r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Simply827 • 2d ago
The price of my Burger King meal got more expensive as I was checking out.
I’m at a Burger King on the NJ Turnpike and it appears they have some sort of dynamic pricing in place. They also wanted an additional $3 to add bacon to a burger! Yet adding bacon AND cheese, was half that price.
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u/Scared_Ad2563 2d ago
That Cancel Order button looks real tempting.
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u/Cactaddict 2d ago
Doesn’t even look like a button that’s why the only put red around place order
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u/More_Nobody_ 2d ago
That’s a good catch. Companies, including supermarkets and fast food chains love to do tricks like that
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u/wananah 2d ago
These are also referred to as dark patterns, and can be illegal under certain consumer protection laws
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u/Doomsday_pirate 2d ago
Don't worry those are next on the supreme court's chopping block.
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u/MikeDizzIe 2d ago
Nah in this context "certain consumer protection laws" mean the same as "certain employee protection laws". Laws that don't exist in the US.
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u/xSTSxZerglingOne 2d ago
It's an intentional design decision to mute the option that doesn't make them money. I mean, we all knew that already, but it still feels good to say it sometimes.
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u/SwampOfDownvotes 2d ago
I mean, even if there wasn't an option to cancel the order, you could just walk away at that point.
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u/find_your_zen 2d ago
Three days later, your phone rings.
"Hi, we're looking for SwampOfDownvotes regarding the Whopper Value Meal you left on the screen in our Junon location. We've completed your order and are awaiting payment, but from the time you placed your order until now, the price might have varied for...reasons. Would you like to pay your total of $72.35 with a card over the phone, Jason?"
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u/Deca_Durable 2d ago
It’s like when you add something to your cart on a website just to see what the price with shipping or discount codes would be and then later you get emails saying stuff like ‘Don’t forget to complete your order!’ It comes off as so desperate.
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u/EduinBrutus 2d ago
Jees, fucking noob.
Dont give them a no option.
"Would you like to pay by debit card or credit card?"
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u/J5892 2d ago
It's a pretty standard UI practice to have just a single Call to Action stand out as a button while having other options (usually cancel or close) display as text.
This applies in any context, not just checkout/payment systems.Not defending anything here, just adding context as a UI developer.
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u/Dragonfire91341 2d ago
I see this all the time with “ACCEPT ALL COOKIES” buttons
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u/preflex 2d ago
Why is that even the websites' job? Why aren't browsers good enough to let users set reasonable cookie policies without extensions?
Sure, you can send whatever cookies you want, but that doesn't mean my browser will ever give them back to you or let you use them for anything. That's up to me, not the website.
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u/Dragonfire91341 2d ago
I tell ya, surfing the web has become such a drag in the last decade
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u/ionp_d 2d ago
Continue to checkout… choose cash… complete order…. walk out.
Fuck them.
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u/friedporksandwich 2d ago
Does that really work? Can you do that? Because if so I'll be doing that just for fun sometimes.
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u/EnzoVulkoor 2d ago
If people don't want arbitrary price gouging like this to increase or be the norm. They need to hit cancle and leave.
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u/Psianth 2d ago
Absolutely, you know they’re tracking that shit. Enough people cancel and they might actually rethink it.
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u/ProudnotLoud 2d ago
Love the little note/disclaimer at the bottom - would be great to have an actual reason for the change.
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u/never_nude_ 2d ago
Because we can
Because you’ll pay it
Because we’re out of other ideas
Because our executives aren’t satisfied with their millions, or tens of millions. They need hundreds of millions.
Because fuck you
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u/Squidking1000 2d ago
Number 4+5 are the truth.
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u/NaerilTheGreat 2d ago
At my job we recently got restricted to only having a certain number of options for free Vs. 95% of the menu for free. A coworker and I talked to a manager about it and apparently the CEO themselves is personally looking into ALL of the restaurants "free employee meals" to make sure that every restaurant is following the new rule. I said "I guess they couldn't afford their yacht anymore?" And we all laughed and cried a little
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u/hurtstoskinnybatman 2d ago edited 2d ago
Any restaurant thst doesn't feed their staff is a shithole with shitty upper management who deserve no respect. They literally throw tons of food away each shift, but can't afford to feed the workers making them millions?
