Fast-food giant McDonald's is being sued for £675million by a company which created a device to fix broken ice cream machines.
Milkshake and McFlurry lovers know restaurant ice cream machines feel like they are more likely to be broken than working.
The problem has even seen the arrival of a website called McBroken that tracks faults in real-time.
The fast-food chain has been plagued by problems with the temperamental machinery for years and has been unable to find a fix.
But the Daily Star reports a team of hackers launched a startup to ensure the machines worked.
They created a small device, about the size of a mobile phone.
It could fit into a standard McDonald's ice cream machine and relay feedback to a manager’s mobile phone showing the problem and how to fix it.
But now, the business is suing McDonald's for $900m (around £673 million).
Franchise owners bought the gadget, called Kytch, and restored one of its most popular items to the menu.
One store franchisee said he had saved "easily thousands of dollars a month" after installing the gadget because they sold more milkshakes and spent less on repairs.
But McDonald's sent an email to every franchisee in November 2020 asking them remove Kytch from the McDonald’s machines immediately.
It claimed that Kytch invalidated the machines’ warranties and could gather"confidential information” about McDonald’s’ business.
Other allegations claimed the he use of a Kytch could lead to “serious human injury”.
The email ended with an offer to buy a new model of ice cream machine that incorporated very similar technology.
McDonald’s wrote: "Kytch’s software includes a remote operation function, and with this feature, we believe anyone cleaning, operating or repairing our shake machines (like restaurant crew members or maintenance technicians) could potentially be injured if the equipment is turned on remotely."
Now Melissa Nelson and Jeremy O'Sullivan, the hackers that developed Kytch are planning to take McDonald’s to court and demanding no less than $900 million in damages.
Kytch co-founder Melissa Nelson alleged to Wired that McDonald's was ruining her business: "They've tarnished our name. They scared off our customers and ruined our business. They were anti-competitive. They lied about a product that they said would be released.
"McDonald's had every reason to know that Kytch was safe and didn't have any issues,” she added. “It was not dangerous, like they claimed. And so we're suing them.”
McDonald’s USA released a statement which said: “McDonald's owes it to our customers, crew and franchisees to maintain our rigorous safety standards and work with fully vetted suppliers in that pursuit. Kytch's claims are meritless, and we’ll respond to the complaint accordingly.”
