While typically I would say let 'em charge for extra sauce, I have to say charging a 5 cent premium for the exact same sauce just because you want it to go with a "premium" product is ludicrous.

This is ridiculous. How could they expect ANYONE to only need 1 cup of sauce for 3 selects or 6 nuggets. I only get through 2 nuggets or 1 strip before I need another cup of sauce. Id rather they just jack up the price of the nuggets by a dime if the sauce is really costing them so much. The sauce cant possibly cost McDonalds more than 3 or 4 cents given how many they buy.

They do this everywhere in the UK. When I lived there, I would get so pissed off that I had to spend 20p to get a friggin' packet of ketchup.

They have had these signs for a while here (years) but they tend to charge for EVERYTHING extra here. The really ridiculous thing is that they had the balls to charge us 11 cents for mayo one time, do they really expect us to eat one of their overbaked and overbreaded chicken sandwiches without mayo, it just doesn't make any sense. You think they could spare ONE squirt of mayo per sandwich for those that ask. Since they don't have packages of mayo they probably throw half of it out at the end of the day anyways. I don't go to a fast food restaurant to be nickle and dimed for something that should already be on the sandwich.

Subway leaves out the mayo packets and you can take as many as you like, so it can't be that expensive if subway can afford to leave them out and let the customers take them at will.

@Gorphlog: So because you need to drink sauce with your nuggets I should have to pay extra? Where's the logic in that?

And if you're willing to pay for it, what difference should it make to you where it comes from?

So if I ask for no sauce and use my home bbq sauce that's far superior I can expect a discount? HUZZAH!

@ChemNerd:

They are already making a profit without charging for sauce and now they want to charge 3 times as much as it cost them for extra sauce. I could see charging their cost for it if they werent making a profit but come on, 6 nuggets probably cost them like 6 cents and they charge almost 3 bucks for them Im also pretty sure you cant eat a 6 piece nugget with only 1 sauce unless you like eating shoe leather

@Outrun1986: I agree but I think if they are going to nickle and dime me for toppings and condiments, then they should knock money off the cost of my sandwich when I order it without lettuce, onions, tomatoes, and pickle

At least that particular McDonald's gives 4 sauces for a 20 piece. Around here, they all give 3, because apparently two 10 pieces deserves more sauce than one 20 piece.

@Gorphlog: I see what you're getting at, it is greed pure and simple. Two points though:
- It's not just the cost of the food, they have to pay for the utilities, the rent, the labor. So yeah, the nuggets that you pay for probably cost 1/10th what you paid for them but they have other costs and they still need to turn a profit.
- Should it really surprise you that they're overcharging on the sauce? They charge you $2 for a soda that costs them 5 cents worth of sugar water.

As for my like or dislike of shoe leather, it can be tasty, but that's not the point. Maybe my nuggets aren't as dry as the they are at the ones you go to, I'm usually fine with one sauce for 6 nuggets and if I ever did need a 2nd one it certainly wouldn't see much of a dent.

@KStrike155: I'm right there with you, 25 euro cents for a little cup of ketchup the last time I was at BK in Europe. Just keep telling yourself that the beer is cheaper (at least in my experience).

Nice apostrophe use in the post. Stay classy, Consumerist.

OMG, you are getting a cheeseburger that will slowly kill you for under a dollar. Skip the sauce, or throw in a couple of cents, pence, or whatever.

And somehow this sauce-pricing thing causes a debacle every time it comes up. Geez, who cares?

I saw this sign last night, but it was 10c each on both. Guess it's up to the franchise.

Bought a 20 piece and got 4. SCORE!

I love to haggle over sauce packets when opportunities like this present themselves. McD's has tried to charge me for ranch dipping sauce because the meal I purchased "didn't require ranch". Apparently, I can't eat fries with it. Also, I've actually persuaded an employee to discount the cost of a double cheeseburger on the grounds I didn't want onions, pickles, or ketchup. Certainly they cost more than a packet of sauce.

While it certainly doesn't look like a sign from corporate, it does look like one done from the franchise owner's office.

Just one more reason to stay out of McDonald's!

@youbastid: I suspect the price disparity is because the typical sauce offerings for Chicken Selects are different from the typical sauce offerings for Chicken McNuggets, and the Selects sauces are larger. See, e.g., this Yahoo Answer. You might be able to get the "exact same" sauces with each product depending on the policies of the restaurant, but officially they are available with different sauces.

