No Water from Freestyle Machines

[MrRoamer]

Have you ever heard the phrase "Mind the pennies and the dollars take care of themselves"? Unfortunately, cheap and petty is what keeps businesses afloat. I don't like it either, but we know how this game is played.

There's also this phrase "Penny smart, dollar foolish." Looking at how you can save small amounts of money while missing impact on the big picture is just as dangerous.

 

[graspthesun]

Have you ever heard of the business term "loss leader"? Keeping people happy at the parks is the number one goal in the theme park business. The longer people stay the more money they spend. If Universal manages to save $.05 by keeping the water away from guests and they get dehydrated and leave or worse not come back it certainly isn't worth it.

If you're going to be silly enough not to ask for water at one of the 20 restaurants or dining establishments or dozens of food carts around each park because you can't access the 8-10 Freestyle machines at the park anymore, maybe you're a medical risk and shouldn't be coming back anyway.

 

[RevFreako]

Have you ever heard of the business term "loss leader"? Keeping people happy at the parks is the number one goal in the theme park business. The longer people stay the more money they spend. If Universal manages to save $.05 by keeping the water away from guests and they get dehydrated and leave or worse not come back it certainly isn't worth it.

They're not keeping water away from anyone, just filtered water, which is not free. This is not a legitimate outrage. Sorry but it's just not.

 

[graspthesun]

They're not keeping water away from anyone, just filtered water, which is not free. This is not a legitimate outrage. Sorry but it's just not.

Agreed entirely. If they were completely restricting access to free water around the park or restricting it just to the fountains outside the restrooms, then I would be happy to pick up a pitchfork with the rest of you, but they're not and this is essentially a non-issue.

 

[s8film40]

If you're going to be silly enough not to ask for water at one of the 20 restaurants or dining establishments or dozens of food carts around each park because you can't access the 8-10 Freestyle machines at the park anymore, maybe you're a medical risk and shouldn't be coming back anyway.

I'm not saying that there aren't other options available. The true silliness is blocking something that as you pointed out is already free at other locations. They're basically saying were going to give it to you free but were not going to make it easy. That's just cheap and petty, something I would only expect at a fair or roadside carnival.

They're not keeping water away from anyone, just filtered water, which is not free. This is not a legitimate outrage. Sorry but it's just not.

Universal only has filtered water available throughout the park including what is still offered for free. It's probably more accurate to say they are keeping easily accessible water away from guest. They would rather guests have to go wait in line for the free water instead of just walking up to a machine and getting it. I agree it's not an outrage. I think outrage is a very strong term for this, I would go with disappointment.

Honestly I have no idea how anyone can defend this. It's not the end of the world or anything but it was one of those nice little things that made Universal a classy place. Do any of you really feel happy they took this away?

 

[IzzyB]

I'm not saying that there aren't other options available. The true silliness is blocking something that as you pointed out is already free at other locations. They're basically saying were going to give it to you free but were not going to make it easy. That's just cheap and petty, something I would only expect at a fair or roadside carnival.

Universal only has filtered water available throughout the park including what is still offered for free. It's probably more accurate to say they are keeping easily accessible water away from guest. They would rather guests have to go wait in line for the free water instead of just walking up to a machine and getting it. I agree it's not an outrage. I think outrage is a very strong term for this, I would go with disappointment.

Honestly I have no idea how anyone can defend this. It's not the end of the world or anything but it was one of those nice little things that made Universal a classy place. Do any of you really feel happy they took this away?

I don't feel happy, but I understand the decision. With the filters being more expensive in the machines and free water causing them to have to change these filters more often mixed with patron complaints. I get the decision. I think that is what most people are saying, they understand why Universal did this and it is not the end of the world. It won't cause them to make less money or cause them to lose patrons.

 

[s8film40]

I don't feel happy, but I understand the decision. With the filters being more expensive in the machines and free water causing them to have to change these filters more often mixed with patron complaints. I get the decision. I think that is what most people are saying, they understand why Universal did this and it is not the end of the world. It won't cause them to make less money or cause them to lose patrons.

I guess the difference is I don't see the logic behind it other than trying to manipulate people to spending more money, and I have a hard time coming to the conclusion of "understanding why Universal did this". The idea of people complaining about this is false. Sure the filters could cost a little more but we are literally talking about pennies here per person or probably even fractions of pennies. Again for me it's not outrage but disappointment. Universal has been a company I like doing business with. I like aside from this their business philosophy. It's a company I talk up to friends and family like I used to with Disney. While I'm not saying this is a huge thing I just can't find the reasoning to give them a pass on this. It's something that makes me a little more cautiously optimistic on how Universal will be running their business in the years to come.

 

[graspthesun]

I'm not saying that there aren't other options available. The true silliness is blocking something that as you pointed out is already free at other locations. They're basically saying were going to give it to you free but were not going to make it easy. That's just cheap and petty, something I would only expect at a fair or roadside carnival.

