ordering / customer efficiency secrets

[michigancat]

efficiency: don't let your small children order for themselves.

Oh man, I do this all the time.  F the server, my kids need to learn how to be normal ppl.

To make up for it, I always tip big.

I do the exact same.  I am a VERY good tipper.

x3

Having kids order for themselves was addressed in Freakonomics, I think. It's very good for their development.

[OK_Cat]

yeah, i make the kid order for herself, too.

she's starting to get pretty picky, making demands about what she does and doesn't want on her food.  pretty adorbs.

[Emo EMAW]

At McDonalds if you want the value meal with two hamburgers (not on menu) just order the cheeseburger meal with no cheese.  If you ask for the hamburger meal they freak out and give you the cheeseburger no cheese anyway.

[Kat Kid]

At McDonalds if you want the value meal with two hamburgers (not on menu) just order the cheeseburger meal with no cheese.  If you ask for the hamburger meal they freak out and give you the cheeseburger no cheese anyway.

can confirm.

[ChiComCat]

Working in hospitality, nothing pissed me off more than people calling to make hotel reservations and not know what day they wanted.  Then you have to wait for them to pull a calendar and check with people.  How the hell did they expect the conversation to go?  That is the one piece of information you have to have for me to give you any help at all.

['taterblast]

Working in hospitality, nothing pissed me off more than people calling to make hotel reservations and not know what day they wanted.  Then you have to wait for them to pull a calendar and check with people.  How the hell did they expect the conversation to go?  That is the one piece of information you have to have for me to give you any help at all.

i'm astonished that this happens at all

[Rage Against the McKee]

Most of the things that ruin efficiency when shopping/taking orders are caused by the dumbasses in front of you/in your way, so I really don't focus much on it. I will say that when I am driving, if I am coming up on a red light with no cars in front of me, I will slow the car down to like 10 mph so I won't have to stop and I can just blow by all of those other bozos who are stopped in the other lane, saving both time and fuel. Sometimes a car will zoom around me to stop at the light and I end up having to slow down for him to speed up again after the light turns green, which really just pisses me right off.

[EllRobersonisInnocent]

When grandma watches the person at Dillons scan all of her food, gets the total, then decides to dig through her purse for her checkbook 

[SterlingArcher]

When ordering a Bloody Mary DO NOT ask them to name all their vodka's. Christ, YOU ARE IN A BAR. No one walks into a bangkok whore house and ask's the names of all the girls.

[puniraptor]

When grandma watches the person at Dillons scan all of her food, gets the total, then decides to dig through her purse for her checkbook 

your correct efficiency choice should be to not get in line behind a grandma

[OK_Cat]

i can't understand people who write checks/pay with cash at the grocery store.  slows everything down.

[owl borland]

heard that in the near future, you will be able to grocery shop and charge everything through your smart phone on your own, thus, having no need to go thru a checkout line. Now that's efficient shopping

[OK_Cat]

sounds very unefficient.  everybody thought that self checkout lanes would be great, and they are a trainwreck.

[FuzzyWuzzy]

everybody thought that self checkout lanes would be great, and they are a trainwreck.

how so?

[OK_Cat]

if people would only go to the self checkout when they had 5-10 easy things, then yeah, no probs.

but people with a full cart will go to one, and with that tiny bagging area they are constantly having to hit the "skip bagging" button, and after every 4-5 items they have to wait for an employee to key in a password to continue. 

or people will scan something and want to challenge the price, so you have to wait for someone to come over, they gripe, etc.

[owl borland]

sounds very unefficient.  everybody thought that self checkout lanes would be great, and they are a trainwreck.

supposedly there would be no lines. Like if you want bread, you just scan the bread with your phone when you grab it, and move on. When your done shopping, you just walk out of the store. easy breezy

[Rage Against the McKee]

sounds very unefficient.  everybody thought that self checkout lanes would be great, and they are a trainwreck.

supposedly there would be no lines. Like if you want bread, you just scan the bread with your phone when you grab it, and move on. When your done shopping, you just walk out of the store. easy breezy

How do you prevent shoplifting in that scenario?

[OK_Cat]

yeah, sounds like a huge headache and not efficient.

[FuzzyWuzzy]

if people would only go to the self checkout when they had 5-10 easy things, then yeah, no probs.

but people with a full cart will go to one, and with that tiny bagging area they are constantly having to hit the "skip bagging" button, and after every 4-5 items they have to wait for an employee to key in a password to continue. 

or people will scan something and want to challenge the price, so you have to wait for someone to come over, they gripe, etc.

idk, seems like the self-checkout capacity is usually big enough to accommodate 1 or 2 idiots at a time.

[OK_Cat]

oklahoma has more than 1 or 2 idiots, though.

i always go to a regular checkout lane and get done a lot faster.

[Rage Against the McKee]

I've never understood the people who go to the grocery store and just buy an entire cart full of crap. How does a family eat $250 worth of food before it expires? Do all of these people just have like 6 kids or something?

[owl borland]

I dunno guys, this is just what i was told in marketing class, don't know all the details...maybe they're going to rely heavily on the honor system

[FuzzyWuzzy]

oklahoma has more than 1 or 2 idiots, though.

i always go to a regular checkout lane and get done a lot faster.

good point.  i've grown accustomed to TITLETOWN

[star seed 7]

i'm taking marketing in the fall, will report back any new information at that time.

[Rage Against the McKee]

I've always just assumed that the whole "pay with your phone" thing would be done at the checkout, which has always made me hope that it never happens, because there is no way that could ever be more efficient than just using a credit card.