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Does 'First Come, First Serve' not mean anything, any more?

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Funny thing about drive thru is that in my experience, a lot of times going in is faster than the drive thru. Mainly because so many people choose the drive thru over going in.

True enough. The actual time period can vary depending on multiple variables including how many people are inside vs. drive thru, the size of the orders, and even just the indecisiveness of the person making the order. But in general, the Drive Thru gets priority in food preparation over the people who choose to order inside.
 

TxdoHawk

Member
"First come, first serve" is an outdated customer service relic from back in the day when that was the only way to get served in the first place.

It's really simple, OP. People who place orders online or make appointments are doing the business a favor. That guy who placed his online order at Chipotle? He is one less person clogging the line, and his order can easily and quickly be prepared from a list on a screen error-free without having to shuffle him along the station saying "hey do you want <ingredient>?" five or six times. This improves efficiency, and means they can serve more customers in the same amount of time.

So, why on earth would a business owner in their right mind discourage this?
 

raphanum

Member
I understand your frustration but first-come-first-serve works like absolute shit with certain places, such as visiting your doctor. I had to wait 3 hours yesterday. 3 bloody hours just to get a prescription renewal. There were 8 people ahead of me but it felt like 50. From my experience, appointments work wonders for a doctors practice.
 
List some of them for me. I live in the Washington D.C. area. If you can find me some decent barbershops that don't do appointments, I'll be grateful.

Sorry, but in most cases, you can't have it both ways.

If you want a decent, consistent haircut, you need to find a barber you like and get appointments with him/her. If you really care about the quality of your cut, it's the only way to do it.
 

BHZ Mayor

Member
True enough. The actual time period can vary depending on multiple variables including how many people are inside vs. drive thru, the size of the orders, and even just the indecisiveness of the person making the order. But in general, the Drive Thru gets priority in food preparation over the people who choose to order inside.
Yeah I wasn't disagreeing or anything. Just commenting on the irony of those variables often resulting in the opposite of the intended effect.
 
"First come, first serve" is an outdated customer service relic from back in the day when that was the only way to get served in the first place.

It's really simple, OP. People who place orders online or make appointments are doing the business a favor. That guy who placed his online order at Chipotle? He is one less person clogging the line, and his order can easily and quickly be prepared from a list on a screen error-free without having to shuffle him along the station saying "hey do you want <ingredient>?" five or six times. This improves efficiency, and means they can serve more customers in the same amount of time.

So, why on earth would a business owner in their right mind discourage this?

That online-person is STALLING the existing line; their orders are prepared by the same employees that are making the meals for the in-house customers. When an online order is placed, it's as if some invisible asshole materialized right in front of the next poor schmuck who was prepared to give his order.
 

ToxicAdam

Member
The only time it really bothers me is at amusement parks. You are sitting there in line for an hour or so, get close to the ride and then a rush of line jumpers come in and delay your wait another 15 minutes.
 
And what's the deal with shopping online? Some of us actually GO TO A STORE and pay our dues by driving there, no matter what the weather is like! Kids these days! Humbug!
 

Sophia

Member
That online-person is STALLING the existing line; their orders are prepared by the same employees that are making the meals for the in-house customers. When an online order is placed, it's as if some invisible asshole materialized right in front of the next poor schmuck who was prepared to give his order.

They're not stalling the existing line from the side of the employees. They're expediting the process. What part of that is so difficult for you to grasp?
 

BHZ Mayor

Member
List some of them for me. I live in the Washington D.C. area. If you can find me some decent barbershops that don't do appointments, I'll be grateful.
Or maybe you could make an appointment using this wonderful thing called a phone, or this thing called the internet (you're on it right now!). You can even get that on the phone thingy I mentioned earlier.
 
They're not stalling the existing line from the side of the employees. They're expediting the process. What part of that is so difficult for you to grasp?

