Jack in the Box & Del Taco moving to 100% kiosks

[mjhale]

I went to Taco Bell and said I had a mobile order. The cashier said, "Oh, God!"

She told me that when people do mobile orders, there are so many crazy customizations that can be missed. They end up having to remake the food and end up throwing away tons of food.

It really cuts into their profits and employees get into big trouble.

I always ended up with incorrect orders with missed customizations when I try to order on the Taco Bell app. It is a terrible system.

Trying to force kiosk ordering or app ordering ends up costing the company when incorrect orders need to be remade.

Starbucks has this issue, because customers are very picky about how they want their coffee customized. If it isn't perfect, it has to be thrown out and remade. It is a waste of labor and food.

Not to put Wawa or Sheetz on a pedestal, but they have been all kiosk for years. Both allow for multiple customizations of most if not all of the items that they offer through the kiosk. Somehow, Wawa and Sheetz manage to get orders out correct the majority of the time. The few times I have had a botched order at Sheetz (Historically, I have ordered food from them much more often), they have been happy to give me what I was missing if it was a condiment or remake the order. It sounds like the fast food restaurants are having trouble adapting to order customization. Perhaps the fast food system just isn't built for the level of customization that Wawa or Sheetz has in their systems. It has been only in the past 10 years or so that this level of customization at fast food restaurants has been available. In the past, a hamburger was a hamburger at places like McDonald's. Maybe it is poor training and/or inconsistent workers too.

Starbucks is a whole other level. People are obsessive over their drinks and the income (and the "Karen") level is higher so people demand more from Starbucks. At a place like Starbucks, consistency and quality of the drinks is paramount. Maybe that would limit customization if that means the product is always produced as requested.

[storewanderer]

I went to Taco Bell and said I had a mobile order. The cashier said, "Oh, God!"

She told me that when people do mobile orders, there are so many crazy customizations that can be missed. They end up having to remake the food and end up throwing away tons of food.

It really cuts into their profits and employees get into big trouble.

I always ended up with incorrect orders with missed customizations when I try to order on the Taco Bell app. It is a terrible system.

Trying to force kiosk ordering or app ordering ends up costing the company when incorrect orders need to be remade.

Starbucks has this issue, because customers are very picky about how they want their coffee customized. If it isn't perfect, it has to be thrown out and remade. It is a waste of labor and food.

Yeah, that is the attitude of some of these employees. I have heard this.

And I have fired it right back at the employee who reacts this way- I just punched in my whole order, saving you the task of having to help me on the register, right? (silence ... yes). Oh and look at that my order is already done there, all you have to do is bag it and hand it out to me (silence...).

If they are missing customizations that is not the customer's problem, that is their problem. And that kind of performance is not acceptable anymore at the $20/hour wage. The system shows them the item and shows them what items to subtract and add...

Maybe Taco Bell has too many items on their menu. Maybe that is the problem. I can order the same basic thing about 4 different ways there. And at radically different prices.

As of this week Arbys app still doesn't send customizations to the kitchen. Getting old. Real old.

[storewanderer]

Jack in the Box was running 2 promotions this weekend:

Free "Loaded" Breakfast Burrito with $5 purchase ($6.59 value)
Free "Loaded" Tiny Tacos with $5 purchase ($5 value)

I tried both of these items. The "loaded" burrito was of the "meat" variety but the egg was still the primary ingredient. It probably had 3 eggs in it. Jack in the Box uses medium eggs I think. It was missing the advertised salsa so the taste was pretty flat. I didn't them the ham worked well in this, it was just too salty. The sausage was thrown in there but not cut up, so most of the burrito didn't have sausage. Otherwise it was fine but the price is too high at 6.59. When they normally sell 2 Breakfast Jacks for $3 on the app the value just isn't there on this one. They should try a smaller burrito similar to the McDonalds burrito at half the price. Every ingredient in this was far superior to the McDonalds burrito.

The tacos were interesting. It is served in what looks like a Chinese food to go box. They put the tacos into it then put what appears to be yellow sauce, taco sauce, and lettuce (??) on top of it. I thought it was strange when the employee gave me a fork when I picked up the order but after seeing this I can see why the fork was given. Again when they sell 2 tacos for 99 cents on the app normally the value just doesn't seem there on this item.

