Wendy's

Wendy's International, LLC founded by Dave Thomas in 1969, is an American fast food restaurant ranking the 9th most valuable brand in 2026.^[1][2]

Wendy's has faced controversy regarding security and privacy practices, paying conditions, and introduction of dynamic pricing, all of which resulted in various movements like Boycott Wendy's.

This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the Wendy's category.

On August 2015, Wendy’s was hit was a class action lawsuit over refusing to redeem gift card’s value less than $10, violating California’s gift card redemption policy. Wendy’s reached a settlement on February 15, requiring the company accept gift card’s less than $10, add California redemption policy on their website, and post notices on a 90 day period informing employees of the new terms. ^[3][4]

On Fall 2015, Wendy's was hit was a data breach across 1,025 restaurant that result in millions of customers debit and credit card information being stolen.^[5] Hackers infected Wendy's older point of sale systems with malware, allowing collection of customers financial information including card numbers, expiration dates, and security codes.^[6] On February, Wendy's started conducting an investigation after reports of fraud linked to Wendy's in January, revealing the hacker's use of two different malware. The company made a public announcement on May 2016, claiming only 300 restaurants were effected and setting up a page for customers to check if payment information had been compromised. ^[7]

This led to a lawsuit filed by First Choice Federal Credit Union and other unions in 2016. eventually leading to an settlement of $50 Million on June 2018.^[8][9]

On March 31, 2018 ^[10] Wendy's was inflicted with a malware attack on their Point of sale systems, compromising over 52,000 customers and job applicants email addresses, IP addresses, Names, Passwords, phone numbers, and home addresses. ^[11][12] Wendy's notified the National Privacy Commission(NPC) about the hack, resulting with the commission ordering Wendy's inform users of the data breach on May 2.^{[13] [14]} On the same day as the order, Wendy's shut down their website and inform customers with the message;

"We would like to inform you that there has been a security breach on Wendy's PH website. Personal data provided in our website particularly your name, email address, contact number, address, and your resume might have been compromised. Wendy's website has already been shut down and we are currently conducting investigation on the incident. We are coordinating with the NPC, our host provider and payment gateway for immediate action to prevent damage to our data subjects. For any concerns, kindly contact Mr. Rommel Gabaldon at 625-2778 loc. 133 or email dataprivacy@wendys.com.ph"

There has been no further information regarding the affiliated hackers legal status.

Wendy's was hit with a consumer protection lawsuit by Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT) on September 9, 2021 due to misleading customers with their high animal welfare standards not being cage free environments.^[15] Wendy's reached an settlement agreement on June 1,2022 that order's Wendy's clarify their animal welfare practices on their website. ^{[16] [17]}

Wendy was hit was a class action lawsuit on September 30, 2023 over false advertising, claiming Wendy’s advertisement of burgers was made more appealing and 15% larger than the actual product with usage of under-cooked patties, food stylists and digital editing. The case was dismissed on January 2024, ruling the plaintiff failed to prove how a customer would be misled by the advertising and lack of proof of the specific advertisement claimed as misleading.^[18][19][20]

• McDonald's
• Jack In the Box
• Burger King