How are they expediting the process, exactly? The Chipotle order is made, but the customer is never charged online, so the business isn't get any fast money. It is literally the same as someone cutting right in front of you, so break it down for me how someone cutting in front of you makes the whole ordeal faster for the employee.
 

iammeiam

Member
They're not stalling the existing line from the side of the employees. They're expediting the process. What part of that is so difficult for you to grasp?

And most of these online food orders have you specify a pickup time, which usually has to be at least 20 minutes out. So I don't know if the computer waits to spit out the order until close to pickup time, or the staff just keeps track, by in my experience when I get there at the appointed time they're just bagging the order I placed a half-hour ago. Sucks to be the guy waiting in line for them to finish, but my order was probably placed and paid for before you wandered in.
 
Yes. You, the walk-in, are actually the one being inconsiderate as they now have to deal with you inbetween people who had the common sense to phone in ahead of time and schedule an appointment.

Not only that, but it's been a really common practice for a really long time. I don't even understand why OP doesn't just make an appointment?
 
Wait, I'm confused. Why do you feel like shit whenever you make appointments? You wait for almost an hour in barbershops because of some weird sense of morality or something...?
 

Sophia

Member
How are they expediting the process, exactly? The order is made, but the customer is never charged online, so the business isn't get any fast money. It is literally the same as someone cutting right in front of you, so break it down for me how someone cutting in front of you makes the whole ordeal faster for the employee.

It was already explained several times. By setting up appointments, the customers are staggered in. Normally high business times that would suffer from congestion are smoothed out, ensuring everyone (except YOU, the fool who can't be bothered to get an appointment) gets their stuff in a timely manner. Less time is wasted on both sides, everyone wins.

If appointments weren't used at my local hairstylist for example, everyone who came in there would be suffering form 40 minute waits. Or longer. And nobody would get the stylist they want who knows their ins and outs. So that means any given person's visit would take even longer.

Fast food restaurants can prepare food ahead of time too. If they see people order a lot of hamburgers, they can prepare them faster. If they see people want Chicken Sandwhiches, they can be ready. Many of these customers have already paid, therefore requiring even less interaction times, which makes it easier to serve everyone.
 

Tan

Member
My barbershop is a 5 minute walk from my house and is first come, first serve. It's glorious.

Looking forward to seeing this trend continuing in other businesses. "Hey, look, we don't have to stand in line to get on that roller coaster, we'll just call in ahead and walk to the front!"

Already exists and is the worst. At La Ronde you can even buy a thing that lets you not only cut in line but ride the roller coaster twice in a row. I can't even sit next to friends on a ride anymore.
 

TxdoHawk

Member
That online-person is STALLING the existing line; their orders are prepared by the same employees that are making the meals for the in-house customers. When an online order is placed, it's as if some invisible asshole materialized right in front of the next poor schmuck who was prepared to give his order.

Correct. However, that order is being prepared faster than if the person came in and placed the same order vocally, which saves time for the people who come in AFTER that order is resolved. Inevitably, with enough orders, you will have benefited from this as much if not more than you are burned by it.
 
Not only that, but it's been a really common practice for a really long time. I don't even understand why OP doesn't just make an appointment?

Because I'm not going to contribute to virtual/cellular rat-race. It's an inconsiderate practice to those that have invested time, as well as money, into acquiring a business's service. It's not a practice I'll change, but I can complain about it, in addition to not supporting it, and that's usually the first step.

If enough walk-ins feel the same, these businesses would go under. They can survive without appointees, but they likely can't survive without walk-ins.
 
The joy of going to one of those expensive theme park. Waiting over a hour in a queue to get on a ride and having a family who have paid stupid amounts of money for a fast queuing system waltz straight to the top of the line.

Man that is fun.

Dude, if a family decides that they have enough money to spend on getting a fast pass so they can let their kids not have to wait in line, all for them. Deal with it.
 
Because I'm not going to contribute to virtual/cellular rat-race. It's an inconsiderate practice to those that have invested time, as well as money, into acquiring a business's service. It's not a practice I'll change, but I can complain about it, in addition to not supporting it, and that's usually the first step.

