Mistake in order on pub app

km1500

k3lvc said:

When ordering at the bar you might get it wrong but you aren't going to blurt out "I'd like a pint please" if you don't want one. 

To be fair there's many a time I've stood at a bar and said 'I'd like a(nother) pint please' when I neither wanted nor needed one 

agreed but you could order a round - 6 g+t and four pints and when they were poired say sorry i meant 3. Unlikely they would force you to take the unwanted one.

but on the app ...

DullGreyGuy

km1500 said:

k3lvc said:

When ordering at the bar you might get it wrong but you aren't going to blurt out "I'd like a pint please" if you don't want one. 

To be fair there's many a time I've stood at a bar and said 'I'd like a(nother) pint please' when I neither wanted nor needed one 

agreed but you could order a round - 6 g+t and four pints and when they were poired say sorry i meant 3. Unlikely they would force you to take the unwanted one.

but on the app ...

All of these debates depend on the pub in question... the difference with the error at the bar is that in most cases it wont have been paid for yet and so the pub is at a disadvantage however if its like our Wetherspoons that make you pay before they start pouring then you are probably more likely to get a similar reaction as if it had been ordered and paid for on the app... its your's, you've paid for it, its up to you if you take it or leave it.

Manxman_in_exile

In almost 50 years of frequenting pubs (sometimes too frequently!) I have never known anybody (individual or in a group) say "I don't want that pint.  Take it away"

And even if I had heard it, I or somebody else would readily have made room for it...

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

DullGreyGuy said:

Accept your first point on people forgetting/bumbling orders/didnt get table number... not sure the frequency of this is sufficient to offset the necessity for staff to be delivering orders. Certainly in most cases its one by one delivery of orders in our pubs and so certainly not efficiency of allowing orders to stack up and then deliver them en mass in the most efficient route around the bar. Plus you then also have to deal with those that put the wrong table number into the app etc too.

I do agree that in a pub setting the customer can order a drink here and there rather than waiting to make the effort of going to the bar for a round, perhaps the staff aspect doesn't apply in a pub but overall the purpose of the app ordering system is to generate extra profit one way or another, if it didn't do that it wouldn't exist.

In terms of staff, once the screen ordering becomes common place, like McDonalds for example, you need less staff that can work a till and interact with a customer and simply someone who can carry something to the right place.  

Wrong table numbers are again in control of the business, replace the table number with a QR code for the app to scan and problem solved, well except for people moving tables which I'm certain some people would do and then wonder where their order is, but big businesses are working across the board rather than micro managing each specific cost or scenario.

DullGreyGuy said:

Increased order values may be true but not relevant to staffing costs. I wonder if having a clear and open pricing though it may result in some downgrading their order? In one pub I go to occasionally I'd go for a premium gin and tonic as the gin was only £1 more expensive however the app highlighted that they dont charge for tonic with their house gin and so is actually £3.50 cheaper and so now I spend less. Same could be said of special offers you may not know about at the bar but are clear in the app.

A cheaper drink might save you some money but that doesn't necessarily mean the pub has lost profit, they might be paid by the brand to feature their product (in a similar way that supermarkets are paid to place items on certain shelves), they might have purchased a large quantity for a discount and require the sell through rate, the brand might be running their own promotion and the pub passes this on at the same margin with the view the cheaper it is the more you drink. Special offers will be run for a specific reason and ultimately that will be to generate further profit. 

Your personal decisions as an individual might end costing the pub but again they aren't micro managing the pennies, in the same way Mrs Jones only buying loss leading bread and milk in Tesco doesn't bother the supermarket that one customer here and there is costing them.  

DullGreyGuy said:

Whilst clearly not the thread to argue it on, I'd argue its easier to get the order right on the app as after everything has been decided on you get a summary which you can check at your leasure with your table. If I'm at the bar ordering for the table the barman may restate my order but often its not and its still soly reliant on my memory. 

And yes, I have blurted out "I'd like another pint please" when I didn't want one... typically as someone say's Bob's just arrived and so add another one to the order forgetting I'd already included them in the count

I do agree it easier to get it right (another benefit to the business) but the OP reads as if they added the pint to the order unintentionally rather than as a miscalculation in what was required. 

If they meant to order the pint but then realised they didn't need it that's on them  

jimpwarsop

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Yes but this isn't a 4 year old that's bumped their head on the coffee table, it's a consumer and business relationship in a service and leisure environment where making the consumer "comfortable" will result in long term gains.  

Nope its someone in a pub who cocked up and doesnt like the result of their ineptitude and wanted to dump the problem on the business.  Wetherspoons dont care if he/she grumps and never returns. Because s/he wont, Wetherspoons are CHEAP, so unless the OP actually fancies spending an extra 60p on every pint going forward they will suck it up.

born_again

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

jimpwarsop said:

If the pub had refunded the pint out of goodwill it would have installed confidence in the app ordering system, instead the extra charge for an unwanted item is likely to see ordering at the bar in the future. 

Or maybe more care will be taken to avoid ordering something they dont want, and dont want to pay for.

Most people learn by mistakes, although currently their first thought might be to shift the blame to something/someone else.

Yes but this isn't a 4 year old that's bumped their head on the coffee table, it's a consumer and business relationship in a service and leisure environment where making the consumer "comfortable" will result in long term gains.  

But also falls under. Take responsibility for your own mistakes 🤦‍♀️. Given  the margins this groups runs on. Throwing that pint away would be a big hit.

