I was waiting in line at a fast-food restaurant for a very long time even though there were many employees who seemed to be working furiously. When I finally got to the counter after the line had temporarily stopped, I saw that the delay was caused by an abundance of online orders that seemed to take precedence over those actually there in person. The orders through the app or delivery service were expedited because those customers were standing rather impatiently by the register waiting for pickups while the rest of us quietly stood in the queue.
Something is wrong with this system. The app has no ability to regulate flow so it keeps accepting order after order without regard to whether the in-person restaurant is busy or deserted. There is only so much room on the food preparation line so orders can’t be assembled any faster, and the customers who order via a human instead of an app are the ones who pay the price.
If your output is influenced by multiple inputs (such as the phone and in-person), take care that you treat both sets of customers equitably, or, if you prioritize one method of contact over another, acknowledge the inconvenience and attempt to make amends. Offering free chips and queso to compensate for the delay could have made those in line grateful instead of grumbling.
