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IFixit tackles McBroken

Why is this even a thing? McDonald's is horrible for you just on their ingredients alone. The HFCS they use is up there with cigarette smoking imho.
 
Lakados said:
In todays round of absurd things I need in my life.
It’s a little bit older but I didn’t know it was a thing.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/202...ardown-shows-error-codes-dmca-keep-it-broken/

iFixit is tackling the company that keeps the McDonalds ice cream machines out of order.
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I don't see the financial gain for McDonald's to always have their machines broken...

I can see for the company providing the machine, as they would likely make money on call outs, but how has McDonald's not looked into this themselves? Seems like a quick way to lose revenue.
 
auntjemima said:
I don't see the financial gain for McDonald's to always have their machines broken...

I can see for the company providing the machine, as they would likely make money on call outs, but how has McDonald's not looked into this themselves? Seems like a quick way to lose revenue.
Click to expand...

Considering the repair company charges $350 for 15 minute call I can see why they don't want anyone messing with their cash cow.
 
Billable hours.

Ah yes, fond memories of getting paid by the hour. ** heaving laughter **

This will be vertically integrated soon, I would think. And with cardboard mcslurry spoons.
Just go back to simple ice cream and eliminate the requirement for the two hoppers. Have a mcbarista toss some Hershey's syrup on top. Complete with tip jar.
 
Darunion said:
It's not even good ice cream jesus lol. Id eat it when i worked there but it was the convenience not desire, still would go to wendys next door for frostys on breaks. See half the crew with wendys cups.
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I find it the same as the soft serve at my local ice cream place at the corner or dairy queen. Frostys are definitely superior.
 
Rev. Night said:
Right but why does McDonalds keep re-upping their contracts? Why cant they just get rid of them
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The ability to read the error codes is protected under section 1201 of the DMCA so they don’t have much of a choice.
 
Lakados said:
The ability to read the error codes is protected under section 1201 of the DMCA so they don’t have much of a choice.
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Sure, but why not just go with a different company? I'm sure you would have companies biting at the cash cow if it went up for contract bidding.

edit: Based on their long history, I would be surprised if there weren't familial connections in the top rungs between Taylor and McDonalds.
 
auntjemima said:
Sure, but why not just go with a different company? I'm sure you would have companies biting at the cash cow if it went up for contract bidding.
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Because they can’t, that one company is the only one legally allowed to read the error codes. That’s the article, and why iFixit is having the problem they are. Commercial equipment doesn’t fall under under the same laws as consumer ones when it comes to right to repair.
 
Lakados said:
Because they can’t, that one company is the only one legally allowed to read the error codes. That’s the article, and why iFixit is having the problem they are. Commercial equipment doesn’t fall under under the same laws as consumer ones when it comes to right to repair.
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Ignoring the repair portion. When their contract comes up for renewal, change the company AND hardware.
 
Lakados said:
Because they can’t, that one company is the only one legally allowed to read the error codes. That’s the article, and why iFixit is having the problem they are. Commercial equipment doesn’t fall under under the same laws as consumer ones when it comes to right to repair.
Click to expand...

They could change machines, McDonald's has never had issues with telling their franchisees to pay up or get fucked. This smells like the parent company being predatory. Of course, this whole situation is pretty much more of McDonald's telling their franchisees to pay up or get fucked. Somebody at McDonald's has to be benefiting from this, It's pretty clear that this is harmful to the franchises and harmful to their customers, so who's getting the benefit?

The DMCA is a whole other topic of course, all those years and all that lobbying created quite the monster.
 
auntjemima said:
Ignoring the repair portion. When their contract comes up for renewal, change the company AND hardware.
Click to expand...
Twisted Kidney said:
They could change machines, McDonald's has never had issues with telling their franchisees to pay up or get fucked. This smells like the parent company being predatory. Of course, this whole situation is pretty much more of McDonald's telling their franchisees to pay up or get fucked. Somebody at McDonald's has to be benefiting from this, It's pretty clear that this is harmful to the franchises and harmful to their customers, so who's getting the benefit?

