By Clark 
In an effort to standardize the eating experience for both customers and staff, McDonald’s said last year that it would start to remove its self-serve drink dispensers from inside its restaurants. Customers may now have to accept yet another substantial rule modification regarding McDonald’s soft drinks.
With the impending removal of self-serve drink dispensers, it is possible that some McDonald’s locations could begin charging customers to replenish their drinks. Customers who place their orders inside a McDonald’s restaurant will have to depend on personnel to fill their beverages behind the counter once the soda fountains are gone. It is up to the discretion of individual franchisees to determine whether to charge for drink refills requested by dine-in customers at the counter, the corporation recently acknowledged to USA Today.
Thankfully, self-serve drink dispensers will still be available in McDonald’s until 2032. In other words, customers may be able to take advantage of the chain’s free refills for a long time to come when they dine in-store.
Even once the self-service kiosks are removed, it is highly probable that numerous franchisees will opt to keep providing free drink refills. But rumor has it that one McDonald’s has begun charging for refills that customers can get at the counter. According to a recent Uber Eats driver who spoke with the news site Marketplace, a McDonald’s in Pittsburgh has already removed the self-serve machines and begun charging customers to replenish them.
It will be interesting to watch whether other locations will replicate the success of the Pittsburgh site. Meanwhile, consumers are not happy about the possibility that they will no longer be able to get free refills at McDonald’s.
A client expressed their disappointment in a recent post on X, asking, “What is the world coming to?”
“This is completely ridiculous,” someone else commented.
Since workers currently pour customers’ drinks at the drive-thru, their experience at McDonald’s won’t alter even if the self-serve stations go.
A new Grandma McFlurry, with crunchy candy pieces, syrup, and creamy vanilla soft serve, has been introduced by McDonald’s. It has 600 calories. Customers who are interested in purchasing the dessert shouldn’t wait too long because it will only be available for a short time.
Amid increasing criticism of the fast food chain’s pricing and perceived lack of value, CNBC reports that McDonald’s is preparing to introduce a $5 value meal on June 25. A four-piece Chicken McNuggets (170 calories), fries (230 calories per small order), a drink, and a customer’s choice of a McChicken (400 calories) or McDouble (400 calories) are supposedly part of the meal.