New style M&S cafe

[Triflingjelly]

AIBU to not like the new style M&S cafe where you order at screens like McDs and then sit and wait for hard working waiting staff to bring your food. Stressful for customer and #runaround for staff. It all feels very impersonal. Bring back self-service. Is it just me?

I love the screens! It means I can deliberate over what I want without feeling stressed at being indecisive and taking too long!

And the little biscuits with coffees!

My M&S is still normal but how does the screen work with those free drinks vouchers you get with the credit card, they are a paper voucher you hand over at the till.

Yes we asked as did many others after us. There is no till area at all, just mc Donald’s style machines that are card only.

i'm disabled - you'd go with hubby or friend

So disabled people can not go to a cafe alone?

It's great except the RFID chips embedded in the table which detect the magic puck make my phone beep and pop up the m&s website when I'm trying to browse aibu and drink my coffee

Our ASD family all love anywhere you can order with screens. No need to interact with people and ask for things.even more so if you are feeling tired and a bit overwhelmed.

On the Mcdonalds screens you can actually see the item, helps hugely.

Taking DS out in a wheelchair to somewhere way easier to screen order as its quicker and you don't have to navigate the slalom of hot coffee

Even better if you can order on app at the table.

i dont think M&S will lose from the change.

Actually the ones losing out are the people or teens that need the work or work experience.

M&S credit card gives you paper vouchers to use for hot drinks, these are a bit pointless if you can't use them if it's card or app only

The worst M&S Cafe I had the misfortune to try was Westfield White City. ( And yes I did complain in person and email)

First the trays were hidden in the daftest place -if you knew they were there , fine . But many people not just me were searching .

The staff at the drinks/tills were faffing about so much . Instead of 2/3 doing tills and handing the details over (as in other M&S) they were going from till to drinks , getting in each others way , having to wait for a free machine

No-one was clearing , one came past with a trolley , I had to ask several times they went off , never came back

Broken glass on the floor .

I'm not a fan of screens , the bacteria on them <ugh> unless they're cleaned very regularly .

Quite!

Might make it easier for some disabled people to go alone if they don’t have to interact as much

I quite like being able to sit down and have the food brought, but it's a rubbish system for browsing the menu. I've only used it in McDonald's, only been twice since 20 years ago, and just order a big Mac meal as can't work out how to view other options. I think if they displayed a grid format whole menu on screen it would be easier. Or had one on a wall. I also think it's well suited to McDonald's with standardized food and younger clientele and personal service not valued that highly. M and S with all the old ladies probably shouldnt under estimate the fact that people like to look at what they buying and be helped by an actual person. A big screen is going to be really off-putting for many

I went to one the other day and it was so bad I submitted “feedback” through the website which I’d never normally be bothered to do. Massive queue as you couldn’t see the menu until you got to the screen and then loads was out of stock and even things that showed available were out of stock once you tried to order them! M and S cafes are normally pretty slow but this was even worse!

What happens if you want to use your own cup, that’s the only reason I use ours. You get 50p off?

Absolutely this!
M&S have form on this type of thing, they took a set of perfectly good self service tills out of my local branch and replaced them with new ones that are impossible to use from a wheelchair, meaning that it’s necessary to get a member of staff to open a checkout even when you only have a couple of items.

We shouldn’t have to get other people to do stuff for us if we don’t want to.

Leon have this, and I can never get the touch screen to work. I can usually work similar touch screens, so I have no idea why theirs don’t seem to register my hands.

I bloody love Leon! But we hardly have any where I live.

And covid. They had to keep wiping them down

Why do cash users above get grumpy when they can’t use cash? Genuinely asking as I never use cash. I just use my phone or cards.

@LittleBearPad would you get grumpy if it was cash only?

@IGotItFromAgnes the discussion had been about wheelchair users. My DP uses a wheelchair. Using services and shops is already hard enough for wheelchair users, but then to design a system that excludes them is terrible.

@mantyzer you said disabled, not wheelchair users.

I do agree that there should be a way for wheelchair users to access the screens

@IGotItFromAgnes I know I did. It was a reply to a comment about wheelchair users. They are rarely considered in designs.

Well I wouldn’t be able to pay for anything and it would be rather a surprise but I’m not sure that answers my question.