Practically every restaurant in the U.S. significantly underpays their staff as it is. Giving them trash before it's thrown out is the least they could fucking do. But no. And then selling it to them at a profit on top of it? It's so fucked up. I've worked fast food in the past, and if any of them every said I couldn't eat for free, I'd tell them to go fuck themselves with the closest doorknob.
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u/The-Funky-Phantom 2d ago
100% If you can't afford to feed your staff, you have WAY more serious issues. But I guess it's easier to point the finger at employees.
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u/dominarhexx 2d ago
Also easier to pitt the employees against the customer through this insane tipping culture we have all the while they get away with shit hiring practices.
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u/blues4buddha 2d ago
When I worked fast food many years ago, it was an unspoken code amongst employees to eat as much food as possible during your shift as compensation. Walk past the fryer? Grab a few fries. Making a burger? Think I will have one for myself. Incredibly unhealthy environment because everyone was shoving food into their mouths at any opportunity. Walked into the storage room once and caught my supervisor with an entire chicken sandwich in his mouth.
We also gave extra large portions to drive thru customers whenever possible.
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u/The-Funky-Phantom 2d ago
That's the mindset at every place I've run. Unless you're stealing steaks or other high cost items, I could not care less. Feed yourself, you have a hell of a job to do. I've been there, I know.
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u/bean_wellington 2d ago
We never even thought about it. I worked at a Tim Horton's in high school, and we just ate whatever. Mind you, this was the evening shift and the manager didn't give a shit. Day shift had one of those "time to lean, time to clean" managers. I still don't remember ever paying for food, but we were a lot less cavalier about it.
We made so many awesome experimental sandwiches on evening shift, though
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u/TheRealToLazyToThink 2d ago
When I was in college the majority of my nutrition was in the form of a triple 1/4 pounder with 3 circles of bacon, steamed onions, mac sauce, a layer of pickles, tomato and lettuce.
Oh and the occasional cheese wrapped mc nugget washed down with soft serve and Dr. Pepper.
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u/Jmeisalive 2d ago
Seriously. One of the only benefits of working in a restaurant (and lord knows i worked in many as a teenager and in my early twenties) was that you were guaranteed at least one solid meal per shift.
There were many times when i relied on that employee meal to eat that day.
If it were up to me, there would be no billionaires. There isn’t a single billionaire who has made that money by honest means or on their own.
There’s no need for anyone to hoard that many resources for themselves. That sort of gluttony that should result in a lengthy prison sentence.
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u/snowvase 2d ago
At one employer I was with, we had a once a month lunch for all staff. Just pizza, a bit of cake and fruit juices, part of team building, and popular with the staff.
However, HR took it on themselves to check with the tax authorities and put out a message that if this continued all staff would face an increase in personal tax as it was a tangible and taxible benefit. So it got stopped.
The HR at this company was reknown for never having the interests of the staff at heart but referring the company management to the tax authorities was certainly a new extreme. Even the MD was taken aback by this attitude.
The next company I went to did the same sort of thing but had the good sense not to run it by the tax people.
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u/One_Lab_3824 2d ago
HR is never for the employees, they are for management. That's every where
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u/madbasic 2d ago
Lemme guess, UK?
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u/snowvase 2d ago
Yep! I'm sure the tax people were just as shocked by the attitude of HR.
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u/passwordstolen 2d ago
They did that shit to us, preventing purchasing high dollar items. We just start ringing up a cheap meal and make that triple deluxe bacon avacado burger anyway.
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u/Impossible_File_4819 2d ago
When I worked in restaurants back in the 1970s they had limitations on what you could have for your one meal. I ignored it and had daily feasts of steaks, crab meat, etc that I stashed in the kitchen. Fu*ck em
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u/BURGUNDYandBLUE 2d ago
I've never understood what's wrong with just "succeeding." Congrats, everyone in the world knows you exist. Literally just keep a reasonable price and you'll profit like crazy.
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u/eunit250 2d ago
If the line doesn't go up in the eyes of capitalism the company is failing. You have to cut costs and increase profits quarterly.
