I wish that was the default setting at every sandwhich shop and restaurant. I hate it when I forget to tell them to hold the tomato and I get icky tomato goo on my sandwich.
Sure, I guess, but before the tomato shortage he was paying 4.59 for whichever sandwhich he wanted and he is still paying 4.59. I don’t see the point at all.
Wouldn’t it be more logical to temporarily drop the price to reflect no tomatoes? Upon requesting them, the price can be restored to the regular price.
He’s ranting because these asshole will gouge you for a penny.
It’s baffling to see that on the Wendy’s here. There was no tomato shortage in California, yet they’re still shorting people. I drive through a major tomato-cultivating area every day - Salad type on the East side, and Paste tomatoes on the West side. Lots of trucks, harvesting for months. I can’t believe they would import tomatoes from Florida clear over here, when we grow our own.
Wendy’s sandwich sans tomato = $4.59
Wendy’s sandwich with tomato = $4.59 PLUS a verbal request for a tomato
So, as I understand it, the OP is pitting the fact that the sandwich that he DOESN’T want (the one sans tomato) DOESN’T cost less than the one which he DOES want, but has to ask for. :smack:
Next thing you know, he’ll be asking how much a single rib costs, or how much he’d be charged if he must put his mouth under the soda fountain for a second.
That’s pretty crappy of Wendy’s to act like that. Most other restaurants are just saying ‘There might not be enough tomatoes’ or just outright saying nothing to the customer about it. Just suck up the price spike like everyone else.
That said, if they absolutely can’t afford the increased costs, though I’d be amazed if this were so, it’s understandable that they wouldn’t lower the price of the sandwich. If the tomatoes cost three times more than usual, two out of three sandwiches need to go without tomato at the usual price to keep everything even. Easier to rely on people forgetting to ask for tomatoes than remembering to ask to leave them off.
Restaurants charge a fixed price based on the recipe plus other fixed costs. It comes out in the wash when someone requests extra mayo, and someone else requests no mayo. Same same for tomatoes. It would be very difficult, complicated, and a waste of all sorts of resources to base prices on ingredients.
Well, to be fair, this works both ways. If you go to McDonald’s and ask for lettuce and tomato on your $0.79 (or whatever they’re gouging for these days) cheeseburger, it will still cost the same.
I hadn’t heard of a tomato shortgage but I think it’s smart of Wendy’s to do this. The people that need tomatoes can still get them, but they don’t waste any of the people who don’t really care or the people who are going to pick them off anyway.
Re: Cowgirl Jules “No shortgage in California”: Could it be because they’re exporting more?
No, actually it would be more logical to raise the price of the sandwich to offset the cost of tomatoes. They decided against that and decided to keep the price and let you ask for tomatoes.
Count me as one who doesn’t understand the OP’s outrage. When there’s a shortage of something, what’s the logical thing to do? Try not to waste any of it! It sounds to me like Wendy’s is just trying to make sure they don’t waste tomatoes by giving them to people who don’t want them (and would just throw them away, or eat them without enjoying them).
If you do want tomato, you have the slight inconvenience of having to specifically ask for it, but why is that any worse than going to Subway and telling the sandwich maker what toppings you want? I don’t see that Wendy’s is doing anything wrong.
To those of you who understood my ravings, “thank you”.
As some have pointed out, fast-food places rarely if ever fluctuate their prices in response to shortages of ingredients. Usually they just go up every year or so.
I accept that.
I just don’t like their tomato stance; as other’s have pointed put, Florida isn’t the Earth’s only source of tomatoes. Get them from CA.
In truth, I wish they’d adapt the old Roy Rogers model or serving you a plain sandwich and let you loose on the fixin’s bar.
That would satisfy me and you tomato haters out there.