@Gorphlog: I agree, if there was money off for not ordering condiments then its a fair policy. Lets see them take 10 cents off your sandwich for each condiment you do not get.

Last time I checked burger king allowed you to get whatever you want on your sandwich without nickle and diming you. So if I want extra pickles at McD's but don't order the lettuce, tomato and onion they would likely charge me even if I didn't ask for 3 other things but if I go to BK then I could order extra lettuce, onions and pickles and not get charged anything extra.

Subway also allows you to get whatever you want without a hassle, they only charge for extra cheese or meat and that is right up front on their signs, its not a hidden charge.

I also can't think of any other fast-food restaurant that charges for mayo, sauce or other standard condiments. Subway will throw an extra squirt of mayo on your sandwich or one of their other dressings, or you can pick up an extra mayo packet and throw it in your sandwich bag if you desire.

Now I could understand charging if someone had an outrageous request like asking for 5 extra sauce containers for an order of a single kids meal cause your kid eats sauce that much but throwing in one extra sauce for those that ask shouldn't be a problem. Most people run out of these restaurants in a hurry anyways and don't even care whats in the bag (and don't ask for extras) so you would think they could spare one extra sauce a day to keep their regulars coming back.

Fuck them. Go somewhere else. If you're in the SoCal area, there's no excuse, especially with so many other choices:

In-N-Out- never charges for extra condiments except meat, bun, and cheese (duh)

Tommy's- same deal.

McDonald's can go shoot themselves in the foot with the sales they lose from the blatant anti-customer cash grab. Vote with your wallet.

If condiments are so farking expensive then why in hades does the local McD's give me 19 packages of ketchup for a single order of fries.

I don't even like ketchup with fries.

PS: Yes, 19 packages. The Franchise owner was not impressed. Never saw the girl working at McD's again.

@Corporate-Shill: That's so mean, you got her fired from McDonald's? I could understand if she wronged you but it just seems so mean to rat out the particular employee for being too generous. Especially when they already don't have the best job to begin with.

Don't you think? If the wastefulness bugged me, I could imagine complaining, but refusing to say who it was or when/where, rather I'd say "Some of your employees have been giving me way too much catsup, can you talk to them about it please."

@xwildebeestx: lol, I completely missed that.

@Parapraxis: You've neglected a couple major problems:
1: Neither In-N-Out nor Tommy's carry Chicken McNuggets, let alone a similar breaded chicken product.
2: In-N-Out or Tommy's, while still cheap, sure as shit aren't selling a 99 cent double anything.

When people are offered products at absolute-rock-bottom prices and then complain that they still want all the extras for free, it really bugs the shit out of me. It's a different business model.

Nugget sauce is expensive but at the McD's I work at the rule is you can have a couple above the 'suggested' serving before we charge you. Keeps the people who use more sauce happy and keeps the frat boys who like to stock their pantries with our condiments from bankrupting us.

I am genuinely curious whether this particular location is franchised or corporate-owned. The restaurant I work at is the only corporate one in the city. It's also the cheapest and doesn't charge out the nose for extra sauce or even refills like some franchisees do.

@ScottRose: OMG, you are getting a cheeseburger that will slowly kill you for under a dollar.

How do you mean? Does a cheeseburger contain some harmful poison that slowly leeches into my system, even after the cheeseburger has gone? It sounds like you have bought into the "Fast-Food-Phobia" most people have after the mock-umentary "Super Size Me" came out. Check out this great podcast for some critical thinking and inquiry into the fast food phobia: [skeptoid.com]

I've never seen those signs at the McDonald's I've been to, but I've had different experiences with the sauce thing. Most McDonalds don't charge for extra sauces that I've noticed, but one I went to was ridiculous. My husband got the 6 piece nuggets and I got a 10 piece. He received 3 sauces, and I received one (mine was S&S his was BBQ - maybe that matters, I don't know). Why I got one for 10 nuggets and he got three for 6 nuggets I'll never know, but when I went to ask for another, the lady says "11 cents!" and that's it. I tried to explain that I only got one, but she would only repeat "11 cents!" over and over. My husband finally got up and exchanged his 2 extra BBQs for 2 S&S. Go figure.

I have seen people ask for four or more sauces with an order of 6 McNuggets. I would rather McDonalds charge the fatties for their 400 extra calories than just tacking an extra .50 on everyone elses order.

@youbastid:

shit. you're right.

Chik-Fil-A to the RESCUE!!!!!!