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u/the-soggiest-waffle 2d ago
No literally. Keep things a reasonable price and more people will pay for it. Even if that reasonable price is significantly above what the materials cost (I’m looking at you, food service industry. Don’t think I haven’t looked at what everything costs individually in my damn restaurant)
Edit to make sure people know I’m talking about large corporate chains, not literally all of the food service industry. And yes, employees HAVE to be paid minimum wage or more, as well as building lease, or property depending, bills, garbage, waste, supplies, equipment etc. I’m just saying that the food itself isnt worth the price
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u/virtualuman 2d ago
It's literally because of number 2!
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u/hunowt_giB 2d ago
I just went to a donut shop, as I walk in I’m greeted with a, “hi! Are we gonna want a 3, 6, 9, or 12 piece?” I was like, “uhh, just one..?” Donut was for my toddler for being awesome. Dude said the minimum they sell is 3, which is like $10 or so. I was almost like fuggit, then I was like fuggit! and left lol
Number two is so spot on, “it’s only a couple bucks more, whatever” but where does it end!?
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u/virtualuman 2d ago
You have taught your kiddo a great lesson and led by example. It may not have been what they wanted, but it was the right thing to do!
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u/hunowt_giB 2d ago
That’s always nice to hear; thank you!
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u/DionBlaster123 2d ago
A donut shop that doesn't let you buy an individual donut is a bunch of b.s. You made the right decision
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u/Slumunistmanifisto 2d ago
Wait until they get the food waste numbers next quarter from all the cancellations
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u/ccyosafbridge 2d ago
There's a gas station near me that has a sign up saying $1 deal for specific items.
Tiny print "July 9th-13th"
They put that up 2 weeks in advance, knowing people would pay and not realize.
I removed it from the tab. I actually can't pay almost $3 for a redbull, and y'all know what you are doing.
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u/OwnLadder2341 2d ago
The gas station you were at had Red Bull for less than $3?
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u/Overseerer-Vault-101 2d ago
It’s almost like they all took that line from goodfellas and ran with it. “Fuck you, pay me”
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u/gertgertgertgertgert 2d ago
- Because late stage capitalism continues to demand profit increases each quarter, but we can only cut costs so much on a food product until it is illegal to feed to people, and raising prices is the only way to continue to extract profit. But if we tell you we're raising the prices then you won't come, so instead we increase prices at the very last moment and we're counting on you being hungry and the victim of the sunk-cost fallacy so you'll just go with it.
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2d ago
sunk-cost fallacy
This. It becomes a dark pattern, basically. Once you see the real price, you've already committed to the transaction. The only way out is the difficult choice of expending the energy and resources of going somewhere else, similar to the labyrinthine way offered as the sole way to end an online transaction.
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u/gunsjustsuck 2d ago
Exactly. Growth, not profit. Year on year growth. Making a great return isn't good enough, it has to be greater than last year. CEO bonuses are based on this and they'll destroy a company to get that bonus.
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u/NovaPrime_RR 2d ago
Disclaimer: “Pricing can change because we can do whatever we want and there’s nothing you can do about it”
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u/nomedable 2d ago
Oh and you know that if you made an order while the price was higher, it would not stop you and inform you that the price is changing and your order will be made cheaper. It'll only ever go up.
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u/PetticoatInjunction 2d ago
It'll only ever go up
Table salt used to be just 7 cents for a large container, then for whatever reason the price jumped up and has never gone down again.
Table sugar also used to be dirt cheap then iirc there was a natural disaster and the price skyrocketed. The price stayed high ever since.
The problem with being older is that I remember when prices were low, then jacked up for a reason but never returned to the original price.
Because they can.
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u/Silent-Ad934 2d ago
Income tax was supposed to be a temporary wartime measure way back when the Germans were having some wild ideas. We know how that turned out.
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u/og_jasperjuice 2d ago
There sure is. Just walk out and refuse to order anywhere with surge pricing structures. I won't go in anywhere if they charge extra % for credit/debit purchases.
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u/musclecard54 2d ago
I mean there’s nothing you can do about the price. But there’s certainly something you can do in response to the price… give them a nice🖕🏻by eating somewhere else
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u/angrylawyer 2d ago
"We're A/B testing the prices for various items to help determine how far we can push them before sales begin to slow. We thank you for participating in this testing."
