See, World of Warcraft figured this shit out almost two decades ago now. Back in the day, they wanted to encourage more regular, daily logins so they added an "unrested XP penalty" where you would gain less experience points after earning a certain amount every day. Players absolutely hated this. They fixed the problem by saying the initial, normal XP gain was a "rested XP bonus", while the penalized XP gain was just the "normal" XP gain, while in reality, none of the numbers actually changed, they still rolled out an XP penalty dressed up like a bonus

If they just said "We'll give you a discount if you show up while it's dead" while quietly jacking up all the prices, people probably would have loved that shit

"To clarify, Wendy's will not implement surge pricing, which is the practice of raising prices when demand is highest," Wendy's Vice President Heidi Schauer said in an email to NPR.

Wendy's didn't provide many additional details, but it said in a separate statement that the digital menus could allow the company to offer discounts to customers during slower times of day.

Rob Shumsky, a professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, suggested it could actually mean lower prices for Wendy's patrons.

"They talked about, for example, getting more breakfast customers in," Shumsky said. "They might actually reduce breakfast prices at certain times in order to encourage people to come during what they currently have as relatively low-demand periods."

They’re still going to do it and so will everyone else

Wendy's didn't provide many additional details, but it said in a separate statement that the digital menus could allow the company to offer discounts to customers during slower times of day.

Don't worry! The prices won't be higher at busier times, they'll just be lower at slower times

Bullying works, folks

"If [the] price is the same throughout the entire day, they are actually losing revenue during those peak period times," Shumsky said.

This is your brain on orthodox economics.

I mean, what do you do in a drive through when you get to the window to pay and it's like 3x more expensive than you expected? Just drive away? I'm sure that's what people would argue, while completely ignoring that it's a massive social taboo and 99% of people would just pay because of social pressure.

Also, what happens if the place starts making the food after you order, but before you pay (so you can get your food more quickly and efficiently!). Have you committed theft, or defrauded the business by deciding not to pay? I mean probably not, but I'd hate to be the first person sued to test if it holds up in court.

Maybe work on the shit quality their food has fallen into instead of being cheeky online.

I knew it

Bullying works. Join a union.

Metaverse, crypto, gig economy, generative AI, poverty wages

How much more evidence do we need that the average person doesn’t know what is best for them

industries that rely on the relationship between a company and its customers — such as health care — likely won't embrace surge pricing.

"likely"

Sorry you were shot when a gunman opened fire on a school killing 10 and injuring 23, but due to the sudden, unexplained surge of patients with gunshot wounds, the bill for tending your injuries is gonna be $80,000.

The only way this would make sense is in the form of a happy hour or a lunch special which I guess are all just reverse surge pricing, but can't just simply make things cost less in off peak hours in god's Amerikkka.