“Availability is the best ability.”

That’s a sports cliché often attributed to Bill Parcells, but it’s often used to discuss why talent alone isn’t how we grade players. Sure, Joel Embiid has massive talent, but when he has missed more games (495) than he has played (490), according to ClutchPoints, his lack of availability overshadows his tremendous ability.

When people visit a fast-food chain, they expect their favorite menu items to be available. If McDonald’s regularly ran out of fries, KFC couldn’t keep fried chicken in stock, and Chipotle ran short of guacamole frequently, consumers would get mad — and they might stop visiting.

“More than four-in-five (82%) consumers would try a competitor if their go-to is frequently out of stock,” according to a new survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers from DOSS. “Nearly two-thirds (62%) have already switched brands because of a stockout, while a quarter (25%) of consumers say stockouts damage their trust in a brand.”

One menu problem has plagued McDonald’s for decades.

The McFlurry Machine still has an outage problem

It’s summer, National Ice Cream Day (July 19), an unofficial holiday, is approaching, and celebrating with a McFlurry should be easy. The only problem is that the machines that make those frozen treats have a history of being broken.

That’s a problem that has been known for decades, which inspired a website, McBroken, that lets people check their local McDonald’s before leaving the house. At 11:31 a.m. in Port Saint Lucie, Fla., the website actually showed that 19.04% of all of the chain’s McFlurry machines are down worldwide.

Although that’s a higher percentage than is normally down, new data show the number of McDonald’s McFlurry machines not operating on a regular basis is pretty significant.

“We dug into nearly six years of reported machine status across 492 cities and all 50 states (plus D.C.) to find where getting your cone is a safe bet and where it’s a real long shot,” reported Action Network.

“Nationally, the McDonald’s ice cream machine was reported down about 10.4% of the time,” according to the data.

Action Network shared some other findings from its research:

• Cleveland, Tennessee, is the broken-machine capital of America, with implied odds of a downed machine at 46.9%, nearly a coin flip on whether you’re getting ice cream at all.
• Albany, Georgia (42.4%) and Gulfport, Mississippi (39.7%) round out the three unluckiest cities in the country.
• On the other end, Ashland, Kentucky, is soft-serve heaven: The machine was down just 2.1% of the time, the most reliable city in the study.
• Mississippi is the worst state overall (34.0% implied odds of a broken machine), followed by Oklahoma (32.4%), and Alaska (30.5%).
• Minnesota (11.5%) and Wisconsin (12.7%) have the best statewide odds in the country.

McDonald’s tries to explain

McDonald’s tried to explain why its ice cream machines are down so often on its technical blog.

“McDonald’s ice cream machines aren’t usually ‘broken,’ they’re often in the middle of a mandatory four-hour heat treat cycle (HTC), which ensures food safety. The reality is more technical than tragic,” the company shared in a March 26 post.

A lot of human errors can lead to the machine being down.

“If mix levels are too high or too low, the cycle fails, putting the machine into a standby or error state. Without clear alerts or automation, crew members may default to just saying, ‘The ice cream machine is broken,'” the company shared.

McDonald’s does have a plan to fix this, which has reached the pilot stage.

• Crew members had to manually mark ice cream items unavailable through a multi-click process, and later use the same process to restore items, which often led to missed updates and customer frustration.
• A real-time automation pipeline was piloted to connect the ice cream machine to Sesame POS, instantly updating product availability.
• The solution launched in McDonald’s Global Tech pilot restaurant, improving restaurant efficiency and ensuring customers see accurate menus across all ordering channels.

That sounds promising, but it does little to put more McFlurries into customers’ hands this summer, and people are angry.

McDonald’s has struggled to keep its McFlurry machines in operation.

Shutterstock

McDonald’s rivals have tried to take advantage

Wendy’s actually partnered with McBroken in 2024 to offer $1 Frosty frozen dairy desserts.

The rival fast-food chain used McBroken’s website as part of the promotion.

“Wendy’s added its restaurants’ locations, represented by its logo, to the McBroken map to show fans where to get a ‘reliable and delicious option.’ There’s also an ad on top of the website promoting the $1 Frosty special,” CNN reported.

The broken McFlurry machines also garnered the attention of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

More Restaurants:

• 49-year-old beloved steakhouse chain closes 41 locations
• 32-year-old high-end restaurant chain closes all locations
• 105-year-old burger chain closes an 87-year-old restaurant

“Notably, the FTC began investigating the broken-down ice cream machines in 2021 after a spate of complaints and petitions signed by both McDonald’s employees and customers demanding the problem be fixed,” according to Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN).

In addition, the FTC pushed for a change in the law which allowed any vendor to work on the machines, which previously could only be fixed by one company. That required an exemption from the U.S. Copyright Office.

“The Copyright Office did not grant the full scope of the requested exemption; however, an exemption specifically allowing for the repair of retail-food-level food preparation equipment, including McDonald’s soft serve ice cream machines, was granted,” NRN reported.

McDonald’s has not suffered

While having its ice cream machines not available at least 10% of the time would harm some restaurants, McDonald’s seems to not be impacted.

The first quarter was a rousing success, according to CEO Christopher Kempczinski.

“In Q1, we grew global system-wide sales 6% in constant currency and global comparable sales grew 3.8% with solid growth across each of our operating segments. Just as importantly, we gained market share in the quarter in nearly all of our top 10 markets,” he said during the Q1 earnings call.

As a fan of the McFlurry, however, I find McDonald’s allowing this problem to persist frustrating.

It also goes against what Kempczinski says are the chain’s priorities.

“In a challenging environment, our system stayed focused on what we can control, delivering on the things that matter most to our customers, compelling value that brings customers in the door, breakthrough marketing that gives people a reason to choose McDonald’s, and great tasting menu innovation that keeps us relevant and gives customers more of what they want,” he said.

Many of them want the McFlurry and find it not available.

Ice cream isn’t a limited-time offer. It’s on the menu board, it’s priced, it’s in national advertising, and McDonald’s entire founding proposition is that the product is identical everywhere.

That’s why a down machine feels like a broken promise. It’s not simply bad luck when the chain knows the numbers and chooses not to prioritize a fix.

Related: Iconic American restaurant chain closes after 74 years