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u/bs000 2d ago
the only time i've seen this is if i added a customization to an order that had an upcharge (ie. add bacon) and it would show this screen after i applied the changes. pretty sure that's what's happening here and OP is just lying for karma
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u/sh_ip_ro_ospf 2d ago
I thought this was the real time pricing that was being rolled out? Market prices fluctuate by demand and time of day
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u/emveor 2d ago edited 2d ago
im buying 50 burgers and holding on to them untill their price skyrockets....TO THE MOON APE BROTHERS!!
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u/bs000 2d ago
that was wendy's and they said they were no longer considering doing surge pricing after backlash
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u/GitEmSteveDave 2d ago
It wasn’t even “surge pricing” it was the ability to have signage that dynamically changes, like when sonic has their happy hour prices on drinks.
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u/Fit_War_1670 2d ago
We went from "would you like to pay 75c more ton super size your meal" to "would you like to pay 75c more or you won't receive your meal"
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u/Ginogheuzzi 2d ago
Remember when making a sandwich a combo was like a $1-$2 upcharge? It would be just the sandwich for like $4 but if you wanted the combo it would be $5-$6 to get the fries and drink.
These days it’s like the sandwich is $7 and the combo is $13.
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u/ProtectionContent977 2d ago
If you pay, it works for them. If you cancel, it works for you.
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u/RoutineAd7381 2d ago
This is the way.
From fast food, to video games, streaming services, delivery services etc. The more the public just bends over and takes it the deeper they're gonna shove it.
If everyone just said "F You" and canceled all of that crap, went back to physical media and doing things as much as possible for themselves; we'd see the shittest of companies wither and die while the 'necessary' ones went back to earning customer loyalty.
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u/cl0wnb4by 2d ago
Thanks for reminding me to cancel Paramount+
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u/RoutineAd7381 2d ago edited 2d ago
Im gonna start doing three-card-monty.
I'm gonna cancel HBO in August. Sign up for 'who the hell cares' for 1 month free and then cancel on the 90th day. Then sign up for 'same shit different day' for one month free and cancel on the 90th day. Then sign up for 'you fucking twats are the worst' for one month free and cancel on the 90th day. This should bring us right back around to HBO for one month free which I'll surprise surprise cancel on the 90th day.
It aint perfect, but, should get 4 free months of service per year, and hopefully enjoy the "diversity" in programming instead of being so disappointed by having just one service and paying ~$200 a year.
Edit: I'll cancel at the end of the second month so that the subscription ends on the 90th day.
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u/Squidking1000 2d ago
Jokes on you, I never left pirating. Fuck these greedy corps!
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u/CaptainSouthbird 2d ago
I don't pick on anyone who pirates at this point. You know what's sad though? We were so close. Something like Netflix had essentially all the media. One flat fee, you get everything. Even a lot of us former pirates were like even for the security of not downloading potentially sketchy things and being integrated with our smart TVs and whatnot, it was okay. And they could've left it like that. It was right in the sweet spot. But no, of course, corporations have to be greedy, and started tearing away, and make it so this became Cable TV 2.0. Why, why, why
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u/Squidking1000 2d ago
Agreed. I have a Netflix subscription (which is creeping up in price every quarter with no improvement in service or goods) but refuse to pay for Disney, HBO, Paramount or the other 100 services. I (or my kids) hear of something interesting? Pirate the shit out of it. Fuck em.
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u/Savage-Goat-Fish 2d ago
I tapped out on Netflix after the second price hike. I don’t miss it. It doesn’t provide value for the money.
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u/Flybot76 2d ago
It still blows my mind to think of what it was, and what it is now. They were 'the country's video store' and it was about as perfect as it could be, back in the 'disc era', particularly before 'Netflix originals' became a thing, because THAT is what frigging ruined it. Any of these corporations with hard drives full of crap can run their wires to the internet, but they didn't all want to be in the mail-order disc business, and I'm sure streaming would have become a thing anyway but it didn't have to be all these companies trying to act like TV networks cranking out ludicrous amounts of crap just to say 'look at the pile of CONTENT we have for you!' Netflix led the pack into streaming and now it's a ridiculous mess where they're racing to scrape the bottom of an empty barrel in a variety of ways. Broadcast TV has become a lot more appealing by comparison, since most streaming has ads too and a lot of them are taking up just as much time as broadcast.
