I just had two people take my order in a drive thru. They alternated every question. First person welcomed me and asked what I wanted. The next person asked what size and drink I wanted. The first person came back on and asked if I wanted any cheese sauce then the second person came back on and told me the price. When I got up to the window the 2nd person was the one working the register. This happens from time to time at different places when I get lunch but I can’t figure out why it is done.
Sometimes the operator is in another state! There was an article I read a while ago about… maybe it was Carl’s Jr.? but they were saying that the drive thru operators were in call centers in states with a lower labor cost.
Not exactly uplifting, but “yay capitalism” I guess.
Ten years later…
Welcome to the Carl’s Junior, my frehn! Can I please ask you to do one thing, can you please click in the top right of drive thru menu? There should be a box there that is saying “run…”
At this point, they might as well use an AI assistant instead.
Holy fuck this is definitely happening soon.
I don’t know if this is everywhere, but some of the McDonalds locations around me do have some kind of Alexa-like voice in the drive-thrus. Like those automated phone systems. I’m assuming it’s actually taking the order and not just being listened to by staff who are actually inputting the orders.
So yeah, it’s already here.
I eat Taco Bell occasionally and I do like their system. Order on the app, use Apple Pay/Google Pay to actually pay for it in advance; roll up to the drive thru and give your name; drive forward and get food.
It’s the most frictionless fast food experience I ever had ever had.
That sounds pretty neat, but I personally don’t want anymore apps on my phone. I wish that I could trust companies to not access my information. It’s not like I’m big on privacy, but I know that companies are short-sighted and will do whatever they can to increase their quarterly profits at any legal expense. Since I don’t want to spend my time trying to figure out which apps are using my data and how, I just avoid installing them to begin with. I also don’t eat fast food enough to have all of these apps installed, so it’s not like I’m missing out on a major convenience. This concludes my unsolicited Ted Talk.
Sir, this is a Wendy’s.
Yeah I feel the same.
So at least on an iPhone (I think Android does this too if I recall from when I had my Pixel 3XL) the payment uses a one-time use card number if you use Apple Pay; I didn’t have to sign up for an account, and the Taco Bell app only has my email & first name (pretty sure you can give a fake email too as it asks you to enter name/email each time if you have no account), and that’s it. The friggin’ Taco Bell app has less of my data than most apps actually.
I actually installed it as a joke (my wife hates Taco Bell), and ended up liking the ordering process, go figure… it’s fun for a once in a blue moon fast food order.
So in the kitchen there will usually be several people wearing wireless headsets. They can all hear the drive through and each other.
So depending on how busy the place is, sometimes you’ll actually have the cook on the headset asking what you want while he’s making it, while the drive through person is handing out food to one group and typing your order in at the same time(for example).
Fast food work sucks
Also, parts of orders can be taken remotely and may not even be in the restaurant.
Back in the 90s when I worked drive thru, we would switch just to mess with the customer. 🤷
Man I actually look back on my drive-thru days and wish life were still so simple. I had a blast working drive-thru at a bunch of different fast food places.
At one I was essentially free to speak however I pleased so I would use the most obnoxious, complicated/weird words I could think of. My go-to greeting was something like “hello and thank you for selecting your local [brand name] regional chain restaurant, my name is [name], which selections may I record to initiate your lunchtime experience?” and when customers would go on ordering like that was completely normal my coworker and I would just lose it.
Maybe not what happened to you, but some places hit you with an automatic message when you pull up and it can sound like a person trying to take your order.
I’ve been to some spots with these. Probably shown in some focus group to make things calmer or faster for folks. I’d want to know if the other employees working the drive through enjoy or hate having an automatic greeting.
I always hate the auto greeting and avoid the one McDonalds near me that uses it. 90% of the time it finishes with “we are ready to take your order!” But everyone on the other end is busy because theyre understaffed, and won’t actually take your order if you just blurt it out and then you gotta restart anyway.
The McDonald’s near me have a recorded greeting they use when it’s busy. Asking if we will be using the App. Can’t remember a time when they bounced back and forth.
