When it comes to fast-food children's meals, collectible toys are for more than just kids.
Since the '90s and early aughts, collectors have snapped up toys sold as part of kids meals from restaurants like McDonald's and Burger King, adding to their collections at home. Even in the modern day, adults have flocked to restaurants offering limited edition items, like the McDonald's Boo Buckets.
A current promotion from Wendy's advertises a small crayon container from Crayola as a children's toy, containing three real crayons inside for children to color with. Currently, completed sets of the highly collectible toy is selling online for up to $900, depending on the item's value perceived by the seller.
One Wendy's customer says she went out of her way to order a children's meal with the goal of receiving one of these collectible toys and chose a more expensive order that was essentially the same as the restaurant chain's $5 Biggie Bag deal—but didn't receive the toy.
In a video posted to TikTok by user Kaitlin (@kaitlingonzo on TikTok), she is handed a Wendy's bag containing the kids' meal she ordered, but it was missing the toy she was hoping to see. When she asked the employee at the window where the toy was, she was informed that the location was out of toys for the time being.
"Okay, so this is all that it comes with?" she asks the employee. "It's basically like a Biggie Bag then, right? We could have got the Biggie Bag."
The employee reads back her order, and the poster suggests that they should receive a refund, as the order is the same as a different menu item, and she ordered it specifically to receive the toy that was unavailable.
"Should we get a refund for a couple dollars?" she asks the off-camera employee. "This is like a Biggie Bag now. Like $5, not $7.90-something for no toy."
In a reply to a commenter, Kaitlin wrote that she did in fact receive a refund for the difference.
In a text overlay on the video, the poster clarifies that she was not recording because she thought something would go wrong—she just wanted to show the toy she was expecting.
"This is literally so petty," the text overlay reads. "Was recording because I was excited to see the crayon toy thing from Wendy's. But I am so tired of prices going up so much and consistently receiving bad service. They should have told us they didn't have the toys when we ordered it. Not charged us more for no toy I'm sorry. We ordered a Jr. bacon cheeseburger by itself and a 4 piece nugget kids meal. That is a $5 Biggie Bag."
In her video caption and in response to commenters, Kaitlin highlights that her primary issue is that the employee did not tell her beforehand that the location had run out of toys for kids meals.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Wendy's via email, as well as to Kaitlin via email and a comment on the video.
@kaitlingonzo I am not normally this petty but I am soooooo tired of prices going up everywhere and not getting what you ordered, getting smaller sizes, just everything. This economy is annoying. We were excited about your crayon @Wendy’s but apparently many have asked for extras?? #inflation #inflation2024 ♬ original sound - Kaitlin | Preg. Life & Fun✨
Many viewers echoed her frustration with the restaurant employee for not giving her a head's up that they would not have a toy for her order before she paid for it.
"No this is valid they should have let you know they were out of toys," one commenter wrote.
"The toy is included in the price I would have needed a discount," another added.
"Ordering a kids meal they need to tell no toy," a third said. "That's why kids want it!!"
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The post ‘This is basically a Biggie Bag’: Customer slams Wendy’s for charging them more for kids’ meal without Crayola toy appeared first on The Daily Dot.