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u/pico-der 2d ago
Netflix original content was actually a nice solution. It broke through all the regional publishing rights BS and allowed for far wider variety of content. However Disney in particular wanted to do the same and fuck Netflix over. They pulled all their content and started their own service. Other older channels did the same.
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u/CultZenMonkey 2d ago
We just share in my family. Every household pays for a service and shares the account.
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u/Toorippedtooperate 2d ago
Literally this man, last thing I modded was my PS3 YEARS ago. And I'm about to go full on back over the edge. I've never related so much to something posted here before
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u/0rev 2d ago
I read somewhere that Netflix is going to start forcing 1yr subscriptions to prevent that. If true, all other providers will likely follow suit. I can’t remember where I read it, might have just been someone on here bs’ing but I wouldn’t be surprised.
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u/RoutineAd7381 2d ago
I had the replace the card my Netflix account was on. I'm a let that bitch die. Fuck Netflix. Every good show is canceled before the 1st season ends. Every trash show continues forever.
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u/the_thinwhiteduke 2d ago
AMC is already quietly doing this in a way. If you try to cancel after a month of A List they will bill you for the next two, and say that you will have to be approved to join again in the future.
You can contact them and raise hell and they will waive the other two billing cycles but this has to be where subs are going to prevent churn.
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u/Christhebobson 2d ago
Kinda funny because I have Paramount+ for free over a year now. I was on a 1 month trial, cancelled and they just never actually cancelled it
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u/PyramidicContainment 2d ago
Lol I got 6 months of paramount+ free and still cancelled it within a week it was so bad. "Here's all the stuff the other services didn't want" is how it felt lol. "hopefully you like content featuring Tom Cruise"
Props to them having the original Aeon Flux series tho, that was cool to find. Shame they don't have The Maxx too
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u/PackageMerchant 2d ago
One of my good buddies makes a good bit more money than me and yet is the broke one, I always assumed it was just a spending issue but I never understood on what
Then I watched him order a shake from steak and shake on one of those apps and it was just over 20 bucks after tipping
I tried to ubereats some 5 guys(I know but still) ones and it was like 45 dollars just for myself. I’m a good tipper so maybe a little higher but I honestly can’t believe people do that everyday
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u/soaero 2d ago
I love sushi, but have had to stop ordering it in. It's about $30 for delivery now. On $60 worth of sushi.
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u/ghoulienumber2 2d ago
I wanted to replay fallout new Vegas a few weeks ago but I couldn’t find my old disc so I went on the PlayStation store to buy it. You have to be subscribed to PS+ in order to download the game… I turned my entire system off, walked over to my sisters house and played with her on her boyfriends copy because no way in hell am I subscribing for a game I already own and was willing to repurchase!! Like I was still gonna spend money and y’all biffed it by asking me to subscribe.
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u/ProtectionContent977 2d ago
Yep! You’ve got to watch where you spend your money now. Lower quality, smaller portions and cheaper ingredients etc.
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u/col3man17 2d ago
Currently in the market for a used truck, I think about this everytime I see a truck I like "if I pay this much over, I'm just part of the problem" but everyone's doing it and I really need a vehicle so
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u/RoutineAd7381 2d ago
Expand your range of search.
I used to live in Texas, "The land of trucks". Dude, you could go to nearly any other state and the exact same truck would be cheaper by all the monies. Even paying to register it back into the state you live as an added cost was nothing. Difference in ~$10,000 - $20,000 by buying it in Oklahoma or Kansas and driving home.
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u/motorwerkx 2d ago
I would have absolutely left and gone somewhere else as a matter of principle.
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u/BigTintheBigD 2d ago
Yep. I’d start deleting shit. Amazon plays that game, too.
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u/refugeeofstardew 2d ago
Amazons at least goes down a lot. Can’t tell if it’s an algorithm setting it by supply & demand or the shop owner changing it (probably both). If I’m not dead set on the purchase o usually leave it in my cart… price goes up and I learn I really don’t need it, price goes down and it helped me some.
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u/BigTintheBigD 2d ago
Always good to allow a cooling off period if not a critical need.
A few years back it seemed like leaving something in your cart would lead to a follow up with a discount code or price drop. Then it seemed too many people caught on to that and they switched to “your item has increased (nominally) in price (better buy now before it goes up MORE!!)”.