The DMCA is a whole other topic of course, all those years and all that lobbying created quite the monster.
Click to expand...
This answers better than I can.
https://mywallst.com/blog/the-real-...r, when it comes to,franchisee has to buy one.
 
auntjemima said:
We get that. We get that McDonald's has an obligation to use the companies equipment and franchise owners have no say. But the company HEAD COMPANY, with the contract, should NOT RENEW their contract when it comes up.

What aren't you getting?
Click to expand...
Replace the contract with who???
That’s the $900 million dollar question isn’t it.
 
Lakados said:
Replace the contract with who???
That’s the $900 million dollar question isn’t it.
Click to expand...
*sigh*.

I'm sure, in the entire world, Taylor is not the only company that makes an ice cream machine. McDonalds does not have a monopoly on soft serve ice cream and I've never been to another location with a broken down machine. So that tells me there are other companies who make machines. Companies switch providers ALL THE TIME. You put the contract through a bid process and companies fight for your contract.

Since the cost is on the franchisee, I'm sure corporate doesn't care.
 
auntjemima said:
*sigh*.

I'm sure, in the entire world, Taylor is not the only company that makes an ice cream machine. McDonalds does not have a monopoly on soft serve ice cream and I've never been to another location with a broken down machine. So that tells me there are other companies who make machines. Companies switch providers ALL THE TIME. You put the contract through a bid process and companies fight for your contract.

Since the cost is on the franchisee, I'm sure corporate doesn't care.
Click to expand...
They also make the deep fryers and grills.
But Taylor does the soft serve machines for just about all the other fast food places too, the issue is with the 602’s heating and cleaning system. They bill in 15 min increments because it’s often a 5 min fix, but the store owners aren’t allowed to attempt it because of DMCA stuff and the aftermarket diagnostic tool is way better very specific, but voids warranty and is stuck in a 3 way legal battle.
Corporate doesn’t really care as they don’t pick up the repair bills.

The big issue is why does DMCA protect error codes on privately owned equipment?
 
Broken machine means easier closing and opening shifts. such a bitch to clean and assemble/disassemble. That would be one counter closers only night task. Way faster to clean all the grills and vats than that machine.

I wonder if the profit of the ice cream is just so low its not worth the labor anymore but they are forced to have the machines.
 
Lakados said:
Replace the contract with who???
That’s the $900 million dollar question isn’t it.
Click to expand...

I think you've got it there. Sure, there are a few huge companies that can do similar work, but the cost to McDonald's and their franchises would be significant. This contract only hurts the franchises and the customers so what would motivate corporate to do anything about it? It's not worth the trouble.

I think the truth is that the DMCA needs to change a lot faster than it does. The DMCA seems to be the number one tool corporations like to shove up the exhausts of their own customers.
 
Twisted Kidney said:
I think you've got it there. Sure, there are a few huge companies that can do similar work, but the cost to McDonald's and their franchises would be significant. This contract only hurts the franchises and the customers so what would motivate corporate to do anything about it? It's not worth the trouble.

I think the truth is that the DMCA needs to change a lot faster than it does. The DMCA seems to be the number one tool corporations like to shove up the exhausts of their own customers.
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There’s also the fact that Taylor also holds the contracts for the deep fryers and the grills, so getting rid of the ice cream could mean getting rid of all 3, reddit says that's at least a $2 million dollar job and the average franchise only makes $153k a year so that would erase 14 years worth of profits for most of those franchises.

Corporate might not care too much but the franchises can’t take that hit.
 
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Lakados said:
The big issue is why does DMCA protect error codes on privately owned equipment?
Click to expand...
Yeah. That's bonkers. I see how they managed it; the data is encrypted, so breaking it becomes a DMCA issue. That's not what the DMCA was really intended for, but the letter of the law covers it. The DMCA as a whole is garbage,
 
Mos Eisley said:
Billable hours.