If enough walk-ins feel the same, these businesses would go under. They can survive without appointees, but they likely can't survive without walk-ins.

Or they just switch to delivery service at that point and avoid your complaints entirely.

How the hell is it a shorter wait time for me when I said in the OP that Chipotle wait-time has gone up since they implemented this BS practice? I have to wait LONGER because of this bullshit. I've never had to wait longer than 20-25 minutes to get a damn burrito before, and just last week I spent about 40. How does this help me?

Unless there was no line inside the store, you're just arbitrarily contributing increased wait time to Online Orders because you don't like it. Also.. Chipotle has operated like this for years.
 
Correct. However, that order is being prepared faster than if the person came in and placed the same order vocally, which saves time for the people who come in AFTER that order is resolved. So, you just have to look at it big-picture, stop fretting about the individual circumstances, and realize that the online ordering ultimately means shorter wait times, even for you.

How the hell is it a shorter wait time for me when I said in the OP that Chipotle wait-time has gone up since they implemented this BS practice? I have to wait LONGER because of this bullshit. I've never had to wait longer than 20-25 minutes to get a damn burrito before, and just last week I spent about 40. How does this help me?
 

imBask

Banned
Because I'm not going to contribute to virtual/cellular rat-race. It's an inconsiderate practice to those that have invested time, as well as money, into acquiring a business's service. It's not a practice I'll change, but I can complain about it, in addition to not supporting it, and that's usually the first step.

If enough walk-ins feel the same, these businesses would go under. They can survive without appointees, but they likely can't survive without walk-ins.

how? you're being really stuborn and taking this thing way out of proportion for no reason.

you don't want to be part of the appointement rat-race but you want to be part of the "who gets there first" rat-race? what the hell are you even saying

first call, first serve
 

Ramma2

Member
How the hell is it a shorter wait time for me when I said in the OP that Chipotle wait-time has gone up since they implemented this BS practice? I have to wait LONGER because of this bullshit. I've never had to wait longer than 20-25 minutes to get a damn burrito before, and just last week I spent about 40. How does this help me?

40 minutes is crazy, you should have called ahead.
 

Sophia

Member
How the hell is it a shorter wait time for me when I said in the OP that Chipotle wait-time has gone up since they implemented this BS practice? I have to wait LONGER because of this bullshit. I've never had to wait longer than 20-25 minutes to get a damn burrito before, and just last week I spent about 40. How does this help me?

If you used the system and ordered online, it would help you by allowing you to get in there and out in seconds instead of waiting 40 minutes. Your order would be prepared faster as they knew what you wanted before you got there. :p

You are seriously a business's worst nightmare, by the way. Arrogant enough to assume you know what's right. Ignorant enough that you hurt everyone else's experience. If I were a hairstylist, I would gladly turn you away at the door in favor of getting in preferred customers who have the courtesy to plan ahead and probably tip better anyhow.
 

besada

Banned
Because I'm not going to contribute to virtual/cellular rat-race. It's an inconsiderate practice to those that have invested time, as well as money, into acquiring a business's service. It's not a practice I'll change, but I can complain about it, in addition to not supporting it, and that's usually the first step.

If enough walk-ins feel the same, these businesses would go under. They can survive without appointees, but they likely can't survive without walk-ins.

But there are never going to be enough walk-ins that feel the same, because rational people, when faced with the issue, simply make an appointment. The bulk of most hair-cutting places is by appointment, not walk-in. You're the odd man out here, not everyone else.

Businesses like appointments. They allow the business to predict and control how busy they are. These are important features of running a business. That's why appointments and reservations are expanding from their traditional niches into places like fast casual food.

You can shout at clouds all day long, and you're hurting no one but yourself.
 

TxdoHawk

Member
How the hell is it a shorter wait time for me when I said in the OP that Chipotle wait-time has gone up since they implemented this BS practice? I have to wait LONGER because of this bullshit. I've never had to wait longer than 20-25 minutes to get a damn burrito before, and just last week I spent about 40. How does this help me?