Coca-Cola has made water all or nothing, while allowing the remainder of drinks to be behind a paywall. Universal has made the decision to put everything, including water, behind the paywall, but Coca-Cola's programming doesn't allow water to be behind the paywall, so Universal had to turn it off in order to accomplish their goal.

Water is free in other locations with Freestyle because no other locations put up a paywall within the machine. That means that anyone that has access to the machine can access any drink from the machine, including water, and there is no need to turn the water off.

 

[s8film40]

Coca-Cola has made water all or nothing, while allowing the remainder of drinks to be behind a paywall. Universal has made the decision to put everything, including water, behind the paywall, but Coca-Cola's programming doesn't allow water to be behind the paywall, so Universal had to turn it off in order to accomplish their goal.

Water is free in other locations with Freestyle because no other locations put up a paywall within the machine. That means that anyone that has access to the machine can access any drink from the machine, including water, and there is no need to turn the water off.

You are making absolutely no sense with this. If I go to Burger King Coke products aren't free, water certainly is. They just choose to manage payments differently for obvious reasons. The key difference here is Universal unlike these other establishments want to remove free water from their Freestyle machines. Yes Coke doesn't make charging for water easy, probably because they didn't expect any business to want to do that.

 

[graspthesun]

You are making absolutely no sense with this. If I go to Burger King Coke products aren't free, water certainly is. They just choose to manage payments differently for obvious reasons. The key difference here is Universal unlike these other establishments want to remove free water from their Freestyle machines. Yes Coke doesn't make charging for water easy, probably because they didn't expect any business to want to do that.

The machines at Burger King are not activated by a chip. You can walk up to the machine and use any cup in it for any beverage. There is no paywall there. The only thing stopping you is an employee monitoring you to ensure that you are following the rules. As you've stated Burger King employees could not care less if you walk up and try to use the machine for purposes that you are not supposed to.

The machines at Universal require a chip to use any beverage that is behind the paywall. That includes everything except for water. Water is either available to everyone or no one because the machine is programmed by Coca-Cola to make water available regardless of the paywall. Universal does not want anyone getting anything from that machine unless they have an activated cup. Because water is available without the paywall, the only option they have is to turn water off for everyone. In this situation a computer controls your access and Universal controls that computer.

 

[s8film40]

The machines at Burger King are not activated by a chip. You can walk up to the machine and use any cup in it for any beverage. There is no paywall there. The only thing stopping you is an employee monitoring you to ensure that you are following the rules. As you've stated Burger King employees could not care less if you walk up and try to use the machine for purposes that you are not supposed to.

The machines at Universal require a chip to use any beverage that is behind the paywall. That includes everything except for water. Water is either available to everyone or no one because the machine is programmed by Coca-Cola to make water available regardless of the paywall. Universal does not want anyone getting anything from that machine unless they have an activated cup. Because water is available without the paywall, the only option they have is to turn water off for everyone. In this situation a computer controls your access and Universal controls that computer.

I'm really not sure what point you are trying to make. I think we all get how the machine works at this point. The issue is that Universal wants to charge for water. This really has nothing at all to do with the technical side of how the machine works other than, yes it doesn't support it. Universal is the only business that has these machines trying to make this change. I think Coke very reasonably just didn't expect any of their businesses to be that cheap and petty.

 

[graspthesun]

I'm really not sure what point you are trying to make. I think we all get how the machine works at this point. The issue is that Universal wants to charge for water. This really has nothing at all to do with the technical side of how the machine works other than, yes it doesn't support it. Universal is the only business that has these machines trying to make this change. I think Coke very reasonably just didn't expect any of their businesses to be that cheap and petty.

No. Universal does not want to charge for water. Universal just doesn't want people getting free water from the Freestyle machines. If they wanted to take away your access to free water, they would just make everyone purchase bottled water rather than offering it at all the stands and restaurants as a courtesy as they have always done.

 

[RevFreako]

No. Universal does not want to charge for water. Universal just doesn't want people getting free water from the Freestyle machines. If they wanted to take away your access to free water, they would just make everyone purchase bottled water rather than offering it at all the stands and restaurants as a courtesy as they have always done.

This exactly. Water is free at all stands and restaurants and at every water fountain. If the water that's free isn't nice enough or cold enough for you, or a scosche less convenient, then remember the words of the mama cat when the kitten complained the milk was sour.

 

[s8film40]

No. Universal does not want to charge for water. Universal just doesn't want people getting free water from the Freestyle machines. If they wanted to take away your access to free water, they would just make everyone purchase bottled water rather than offering it at all the stands and restaurants as a courtesy as they have always done.

