McDonald’s customers furious over new Happy Meal upcharge

If you order a Happy Meal, the toy is supposed to be part of the deal. That's why some customers were caught completely off guard after discovering they had been charged extra for the latest Happy Meal collectible. Of course, many aren't happy about it.

The controversy started when a customer in Canada shared on Reddit that their Happy Meal came with an unexpected $1.79 upcharge for the current FIFA-themed Squishmallows toy.

Assuming it was a mistake, they contacted McDonald's customer service. Instead, the company confirmed the charge. According to McDonald's, while a standard Happy Meal toy is included with every meal, the limited-time FIFA Squishmallows promotion carries an additional cost because it's considered a special collectible.

The customer later received 10,000 MyMcDonald's Rewards points as a goodwill gesture, but that and the explanation weren't enough to stop the online backlash.

The issue for many parents isn't just the extra $1.79 but the lack of alternative toy options. That means if a child wants the toy that comes with the current Happy Meal promotion, parents may have to pay the additional charge. 

For context, the current Happy Meal promotion features 23 collectible Squishmallows inspired by FIFA mascots and dressed in soccer jerseys. At the same time, McDonald's has been promoting special World Cup meals featuring collectible cups showcasing soccer stars like David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Lamine Yamal, Christian Pulisic, Alphonso Davies, Son Heung-min, Ronaldinho, and Santiago Giménez. The campaign is one of McDonald's biggest promotional partnerships of the year.

Not every McDonald's is doing this

After more people weighed in, the original poster shared an update saying the charge appears to be limited to one restaurant rather than all McDonald's locations. Some customers said they could not reproduce the fee in the McDonald's app, while others questioned whether individual franchisees were handling the promotion differently. Even so, McDonald's reportedly stood behind the restaurant's decision, saying the charge was appropriate for the limited-time collectible.

There may have been another explanation

One McDonald's employee offered a different theory. According to the employee, restaurants recently added the ability to sell FIFA collectibles separately alongside any meal because sales of the World Cup-themed adult meal had been slower than expected. They suggested the customer may have accidentally been charged for the adult FIFA collectible rather than the Happy Meal toy itself.

Whether that is what actually happened hasn't been confirmed, but it sure offered a different angle to the messy situation.

Source: New York Post