McFlurry machines keep breaking and the FTC wants answers

[Eugene]

Original report: McDonald’s McFlurry Machine Is Broken (Again). Now the FTC Is On It. (Wall Street Journal)

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Source: Engadget

McFlurry machines keep breaking and the FTC wants answers

The agency recently sent a letter to McDonald's restaurants to ask about the machine.

I. Bonifacic
@igorbonifacic
September 1st, 2021

McDonald’s McFlurry machine and its tendency to break down has been the inspiration for countless jokes and Twitter feuds, and now it could become the subject of a Federal Trade Commission investigation. According to The Wall Street Journal, the agency recently reached out to McDonald’s restaurant owners to collect more information on their experiences with the machines.

Why is the FTC looking into McFlurry machines, you ask? The answer may have something to do with the right to repair movement. At the start of July, President Biden ordered the agency to draft new rules to empower consumers and businesses to repair their devices on their own. Later that same month, the FTC made good on that order, voting unanimously to tackle unlawful repair restrictions.

By all accounts, McFlurry machines are a nightmare to repair. Moreover, Taylor, the firm that makes them, is at the center of a legal battle over measures it uses to prevent restaurants from repairing the machines on their own. When a McFlurry machine breaks down, only a certified technician from Taylor is allowed to fix it, leading to long wait times. Those wait times have increased during the pandemic. A federal judge recently sided with a company that produces a diagnostic tool that threatens Taylor’s monopoly on repairs.

The FTC hasn’t opened a formal probe yet. “The existence of a preliminary investigation does not indicate the FTC or its staff have found any wrongdoing,” the agency said in the letter it sent out this summer, according to The Journal. However, it reportedly wants to know how often restaurant owners are allowed to work on the McFlurry machines on their own.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.engadget.com/ftc-mcflurry-letter-221312872.html

[XanaDUer2]

1. their ice cream machines break a lot, too

I love their cones, but it's a 50/50 prop you'll be getting a cone when you go there

[doc03]

3. I read a column recently about their ice cream machines.

Wendy's, McDonald's Burger King and others all use the same machines. I am a Wendy's fan myself never found their machine broke. Anyway McDonald's Corp supply their franchises with the machine but they have to call in a repair service to fix it that costs a fortune. What I read there is a software problem and a company came out with improved software but McDonald's franchises can not use it because McDonald's Corp. forces them to use their repair service. They say many times they just weren't cleaned right and they will shut down requiring the franchise to pay to have it repaired. But the other companies software can correct the problem without
calling technical support. It is just a way McDonald's Corp. screws their franchises.

The story was in one if those Yahoo click bait threads recently.

[TreasonousBastard]

2. Having attempted to sell things to Mcd, I am well aware that they have a maximum...

they will pay for a gadget. "I'll take all you can make at $120" was a common answer. Too bad it cost us $200 to make it.

I would not be surprised if these guys lowballed McD corporate to make it up on maintenance. I know for sure that's how Documentor worked before they got out of the business.

You would think McD would be smart enough not to fall for that, and they are. Thing is that capital and maintenance costs are budgeted separately. And when you add in deals with franchisees, it gets stranger.

John Deere is doing the same thing to farmers. You can't work on you own tractor, and farmers are pissed.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. I saw that in the paper yesterday. I thought it would be a fun thing to post at DU. Thanks.

I'm surprised at the traction it's getting in LBN.

A-HED

McDonald’s McFlurry Machine Is Broken (Again). Now the FTC Is On It.

The frequently malfunctioning equipment leads to a lawsuit and gets the federal antitrust agency involved

By Heather Haddon
https://twitter.com/heatherhaddon
[e-mail]
Sept. 1, 2021 2:51 pm ET

Can the FTC help get you your McFlurry?

As many customers of McDonald’s know all too well, the fast-food chain has struggled for years to keep its ice cream machines working. Without them, people can’t get a milkshake, soft cone or above all a McFlurry, a cup of soft ice cream with candy and cookies that is whipped about in a blender with a specially designed hollow spoon.

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