[reymann]

Jack in the Box in Fresno is reducing dining room hours beginning May 20th. They will be drive-thru only after 9pm.

[ClownLoach]

Jack in the Box in Fresno is reducing dining room hours beginning May 20th. They will be drive-thru only after 9pm.

Sales must be way down.
They had that new Smashed Jack which allegedly was selling well, and they were promoting the heck out of it. I looked up the cost of a double smashed jack combo and it was over $15 so I never tried it. Now I notice they're not running those ads presumably because they've priced themselves out of what their customer base can afford and are probably hurting as a result so they need to cut costs. And if sales and traffic are way down then the dining room open late becomes a safety risk, as someone with malicious intent is far less likely to take action when witnesses are present.

The hours cuts aren't going to necessarily be directly because of minimum wage increase. They're a symptom of the price increases which aren't working. People will pay for quality and value... Jack is low quality and horrible value. In-N-Out is busier than ever even after the smallest price increases of any chain because they were reasonable. I don't mind laying down an extra 50 cents knowing that the employees got a big raise. But I am not going to pay $4 or $5 more because I know their labor cost didn't increase that much. I think these guys all thought they could make a killing and blame the state, and I'm sure they're all pissed at INO who claims that they passed along the entire cost of the increase which seems to be much less than everywhere else. Example saw a 2 for $10 window cling on Carl's where they covered the 0 in $10 with a decal changing it to 2 for $12.99 for two puny little burgers. Come on!

Went to a startup burger place in Oceanside yesterday that's been open a week and they were charging high prices ($9 for a burger), counter service, tiny space but the line is literally out the door because of what you get for what you pay... Enormous, delicious 1/3lb hamburger made with prime beef, bacon, gourmet cheese, incredible fries, and even the drinks are more delicious because of specialized triple filtration of all water used. They had a ridiculously huge 2/3lb double burger that was $15 which again might sound high until you remember that lame 2 for $12.99 at Carl's and realize this one is prime beef and probably triple the weight of their tiny little burgers. Based on the price of the Smashed Jack combo I don't think this was more than a few dollars more and the fry order was sized for two people (It is called Tanners Prime Burgers and it is absolutely, insanely good to the point I feel like driving down again this week, lines and crazy parking be damned)

[reymann]

The hour cuts are more to combat homeless people loitering in the dining rooms than anything else. Other fast food places in the area are planning dining hour cuts during this summer.

[ClownLoach]

The hour cuts are more to combat homeless people loitering in the dining rooms than anything else. Other fast food places in the area are planning dining hour cuts during this summer.

Proving my point. If the restaurants were busy the homeless wouldn't loiter there. I do not see homeless trying to get into packed In-N-Out dining rooms even in bad areas. Heck in Oakland they closed because of crime and problems outside, but no word of homeless and problems inside and they were busy and highly profitable. And fast food places traditionally increase hours in the summer instead of decrease which again indicates lack of business. You cannot try to foist a $5 increase per meal on the customer when their competitor with both lower prices and far better quality has stated that the labor increase cost them 50 cents (and that was to take the labor rate to well above minimum wage to be more competitive). These bad value chains like Carl's and Jack are dooming themselves with a destruction loop of higher prices leading to less business leading to losses leading to higher prices..... If their business is so bad that they truly have incurred a $5 increase in labor cost per meal (because again we are seeing a cumulative $5 increase in the last six months at these chains) that indicates they do so little in business that they really should not be operating. Some of the chains mentioned I see absolutely zero cars at, like KFC and Pollo Loco, so maybe they do need to charge $30 for a whole chicken meal to break even but I'm going to just go get a $4.99 larger chicken at Costco or Sam's instead.

Some of these chains are going to need to completely reinvent their menus, staffing models, pricing, etc. as scaling back the operation to defend against increasing costs is not a sustainable model especially when higher quality options are plentiful.

[veteran+]

The hour cuts are more to combat homeless people loitering in the dining rooms than anything else. Other fast food places in the area are planning dining hour cuts during this summer.

