-meals/775285/22 "2016-12-23T00:16:36Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > [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 “\ 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. Which I think would make for a better case than “I paid the price I knew it would be but I could have got it cheaper if I paid attention.” ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-sued-for-over-charging-value-meals/775285/23 "2016-12-23T01:39:53Z")
> [@simster](#): > > ‘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. I would imagine the word “value” does indeed imply some sort of discount. It is deceitful, if true and the onus to be honest should be on the business, not on the consumer to ferret out dishonesty. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-sued-for-over-charging-value-meals/775285/24 "2016-12-23T02:08:43Z")
if this is a real case it wont be too hard for precedent I mean they nail grocery stores for this bs all the time … All someone has to do is show a pattern of over charging with out changing the prices on the menus Actually theres a way to get around some dominos pizza prices … the big draw is the medium 5.99 pizza/salad/side ect if you order more than one thing But depending on how picky you get you can a medium “specialty” pizza cheaper than a small one Like say you want a bbq chicken pizza but you think 7/8.99 is to much for a small just choose the 5.99 deal and put the chicken and onions your self … ---
**Author:** ![justmeetee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@justmeetee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justmeetee)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-sued-for-over-charging-value-meals/775285/25 "2016-12-23T06:55:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > **[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. Interesting that a little humor is considered a problem ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-sued-for-over-charging-value-meals/775285/26 "2016-12-23T07:02:31Z")
Usually jokes call attention to themselves by being funny. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-sued-for-over-charging-value-meals/775285/27 "2016-12-23T14:23:20Z")
> [@justmeetee](#): > > Interesting that a little humor is considered a problem Your remark wasn’t the least bit humorous, nor did it seem to be intended as such. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-sued-for-over-charging-value-meals/775285/28 "2016-12-23T15:20:05Z")
**[Moderator warning]** I thought I made myself clear before, **justmeetee**. If you do not wish to participate constructively in a discussion, then stay out of it. Since you apparently didn’t consider the bold red text to be an indication that you should pay attention, let’s see if a Warning causes the lesson to sink in. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-sued-for-over-charging-value-meals/775285/29 "2016-12-23T18:12:23Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > 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. On that note, a 20-piece nugget is $4.99, and a 10-piece is $4.49. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-sued-for-over-charging-value-meals/775285/30 "2016-12-23T18:20:52Z")
A recent promotion is the various 2-fer combos. 2 items for $2.50 or 2 items for $5. Not really an “Extra Value Meal” because it’s not bundling fries and a drink, but just giving you the 2 items you want. Sometimes after work, I’ll pick up “2 McChicken for $2.50” on the value board for my train ride home. Recently I noticed the price for a single McChicken sandwich. $1.19. Hmmmmmm. But I’m not going to sue over it. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2016, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-sued-for-over-charging-value-meals/775285/31 "2016-12-24T00:33:41Z")
Huh. I’d seen the headlines but not checked. If it really is an issue of automatically making the combo, even if the combo is more expensive, then maybe there is a legitmate issue here. I mean, it’s a nice feature when the combo is cheaper, so I could see doing this accidentally, and not updating when the combos became more expensive. But that’s something you should fix, and give the guy a deal for noticing it, so that a law suit doesn’t happen. I mean, you’ll probably settle out of court anyways, but no need to have it be a public deal. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2016, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-sued-for-over-charging-value-meals/775285/32 "2016-12-24T01:07:34Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > if this is a real case it wont be too hard for precedent I mean they nail grocery stores for this bs all the time … > > All someone has to do is show a pattern of over charging with out changing the prices on the menus > > Actually theres a way to get around some dominos pizza prices … the big draw is the medium 5.99 pizza/salad/side ect if you order more than one thing > > But depending on how picky you get you can a medium “specialty” pizza cheaper than a small one > > Like say you want a bbq chicken pizza but you think 7/8.99 is to much for a small just choose the 5.99 deal and put the chicken and onions your self … This isn’t “overcharging”, because the price on the menu for the combo is being charged. The fact that you could get it for cheaper by ordering each of the combo’s items separately doesn’t mean you’re being “overcharged” (charged more than the quoted price). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2016, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-sued-for-over-charging-value-meals/775285/33 "2016-12-24T02:14:13Z")
I recall noting that Red Robin’s bacon cheeseburger _with a fried egg on top_ cost less than their _regular_ bacon cheeseburger – you know, the one with no fried egg. And so you could order the former, and ask 'em to hold the egg – or to put it on the side, if you wanted – and you’d pay less than if you’d simply ordered the latter. That’s apparently no longer the case, but I can’t have been the only one to see it. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2016, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-sued-for-over-charging-value-meals/775285/34 "2016-12-24T02:14:26Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > This isn’t “overcharging”, because the price on the menu for the combo is being charged. The fact that you could get it for cheaper by ordering each of the combo’s items separately doesn’t mean you’re being “overcharged” (charged more than the quoted price). It is if you ask for two combo menu items seperately and they automatically charge you the “value” charge. This lawsuit needs clarification. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-sued-for-over-charging-value-meals/775285.md?page=1)