You just said they had to remove it because there was no way to have it behind the paywall, in other words they wanted to charge for it. In any case the point is unlike virtually every other business that has these machines they sought out a solution to eliminate free water. As I've said this is a really cheap and petty move. It's obvious now that even Universal knew it was cheap and petty as they didn't even want to admit what they had done. They flat out lied about the reason why this was removed and then Coke called them out on it. If this was a good, sound, justifiable business solution they certainly would have just said upfront what they were doing and why.

 

[ThreePack Shagur]

Thanks for calling me a liar, but I suggest you get some friends in management at Guest Services and let them tell you how many complaints they get. The majority of the complaints from Freestyle buyers is that the machines run out of ice between 2-4 PM. Less people will go the machine for ice if there's no water available. Simple as that.

As for the software, if you can't understand why the water isn't available, you need to look up what "redundancy" means. They're designed to not have water after the paywall because it's available outside. Owner has the option to turn off the outside, but that doesn't mean it shows up on the inside. That's being looked in to.

Also for someone who says they don't care, you're sure one of the only ones on this thread who doesn't seem to understand the reasons this went away. Your main rebuttal seems to be "Universal is pushing people to buy water", but was that the case before the Freestyle machines? Universal isn't your friend, they're a moneymaking business. The Freestyle machines are an upcharged luxury, they're not water fountains.

 

[graspthesun]

You just said they had to remove it because there was no way to have it behind the paywall, in other words they wanted to charge for it. In any case the point is unlike virtually every other business that has these machines they sought out a solution to eliminate free water. As I've said this is a really cheap and petty move. It's obvious now that even Universal knew it was cheap and petty as they didn't even want to admit what they had done. They flat out lied about the reason why this was removed and then Coke called them out on it. If this was a good, sound, justifiable business solution they certainly would have just said upfront what they were doing and why.

No. Universal didn't want freeloaders using the Freestyle machines. That's it. That's why the water option is gone. They would like for Coca-Cola to reprogram the machines so they can make water available again for guests that have paid for access to those machines. If Universal only used Freestyle machines, WHICH THEY DON'T, this water restriction be an issue. If Universal decided to eliminate free water access everywhere, WHICH THEY DIDN'T, this would be an issue. Ultimately, you're only being slightly inconvenienced and you're blowing it up into some crisis that Universal wants everyone to dehydrate and quit going because they made a decision to restrict SOME access to an amenity that is still available to everyone.

And don't give me the sky is falling crap either. We have no reason to believe that this is some harbinger of nickel and diming to come. If, and only if, this start becoming a pattern, we can look at the road Universal is going down. For now, this was a singular decision made to appease guests that were paying extra for access to a machine and were not happy that freeloaders were diminishing that experience for them.

 

[s8film40]

No. Universal didn't want freeloaders using the Freestyle machines. That's it. That's why the water option is gone. They would like for Coca-Cola to reprogram the machines so they can make water available again for guests that have paid for access to those machines. If Universal only used Freestyle machines, WHICH THEY DON'T, this water restriction be an issue. If Universal decided to eliminate free water access everywhere, WHICH THEY DIDN'T, this would be an issue. Ultimately, you're only being slightly inconvenienced and you're blowing it up into some crisis that Universal wants everyone to dehydrate and quit going because they made a decision to restrict SOME access to an amenity that is still available to everyone.

And don't give me the sky is falling crap either. We have no reason to believe that this is some harbinger of nickel and diming to come. If, and only if, this start becoming a pattern, we can look at the road Universal is going down. For now, this was a singular decision made to appease guests that were paying extra for access to a machine and were not happy that freeloaders were diminishing that experience for them.

I think your missing my tone. I certainly don't think the sky is falling or that this is the beginning of the end or something for Universal. As I've said my main reaction isn't outrage but simply disappointment. I like you hope this isn't the beginning of a pattern and at this point I don't think it will be. That being said the people defending this as if it was good thing is a little on the extreme side.

I think someone thought they were doing something that would help and they were just wrong. I think they misjudged the public perception of this change. To me the initial response from Universal is very telling in that regard. They obviously wouldn't have felt the need to lie about it had it been something they felt really confident about. Ultimately I have no doubt they'll simply eventually turn it back on and everyone will forget about this silly incident.

 

[IzzyB]

I don't see them turning it back on. I see Coke changing their program so that water can be behind the paywall.

 

[UNIrd]

I legit didn't know I was entitled to free cold water from the Freestyle machines and I could fill up any cup using it. Silly me not knowing my theme park rights. Maybe because I've been visiting parks since I was in a stroller and these machines are like.. 2 years old? And there's maybe like 4 of them that I've noticed in the parks?

 

[s8film40]

and these machines are like.. 2 years old?

Almost 4 years old.

I don't think anyone is arguing that turning off the water isn't within Universal's rights, it's just bad business is all.