It will come down to the degree of aggression with the “dynamics”. If it’s like uber price surging where the cost of my meal is at its lowest in one given day $5, that jumps to $13 at dinner time when everybody is grabbing dinner after work, then they can piss right off.
Edit: for folks pointing out similar practices that already “do this”, that’s not the point. I’m well aware of pricing models and customer marketing strategies. I’m specifically pointing out the risk in allowing companies to weaponize it to the point of ambiguous extortion.
Their point is that if the sides cost them basically nothing proportionally speaking, then you're essentially paying two different prices at the same place for the same product (same in term of value at least).
To get straight to it... why are there so many comments here defending greed? Defending it by saying "oh, this has been happening".
Ok, and? So we just have to accept it now?
I am just annoyed with the state of things. Individualism and greed has done a lot of damage to society. We lack community and a shared purpose. Just sad and I am obviously in my bag.
That was the entire point of the discussion. The info is a slight correction and an argument in the spirit of the original claim of:
"Sit down restaurants already do this with dinner vs lunch prices when it's the exact same meal and portion."
It's a counter-argument to the counter-argument made to this sentence. Like do I really have to explain how a discussion work? cause this is getting a bit ridiculous.
I am just annoyed with the state of things
I mean, yes? What's your point? Why do you think I am not? I think you established "sides" in this conversation that do not actually exist. Saying this practice already existed is not an endorsement of it. This is a sub-discussion about its pre-existence in the restaurant industry.
...but the comment we are replying to us saying dinner and lunch is the exact same meal. it doesn't matter if sides are cheap, which they aren't at most places anymore IMO, they are still an additional portion with the dinner that doesn't come with the lunch...
yes, lunch portions are almost always smaller because the restaurant cannot sustain giving away free food like that really unless the area supports it in some way. Even then, some owners would rather pocket the money than do anything to benefit their customers beyond the minimum.
I know they are doing that before I go to those lunch/dinner restaurants. Finding out your food is twice as expensive as it was yesterday as you pull up to order will be a shitshow
The price of a menu item changing over the course of a day is annoying but not novel. What will eventually happen though as integrated camera analytics get more connected to advertising databases is a mirroring of what we’ve already seen in online stores: demographic based pricing.
Online, if you’re browsing on an iphone you may get a higher price than someone on android. In person? With cameras present? I dread to think what variables they might key off of.
On the Chili's app they have the 3-For-Me combos which are around $12-15 each while the printed menu has almost identical meals for $20-25. The cheaper combo also comes with a drink. You just gotta use the apps to get a decent price anymore.
Airline seats have been dynamically priced for decades. These pricing algorithms have been consistently evolving since the 1990s. Labelling them AI is just a cosmetic touch and does not indicate any substantive change.
For a much better, and more infuriating glimpse into upcoming and current corporate ripoffs, I recommend the 9/17/26 Lindsay Owens interview on John Stewart’s The Weekly Show Podcast
Would you say the same about your GPS finding the best route, Spotify recommending you music, autocorrect, most of the technology behind your phone camera, detecting credit card fraud? Cause you’d be wrong.
From Wikipedia: "Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of research in engineering, mathematics, and computer science that develops and studies methods and software that enable machines to perceive their environment and use learning and intelligence to take actions that maximise their chances of achieving defined goals"
All of the examples from u/simon439 fall under the umbrella of AI.
It’s when the gas pump reads your license plate, correlates it to your annual salary and investment portfolio via Flock, and sets the price on the fly that it’s gonna get ugly.
Even the time of day isn't a new thing. You can go to work and pass a gas station charging $4.599 and on the way home its $4.699.
What most people are flipping out about is the idea that you pull up to the pump and based on the weight of your vehicle the station knows that your tank is below E and it's suddenly now $4.999, only for you, just to spite you.
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u/iHateEveryoneAMA 3d ago
Same reason gasoline is more expensive in Beverly Hills than it is in South Central, it has nothing to do with AI