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u/singuslarity 2d ago
I don't know why more people don't just cancel. They're not going to starve to death. Maybe it's just me, but my pettiness gives me enough energy to skip a meal or two.
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u/StuccoStucco69420 2d ago
Because $0.30 isn’t enough for some people to inconvenience themselves just to stick it to the fast food company.
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u/xawseebs 2d ago
Must be surge pricing. I’m done with fast food. They forgot their place.
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u/ZachtheKingsfan 2d ago
The whole appeal with fast food was that it was quick and cheap. Yes, it’s unhealthy, but for nights where I’m coming home from a full day’s work and I don’t have the energy to make dinner, I would just get a $5 meal to get me through the night. Now that same $5 meal is $20+ and getting more expensive. If I’m eating out and spending that kind of money, I might as well get actual better food.
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u/chobi83 2d ago
I can call ahead to a sit down restaurant and order takeout for the same price as going to McDonalds.
I typically don't have to wait in line for anywhere between 5-20 minutes. The food is better (except for the soda, McD's has almost every place beat on that) and the prices are roughly the same. Except the restaurant will last me 2 meals, so in reality, it's cheaper.
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u/trying2bpartner 2d ago
We have cut off all "fast food" in favor of sit-down restaurants. The price difference is negligible.
I was shocked when I went to Taco Bell and my total came to about $28. I was able to get much better food and in larger quantities from a local Mexican place for $30.
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u/thedankening 2d ago
It's gotten so bad that I can even doordash food from just about any restaurant and the price difference compared to getting fast food, when you account for the convenience of if coming to you for no effort on your part, is negligible.
Of course doordash is a pretty massive scam too so I usually recommend avoiding it all costs, but sometimes you really can't beat the convenience of it.
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u/Chastain86 2d ago
I've also recently discovered that my local McD's has taken on a new policy -- parking every single car that comes through if the food can't be handed to people in under 20 seconds. That means that McDonalds is no longer a drive-thru. It's a curbside takeout restaurant. I hope you'll do some price comparisons on other curbside restaurants in the future, because the advantages of getting McDonalds when compared with places like Red Robin are no longer there. If I'm going to have to wait outside the restaurant for someone to bring me my $12 burger combo, then I can get far superior fare at just about every other restaurants that serve burgers. All so McDonalds can game the system on their drive-thru timer.
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u/funkhero 2d ago
Oh my GOD nothing grinds my gears like them telling you to "pull ahead and park" when there is NO ONE behind you. Fuck you, Dairy Queen!
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u/egnards 2d ago edited 2d ago
I was in Maine this weekend with my wife and we stopped at McDonald's as a "quick meal" before our 6 hour road trip home.
2 sausage sandwich meals [sandwich, hash brown and small coffee] was literally $22 from the location in downtown Freeport [which is like a very small town downtown]. The day before we paid less money to get large coffees and similar meals from a boutique bakery down the road.
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u/Maine-lyTeaching 2d ago
Freeport has LL Bean and an outlet mall. While the downtown is technically small, it’s a huge tourist destination and its peak tourist season. That doesn’t make the prices ok, but they’re capitalizing on tourists (like yourself).
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u/egnards 2d ago
I get that, but I was paying less money from small businesses, which is usually not the case
We only went to McDonald’s on the last day because my wife wanted to see the inside [it’s a really cool building on the outside].
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u/BananafestDestiny 2d ago
Wow, you weren't kidding:
The town sees about 3.5 million visitors annually, spending $308 million in 2015 alone. [wiki]
To put that into perspective, if Freeport was a national park, it would rank 8th most visited.
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u/the_real_some_guy 2d ago
Surge pricing. Before you got there, no one wanted that garbage. Once you arrived the demand spiked so obviously the price goes up.
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u/uptownjuggler 2d ago
“But I’m the only person in the restaurant. Why did the price spike”
“The demand spiked when you walked in.”
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u/ElkHistorical9106 2d ago
We need serious consumer and worker protections in this country.
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u/upsidedownbackwards 2d ago
Yup. This is also why restaurants keep trying to force us to QR code menus even though they're almost universally hated. Places are able to surge price. I imagine they'll take advantage of things like the Fajita Effect and bump the price 50c or so after the first one goes out.