Proving my point. If the restaurants were busy the homeless wouldn't loiter there. I do not see homeless trying to get into packed In-N-Out dining rooms even in bad areas. Heck in Oakland they closed because of crime and problems outside, but no word of homeless and problems inside and they were busy and highly profitable. And fast food places traditionally increase hours in the summer instead of decrease which again indicates lack of business. You cannot try to foist a $5 increase per meal on the customer when their competitor with both lower prices and far better quality has stated that the labor increase cost them 50 cents (and that was to take the labor rate to well above minimum wage to be more competitive). These bad value chains like Carl's and Jack are dooming themselves with a destruction loop of higher prices leading to less business leading to losses leading to higher prices..... If their business is so bad that they truly have incurred a $5 increase in labor cost per meal (because again we are seeing a cumulative $5 increase in the last six months at these chains) that indicates they do so little in business that they really should not be operating. Some of the chains mentioned I see absolutely zero cars at, like KFC and Pollo Loco, so maybe they do need to charge $30 for a whole chicken meal to break even but I'm going to just go get a $4.99 larger chicken at Costco or Sam's instead.

Some of these chains are going to need to completely reinvent their menus, staffing models, pricing, etc. as scaling back the operation to defend against increasing costs is not a sustainable model especially when higher quality options are plentiful.

Do you have shares in In & Out?


Just kidding....................................

[ClownLoach]

The hour cuts are more to combat homeless people loitering in the dining rooms than anything else. Other fast food places in the area are planning dining hour cuts during this summer.

Proving my point. If the restaurants were busy the homeless wouldn't loiter there. I do not see homeless trying to get into packed In-N-Out dining rooms even in bad areas. Heck in Oakland they closed because of crime and problems outside, but no word of homeless and problems inside and they were busy and highly profitable. And fast food places traditionally increase hours in the summer instead of decrease which again indicates lack of business. You cannot try to foist a $5 increase per meal on the customer when their competitor with both lower prices and far better quality has stated that the labor increase cost them 50 cents (and that was to take the labor rate to well above minimum wage to be more competitive). These bad value chains like Carl's and Jack are dooming themselves with a destruction loop of higher prices leading to less business leading to losses leading to higher prices..... If their business is so bad that they truly have incurred a $5 increase in labor cost per meal (because again we are seeing a cumulative $5 increase in the last six months at these chains) that indicates they do so little in business that they really should not be operating. Some of the chains mentioned I see absolutely zero cars at, like KFC and Pollo Loco, so maybe they do need to charge $30 for a whole chicken meal to break even but I'm going to just go get a $4.99 larger chicken at Costco or Sam's instead.

Some of these chains are going to need to completely reinvent their menus, staffing models, pricing, etc. as scaling back the operation to defend against increasing costs is not a sustainable model especially when higher quality options are plentiful.

Do you have shares in In & Out?


Just kidding....................................

Did you see me recommending my current favorite burgers? Notice that I didn't say INO. What I love about INO is that it is cheap, clean, consistent, efficient, and high quality. Prices at other fast food places have increased to the point where I visit them less and less, along with hours reductions where I usually go to fast food late. So I guess if a chain was trying to better serve me as a customer, it would be INO.

My current favorite burgers include Islands (after a multi year hiatus while they tried and failed to become "healthy and organic"), Heavy Handed in LA, and my newest obsession is Tanners Prime in Oceanside. I also really enjoy Freddy's but all their locations are 50+ miles from me.

Anyway when I look at my fast food spending, INO has taken the #1 position. Chick-fil-A #2, Del Taco has fallen to #3, Raising Cane's #4, Jersey Mike's #5, and Chipotle a very distant #6. I visit McDonald's for breakfast only and that is becoming less and less often.

For beverages I equally enjoy Dunkin, Starbucks, and whatever cool independent I can find.

Love snacks and desserts from Dairy Queen. Fried cheese curds..... Yum!

I have given up entirely on Jack, Carl's, Wendy's, Taco Bell, BK, KFC, Sonic, Panera, Subway, and Pollo Loco.

