Whenever customers are inconvenienced, businesses try to compensate by making their purchase free, discounting it, or handing them coupons. But in a video with more than 24,000 views, a Sonic customer claims she was “swindled” after an employee gave her expired coupons.
“I just tried to go to Sonic to get a Coke and their system was down,” TikTok user Maggie (@maggielmae) recounted while sitting in her car. “So, they were, like, apologizing to me and saying they were closed.”
But she didn’t leave empty-handed.
“Then, handed me two free drink things,” she said, pulling out two coupons for drinks. “At first, I was like, ‘Oh. That’s so cool. Thank you.’” When Maggie flips the camera, she zooms-in on the red print. “Hurry. Offer good until December 31, 2022,” she read out loud.
She paused, dumbfounded. “So, I was gonna go tomorrow and use these at the Sonic by my house,” she said. “Now I’m either gonna look like a crazy person and they’re gonna say ‘no’ or they’re just gonna take them, no questions asked.” The incident left her in a bind. “Nobody’s gonna believe me. What am I gonna do? How am I gonna get a Coke?”
She demands in the caption, tagging the fast food joint, “@sonic explain.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Maggie via Instagram direct message and TikTok comment as well as Sonic via press email.
Can you use expired coupons at Sonic?
Customers online say that most Sonic workers don’t bother to check. But as Google‘s AI-powered search results note, “Sonic explicitly states that their coupons expire and cannot be redeemed after the listed date.”
That’s largely because promotional codes change. “Promo Codes DO expire. Marketing communications (email, text, push notifications, etc.) will include the valid dates for the promo codes,” per Sonic’s FAQ page.
There may be a loophole all the same.
“I have used 5 year expired coupons before at sonic. They don’t care. The coupons just go in there trash and the manager uses her free drink code anyway,” one viewer wrote.
“[Their] whole system has been down for days and they have to honor those coupons my local sonic said my order came twice to them so I got 1 order this week and will get the other next week,” a second shared.
Even self-described former Sonic employees confirmed this.
“They’ll honor it no question. Most the time we have to hand things out so we don’t get bad reviews or calls. It doesn’t matter if it’s expired they still have a button they can click,” a third stated.
“I worked at sonic for 3 years and we took them no questions asked. Most times we didn’t even ask for them and brought you a drink,” a fourth commented.
@maggielmae @sonic explain
♬ original sound – Maggie
Redditors weigh in
In a r/mildyinfuriating subreddit, one user had a similar experience. “Got my son a kids meal at Sonic. They included a coupon for a free ice cream. It expired in 2020.” Another redditor offered an idea of what to do.
“Let the employees know that the coupon is expired! They should be notified so they stop giving away these expired coupons to other customers,” they said.
Despite the reassurances, customers should check with their local Sonic and explain the situation.
Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
