‘These Poor Taco Bell Employees Going To Have So Many People Trying This’: Washington Woman Reveals How To Get A Free Drink At Taco Bell Every Time. Does It Actually Work?

With fast-food prices continuing to climb, it should come as no surprise that customers are looking for ways to save at the drive-thru.

WDB7 reported that Taco Bell specifically has had a roughly 81% price increase over the past decade. That’s why customers’ penny-pinching hacks are prone to go viral. For instance, an Ohio-based Taco Bell fan shared that phrasing a chips and cheese order a certain way saves a dollar. A New Orleans woman revealed her Nachos BellGrande “hack of a lifetime.” Not only does she get more bang for her buck, but the hack also ensures her chips don’t get soggy.

Washington-based TikToker Samantha Foster (@samanthafoster3) is joining the ranks with her free drink trick. She says she’s been employing it for two years.

“I found out over two years ago that if you go through the drive-thru and just order a drink, they always give it to you for free,” Foster writes in the text overlay of her video, which shows her sitting in her car while sipping on her Taco Bell drink. It’s assumed that she got it for free.

“That’s being a budget baddie,” she adds.

Did It Work For Viewers?

And many viewers are skeptical, despite Foster claiming the hack has a low fail rate.

“Yeah been ordering just a drink for years from multiple Taco Bells – never got it for free – you must have found a glitch,” one viewer remarked.

“The other day I went through Taco Bell for a cup of water and they charged me,” a second recalled.

Foster’s video has 1.5 million views. Its virality made some express worry for the workers, as there’s bound to be in uptick in such requests. “These poor taco bell employees going to have so many people trying this and being told they were [lied] to,” one said.

However, others shared that they have also had unintentional success with this hack.

“Ok this happened to me the other day and i was so confused lol,” one commenter shared.

“This happened to me last night. I went to get a Baja Blast Midnight and they gave it to me for freeeee,” another stated.

What’s In It For The Worker?

While Taco Bell typically doesn’t hand out beverages for free, there are exceptions—usually at the discretion of the employee or manager on duty.

So why would an employee give out a free drink? There are a few possible reasons:

• It’s a mistake.
• It’s an act of generosity from the employee.
• One drink is not worth the hassle of having to ring up just one drink.
• Stores want to improve their drive-thru times. Improving that time outweighs ringing up a drink, which likely costs very little for the store. “If they order a drink then yeah sometimes I give it to them for free to lower down my time,” one worker explained in Foster’s comments.

What Are Drive-Thru Timers?

Many fast-food chains use timers to track how long it takes their stores to serve each car in the drive-thru. When customers pull up to the speaker, a sensor activates the internal timer until they exit. Tasting Table explains this is a tactic to measure efficiency. Not only does failure to meet these goals result in corporate discipline, but it can also affect customer satisfaction, thus impacting profits and revenue.

If we had to guess, it’s likely Foster frequents the same location, with the same employees on duty. They were likely trained to give free drinks out as a way to lower drive-thru times.

So keep in mind, the hack working is fully dependent on the workers and store you try it out at. Results will vary.

BroBible reached out to Foster via email and TikTok comment. BroBible also reached out to Taco Bell via press email.