to be annoyed that Caffè Nero serves app/delivery orders before people in the queue?

[ThisPlumCrab]

Went into Caffè Nero this morning thinking I would just grab a quick coffee before work. Only four people ahead of me in the queue so I thought I was fine.
Then I noticed delivery drivers and click and collect customers walking in after me going straight to the counter and leaving with their drinks before I had even moved forward. The barista kept stopping making our drinks to make theirs first so my wait time doubled.

I am told app orders and delivery pickups are given priority. I get that they have already paid and there is a time window for deliveries but why should people who actually bother to walk in and stand in the queue be treated as second class customers.

Is this just modern life now or is it poor customer service to keep ignoring the customers who are physically in front of you?

But they would never make any mobile orders at all if they had to wait until there was nobody waiting to order inside the shop…

I order ahead for Starbucks for the convenience of being able to walk in and not have to wait as long for the order! That’s the point of click and collect

They should have more than one person making orders. It is not reasonable to have to wait so long in a physical queue.

They do the same in Subway. I thought they'd want to serve the people waiting first, before more people came in but no, they were doing online orders first.

Exactly. How would you manage this, OP? Remember that more staff = higher prices.

I didn't know his was a thing but I would have to expected them to do the people in the queue at least in between doing click and collect orders. You don't expect to have to wait ages in a coffee shop queue

They don’t exactly get priority. All orders are processed in the order they are received. Which seems the fairest way I can think of because if they had to wait for the store to be empty first they’d never take any online orders. It’s just that online you can place it instantly and in store you have to queue to order.

Apologies if you can’t do this with Cafe Nero, I’ve never been to one, but can you not do an online order for collection so skipping out the waiting to order? I do this for starbucks if the store is busy and it works really well.

It depends how often it's happening, if it's continuously throughout the day all day everyday then they may need to reconsider staffing levels. I'm guessing you just got unlucky with your timing and hit a rare brief rush period. It's so expensive to hire staff now, so I can see why businesses are moving towards click and collect and delivery models.

It's a similar situation at the local Co-op. The staff are running around filling delivery orders then going behind the till area to hand them over to the drivers - meanwhile in-person customers use the self-service, which is fine unless you are hanging around for someone to approve you buying the wine, then when approved and you pay you have to go over to the staff to have the security tag removed.

Supermarket staff don't get a minute's breather.

Its the same in macdonalds. Priority given to deliveroo etc.

I don't think they actually want customers in the shop - they would prefer it if everything was pre ordered.

I like Cafe Nero but I never go in when I’m in a rush. Their service is so slow, even without mobile orders.

I’ll be really honest I always order my morning train coffee as click at collect- I know my costa will be busy so I can turn up. Get my drink and get the train- I order on the walk!

The fairest way is to make the checks in the order they're received, just because someone isn't there physically in front of you doesn't mean they haven't ordered before you, but many people expect that customers in the queue should get priority, or click & collect/delivery should get priority when actually it should just be each one made in the order they arrive, because everyone is a customer and therefore should all get the same considerations.

More staff is an answer, but if you want faster service and more staff are needed, they don't work for free, so it's going to cost more to get your coffee two minutes sooner, but there'd still be the same problem if you had more staff with some doing online orders and some serving the queue and making the orders as they go, people see 2/3/4 staff and think their service should be faster because of that and will still complain if they have to wait.

What you need to do, is when you are standing in the queue, use the app to place an order and collect it and it’ll be ready before you reach the front of the queue 🤣

(I’ve done this before in a restaurant - so much quicker)

I did try this once and got my drink faster than waiting in the queue!

Why did you only do it once?

There you go, problem solved.

Obviously you shouldn’t have to do this but if it solves the problem, I’m all for it.

(I do think people in the cafe should be prioritised but I guess the online orders are still customers)

The people who ordered via the app ordered before you did. Therefore their order gets prepared first.

Your issue is with Caffe Nero who like everyone else on the high street aim to make maximum profit with minimum staff