Anonymous wrote:Happy meal comes with juice or milk or even some other drink. I've never had 1 cent up-charge. It' usually a lot more.

Again, if it happens, a) it's not really an upcharge (you are getting charged the correct price but what is basically a dummy variable is making it look like you are being charged more and b) they really do want to know when it happens if they have not caught it already.

Instead of worrying about a penny, you should be worrying about feeding your kid complete junk OP.

Happy meal comes with juice or milk or even some other drink. I've never had 1 cent up-charge. It' usually a lot more.

Also, re: healthy choices.

I think (not sure) sodas and chocolate milk have already disappeared from the offerings for Happy Meals and you have to ask. Also I think gogurt has replaced fries. I know these things are happening, not sure of the timeline.

In jursidictions that do have a soda tax, the tax is separated from the rest of the receipt (not sure offhand whether it is its own line item or included with the rest of the tax) but would never be listed as an upcharge.

In Ohio, you are taxed if you order inside but not drive-thru--BUT if you order a sugar-added drink or sugar-free soft drink in drive thru you will be taxed.

Did go back and read the entire thread. OP, definitely email.

My son also works in IT, mostly point-of-sale work for a wide variety of retailers (but also institutional, government, banking, whoever calls).

He was at a Taco John's drive thru recently and ordered something off the digital menu board (more cloud computing). The price at the window was higher than the price on the board. The person at the window responded with "take it or leave it". These boards receive cloud input every few minutes but if they go offline they continue to display the same content without updates, and this can even go on for quite awhile before someone notices after a price change. He sent an email rant and also contacted the state AG's consumer protection, which followed up promptly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McDonalds Fat Free Chocolate Milk:
130 cal
22 g sugar
9 g protein

Extra Small Sprite
110 cal
29 g sugar
0 g protein

https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/full-menu.html

Oh wow. Marginal. WHO CARES!

Well, I would care. Chocolate milk has 9 g of protein that Sprite doesn't have, and it has 25% less sugar than Sprite.


Give your kids what you want, but don't say it doesn't matter.

25% difference? Oh, the horror!

Well, it's sort of like asking which is healthier for your kid -- a glass of water plus two teaspoons of sugar, or a glass of water plus an egg. That's basically the difference (the 7 extra grams of sugar are like two teaspoons of sugar, and the 9 grams of protein is like eating an egg). I agree that having a sprite occasionally isn't going to kill you, but it's sort of silly to say that it's the same as chocolate milk.

Anonymous wrote:Went through the drive-thru yesterday to get my kid some food. It was a hectic day and he was good for me, so I let him have a Sprite. The Happy Meal was $3.00, but they added a $.01 “drink upcharge”. What? What is that? I asked the teenaged girl who took my money, but she didn’t know. I didn’t have time to wait and ask.

I mean, it’s only a penny to ME, but damn, they probably make a mint off of charging every Sprite that penny every day. I’m tempted to email them.

Not even gonna read it, because I can answer it. Without details, I do work in IT and know how this works.

Inside the software, the meal is priced without a drink, and is coded with a placeholder tells the system to ask for a drink choice. The placeholder also tells the system what actual drink price to expect. If there is a mismatch (in this case it sounds like a 1 cent mismatch) between the expected drink price and the price of the actual drink, it shows on the receipt as an upcharge. The most common cause is when the actual drink prices and menu prices are correct, there has been some change (a new meal, changing the a la carte drink prices) but the placeholder price was not changed to match the actual drink prices. In those situations you are paying the correct price, but it shows as an upcharge on the receipt. "Upcharge" is certainly a trigger word for customers. Stores are very sensitive to customer complaints and will contact their IT support for help fixing this.

No, they are not making a mint. In your case what has happened is the placeholder dollar amount is off by a penny, you are charged the correct price--but there's the trigger word.

I just got charged .39 for my kid to have white milk with her happy meal

McD’s sells ~3.2m happy meals a day. Even assuming 10% of people sub sprite for the juice, that is $3200/day. Nothing to McDs. They aren’t doing it to rip you off.

I'm judging you if you're giving your kids Sprite. Ditto the rich yoga moms giving their brats Starbucks. Freakin' nuts!

Let’s not pretend sprite and milk have the same nutritional profile.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McDonalds Fat Free Chocolate Milk:
130 cal
22 g sugar
9 g protein

Extra Small Sprite
110 cal
29 g sugar
0 g protein

https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/full-menu.html

Oh wow. Marginal. WHO CARES!

Well, I would care. Chocolate milk has 9 g of protein that Sprite doesn't have, and it has 25% less sugar than Sprite.

Give your kids what you want, but don't say it doesn't matter.

25% difference? Oh, the horror!

This on the same thread where someone is screaming about a penny . . .

In any event, if you arguing that there is no health difference between milki, even chocolate milk, and Sprite, you're too far gone for a rational discussion. Enjoy obesity.

No one is arguing that. What I am arguing is it’s not worth getting worked up over 22 vs. 29 grams of sugar for an occasional treat. Not every meal needs to be the gold standard in nutrition. To rational people, at least.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McDonalds Fat Free Chocolate Milk:
130 cal
22 g sugar
9 g protein

Extra Small Sprite
110 cal
29 g sugar
0 g protein

https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/full-menu.html

Oh wow. Marginal. WHO CARES!

Well, I would care. Chocolate milk has 9 g of protein that Sprite doesn't have, and it has 25% less sugar than Sprite.

Give your kids what you want, but don't say it doesn't matter.

25% difference? Oh, the horror!

This on the same thread where someone is screaming about a penny . . .

In any event, if you arguing that there is no health difference between milki, even chocolate milk, and Sprite, you're too far gone for a rational discussion. Enjoy obesity.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McDonalds Fat Free Chocolate Milk:
130 cal
22 g sugar
9 g protein

Extra Small Sprite
110 cal
29 g sugar
0 g protein

https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/full-menu.html

Oh wow. Marginal. WHO CARES!

People who like facts care.

People who like facts don't eat at McDonald's.

Huh? I like facts just fine but also enjoy a McDonalds Value Meal and let my kids enjoy a happy meal once in a while. I just don’t have a stick up my a$$ about inconsequential stuff like this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:McDonalds Fat Free Chocolate Milk:
130 cal
22 g sugar
9 g protein

Extra Small Sprite
110 cal
29 g sugar
0 g protein

https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/full-menu.html

Oh wow. Marginal. WHO CARES!

People who like facts care.

People who like facts don't eat at McDonald's.