alt-text: Woman ordering food (photo): “I would like to buy a hamburger for the same price that it was 2 hours ago.”

Cashier (sketched): “Sir, this is a Wendy’s”

  • empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    109
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    9 months ago

    I actually like Wendy’s, but if they implement this at my local store I’m boycotting. The cost for you to make the food per item doesn’t fucking change if there’s 1 person in line or 100, just the wait time. It’s pure profiteering.

    • Death_Equity@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      61
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      9 months ago

      The effort the employee has to put forth to meet demand changes during a rush, not that they will see a penny of the higher revenue they are directly responsible for generating.

      • phoneymouse@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        34
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        9 months ago

        It changes in that there are economies of scale involved. It actually becomes cheaper and more efficient for the company to make 20 cheeseburgers at once than just one. That’s why this surge pricing thing is a joke. Would the company really like to introduce friction to customers buying more food?

        • hemko@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          9 months ago

          Only way I can make any sense of it is to try balance the day. Get more business on quiet time, and less on rush hour. But I don’t get how it would make any sense from the business perspective since usually you’d want to optimize for the rush hour, not push customers away with higher pricing

          • Adramis@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            10
            ·
            9 months ago

            Because people just show up at rush hour for shits and giggles, and not because that’s their non-negotiable lunch break or their trip home. This is a stupid move.

        • Nommer@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          4
          ·
          9 months ago

          I’ll just demand everything be made to order and be fresh. I encourage everyone to do the same and tank their numbers. If they’re going to charge extra during peak hours then you bet your ass I’m demanding fries fresh out of the frier and burgers right off the grill. I can wait 3 minutes for the fries.

    • agent_flounder@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      35
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      9 months ago

      I like Wendy’s also and this really fucking torques my tacos. Well, fuck them. I’m not going to be ripped off because I choose to eat at a popular time of day.

      • jws_shadotak@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        40
        ·
        9 months ago

        They announced they will be switching to surge pricing. If there are a lot of people trying to get burgers, they’ll increase the price of burgers.

    • Shiggles@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      arrow-down
      38
      ·
      9 months ago

      I mean, I don’t think the entire concept is flawed. I want to wait and see what it actually means - especially if it’s cheaper to grab food outside of surge hours.

      I understand it likely won’t be, but I won’t damn them until we have more information.

      • empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        44
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        9 months ago

        especially if it’s cheaper to grab food outside of surge hours.

        you really don’t understand how corporations work, do you.

          • pokemaster787@ani.social
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            14
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            9 months ago

            Even if it started out that way, where “surge” pricing is current pricing and “off-surge” pricing is cheaper, leading to consumers paying less overall, it won’t stay that way. It would only be that way to prime consumers mentally to accept that dynamic pricing. After which they’ll slowly increase prices, 10 cents or whatever every month. Soon enough it’ll cost more and the corporation can brag about how it increased profits again this quarter. Remember publicly traded companies are legally obligated to maximize profit - the only time they aren’t doing so is when they’re burning money to prime consumers to accept bullshit or building a captive base, in order to eventually maximize profits.

          • Nommer@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            8
            ·
            edit-2
            9 months ago

            Because in the last 5,000 price hikes there has never been a decrease in pricing. There’s a bit of a trend. Corps are always guilty until proven innocent. Hint: they’re never innocent.

          • empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            8 months ago

            because there’s no need to wait, corporations are predictable… it does not matter how much they say they care about quality or the consumer. they will fuck over every single person on the planet at a moment’s notice if it means 0.15% additional profit.