Fast Food Lobby Kiosk Issues

[AKKuya]

I spent 12 years off and on over a 30-year span working for Taco Bell.  Customer service is numero uno in the game.  Friendly hospitality is the cornerstone of customer service.  The cashier is the frontline of the customer experience.

I have noticed that since the installation of the ordering kiosks.  Customer service through friendly hospitality has dropped significantly.  Most workers keep their backs to the customer counter.  They rely on the kiosks to do that function now.  No more head on a swivel looking for customers.

There are a few isolated times when a worker will greet you upon approaching the counter.

i have been told by an assistant manager at a Taco Bell real soon in the future that employees and management won't be able to take counter orders anymore.

This is the second Taco Bell I worked at plus I opened that store over 30 years ago right after high school.  I'm referred as OC, Original Crew, which I have status at another Taco Bell plus one other now closed. 

I see this happening more at McDonalds also except in high traffic locations.  I haven't seen any kiosks in either Burger King or Wendys.  Just a matter of time before they become commonplace there as well.

The worst part of this is the state of the lobby.  Without a dedicated cashier to be available for cleaning.  I was taught to give the lobby TLC.  Beyond the parking lot and entranceway, the lobby id the first thing the customer sees.  I have seen lobbies with too many dirty tables during non-peak times.  Too much emphasis on drive thru and reliance on the kiosk creates that lack of TLC.

Unfortunately, this starts with the store manager and works it down the management team.  The attitude they reflect is shown at the employee level. 

Just my observation based on personal work experience and work ethic.

[hazmatt]

The biggest reason I go to Chick-fil-A and In-N-Out burger are because of their employees and how you are treated. In my experience it's night and day from those other places...

[AKIron]

Bought some Taco Bell taco shells at the grocery store. Was amazed they were all intact. Then we ate them and understood why none were broken. Had to be half plastic.

[icepac]

You pull into the drive thru, pay, and get told to pull out of the lane and park out front immediately.   

You look around and there are no customers except you.

They are gaming the timer used by corporate to see how long it takes to serve a customer.

[Meatwad]

Any restaurant that wont allow me to order in person anymore are ones that I will never do business with again

[Eagler]

Take it as a sign..

Your heart will thank you..

Eagler

[Eviscerate]

Any restaurant that wont allow me to order in person anymore are ones that I will never do business with again

I assume you also don't use the self checkout at grocery stores? 

[Animl-AW]

You pull into the drive thru, pay, and get told to pull out of the lane and park out front immediately.   

You look around and there are no customers except you.

They are gaming the timer used by corporate to see how long it takes to serve a customer.

This is true, speed over human touch.

I like country greasy spoons, interaction.

[Oldman731]

Any restaurant that wont allow me to order in person anymore are ones that I will never do business with again

I worked at McDonalds over a six-year span, weekends and vacations, when I was in high school and college, 1968-1974.  I was there when they first were allowed to hire women.  I was there for the debut of the Egg McMuffin.

On weekends, we had a crew of 15 or more yutes, plus managers and assistant managers.  Everyone except the managers was like me, in high school or early college, working part-time.  When the women came, they were middle-aged women who wanted to work part-time while their kids were in school.  We still had a bunch of people on the crew at any given moment.

For me, it was lifetime job satisfaction.  Every job I've had since then has been better than bagging fries for eight hours a day.

But "living wage" and automation killed all that.  Nowadays I don't know what kind of job a high schooler can get if he/she just wants to work weekends and vacations.

- oldman

[The Fugitive]

 

[CptTrips]

But "living wage" and automation killed all that.  Nowadays I don't know what kind of job a high schooler can get if he/she just wants to work weekends and vacations.

OnlyFans.

But even that will be AI generated soon.

[Eagler]

I assume you also don't use the self checkout at grocery stores? 

There's many from a generation who refuses to self check out..my retired seabee father-in-law refuses to do the stores job..

I will use whatever is most convenient and fast.

Eagler

[AKIron]

Some, like Sam's Club, let you scan, drop into your cart, pay and leave. Who wants to stand in line?

[Eagler]

Some, like Sam's Club, let you scan, drop into your cart, pay and leave. Who wants to stand in line?

We use this feature...you still have to walk through a scanner and have a Sam's employee wish you a nice day..

Sadly most self checkouts are avenues for major theft..

No worries they'll just raise prices to cover those losses while pocketing the saved salaries of the unemployed cashiers and bag boys..

Eagler

[oTRALFZo]

You have to love the line to self checkout being 20 long and only having 2 live cashier lanes open