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Ever roll up to a McDonald’s craving a McFlurry, only to be hit with the dreaded “ice cream machine is broken” response? You’re not alone. This saga of perpetually broken machines has become a national punchline. But guess what? The feds have finally had enough, and are making it their problem, too!
That’s right, the higher-ups in Washington are taking aim at this frozen food fiasco. The government wants to make it easier for McDonald’s to fix these ice cream machines. Apparently, there are some laws in place that make repairs tricky, essentially holding the chain hostage to a the ultimate reason behind why meaning you might wait forever for your McFlurry fix.
McDonald’s uses a specific brand of machine, and by law, only technicians licensed by that brand can touch them. These repairs can be super expensive at $300 per fifteen minutes, and take ages to schedule. No wonder the machines are always on the fritz…
According to reports: “the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) antitrust division called for exemptions for “commercial soft serve machines” from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a law that makes it difficult for franchise owners to do their own repairs or hire a third-party repair technician.”
So, the feds are looking to change the rules. They want to make it possible for more repair folks to get their hands on these machines, which would hopefully mean faster fixes and shorter wait times for our McFlurry dreams to come true. McDonald’s says their soft serve equipment breakdown can lead to “$625 per day loss of sales … there are long wait times for authorizer repairs, and … a licensed repair technician charges over $300 per 15 minutes.”
The letter specifically stated: “In the Agencies’ view, renewing and expanding repair-related exemptions would promote competition in markets for replacement parts, repair, and maintenance services, as well as facilitate competition in markets for repairable products.”
This situation has become a bigger issue than just broken ice cream machines. It’s about something called “right to repair”, and how people should be able to fix the stuff they own without jumping through hoops. McDonald’s franchise owners (the folks who actually run the restaurants) are also on board with this, because these broken machines are costing them money.
In 2022, there was a $900 million lawsuit brewing between three companies, Kytch, Taylor, and McDonald’s. The suit was started by the company, Kytch, which makes devices to fix the ice cream machines. They alleged that McDonald’s and the manufacturer of the ‘broken’ machines…were teaming up to drive Kytch out of the market. McDonald’s tried to get the case dismissed but it’s ongoing as of today, with no resolution in sight.
McDonald’s finds their ice cream machines in the middle of a battle with federal regulators pushing for the right-to-repair movement to pass. It’s approval would mean large corporations wouldn’t be able to monopolize the repair of any machines, enabling smaller businesses to get their hands in the pot.
Will this be the end of the “broken ice cream machine” era? We’ll have to wait and see. But hey, at least Uncle Sam is on our side in the fight for our McFlurries (and Shamrock Shakes, and Oreo Blizzards…). A win for anyone who has tried to order ice cream in the past, only to be told, “Sorry, our machine is down…”
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