Having to use an app to order from a drive through restaurant to get the food down to semi-affordable is bullshit and you know it. What about people (for whatever reason) don't have access to a smartphone with the McDonald's app?

Oh I see, you order fries and a drink using a deal to get $1.50, wait fifteen minutes, and then order a burger with another deal?

I use that coupon every once and awhile(when my family decides they want McD), but that still makes it 3$ more than what it used to be, and requires me to use a coupon when I could redeem for points or use something else. And thats also forcing me to use their app. Which the app itself is actual trash now. They removed the search bar for items, they added point expiration(ok this was awhile ago) they now charge you immediately upon placing the order, despite not actually starting the order until your GPS detects you are at the establishment. Theres no ability to cancel and order once placed, regardless if its started being made. Their FAQ page intentionally lies to you telling you that every purchase is final, despite the fact that if they haven't started making the order, it will eventually refund the purchase. They added a waiver for class actions to the apps TOS meaning if you want to sue you must use third party attribution. It massively harvests data. All for the benefit of paying more for something that I used to be able to spend 12$ not even 10 years ago on.

For context on why the no ability to cancel and lying annoys me: I worked closing shift for years, but it was a 50/50 chance that if I went to mcdonalds (which was the only food joint open when I got out cause everywhere else closed at like 10/1030) it would be packed. What I would do is place the order when I got out, and then look at the establishment on the way through and if it was packed I would cancel the order in the app and just not go there. Due to this change in mechanics, I'm now charged immediately when i place, and not given the ability to cancel. Which would be fine if they actually made the food when they took my money, but they still don't start making the food until you are there, so the only thing it did was force me to go to a slammed fast food joint, wait 40 minutes instead of my normal 15 for my food(mcdonalds takes forever to cook late at night cause nothing is prepped), and overall make the entire experience less enjoyable from a consumer POV. The screwed up part is, they didn't tell anyone they were switching to that system. I placed my order like I always did, skipped the restaurant because it was slammed like I sometimes did, and then found I no longer had a cancel button when I got home. So I had to find the FAQ section that moreorless said "all purchases final no refunds". To which I called the restaurant and they said "oh just wait like 3 or 4 days it'll refund" and it did.

The end result was the same though regardless. since then they opened a dominos that is open until like 2 AM, and as long as your order is placed by like 8 or 9 PM you can schedule in advance for when i got out. Which made my nightly cost 10$ for a large pizza, or 20 for 2 pizzas and a thing of sticks, which was significantly less than I was paying mcdonalds for a meal that only lasted me that one meal. It's not worth the money regardless of their deal program anymore.