Blaze Pizza brings in 18-second soda rule – and customers fear rivals will follow

Blaze Pizza has made a big change to its self-serve soda machines, making it a viral TikTok video has revealed.

Footage shows a customer having to scan a barcode on a cup before having just 18 seconds to fill the drink.

Without scanning the barcode, no soft drink will come out of the dispenser.

The video, from user @phatprincessa, has received more than 151,000 views and hundreds of comments from users expressing their frustration with the change – and fearing other companies will follow suit.

“These will be everywhere,” said one user.

A TikTok video shows how a customer must scan a barcode on a cup, before having just 18 seconds to fill a drink

Some major fast food chains have already started to move away from the idea of ​​free refills.

In May, McDonald’s announced it is moving away from offering self-serve beverage stations, with the goal of eliminating them completely by 2032.

The company said some locations would also charge for refills, which were previously free.

At the time, experts predicted that other chains would follow suit.

Darren Tristano, CEO of Foodservice Results, which researches the foodservice industry, told CBS News, “McDonald’s is a leader and most other fast-food chains are fast followers.”

The exact location of the Blaze Pizza location where the TikTok video was filmed is unknown, as is how many restaurants have introduced the new soda machine technology.

Blaze Pizza has more than 340 restaurants across 38 states.

“So the drinks won’t work unless you scan this barcode,” the user said in the video, pointing to a barcode on the cup.

Once she scans the barcode, a timer starts on the screen next to the soda fountain, with the words “scan, pour, go!” are depicted.

“And then I have 18 seconds,” she said before filling the cup with no-sugar Coca Cola.

“They’re done with you stealing drinks,” she added at the end of the video.

Customers expressed frustration with the change – and their fear that other companies will follow suit with changes to self-serve soda machines

In May, McDonald’s announced it is moving away from offering self-serve beverage stations, with the goal of eliminating them completely by 2032 (Photo: A beverage station at a restaurant in San Antonio, Texas)

Dozens of users expressed their frustration in the comments, with one writing: ‘I’ll stop going if there’s no free refills. I’ll have a drink at home.’

“This is so greedy,” another commented.

It comes after another TikTok user complained about a Pepsi ‘Fast Fill’ mechanism in a video last year.

The user, @@xxladiixpinkyxx, also had to scan a barcode on the drink and was given 30 seconds to fill the cup.

However, they were also limited to just over two ounces of soda, which is the equivalent of just a few sips.

“No more free drinks,” the user captioned the video.