Don't Toss That McDonald's Receipt. It's The Key To Unlocking Secret Discounts

With the rising prices of fast food, coupon clipping and bargain hunting are practically essential for enjoying your favorite ready-made meals. Although fast food dollar menus may be a thing of the past, many people still take advantage of the value menus offered by popular chains like McDonald's and Arby's, which feature individual items at lower prices. Or, maybe you've mastered the McDonald's app for maximum savings. Still, there's a perhaps lesser-known but super-easy way to score free food from Mickey D's that can also be done from your phone or computer: Simply go to the website listed on your receipt and fill out a short customer satisfaction survey. 

Sure, being asked to fill out a customer survey typically generates groans and eye rolls, but if it results in free food, why not? It truly only takes a couple of minutes — probably less time than it takes to brush your teeth, make a cup of coffee, reply to a text, or read a short article about saving money at McDonald's. The result is a free sandwich or other offer, which varies. Just make sure to save your receipt as you will need the 26-digit code listed on it to complete the survey. If for some reason your receipt doesn't have the code, you'll be asked to input other information found on the receipt, such as the store number, date, time, and amount spent.

To fill out the Customer Satisfaction Survey, go to the McDVoice website and enter the survey code found in the middle of the receipt. It's a long number, so if possible, you may want to have someone read it aloud to you. What follows is a series of approximately 13 questions inquiring about your customer experience, including how you placed your order, the type of food you had, and the quality of your food and service. One question asks for three sentences explaining why you were "highly satisfied" with your food and service. However, if nothing stood out to you about your experience, you can simply leave it blank and click "next." Otherwise, mentioning a particular employee who provided excellent customer service is always a great way to recognize food service workers who go above and beyond. 

There is a progress bar at the bottom so you can see how much more tedious clicking you have to endure. After entering your 26-digit code, you can breeze through the questions in less than two minutes if you don't think too hard about it (but still answer truthfully to help improve your local McDonald's). Once completed, you'll receive a validation code that you can write down on your receipt. Show or tell this code to an employee next time you order to receive the offer printed on the receipt. Customers can use one offer per visit and may complete five surveys per month per restaurant.