Saint John — A McDonald’s restaurant on the north end of Saint John came under fire recently after refusing to accept small-change payment from a 12-year-old child. This morning, the restaurant clarified its position, stating that they no longer accept Canadian currency.
“We actually prefer not to deal with money at all,” said regional manager Emily Howard. “We’re in the process of implementing a barter system in which the customer inputs their contact information, and we call upon them at random to provide a service for the company.”
One Saint John man experienced this first-hand. In the summer of 2014, 34-year-old Ryan Leigh purchased a Big Mac meal using this method of payment. He was soon contacted by McDonald’s lawyers, who informed him that he was contractually obligated to spend the next three years raising beef cattle for slaughter.
Reflecting on his time served, Leigh said that he felt the exchange was “not really worth it.”
Additionally, as previously announced, McDonald’s intends to phase out human cashiers by 2018, ensuring that no physical money will ever change hands in the restaurant again.
“It’s like something out of a Sci-Fi movie,” said one customer, interjecting his opinion where it wasn’t requested. “You know, like Mike Judge’s Idiocracy.”
Howard said she’s confident that the new kiosks will continue to be a hit with consumers, and she hopes that the company builds on this idea.
“They could transfer the kiosk into a mobile app, for example,” she posited. “That way, customers can enjoy McDonald’s from the comfort of their own home. They’ll order digitally, pay digitally, and we’ll email them digital food. Then nobody will have to come into the restaurant anymore, and I can finally begin work on my novel.”
She looked thoughtfully at the customers lined up at the kiosks.
“God, I hate them.”
Very interesting news, bad for 12 year old child!