A woman shared in a viral TikTok how the McDonald’s app accepted her points for a Happy Meal… but didn’t give her a discount. The reason why is serving as a customer PSA for a common issue.
User Kiki Amlaw (@kikicatryna) said that she was “out and about” and her 3-year-old was hungry. The content creator decided to go to McDonald’s, believing she had enough points to receive a free Happy Meal. But once she ordered a cheeseburger Happy Meal, McDonald’s attempted to charge her $5.41.
Amlaw and an employee argued in circles about the discount. The creator even gave the employee an ultimatum: Either give her points back or give her a free Happy Meal.
Turns out, on this day the McDonald’s app did not allow for cheeseburger Happy Meals to be redeemed via points—just regular hamburger Happy Meals. (Cheeseburgers were taken off the Happy Meal menu in 2018, but even then the restaurant giant said it’d honor requests for them. They appear to be back.)
Amlaw refused to pay since the app removed 6,000 points, dropping her from 14,000 to 8,000. That’s when the manager got involved, saying to Amlaw that she could only redeem points for a hamburger Happy Meal. She then allegedly refused to permit Amlaw from adding cheese.
Instead, the manager tossed a cheeseburger into the trash and gave her a plain hamburger.
“Great job, McDonald’s,” Amlaw concluded the video.
Amlaw told the Daily Dot that this incident took place in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
@kikicatryna Do better @mcdonalds just add cheeseburgers to your happy meals. #momof6 #twinmom ♬ original sound – Kiki Amlaw
“I did contact corporate via their app and got a personal email from the area manager of that McDonald’s. She was appalled at her manager’s behavior over this. She offered for me to go to another McDonald’s and get a free Happy Meal. Unfortunately, those McDonald’s aren’t near my house, so she sent me coupons for free meals,” she wrote via TikTok direct message.
Despite the incident, she still plans on going to McDonald’s, but not that location.
“The point of my video wasn’t to get free product, but to let people know how ridiculous and wasteful that manager was. I offered to pay for the slice of cheese many times and she was just so rude about it,” she stated.
The Daily Dot reached out to McDonald’s via press email regarding the video. The video garnered 473,000 views as of Sunday, where viewers pinned the blame on the app instead of McDonald’s.
“ok so it’s not McDonald’s you talk to it’s the app customer service they need to add the cheeseburger happy meal to it I have this all day at work,” one viewer wrote.
“It’s the app issue not really McDonald’s for the happy meals we promo it off but the bigger things are causing bigger issues,” a second agreed.
However, some shared how to get around this.
“order plain hamburger and add cheese. this is how I always have to order for my son,” one user wrote.
“the app states its not eligible for a cheeseburger happy meal. We always tell them to order a hamburger add cheese and let them pay the 40 cents,” a second commented.
“If you click ‘view eligible items’”’ on the coupon it will tell you which ones qualify,” a third stated.
Others shared similar experiences.
“Happens to me all the time. I always ask for the receipt and sure enough I’m always charged for the happy meals AND my points are gone,” one person shared.
“They had to order just the hamburger and then put add cheese. They did this to me at my McDonald’s and I threwa hissy ffit,” a second recalled.
“ugh some employees at mcdonalds argued with me about that. then I have to tell them what to do. Hamburger happy meal, add cheese. there’s no upcharge,” a third said.
Next time you order via the app, spot-check the eligible items. Hopefully, the manager won’t throw-out your cheese.
