Torontonian shocked after comparing prices at different McDonald’s: 'SHOULDN'T BE ALLOWED'

After paying more for a McFlurry at Union Station, one Toronto resident set out to analyze McDonald’s’ pricing around the city – and the results were surprising.

“Lately I’d noticed that I paid more for a McFlurry at Union Station than near my home,” Redditor Agitated_Data2270 wrote on the Toronto subreddit.

After reminiscing with a friend about the cost of McDoubles (now almost $4 compared to the good old days of $1.59), the Redditor “fell down my own little rabbit hole” to investigating the fast-food chain’s pricing policies.

How they analyzed the data

Using an AI chatbot confirmed that “pricing was no longer meant to be consistent across locations,” they noted.

The Redditor took it a step further by comparing prices for various items using the McDonald’s app, going through the menu and changing the location for pickup.

And then because they had the time, they also created an elaborate, colour-coded spreadsheet to share the raw data.

They admitted that while it’s “not an exhaustive survey” (could’ve fooled us!), they did try to include a variety of neighbourhoods.

Survey says …

“The patterns were consistent (or inconsistent) enough that I thought it was worth sharing,” they added.

Nine restaurants were used for the basis of comparison, including Union Station, Dufferin Mall, 1168 St. Clair Ave. W. (at Dufferin St.), 356 Yonge St. (just south of Gerrard St. W.) as well as one location in Scarborough and another in North York.

The various menu items compared included Big Macs and Quarter Pounders, McNuggets and McFlurrys, and even just medium fries and drinks.

And while some items were the same, or virtually the same across the board (McDoubles, Junior Chickens and vanilla cones), other menu options showed startling markups.

They noted: “What surprised me when I did this wasn’t that some locations were more expensive overall, it was that different items are cheaper or more expensive at different locations and even the cost to make something into a meal varies within a location depending on what you are adding to.

The Reddit user detailed: “Some items are tightly fixed across the city but others show 20 or 30% price ranges. Double cheeseburgers seem to be targeted with the highest combo upgrade costs.”

Reaction to the markups

Most social media users were shocked that the prices differed at all.

“Wait, the prices aren’t the same everywhere??? Whaaat?,” one person noted.

A second user agreed: “This shouldn’t be allowed. If it’s a chain then the prices should be set by the chain.”

A third simply wrote: “McPisssed.”

Meanwhile, others were more impressed by the work put into the self-imposed study.

“This person deserves a quantitative research award. Wow.”

However, another joked, “Whoever did this chart needs to get their cholesterol tested asap.”

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