Issue #005, McDonald's free veggies at selected branches

I discovered, by accident, that Mcdonalds' offered free vegetables at selected restaurants. Therefore the purpose of this story is to quench my curiosity about the final outcome and the burning question is, 'If extra vegetables on your burger are free why do some branches charge?'. It's not about the money but the principle which leads to more questions like, where do I find a McDonald's with free veggies?.

It all started early one morning about 1 am, just knocked off the night shift and passed by Mcdonald's for the cheapest and most filling item like a happy meal burger only and they come standard bun, cheese, and patty so I asked for additional lettuce, tomato, and gherkin and was told
that extra veggies are free at
Mcdonalds, which totally blew my mind. The information came to me I didn't go looking for it.

When I remember, I order my special at McDonald's but I prefer the chilli cheese or big mac burgers but on this particular day the McDonalds 'T' started charging and I thought the free veggies season had ended. The folks in my life didn't believe me and I thought I should record it the next time I get the opportunity to win the debate with my family. 

Boomshaka! the opportunity appeared and I remembered to do everything. On the 27 Feb 2022 at McDonald's 'S' while it was a heavy day for all of us and we ordered some happy meals because we couldn't eat much and I remembered to ask for extra veggies and they charged me. I had the chance to grab a voice note and the manager said it is because of the renovations and the other branches have not yet moved over to the "Experience the future" theme as they did and the new system doesn't allow for complimentary veggies, therefore all items must be paid for. 

The free veggie season is over, life goes on, Covid was hard on us all. I still order extra lettuce, tomato, and gherkin for my happy meals it just makes the burger juicer, and surprisingly on the 12 Mar at the McDonald 'N' and I received them with no hassle and no charge. I asked the manager the same question and her response was different, all branches should be more or less the same but maybe they are 'owner operated' and is different in various areas, she assumed.

On 18 Mar back at McDonald's 'T' we received a receipt and confirmation from the manager that each branch is operated differently and some prices might be different depending on which outlet you go to. Now we just need to build a database of where to go in the city to get extra free veggies. 

But I had to do some due diligence and decided to go further because I’m curious as to where all this will lead to and queried with Macdonald's head office and it took some time to figure out how to use the chatbox on the website and decided to email customer care instead and take it from there on the 15th,

So I did and I was excited to get a response. The consultant assisting me needed additional information and I forwarded it to her but she didn’t call back. I phoned on the 17th the customer care line and requested for the consultant by name to set up rapport but no luck. that was the last we liaised.

On the 24th I sent another email with the same questions as before. Here's the big question or rather questions.

1. Does all Mcdonald's South Africa offer free veggies? If not, I would like to promote the ones that do because they can be trusted to uphold the principle of it all.

2. If the branches are 'owners operated' independently, will I still expect the same protocol and system at all restaurants?

3. Finally, the kids want to know why there aren't any more books in the kiddie's happy meal? They received books once at McDonald's near us and would like to encourage more reading initiatives. 

But the questions were not attended to. Since then I have been searching for free veggie McDonalds and so far my list has 2 McDonalds that charge for extra veggies. I can’t eat a lot of take-outs so this research will take some time to complete. 

On the 24th at 15:38 more or less, I called Macdonald's head office and finally managed to get a proper response from customer care and confirmed that some branches are 'owner operated' and you can expect a price difference depending on the outlet you choose to use.

So that concludes my curiosity drive and the big question is answered. Now the hunt begins to find the Mcdonald's that has that special touch of free veggies.

If your area has a Mcdonald's please order the extras and see what they will offer you and if you have any similar information regarding this topic please leave a note in the message bar below.

See you now now.

Posted on the 30 Mar 2022