This Is Why McDonald’s Ice Cream Machines Seem to Always Be Out of Order

If you’ve ever faced the heartbreak of hearing the McFlurry machine is out of order yet again, you’re not alone. As much as we love the McD’s menu, it seems that the McFlurry is the one thing we’re destined never to be able to get our hands on. So, why are McDonald’s ice cream machines always broken? There’s more than one reason, and you might be pretty shocked to find out what they are.

The Reason McFlurry Machines Always Seem to Be Broken

Over the years, McDonald’s employees have often said the reason is that the chain’s ice cream machines take a really long time to clean, taking up to four hours to sanitize—and it has to be done every single day. When the machines are in the process of being cleaned, they can’t serve ice cream. And, when the staff is busy handling food and beverage orders, no one has the time to tend to the laborious machine.

In fact, the problem became such a headache that in early 2017, McDonald’s announced that they were going to be replacing their soft serve machines with ones that are easier to maintain and wouldn’t take as long to clean. However, the planned change never seemed to take place. Instead, there was a new development in the McFlurry saga.

There’s Apparently Another Reason

Apparently, the machines are also incredibly hard to repair. According to McDonald’s employees, Taylor, the producer of the machines, ensures that only its technicians can repair the machines, which means every time they’re down, it can take a while to get ’em repaired.

To get around the temperamental machines, a company called Kytch created a small device that allowed employees to essentially “hack” the McFlurry system, identify the problem and repair it themselves. The company then filed a lawsuit that claimed that Taylor “designed flawed code that caused the machines to malfunction,” so that they could benefit from repairs.

So for now, you may have to keep your McFlurry cravings to a minimum until all of this is resolved. If you really can’t control yourself, a frequent McDonald’s ice cream customer kindly created an app that lets you check if the ice cream machine is up and running at the McDonald’s closest to you.

Speaking of secrets…there’s a reason McDonald’s fries are so delicious.