I'm going to guess this is a function of increased traffic and/or your own bias as opposed to the online ordering system itself. I mean, do you honestly believe that things would be faster if every single person who placed an online order instead came to the store, waited in line, and placed their order verbally?
 

BHZ Mayor

Member
Because I'm not going to contribute to virtual/cellular rat-race. It's an inconsiderate practice to those that have invested time, as well as money, into acquiring a business's service. It's not a practice I'll change, but I can complain about it, in addition to not supporting it, and that's usually the first step.

If enough walk-ins feel the same, these businesses would go under. They can survive without appointees, but they likely can't survive without walk-ins.
What in all of the hell?
 

Ramma2

Member
Curious how OP books air travel, I just picture him stomping around the airport in permanent standby shaking his fist at everyone who prebooked.
 

besada

Banned
Curious how OP books air travel, I just picture him stomping around the airport in permanent standby shaking his fist at everyone who prebooked.

I was imagining him shouting at his doctor or dentist for making him wait while people with appointments went ahead of him.
 

daviyoung

Banned
OP should move to England where we've perfected the art of queuing. It runs through our veins, we live for it. Our gents barbers are all for waiting in, our tourists scoff at 'speedy boarding'. We don't need appointments or quick access, we'll fucking wait it out. No big deal. We even have a shop dedicated to queuing called Argos. Even 'take a ticket' is a fucking joke, we don't need that system. We know our place, just ask the bloke next to me at the pub's bar.

England is your utopia, OP. Where 'first come first served' is a philosophy.
 
How the hell is it a shorter wait time for me when I said in the OP that Chipotle wait-time has gone up since they implemented this BS practice? I have to wait LONGER because of this bullshit. I've never had to wait longer than 20-25 minutes to get a damn burrito before, and just last week I spent about 40. How does this help me?

Correlation is not causation. Chipotle's popularity has grown over the last few years which means more customers are buying food from them and in turn increases the wait time. Online ordering doesn't mean it's the reason wait time is longer.
 

Anoregon

The flight plan I just filed with the agency list me, my men, Dr. Pavel here. But only one of you!
I'm about to head over to Chipotle for lunch, old-fashioned line waiting instead of ordering ahead.

Please pray for my safe return, and look to my family should the worst happen.
 
Because I'm not going to contribute to virtual/cellular rat-race. It's an inconsiderate practice to those that have invested time, as well as money, into acquiring a business's service. It's not a practice I'll change, but I can complain about it, in addition to not supporting it, and that's usually the first step.

If enough walk-ins feel the same, these businesses would go under. They can survive without appointees, but they likely can't survive without walk-ins.
What if I walk-in and make an appointment for later, and then on the hour of my appointment, arrive and effectively cut in line?

If you're not going to purchase services from a place that takes appointments over walk-ins, well, uh, good luck.
 

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
OP, you realize the concept of making an appointment is older than the cell phone or the internet, right?

I didn't realize this was new fucking technology. A lot of places let you make appointments, and when you make an appointment you get preferential service around that time, because they know you're coming in advance.

This shit is not hard to figure out.
 
If you used the system and ordered online, it would help you by allowing you to get in there and out in seconds instead of waiting 40 minutes. Your order would be prepared faster as they knew what you wanted before you got there. :p

You are seriously a business's worst nightmare, by the way. Arrogant enough to assume you know what's right. Ignorant enough that you hurt everyone else's experience. If I were a hairstylist, I would gladly turn you away at the door in favor of getting in preferred customers who have the courtesy to plan ahead and probably tip better anyhow.

So now I'm arrogant, discourteous, and cheap? I'm not going back and forth with you. You've found a system that works for you, and that's great -- just set your little appointment, get your $5.00 weave plugged in, and roll out, so more power to you.
 
D

Deleted member 13876

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