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u/CanaDoug420 2d ago
You better be getting a dozen patties for that price.
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u/brobro___ 2d ago
Bro… almost 40$? You literally can go get 2 huge full meals with sides and veggies for that… I’ll never understand people who spend more than 20$ at fast food places. Unless you’re really craving it or whole family wants it..
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u/Own-Method1718 2d ago
$34 for burger king...nope.
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u/OZeski 2d ago
Fast food places have become a joke. I’ve been traveling for work and my coworkers are all exhausted and just want fast for or want to order something. For half the price you can go sit down at an actual restaurant and be severed decent food.
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u/dfb_jalen 2d ago
I’ve legitimately started buying ready made meals from my local grocery store and have been saving TONS of cash.
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u/ViewedConch697 2d ago
Grocery store deli has been my new lunch spot. Nowhere else can you get 800 cal of decent food for $5
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u/dfb_jalen 2d ago
I’ve been buying huge sandwiches at the deli that are cut in 3’s for $12 and have split them across multiple days of work coming out to $4 work lunches. Each 1/3 of sandwhich is probably like 3/4ths of a subway footlong sandwhich, which cost 12 each as well but only last for one day.
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u/EggsceIlent 2d ago
Applebee's gets a lot of shit but a few weeks ago I tried a local one due to fast food prices
I got like 2 meals for 25 bucks. Both steaks with shrimp or something on them and 2 sides each. For under 30 bucks and picked it up to go.
The steak was super tender and cooked medium rare and was actually pretty good. Sides were too.
Why the hell would I pay 30+ bucks for a meals consisting of fries and a burger that's been sitting for who knows how long?
Plus, it was healthier as one of my sides was steamed broccoli which I love.
If chillis was where I live now (was around where I grew up) I'd be ordering there instead of any fast food joint.
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u/Call_Me_Rambo 2d ago edited 2d ago
I could take my partner to Longhorn during lunch and we both get a burger meal for ~$24, tip included. $20 if I just order pickup. Meanwhile two quarter pounder meals at McDonald’s is ~$22. Shit’s a joke now
Edit: are to at
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u/kamakamsa_reddit 2d ago
In India a burger from a burger King costs $3 to $5 depending if you make it a meal or add something more. This is a lot for a dish.
And we think that's 'luxury' food.
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u/T1DOtaku 2d ago
I spent less than that ordering a large pizza and a salad from my local pizza place. That's more than my splurging order from the local Thai restaurant. I could go to my local bar, get a few drinks and a meal for less than that. Fast food is no longer the cheap option, local places are better in every way now.
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u/LtPowers 2d ago
We have no idea how much food that was. That's a bad price for two meals. Good price for ten meals.
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u/lostinhh 2d ago
" *Pricing can change for a variety of reasons "
lol wtf... like what? That's not "mildly infuriating", it pisses me off and I'm not even the one who ordered lol
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u/FrezoreR 2d ago
I would cancel and leave.
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u/GucciGlocc 2d ago
Don’t even cancel, just walk the fuck out. The next person that uses it needs to see that shit.
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u/OuchPotato64 2d ago
The problem is that most people would rather pay the extra 30cents than to spend another 30mins looking for another place to eat. That surge pricing isnt enough of a deterent to make people leave. This sets a bad precedence, because it may catch on in the future and it will be standard everywhere. Today, they'll add an extra 30cents, in the future it will be a couple dollars
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u/FrezoreR 2d ago
I think so too. I wouldn't walk out because of the price but based on the principle.
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u/stacity 2d ago edited 2d ago
I remember with a $5 bill you could get the whole combo in my HS days. But now, you need three of those.
Edit to add: And got a $1 with quarters as change.
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u/Functionally_Human 2d ago
I remember people wanting to get out the tar and feathers when they did away with the 99 cent whopper Wednesdays and went to 2 for $3.
How much is a whopper now?
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u/SirGirthfrmDickshire 2d ago
I haven't been there since they got rid of the whopper Wednesday.
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u/websagacity 2d ago edited 2d ago
$4.19seems to vary quite a bit...23
u/Functionally_Human 2d ago
Wherever you are that is cheap. Just looked it up, $6.89 here.