One reason to not use apps, get up & walk to the bar to order. This also has a knock on effect of being good for your health (exercise 😂)

elsien

Out of interest, what was the confusion with the app and the minor glitch?

DullGreyGuy

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

DullGreyGuy said:

Accept your first point on people forgetting/bumbling orders/didnt get table number... not sure the frequency of this is sufficient to offset the necessity for staff to be delivering orders. Certainly in most cases its one by one delivery of orders in our pubs and so certainly not efficiency of allowing orders to stack up and then deliver them en mass in the most efficient route around the bar. Plus you then also have to deal with those that put the wrong table number into the app etc too.

I do agree that in a pub setting the customer can order a drink here and there rather than waiting to make the effort of going to the bar for a round, perhaps the staff aspect doesn't apply in a pub but overall the purpose of the app ordering system is to generate extra profit one way or another, if it didn't do that it wouldn't exist.

In terms of staff, once the screen ordering becomes common place, like McDonalds for example, you need less staff that can work a till and interact with a customer and simply someone who can carry something to the right place.  

Wrong table numbers are again in control of the business, replace the table number with a QR code for the app to scan and problem solved, well except for people moving tables which I'm certain some people would do and then wonder where their order is, but big businesses are working across the board rather than micro managing each specific cost or scenario.

DullGreyGuy said:

Increased order values may be true but not relevant to staffing costs. I wonder if having a clear and open pricing though it may result in some downgrading their order? In one pub I go to occasionally I'd go for a premium gin and tonic as the gin was only £1 more expensive however the app highlighted that they dont charge for tonic with their house gin and so is actually £3.50 cheaper and so now I spend less. Same could be said of special offers you may not know about at the bar but are clear in the app.

A cheaper drink might save you some money but that doesn't necessarily mean the pub has lost profit, they might be paid by the brand to feature their product (in a similar way that supermarkets are paid to place items on certain shelves), they might have purchased a large quantity for a discount and require the sell through rate, the brand might be running their own promotion and the pub passes this on at the same margin with the view the cheaper it is the more you drink. Special offers will be run for a specific reason and ultimately that will be to generate further profit. 

Your personal decisions as an individual might end costing the pub but again they aren't micro managing the pennies, in the same way Mrs Jones only buying loss leading bread and milk in Tesco doesn't bother the supermarket that one customer here and there is costing them.  

DullGreyGuy said:

Whilst clearly not the thread to argue it on, I'd argue its easier to get the order right on the app as after everything has been decided on you get a summary which you can check at your leasure with your table. If I'm at the bar ordering for the table the barman may restate my order but often its not and its still soly reliant on my memory. 

And yes, I have blurted out "I'd like another pint please" when I didn't want one... typically as someone say's Bob's just arrived and so add another one to the order forgetting I'd already included them in the count

I do agree it easier to get it right (another benefit to the business) but the OP reads as if they added the pint to the order unintentionally rather than as a miscalculation in what was required. 

If they meant to order the pint but then realised they didn't need it that's on them  

There are many complexities in business and what applies to one business doesn't necessarily apply to the next... as mentioned previously, with our local for sales via the app the brewery takes a bigger cut than via the bar... hence the brewery promote the app and require the pub to accept it but the pub actively discourage regulars from using it. 

The same can happen with promos... sometimes HO may get some form of discount to push a certain product but that doesn't necessarily mean they pass that on to the stores (be they business units or independent businesses)

I suspect time will tell if apps increase profitability or reduce it... I suspect some have invested too much in developing them to immediately can them before they've tried to make them work long term. The pub I go to occasionally if I walk home has basically stopped theirs but then they always offered table service in exchange for 12.5% which doesn't get added on app orders. I've also been with those that move on because a place still insists all orders must go via the app. 

Personally, I have mixed views on the apps... if I go alone and working from my laptop they are convenient to not leave my stuff unattended as I go to the bar or lose my table etc. On the flip side the Fuller's pub I am in at the moment only have their regular drinks in the app and the 8 guest beers on tap can only be ordered at the bar.

Getting it right again is complex... the one time visitor its good to get as much revenue as possible... the regular you have to consider an extra £2 profit from the accidental wrong ordered drink -v- the long term goodwill lost from annoyed customer

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

born_again said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

jimpwarsop said:

If the pub had refunded the pint out of goodwill it would have installed confidence in the app ordering system, instead the extra charge for an unwanted item is likely to see ordering at the bar in the future. 

Or maybe more care will be taken to avoid ordering something they dont want, and dont want to pay for.

Most people learn by mistakes, although currently their first thought might be to shift the blame to something/someone else.

Yes but this isn't a 4 year old that's bumped their head on the coffee table, it's a consumer and business relationship in a service and leisure environment where making the consumer "comfortable" will result in long term gains.  

But also falls under. Take responsibility for your own mistakes 🤦‍♀️. Given  the margins this groups runs on. Throwing that pint away would be a big hit.

One reason to not use apps, get up & walk to the bar to order. This also has a knock on effect of being good for your health (exercise 😂)

Low margins is their deliberate business model, they are entitled to charge the same, or indeed more, for food and drink than an independent would and increase that margin, the reason they don't is that lower prices increases turnover creating economies of scale that result in higher overall profit whilst stifling competition, there's no small violin to play for the big businesses working to tiny margins  

Manxman_in_exile

Whatever happened to just propping the bar up and chatting with the bar staff?

Does everything have to be done via some devilish phone app?