Ah yes, fond memories of getting paid by the hour. ** heaving laughter **

This will be vertically integrated soon, I would think. And with cardboard mcslurry spoons.
Just go back to simple ice cream and eliminate the requirement for the two hoppers. Have a mcbarista toss some Hershey's syrup on top. Complete with tip jar.
Click to expand...
I was going to like your comment, but I saw the tip jar...... :p

Anyway, I haven't been to a McDs in ages, last time I was shocked to see how much the prices were. IFFSs, why do you need a smart IC machine, did soft serve IC change or are people too stupid to work the manual type of machines? I know, I bet the employees couldn't measure the correct servings a decide to let a computer to do it instead, just like automated ordering for stores now.......
 
Man, what a f*cked situation. Look at all those circuit boards inside the machine in the article pic! Why does it need all that!? Not everything needs to be computerized.

I'm a manager at a regional fast-food chain and wow am I glad we don't have to deal with this crap. Our ice cream machine is an absolute beast of a floorstanding unit that's purely electromechanical, makes better ice cream than McDonald's, and never breaks down. Cleaning? No problem, just run buckets of hot water thru a couple times a day and give it some bleach. McDonald's franchisees are getting scammed.
 
NattyKathy said:
Man, what a f*cked situation. Look at all those circuit boards inside the machine in the article pic! Why does it need all that!? Not everything needs to be computerized.

I'm a manager at a regional fast-food chain and wow am I glad we don't have to deal with this crap. Our ice cream machine is an absolute beast of a floorstanding unit that's purely electromechanical, makes better ice cream than McDonald's, and never breaks down. Cleaning? No problem, just run buckets of hot water thru a couple times a day and give it some bleach. McDonald's franchisees are getting scammed.
Click to expand...
They really are. It's something shady like major owners of the McDonald's franchise owning Taylor. I don't remember the exact details but there are some good YouTube videos that dive deep into the scam.
 
NattyKathy said:
Man, what a f*cked situation. Look at all those circuit boards inside the machine in the article pic! Why does it need all that!? Not everything needs to be computerized.

I'm a manager at a regional fast-food chain and wow am I glad we don't have to deal with this crap. Our ice cream machine is an absolute beast of a floorstanding unit that's purely electromechanical, makes better ice cream than McDonald's, and never breaks down. Cleaning? No problem, just run buckets of hot water thru a couple times a day and give it some bleach. McDonald's franchisees are getting scammed.
Click to expand...
Based on what I can see it has a crapload of sensors, sensors and more sensors. But that unit goes from one temp extreme to another between chilling and heating for cleaning.
Anybody with a self cleaning stove knows how long the onboard chips for that lasts if you use them frequently.
If they moved that control board into an external unit insulated from the body it would probably help.
Forget planned obsolescence, that is planed job security.
 
I worked at a little ice cream shop for 4 years in the 90s. The soft serve machine there never broke down. I wouldn't be surprised if they had some settings super tight in these mcdonalds machines to make money on repairs.
 
auntjemima said:
I don't see the financial gain for McDonald's to always have their machines broken...-
Seems like a quick way to lose revenue.
Click to expand...
for who?
the corporation gave one company exclusive contract and they pay back up the chain to some McExec(s) while milking the franchises for additional fees.
the good old boy system, corporate welfare, never a problem until it gets abused.

they arent actually broken.
the issue is overfilling the machine just a bit too much trips sensors and locks out the machine til a rep can show up read the codes from a handheld that the franchisees cant purchase and reset it, while pretending to fix it.
the machine isnt broken in any way in most cases and can be easily put back in working order, just drain the extra sauce and move on.. except for the lockout.

someone made a cheap device to connect and read the codes to diagnose the problem, reset and restart the machine, but then was taken to court because of that contract.
but the cat is already out of the bag.


dont be a do gooder, it could cost you in court.
 
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