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u/butareyouthough 2d ago
That’s entree and an alcoholic beverage at a sit down restaurant. No appetizer and only the first drink but still.
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u/CanYouPointMeToTacos 2d ago
That’s an appetizer, two entrees, and two alcoholic drinks at Applebees
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u/OkieTaco 2d ago
While I’m not endorsing their burger, just using it as an example cause I have it here handy.
At Chili’s a cheeseburger, fries, and a cold beer is $19.78 after tax near me.
And while I’m neither a Chili’s nor Burger King fan, I have no doubt a chilis burger is better than BK, which is mostly bun anyways.
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u/Affectionate_Elk_272 2d ago
chilis has the “3 for me” deal rn, it’s like $10 for an appetizer, burger and a drink. for like $3 more you get a beer or margarita.
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u/spencer1886 2d ago
Wtf costs 33 dollars at Burger King?
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u/Enigma_Stasis 2d ago
I know a medium #2 cost almost $14.
Like fuck, can't even get a reprieve from having to make dinner every night anymore.
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u/Prefer_Diet_Soda 2d ago
Even if it is only 10 cents more expensive, I am canceling the order
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u/andimacg 2d ago
Thankfully the "Cancel Order" button is there.
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u/Noctornola 2d ago
This should be illegal and at least considered false advertising.
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u/sasquatch_melee 2d ago
That's ridiculous it happens enough they programmed in a screen for that scenario.
Ordering doesn't take long enough that it should change. Whatever it originally said is what gets charged. Im so petty I would probably delete something so they get less money from me.
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u/Simply827 2d ago
Well there’s also conveniently no back button, so the only options would be to check out or cancel and start over.
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u/B_Wise_Citizen 2d ago
I guess NEXT time you'll KNOW if you want the medium or the large and not WASTE that 7 seconds you took to decide.
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u/djholland7 2d ago
Annnnnd did you pay for it? Or just accept it. If you acept it, nothing will change and they'll hit you up again. "OP will pay a little bit more, lets see if we can get more next time."
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u/Human-Debate-3488 2d ago
Its str8 up bullshit . Taco bell here has got just sick AF with their pricing . I stay home and make my own food now . Its cheaper in the long run and i get to customize what i want without ridiculous fees to add something. I truly think if we want this to change we as in the majority of ppl are going to have to just stop paying the prices and putting up with this fleecing of American consumers.
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u/1llseemyselfout 2d ago
Pro tip at Burger King: never buy the meals. Always shop the 1,2,3 menu. You can put together a decent meal for cheap.
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u/Random_Name_Whoa 2d ago
This pretty much goes for anywhere. I rarely get a meal unless I’m too lazy to put something together a la carte
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u/rbollige 2d ago
At least they told you. For about a year, BK had a glitch where the subtotal would be different (usually higher) than the sum of individual items. It only happened at a handful of locations, but included a few in my area so I kept an eye on it. There would occasionally be posts here from other areas, but most locations it was fine.
The actual amounts used at a given location were always the same, you could test item by item to see what the hidden cost was. But I haven’t seen the problem for a long time, I think they eventually fixed it. But it took a long time, I told them a bunch of times and they would just send me a $5 off coupon to go away while continuing to overcharge everyone else.
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u/Resident-Variation21 2d ago
“I understand you don’t want my business. Sounds good, I’ll go elsewhere”
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u/mrtzjam 2d ago
Cancel the order.
Tell Burger King and other businesses that they will lose your business if they continue stupid things like this. If you pay them, you are just rewarding this behavior. Businesses should be showing appreciation to their customers, not the other way around.
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u/AtrumsalusOG 2d ago
Testing you. Cancel it and say fuck off. Everyone should say fuck off. Fast foods appeal was that it was cheaper and quicker than restaurant. They didn't make better food than restaurants but made editable food for way cheaper. Now they are charging restaurant costs but with shittier and smaller portions. It makes no sense other than people just used to this. Now at this point, i would just go to your local restaurant, burger joint, get a much much much better burger for about the same cost, might take them 10 minutes more, but you get to enjoy a better meal which cost the same cost and get to f#ck these greedy @holes who think you are sheep.
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u/[deleted] 2d ago
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