Comment on McDonald’s Ice Cream Machine Hackers Say They Found the ‘Smoking Gun’ That Killed Their Startup

• Kecessa@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  The machines are intentionally hard to keep in order, there’s a difference. They’re obligated to buy those machines by corporate, error codes can’t be read, menus make no sense and so on and instructions are unclear so the machines keep breaking, the owners keep having to pay to get them repaired. In the end McDonald’s make money by indirectly offering them a paid service that they made essential by forcing them to use a specific product.

  I’m perfectly familiar with the story.

  source

  • prole@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    So then I don’t really understand your previous comment. Obviously it’s far more complicated than: 'They will do it because if they don’t, they’ll make less money."

    source

    • Letstakealook@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      That was in reference to the franchise owners. The franchise owners will pay for the repair to avoid losing sales.

      source

      • prole@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

        Ah ok I see now. It slipped my mind that McDonald’s did the whole franchise model…

        That said, it’s been a while so maybe I’m misremembering, but didn’t they find that the machines were often broken at the corporate-owned locations as well?

        source

        • -> View More Comments
    • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      The franchise owner is McDonald’s tenant, they need to fix the machine otherwise they lose sales and fixing the machines means profits for corporate so in the end corporate profits from everything.

      source
    • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Reply to your edit: They’re the same machines so they’re hard to keep in working order no matter the location, the difference is just that in corporate locations it’s just money moving around instead of a third party paying for the service.

      source