Does McDonald's in the US charge for ketchup????

[Heidi]

On Tuesday evening a friend/colleague and I had to drive to Geneva for a meeting. It's a four-hour drive and since neither of us had eaten dinner before we set out, Davide talked me into a quick stop at McDonald's. (I know, I know.)

Anyway, after I got my "Royale" (that's what a Quarter Pounder is called here) and got to our table, I noticed there was no ketchup with my fries. The condiment bar had only napkins and straws. So I went back to the counter and asked for four ketchups (two for me, two for Davide).

Guy at the counter hands me four packets of ketchup, then says: "Paiement!"
Me: "Pardon?"

Guy does something on his cash register, then pantomimes what I understood to mean "money," then shows me on the register display: CHF 0.80.

I don't object to paying for ketchup, but I was surprised.

[hobbit709]

1. Don't know, haven't been inside a McD in 25 years.

But if they thought they could get get away with it they would.

[Heidi]

3. This was my first fast food in 11 years.

I was surprised that I didn't become violently ill. :scared:

[flying rabbit]

2. Nope!

Another reason why we are the world's greatest country. Free vegetables for all!:patriot:

[Heidi]

4. Hahahahahahaha!

From the surprised look on my face, I'm sure the counter guy knew I was American. :rofl:

[Kali]

28. ...

:spray: :rofl:

[Paper Roses]

5. I stop at Mc Donald's only for coffee. There are no condiments of

any kind available. Not even salt and pepper.

I now make it a point to ask the order-taker to add the cream and sugar for me so I don't have to wait in line again to ask for packets and those silly little tubs of cream.
They now have a gizmo that measures the exact amount of cream and sugar to each cup. I believe the sugar is 1/2 teaspoon. Same with the cream. I ask for 3 cream, 3 sugar. Sounds like I use a lot but it amounts to very little in a medium size drink.

I have not been charged for the cream and sugar, I wonder if others are charged for the condiments. If not, I bet it is coming!

[WolverineDG]

6. Yeah, I was stumped the first time if I wanted my coffee "prepared"

or with cream & sugar on the side. I take it with cream, no sugar, & it never fails that the person at the window tries to foist Equal/Nutrasweet or Splenda on me instead. Sweet coffee? bleah.

dg

[WolverineDG]

7. I've seen this locally & in some other places

not every McD's. But only if you want more than 2 or 3 packets.

dg

[Heidi]

16. Ketchup is my little nephew's favorite food (besides sweet-and-sour sauce).

He's six years old and lives in Oklahoma. Perhaps McDonald's is preparing for the worldwide ketchup shortage that my nephew will likely trigger. :rofl:

[Orrex]

8. Know who I blame?

[Call Me Wesley]

9. LOL!

That's exactly what I told her, too.

[Orrex]

10. It was the first thing that caught my eye on the receipt.

Don't tempt the wrath of M. Khan!

[Heidi]

15. End of thread. Star Trek has been invoked,

and Call Me Wesley has taken the wheel. :rofl:

[theNotoriousP.I.G.]

11. They charge for it here too Heidi

Total scam if you ask me. But since HerrHerr is no longer here to drag me to fast food restaurants, I don't have to think about it ever again.

[Heidi]

13. Were you surprised the first time you noticed

the charge for ketchup? I just know that the counter guy surmised that I'm American by the look on my face. :yoiks:

P.S. :hug:

[theNotoriousP.I.G.]

17. I was surprised

and a bit outraged. Of course I was a bit outraged about a lot of things when I first got here. Now I just roll with the punches.

Thanks for the :hug:

[jmm]

12. I haven't asked for ketchup from McDonald's in years

I don't know of any fast food places that charge extra for condiments but I do know some neighborhoods where they have signs rationing them off so you can only get so many per item.

[Heidi]

14. I wasn't sure I'd be able to get the fries down without ketchup.

Although I hadn't had McDonald's fries in more than a decade, they've always been my favorite fries, despite that "throat bomb" feeling I'd get if I had 'em without ketchup. And it was never from eating ketchupless fries too quickly; a single McD fry--however yummy in the mouth--always kinda stuck in my throat and required an extra swallow or gulp of Coke.

I wouldn't be surprised if McD's fries were engineered to require liquid (like a soft drink or ketchup) to propel them to the stomach. :rofl:

[krispos42]

24. Probably... ever notice how wide McD's straws are?

"Comsume mass quantities"

[Tommy_Carcetti]

18. Why do they call it a Royale with Cheese?

[Heidi]

19. Dunno. My order was repeated to me as "Royale du Fromage."

:shrug:

[hayu_lol]

20. Did ;you consider that in Geneva...

catsup(orig. spelling)is imported.

[Heidi]

27. Why would that make any difference?

I live here. Most things here are imported, including paper napkins, but McDonald's doesn't charge for paper napkins.

[krispos42]

22. It's a reference to "Pulp Fiction"

:-)

They haven't used anything but metric for a couple of centuries over where you are, right?

"The 113-grammer with cheese" just doesn't sound the same :-)

[blueamy66]

21. charged me for ketchup

in McD's in London...I was dumbfounded...

[krispos42]

23. Not the ones in Minnesota

We have nifty pressurized ketchup dispensers in a lot of them now. But on the occasions I use the drive-through and ask for ketchup (rarely) they just throw a small handful (about 4) in the bag.

In related news, did you hear that Heinz is redesigning the ketchup packet? Now it will be much larger and be able to serve either as a dipping-friendly tub or as a conventional squeeze-it-out packet.

[Chellee]

25. not for condiments

but Burger King charged my Grandma 50 cents to cut her chicken sandwich in half.

[huskerlaw]

26. God no...

can you imagine the rebellion?! The people would revolt! Health care for all? Meh. Can't really be bothered to care. Paying for ketchup at McD's? OH HELL NO. ;)

American McD's have huge containers full of ketchup that pump it out by the gallon. But if you do drive-thru they usually only toss a small handful of packets in, and only if you ask.

There is, however, a BBQ sauce to McNugget formulated ratio and if you want more BBQ sauce than the ratio allows, you have to pay for it. It's something like 2 BBQ packets for a 10-piece, 1 packet for a 6-piece, etc.

I still recall my horror at the size of the drinks at the McD's in Europe. I was out with some friends in Gent, Belgium and I was dying of thirst. I saw a McD's and I was instantly thinking, "you know, I could really go for a super big icy Coke right now." So we go wait in a very long line and I discover that the "extra large" drink there is a US Medium. And they put about 3 pieces of ice in it. Maaaaaaaaaaaajor disappointment. Also, no refills. Anywhere. Ever. In all of Europe. Made all the more offensive by the teeeeeeny tiiiiiny size of the flipping cups. I guess that works out well, since you have to pay to use the restroom. Don't get me wrong, I loved Europe, but tiny drinks and paying to pee (even at a restaurant where I was a paying customer, excuse me) were high on my WTF list.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

29. It actually depends on the franchisee.

Some of the real cheapskates do it.

[Phoonzang]

30. Jesus, you could mention the word "ham" here and there would be multiple political

screeds about it. YES we know...liberals aren't supposed to eat fast food because of corporatist...something something consumerism.