Mistake in order on pub app

jimpwarsop

Manxman_in_exile said:

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?

Lol, have you tried chatting to what passes for bar staff nowadays ? Theyre all kids. Minimum wage kids, they really dont want to be there, and if they are they dont want to chat with "old" people.

Skiddaw1

Actually, the staff at our nearest Weatherspoons are lovely and enjoy passing the time of day (but we're in rural Cumbria where just about everyone is like that ).

I think the ordering via an app thing came to pass during Covid- at one point, you had to order via the app (which I downloaded at the time). It was the same with other chains (including the Ember group).

DullGreyGuy

jimpwarsop said:

Manxman_in_exile said:

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?

Lol, have you tried chatting to what passes for bar staff nowadays ? Theyre all kids. Minimum wage kids, they really dont want to be there, and if they are they dont want to chat with "old" people.

Agree on the first two but that tends to mean they are willing to have a chat rather than be working if they can get away with it... topic of conversations may be different than if you were chatting to an old boy but its perfectly possible as long as you dont want to reminisce about ration books or such

Pollycat

Was it really an app glitch?
Or user error?
Don't people check what they are ordering before clicking on 'pay'?

powerful_Rogue

Pollycat said:

Was it really an app glitch?
Or user error?
Don't people check what they are ordering before clicking on 'pay'?

Exactly, there was no glitch.

MattMattMattUK

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.  

It was a Weatherspoons, people do not drink there because it is comfortable, they drink there because it is the cheapest pub/bar one can buy a pint. 

Flat_Earther

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  

They're not training people to become MENSA members here, they're teaching them to use a POS system that is designed for the lowest common denominator.  You're also forgetting that having some absolute role speciality is not helpful.  You want the person serving the drinks to be able to pull a pint or use the till in case of a staff shortage.  Obviously, that has its limits, they're unlikely to train them to cook food or work the door as well just in case but having staff that can literally only carry food and drink from one place to the next makes no sense financially.

And then you're forgetting the cost of maintaining these systems.

I do imagine that there is a net benefit to the system, but it's probably more in terms of reducing frustrated customers leaving due to being ignored by staff at the bar, taking advantage of drunk people and the "not real" aspect of apps and in more general terms it just being an easier experience with a net flow in of customers as a result.  It almost certainly has nothing to do with staff who are all likely paid minimum wage anyway.,

jon81uk

MattMattMattUK 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.  

It was a Weatherspoons, people do not drink there because it is comfortable, they drink there because it is the cheapest pub/bar one can buy a pint. 

It can also be more comfortable, Wetherspoons generally don't show sport and don't play music. So often a better venue for a chat with friends than many other bars.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Flat_Earther said

Looks like you put more effort into this weeks poster name compared to last weeks.

I give it a B+ 

Jumblebumble

DullGreyGuy said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

km1500 said:

wonder what would happen if mistakenly ordered an extra pint at the bar - would they insist they take it ?

It's very unlikely that would happen as you'd have to actually ask for it.

These companies persuade customers to use technology as it saves them staff costs, given this the odd mistake like this covered by goodwill would be decent but of course as others said no rights to a refund. 

Does it save them staffing costs? Someone still has to pour the drink but rather than deliver it 3 paces from the pump to where the customer is stood at the bar they instead have to walk across the bar, up the stairs and back again. 

You could imagine in a place that was online orders only and setup for that from the outset could productionise the drink prep with it being out of sight but most pubs are running the online orders from the standard bar.

Our local actively discourages use of the app but I belive thats also because the brewery take a larger slice of online orders

I imagine that the Spoons app saves a fair  amount of staff costs as all the faffing about that customers tend to do when ordering at the bar no longer involves staff time.
Eg Which beers do you have on tap? Can I try that one?