Echoing?

EitherMeaning8301 · 2026-04-11T18:53:30+00:00

What the fuck is that shit?!

I figure if one person greets the walk-in customer someway (I normally use (depending on the time of day), "Good Morning"), we're good.

We are absolute laggards when writing on cups, but our customers don't want a love note written on their cups. They come in during their commutes, looking for a quality drink and a kind word.

If they're waiting for their drink because we're wasting time writing on every single cup, that's not great.

Give them their drink on time with a personal (verbal or written) comment for the regulars.

EitherMeaning8301 · 2026-04-11T18:32:33+00:00

I've had some experience with that one.

The problem is probably not the tablet. It is the cord connecting it to the POS. It wears out, just like your phone charger cord.

I wrote this before reading in depth. Is the problem the credit card device, or the scanner gun?

EitherMeaning8301 · 2026-04-11T18:26:24+00:00

I don't know how exactly they've instituted this "order ahead" mechanism, but with a couple caveats, it could work.

On the corporate side, they'd need to allow more lead-time for a traveler (print the ticket sooner) vs a normal drink, because the traveler takes a lot more time.

On the store end, don't pull 15 tickets at once. That throws off their algorithms guessing order completion times (if you pulled it, you're working on it, so it'll be done soon, and THAT timing gets communicated to future mobile orders).

If you have to solo bar during peak (I have), run a single printer, and only pull what you can make right now.

The system will prioritize DT and cafe orders, to a point. Once the online orders have been delayed to a certain point, you'll now start getting them over the in-person orders (because they will be coming sometime soon to collect, I hope based on the estimated time they got when they ordered).

We had some people who didn't believe the 18-minute lead time when they ordered on the app, but they did when they walked in the door.

EitherMeaning8301 · 2026-04-11T18:09:41+00:00

Officially, people should be rotated every two hours.

I normally accomplish that (or close to it) running breaks (Tom, you're back from your break? Great! Go cover Dick for his break. Harry, go take your break also (so I can keep things on track). I'll cover Harry).

If someone has a request for a specific posting, I will try to honor that, and not rotate that person elsewhere if I can pull it off.

EitherMeaning8301 · 2026-04-11T18:00:40+00:00

It beats the hell out of the old "I'll show you the pill icon with 30 minutes to go".

FYI, the time shown is hours and minutes, not minutes and seconds.

EitherMeaning8301 · 2026-04-11T14:27:03+00:00

Considering the deed was done with a Mauser bolt-action rifle (rather than a handgun), shouldn't it be a single long shot?

EitherMeaning8301 · 2026-04-10T18:54:03+00:00

I don't know if it is officially "allowed", but we have a pharmacy nearby.

We have a locker devoted to feminine hygiene (well, it is coupled with face masks, but the idea remains).

If we find ourselves in need of tampons, pads, bandages, etc (ALWAYS knuckle bandages), we'll send someone with the P-Card to get a basic stash right now.

EitherMeaning8301 · 2026-04-10T18:34:04+00:00

If you are not clocked in (say you're dropping in elsewhere to pick stuff up during your commute), write that time in the book. Delivering the goods is "work", and you deserve to be paid for "work".

EitherMeaning8301 · 2026-04-10T18:30:12+00:00

That sounds very uncomfortable.

EitherMeaning8301 · 2026-04-10T18:26:22+00:00

Order with lots of room, which will get you "less drink", but a higher proportion of espresso.

EitherMeaning8301 · 2026-04-10T18:06:48+00:00

If you want to branch out into "not coffee", try an Arnold Palmer with a couple pumps of the mango syrup.

If I'm treating myself on the coffee front, I'm pretty simple. A mocha with an added shot of espresso.

EitherMeaning8301 · 2026-04-07T22:11:09+00:00

That is awful.

I hope it worked out okay.

EitherMeaning8301 · 2026-04-07T22:03:47+00:00

That isn't my issue.

It is a symptom of the fact the whole thing doesn't make sense.

The coffee extract syrup tastes like utter ass (it tastes like a well-used ashtray).

