McDonald’s Worker Shares What Really Happens With Drink Refills, Sparking Debate

Many restaurants and businesses do make good money off of charging per drink, especially if a lot of people want to refill their Coke or Sprite. However, when giving free refills, this can cut into their profits.

McDonald's is a place that can sometimes have customers that return and ask for refills on their beverages. However, not all people who work at McDonald's locations want to give people free refills.

nnennaaaaa6 shared a video showcasing what happens when a customer asks for a refill on a drink that they had already drunk. Essentially, they're getting somewhat of a refill.

The video showcases that nnennaaaaa6 takes off the cap and fills the cup with nothing but ice. No liquid or soda going in there, which you really want to have refilled, just enough ice to get to the top.

When you add more ice to the cup, the spare space in the cup shrinks. Basically, the liquid fills to the top around the ice and the cup looks like it's refilled, but it's the same amount of liquid.

Many said this was "messed up" and a bad way to mess around with customers who are just simply trying to enjoy their meal with a beverage. It's not right to "mess" with customers.

"Y’all want that $20/hr, but then this the type of effort you put into work… maybe the issue is the people, not the system," said one other person on TikTok.

Commenters were confused as to why people would do this in the first place. Many pointed out that the soda doesn't come out of anyone's paycheck and it's fine to give people more.

One person said they used to work at another fast food location and when people asked for stuff, they always gave it to them. Sometimes, they would throw in extras just to do it.

"It doesn't come out of your paycheck," they said.

A commenter also pointed out that the more that people do this, the more they will have to refill the ice machine. And, who wants to have to lug that extra heavy ice around to refill the machine that often?

In the end, I'm going to let everyone know that it's very obvious and really point-blank if a worker just puts a lot of ice in your drink. For one, I'll be heavier. Second, you'll finish it in about .5 seconds.