Fast food apps can keep you connected to your favorite places, allowing you to save money on dining out or earn rewards for your loyalty.
The apps can also be frustrating or annoying when it comes to actually using them as a customer, making you less likely to take advantage of the deals and discounts you can get.
Know that you’re not alone with these issues with fast food apps that are just so annoying for users.
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The displays are bad
You might be excited to check your fast food app and find out what deals or discounts are available. Perhaps you want to save time and order with the app’s menu options.
So it can be annoying when the app’s display is a mess, making it hard to find things or take advantage of the best deals.
The rules are confusing
One great thing about an app is that it can track your spending and give you rewards you can cash in for discounts and deals.
However, the rules for each discount may not be straightforward, and it can be more of a hassle than it’s worth when you can’t figure out how to use your big pile of loyalty points.
The type is too small
Fast food restaurants try to pack a lot of information onto a small screen without much consideration for the user’s experience.
You’ve probably had to search for your reading glasses just to order some food and maybe even give up trying instead of checking out the app for options.
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Policies vary by location
Many fast food restaurants aren’t owned by the company but rather by franchisees who operate each location.
Some franchisees may decide not to honor the points you’ve picked up or the rewards you’ve earned, so it can be frustrating when you’re finally ready to use your accumulated rewards only to get rejected by a particular location.
There aren’t many rewards
You may have signed up for an app for a fast food restaurant that you go to all the time thinking that you can start earning loyalty points and rewards.
Then you look to see what you can use all those points for and find there’s not much.
Check the app before you start earning points to see if the annoyance of using the app is worth it or just a waste of your time with no payoff.
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You can’t speak with a person
More restaurants are ditching their cashiers in favor of touchscreens for customers to order when they walk inside, but at least there’s still a real person to talk to sometimes.
The fast food restaurant apps take it a step further by making it almost impossible for you to talk to a real person when you have questions, frustrating users who just have a simple question.
The rewards system is complicated
It’s nice to check the app for rewards, see what you have, and decide if you want to use any of them.
But some apps try too hard to be cute and end up being too complicated by naming their reward levels after different types of hot sauce when you just want an easy-to-understand interface.
There are too many choices
One good thing about fast food restaurant apps is they have several choices that you can click on like ordering, collecting rewards, or managing your profile.
But sometimes, they can give you too many choices, and you end up confused, clicking from one screen to another and another, trying to find the one thing you need that’s buried somewhere in your app.
They change the rewards
You may have downloaded a restaurant app and used it for a few years already, cashing in your rewards when they add up or even remembering to check in on your birthday for a special deal.
So, it can be frustrating when restaurant chains suddenly change their policies without notice, leaving customers in the lurch when they’re trying to cash in points for lunch as usual.
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It’s not about the money spent
You may like using a fast food app because you’re responsible for putting in a big order at work, or you’re picking up dinner for family and can earn the extra rewards of a large transaction.
But be careful. Some fast food restaurant apps only give you points per transaction and not per dollar spent, making it smarter to go somewhere else to save.
You don’t have choices for rewards
You’ve collected all your points and are finally ready to cash them in for something you want.
Then you find out that your app has tight restrictions on what you can use your rewards for, giving you a choice between two little items after you spent plenty of money building up those points.
Bottom line
Fast food restaurant apps can be a good option if you frequent a particular location or have your favorite restaurants you like to visit. So, making your apps work for you may be a good idea.
Another thing to do is check your wallet for the best rewards credit cards. These can help you earn points and perks on any purchases, including restaurants, which you can redeem later.
Lucrative, Flat-Rate Cash Rewards
FinanceBuzz writers and editors score cards based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.
Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card
Current Offer
$200 cash rewards bonus after spending $500 in purchases in the first 3 months
Annual Fee
$0
Rewards Rate
Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases
Benefits
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- Cell phone protection benefit (subject to a $25 deductible)
- Can redeem rewards at an ATM for literal cash
Drawbacks
- Foreign transaction fee of 3%
- No bonus categories
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- Earn a $200 cash rewards bonus after spending $500 in purchases in the first 3 months.
- Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases.
- 0% intro APR for 12 months from account opening on purchases and qualifying balance transfers. 19.49%, 24.49%, or 29.49% Variable APR thereafter; balance transfers made within 120 days qualify for the intro rate and fee of 3% then a BT fee of up to 5%, min: $5.
- $0 annual fee.
- No categories to track or remember and cash rewards don’t expire as long as your account remains open.
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