Wendy’s planning Uber-style ‘surge pricing’ where burger prices fluctuate based on demand

NY Post ^ | 02/26/2024 | Shannon Thaler

[dead]

That’s an awesome way to infuriate your customers!

[sonova]

Thing 1:
prices fluxuate throughout the day

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From the NY post.

Thing 2:
I agree with ‘discount during slow hours’ vs. ‘surge pricing’.

Wendy’s has great pricing, Junior Bacon Cheeseburger for under $3. That and a free water is lunch for me...

[Revel]

Wendy’s no longer has cashiers at the counter. Now yo have to punch in your own order. And they are almost impossible to use. Drive through is the only option. And with this BS then that won’t even be an acceptable option. It sounds like Wendy’s is determined to put themselves out of business.

[old-ager]

They’ll probably figure it out.

[The Louiswu]

Not sure if this story is true or not but I read that several years back, the makers of Coke wired their vending machines to the internet and could remotely raise the price of their products in those machines according to the temperature (or any other reason they chose).

Supply and demand at work, with Coke and Wendy's, what's not to love, tis the American way.

[Alas Babylon!]

It’s not a real happy hour if those drinks don’t have alcohol.

[dinodino]

I’ll pass, thanks. Not interested in surge pricing of fast food.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

LOL. I can’t wait to see how badly this gets screwed up. What if I get one of the burgers that has been sitting in the bin since the lunch rush?

[kiryandil]

excellent post.

BTW - I'm in favor of this approach.

The herds of sheep and cattle are predictable.

[Bernard]

It sounds like Wendy’s is determined to put themselves out of business.

More like they are trying to make their customer base more like the smart people in the back office. That could also allow them to reduce their market in order to fit their business model.

Apparently the days of delivering what the customer wants has been replaced by "you will buy what we want to sell, and how we want to sell it". Lucky for Wendy's that their customer base is so loyal that they won't go someplace else to buy a burger. /s

[Myrddin]

I don't eat there now. This development just reinforces the choice to not eat there.

[CodeToad]

Surge?? Since when does a Wendy’s ‘surge’?? What, three cars at the drive thru? It will still take 45 minutes for all three to get their food.

[If You Want It Fixed - Fix It]

Means you will get it faster. Right?

[Myrddin]

Wendy’s no longer has cashiers at the counter. Now yo have to punch in your own order. And they are almost impossible to use. Drive through is the only option. And with this BS then that won’t even be an acceptable option. It sounds like Wendy’s is determined to put themselves out of business.

My wife and I went to the local Taco Bell recently. It is all self serve kiosks. As we entered the lobby there was a middle aged male festooned in apparel shouting, "I'm a veteran". He was having a tantrum like a 5 year old over having to order with the kiosk. I'm easily 20 years older. I just walked up to the kiosk, entered my order and took a seat. No drama. Frankly, I could build and program that kiosk from scratch with a small budget for parts from DigiKey or similar. At 67, I just have no interest in fanning drama in a fast food lobby.

[USAF1985]

Our local Wendy’s never has more than two cars on property at any one time. Burger King closed last year. Too many local Mom & Pop burger stands that are light years ahead of chain restaurants around here - and they’re not woke.

[Pappy Smear]

I don't have a big issue with this. I guess we'll see when I'm in a Wendys during a rush. Airlines have been doing this for years. Don't sit down restaurants have the 4PM special or something, to get the senior citizens in during the slow times?

Likewise, my dad, who was a barber back in the day, bitched about old retired guys who would want haircuts at 5PM on a workday. Like they could come in a 2PM or something, but they would take slots for the working guys who had limited windows to get their haircuts.

[Bigg Red]

Let them go down in flames. This kind of junk is killing us anyway.

[con-surf-ative]

When gas stations do this, they call it price gouging.

[stars & stripes forever]

Bye WENDY’S. It was nice knowing you.

[KarlInOhio]

Will Chick-fil-A have $1 chicken sandwiches but you have to pay for how long the line is?