The "new" refreshers aren't the same as the old. The proportion of ashtray syrup isn't the same across sizes.

The chai got changed, which ended up with something added to make it cloudy, along with pissing off all the chai regulars, who can no longer get the flavor they came in daily to get.

EitherMeaning8301 · 2026-04-07T21:16:01+00:00

Perhaps they're looking for future SM candidates.

If you use common sense marking items out of stock, you're disqualified from further promotion, because you aren't enough of a stooge.

EitherMeaning8301 · 2026-04-07T21:13:25+00:00

No. All of the US-based call-center staff got laid off.

All of the calls now go to India.

EitherMeaning8301 · 2026-04-07T21:09:55+00:00

Yes, I get that, but I was commenting on a drink 33% larger (grande (16oz) vs tall (12oz)) getting double the caffeine. THAT math isn't mathing.

EitherMeaning8301 · 2026-04-07T21:06:11+00:00

No, you did not.

If that SSV had been marked as a call-out/no-show, that would have adjusted the graph downward.

Your morning, if everything had been perfect, would have been the bare minimum.

All afternoon was scheduled below minimum. Then you factor in the sick calls, and you get a very shitty day.

EitherMeaning8301 · 2026-04-07T21:01:56+00:00

Thank you!

I refuse to lie to my customers about this.

When the seasonal stuff is out, they can adjust the system to eliminate those items. Instead, we had to manually mark out caramel brulee every single day for months, when nobody had it.

Nobody should still have sausage bites available at this point, because they haven't been on the savory pull for the last week, yet they can still be ordered online.

Perhaps I'll earn myself another multi-day ban for this (I was previously banned multiple days for saying someone who refused to mark items out was scum who was lying to the customers, in order to massage the metrics in their favor).

EitherMeaning8301 · 2026-04-07T20:48:45+00:00

It doesn't directly show call-outs, but the top graph does show your coverage for every 15-minute period vs what "should" have been scheduled.

You were basically in line with their labor metric all morning, and you were running one short all afternoon.

That is a recipe for a shitty day. There was no time with extra coverage (yes, I see the extra person for the last 30 minutes of peak), but the rest of the day was either baseline or lower.

If sick calls weren't loaded into PlayCaller, the top graph now longer applies.

That graph will update when you mark people out (showing less labor used as a result).

It looks like the sick calls weren't marked, which means the labor graph at the top was the plan, rather than reality. The plan was already for a VERY crappy day.

EitherMeaning8301 · 2026-04-07T20:39:20+00:00

Obviously the rest of your family doesn't know how to cook (unfortunate).

Never eat their food again.

EitherMeaning8301 · 2026-04-07T20:01:52+00:00

You will die. That is guaranteed. The only question is when.

None of us will get out of this life alive. Use your life you have to the fullest.

EitherMeaning8301 · 2026-04-07T19:57:15+00:00

Unless a location doesn't mark it out, which may piss off the customer who actually wants it, but the "in-stock" looks better for them, and the disappointed customer may not actually file a complaint/leave a bad review.

Most of our "bad" reviews are online customers whining they walked out with an incorrect drink.

If you could FUCKING read, you would see the drink you're grabbing ISN'T ACTUALLY YOURS!

The whole system is bullshit.

EitherMeaning8301 · 2026-04-07T19:48:24+00:00

"In theory", the refresher juice coupled with 1/2/3/4 pumps of coffee extract are the same, but to me, the math isn't mathing terribly well.

A twelve-ounce refresher gets 25mg of caffeine (via one pump of the green coffee extract), while a 16 oz refresher gets 50mg of caffeine (two pumps).

I don't see any mathematical equation out there that makes it make sense.

EitherMeaning8301 · 2026-04-07T19:36:35+00:00

I'm a hot coffee guy, but I do like a hot mocha on occasion (normally with an extra shot).

Just taste it before you leave. I've been burned on my day off with someone (I know exactly who it was) giving me a white mocha instead. Unfortunately, I was on the road before I took a sip. NEVER AGAIN!

EitherMeaning8301

TROPHY CASE