Forty-nine cent hamburgers and 69 cent cheeseburgers on Wednesdays at McDonald’s proves one thing: Gainesville is lovin’ it.
Maybe a little too much.
Ten of the McDonald’s locations in Gainesville and the surrounding area, owned by J-Curt Inc., promote the deal on Wednesdays. Because of its popularity, the McDonald’s stores now have to limit customers to 10 burgers per order.
Terrance Troope, one of the managers at the McDonald’s at 3418 SW Williston Road, said before the limit was placed on customers, it was not unusual for people to make orders of up to 100 hamburgers at a time.
“Customers will freeze the burgers so that they can eat them throughout the week,” Troope said.
The store was never in danger of running out of food, he said. The problem was that such a large order could hold up the kitchen and the drive-thru line.
Andrew Neale, a 21-year-old UF engineering senior, said he goes to McDonald’s on Wednesdays to take advantage of the promotion.
Neale normally goes through the drive-thru after class and takes the burgers home.
“The drive-thru lines are always packed when I go,” Neale said. “I can’t imagine what they would be like if there wasn’t a limit.”
The McDonald’s at 3826 SW Archer Road also has had to crack down on those taking the promotion to the extreme.
Joanna Camper, a support manager at the McDonald’s on Archer Road, said that many times people will place an order and then re-enter the drive-thru line to order again.
The McDonald’s on Archer Road is one of the busiest in the area because it attracts UF students, Gainesville residents and travelers on their way to Orlando, she said.
Troope said serving repeat customers who are overusing the deal makes people with small orders wait longer in line.
Tori Davis, a 20-year-old UF media and society senior, is a frequent visitor to the McDonald’s on Archer Road. She said McDonald’s strategy is smart because it draws college students who are trying to “pinch their pennies.”
This does not mean that people will not try to take advantage of it, she said.
“It seems like everyone pushes the envelope nowadays,” Davis said. “I just never would have imagined it would be McDonald’s hamburgers.”
[A version of this story ran on page 4 on 2/12/2014 under the headline "McDonald’s limits discounted hamburgers due to high demand"]
