Would Towers benefit from Self-Service machines?

[Matt.GC]

I think you misunderstood my point, self service machines are (in some cases) quicker because they can afford to have more machines than they would have people.

So for example in the photo above there are four self-service machines. How often do you see four staff members running the on-ride photos?

Plus they often have translations so work better for those that don't speak English.

No, I've completely understood your point. Demand for machines has been created by manufacturing queues for manned kiosks. So in that sense, they are quicker as you are less likely to queue for them. This works better at train stations and theme parks than supermarkets and restaurants however as the product you are buying, a ticket, is a very simple one to vend.

There was a time when there would have been loads of people behind photo kiosks at Towers, your local train station would have had loads of manned booths and your local Sainsbury's would have has 28 manned checkouts.

All seems a long time ago now though...

 

[Martin]

Another reason businesses like them is it's harder for someone who doesn't know about a particular offer or cheaper ticket or whatever to find it on a machine whereas a human operator might be inclined to inform the customer. For things like theme park tickets and fastrack where you have fewer possible options it's probably less of a thing though.

From my own experience, at train stations going to a desk or buying on the train often results in me getting a cheaper ticket than the machine said, and they'll usually tell me if there's a cheaper route than the one I asked for, if split ticketing will be cheaper etc

 

[speedy]

Another reason businesses like them is it's harder for someone who doesn't know about a particular offer or cheaper ticket or whatever to find it on a machine whereas a human operator might be inclined to inform the customer. For things like theme park tickets and fastrack where you have fewer possible options it's probably less of a thing though.

From my own experience, at train stations going to a desk or buying on the train often results in me getting a cheaper ticket than the machine said, and they'll usually tell me if there's a cheaper route than the one I asked for, if split ticketing will be cheaper etc

I guess that's because the guard is giving you a rate you shouldn't be getting. I always found the cheapest way is through the trainline, however I have been screwed over once due to my Virgin train being cancelled meaning I missed a CrossCountry connection. Neither company or the Trainline would take responsibility.

 

[imanautie]

I guess that's because the guard is giving you a rate you shouldn't be getting. I always found the cheapest way is through the trainline, however I have been screwed over once due to my Virgin train being cancelled meaning I missed a CrossCountry connection. Neither company or the Trainline would take responsibility.

N.b try trainsplit, it works out split ticketing and charges a percentage of what you save by splitting, no saving no fee.

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[AT86]

In Merlin’s half year trading update they mentioned the roll out of automated ticket machines.

Apparently using machines instead of manned tills is a saving to Merlin of £10,000 per till. The transaction time using a self service machine is one minute less than a manned till. Their current focus is on rolling self service out to midway clusters such as London, they will then move on to other attractions in the group.

 

[delta79]

Soon from getting on the monorail and a ride. The only staff you will see is security.

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[Kraken27]

I agree that in the case of some retailers - McDonalds being a prime example - all the self-serve order points do is shift the queue from a manned till to collection point(s). In some cases, you could argue the self-serve order points give worse service, as there is no longer the interaction with a staff member - you're just a number in the queue.

Example: When you used to order at a manned till in McD's, the same cashier or a "runner" working with them wouls make up your order. If they could see they had run out of an item in your order, they could advise you it's probably only be x minutes wait for said item. Now with self-serve order (& a few remaining manned tills) the ordering & payment are completely seperate from the order-make up - you are literally just a number waiting for food.

I have complained to McD's UK about terrible slow service (waiting over 8mins for a standard hamburger in a quiet restaurant) using the self-order screens. Their reply is the self-order screens are all about the quality of the food that is served, i.e. the order is put together "to order" as opposed to sitting waiting in the chute. They may have a point at off-peak trading periods, but I don't buy the argument at busy lunchtime periods when the food barely has chance to sit long enough in a chute to go cold.

I am sure we will see self-serve ticketing machines appear at Towers - probably in time for next season. They were, I believe planned for this season but for whatever reason did not appear. They probably would have helped to alleviate some of the early-season chaos on the entry plaza.