[storewanderer]

Proving my point. If the restaurants were busy the homeless wouldn't loiter there. I do not see homeless trying to get into packed In-N-Out dining rooms even in bad areas. Heck in Oakland they closed because of crime and problems outside, but no word of homeless and problems inside and they were busy and highly profitable. And fast food places traditionally increase hours in the summer instead of decrease which again indicates lack of business. You cannot try to foist a $5 increase per meal on the customer when their competitor with both lower prices and far better quality has stated that the labor increase cost them 50 cents (and that was to take the labor rate to well above minimum wage to be more competitive). These bad value chains like Carl's and Jack are dooming themselves with a destruction loop of higher prices leading to less business leading to losses leading to higher prices..... If their business is so bad that they truly have incurred a $5 increase in labor cost per meal (because again we are seeing a cumulative $5 increase in the last six months at these chains) that indicates they do so little in business that they really should not be operating. Some of the chains mentioned I see absolutely zero cars at, like KFC and Pollo Loco, so maybe they do need to charge $30 for a whole chicken meal to break even but I'm going to just go get a $4.99 larger chicken at Costco or Sam's instead.

Some of these chains are going to need to completely reinvent their menus, staffing models, pricing, etc. as scaling back the operation to defend against increasing costs is not a sustainable model especially when higher quality options are plentiful.

Do you have shares in In & Out?


Just kidding....................................

Did you see me recommending my current favorite burgers? Notice that I didn't say INO. What I love about INO is that it is cheap, clean, consistent, efficient, and high quality. Prices at other fast food places have increased to the point where I visit them less and less, along with hours reductions where I usually go to fast food late. So I guess if a chain was trying to better serve me as a customer, it would be INO.

My current favorite burgers include Islands (after a multi year hiatus while they tried and failed to become "healthy and organic"), Heavy Handed in LA, and my newest obsession is Tanners Prime in Oceanside. I also really enjoy Freddy's but all their locations are 50+ miles from me.

Anyway when I look at my fast food spending, INO has taken the #1 position. Chick-fil-A #2, Del Taco has fallen to #3, Raising Cane's #4, Jersey Mike's #5, and Chipotle a very distant #6. I visit McDonald's for breakfast only and that is becoming less and less often.

For beverages I equally enjoy Dunkin, Starbucks, and whatever cool independent I can find.

Love snacks and desserts from Dairy Queen. Fried cheese curds..... Yum!

I have given up entirely on Jack, Carl's, Wendy's, Taco Bell, BK, KFC, Sonic, Panera, Subway, and Pollo Loco.

Chickfila is a terrible value unless you have a free sandwich offer. I expect that chain's traffic to start to fall back significantly. Also their fries are lousy. They changed them so they don't "sink" in the containers as customers kept complaining the containers weren't full but it was the fries were "sinking" in as they sat out too long (delivery orders etc.). I think their old fries are currently in endcaps at Grocery Outlet - Ore Ida Frozen Waffle Fries - 2 bags for $1.99 with June expiration.

I don't know- I think the app Jack in the Box 2 for $3 Breakfast Jack is a very solid deal and served all day. It appears the single unit/walk in price is 3.49 each now which is absurd. And it can be combined with other "offers" which are few and far between lately but as noted we did get a couple this weekend that were interesting enough. I haven't purchased McDonalds breakfast in a while other than in the airport and it is really awful especially for what they are charging. They had a glitch going for a while in their app at the airport unit where a 1 burrito/1 inedible hash brown/1 drink (could get a large drink even) cost 2.19 but they finally fixed that after about 10 months. Lately I just bring food and if needed just eat at the connection.

I keep getting lured by Wendys for certain offers but their food keeps getting worse and worse. It is like they just keep cutting corners. I have locations that claim they no longer offer brewed iced tea, I get stale/hard buns on jr. burgers, I get breakfast biscuits that they didn't butter, if it isn't one thing it is another with this chain. Some locations claim they don't participate in the 2 for $3 breakfast offer but in the app it lets you order it at said locations. Other locations can't scan the app for offers claiming the scanner is "broken" (it has been "broken" for about 3 years at these locations). One location out in Sparks forces you to order on the kiosk which conveniently doesn't have any way to accept app offers. The 4 for $4 with a Jr. Cheeseburger is still available via app only at pretty much all of the locations around me even many CA ones... so that is something.

I don't want to give up on Carls but their pricing has ruined it. If I can get coupons or decent app offers I am there and happy.