 

[Skyscraper]

McDonald's tip: if you want a fresh burger order at least one less item on it- they will make you one from scratch.

 

[Kraken27]

McDonald's tip: if you want a fresh burger order at least one less item on it- they will make you one from scratch.

Not necessarily any more! In the "made for you" units (ones with self-order screens) the meat items are cooked & kept warm/hot in timed warmers (a bit like how the food could only sit in the chute for so long). Your burger will be assembled to order every time - even if a standard order - but there is no guarantee the meat is fresh off the grill / from the fryer.

 

[GaryH]

I detest the self service machines in McDonalds, to the extent I have stopped going there completely now. In the past, say you just wanted a burger, they would reach over and grab one for you, time taken, 1 minute! Now, oh now, find the burger on the screen, blah blah blah, then wait while they serve the other 20 people in front of you and wait for their food to be cooked until you get said burger.

Self service machines will be the death of us I tell ya!

 

[Rick]

Does anyone find themselves in the position of hating the machines but wishing to see the minimum wage hit £10 p/h?

 

[imanautie]

I detest the self service machines in McDonalds, to the extent I have stopped going there completely now. In the past, say you just wanted a burger, they would reach over and grab one for you, time taken, 1 minute! Now, oh now, find the burger on the screen, blah blah blah, then wait while they serve the other 20 people in front of you and wait for their food to be cooked until you get said burger.

Self service machines will be the death of us I tell ya!

And that's why they are bringing out mobile ordering, a one tap to reorder you most frequent order and pay for it using a linked card would be neat

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[Rick]

As a vegetatian, McDonalds has never been 'fast' food. I rarely go but I did a few weeks back and the ordering was pretty painless.

The Wetherspoon app is absolute joy when it's busy.

 

[imanautie]

As a vegetatian, McDonalds has never been 'fast' food. I rarely go but I did a few weeks back and the ordering was pretty painless.

The Wetherspoon app is absolute joy when it's busy.

Plus you can say post your table number on Twitter and get free food as someone tried once.

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[Kraken27]

The Wetherspoon app is absolute joy when it's busy.

Agree 100% Wetherspoon are excellent at generally understaffing most of their pubs to Towers levels (I've only been in one 'Spoons in Leeds where there were far too many staff on the bar & you were served in under 30 seconds, even if the pub was very busy, which it was - not a match-day or anything either, just a busy Saturday afternoon). I've walked out of more than a few 'Spoons pubs due to slow service / staff inability to remember who was at the bar first in the past.

There is always seemingly one staff member allocated to the online drinks ordering and you generally get your drinks ordered via the app very fast in my experience.

 

[Rick]

@Kraken27 My experience in Spoons has typically been better than some other chains. Greene King seemingly put a lot of focus on costs which pushes their pub managers to have a skeleton staff outside of the most peak of times.

I think part of the problem in some pubs is that the bar area isn't always big enough to employ more staff because they just become inefficient with waiting for pumps or tripping over their colleagues. We ate at the Velvet Coaster on Sunday night (that balcony is awesome) - quick service via the app.

 

[GaryH]

Call me old school but I much prefer the old way of doing things, i.e. actually employ more people and have manned checkouts, manned ticket desks, more staff behind bars etc. All self service does it make people unemployed and the rest of us lazy.

 

[AT86]

Call me old school but I much prefer the old way of doing things, i.e. actually employ more people and have manned checkouts, manned ticket desks, more staff behind bars etc. All self service does it make people unemployed and the rest of us lazy.

You’re old school.

 

[Rick]

Call me old school but I much prefer the old way of doing things, i.e. actually employ more people and have manned checkouts, manned ticket desks, more staff behind bars etc. All self service does it make people unemployed and the rest of us lazy.

You're old school. Plus the old school way of doing things was possible with the old school way of paying people.

Our unemployment statistics suggest the two don't always correlate and as for lazy, most of the time the customer does more work!

 

[Error]

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The Wetherspoon app is absolute joy when it's busy.

Amen!