Taco bell will not take orders or cash

[Bill Dufour]

Went to taco bell today with my wife. You had to order from a touch screen, no employee help. Screwed up too much so we left. I asked. they do not take cash. Cards only. So we went to real taqaria a few blocks away.
BilL D.

[Jim Becker]

I'm surprised you have not experienced this kind of thing previously. It's normal around here and has been for a long time now. A large part of it came from staffing challenges, although it started in a serious way with the need/desire for "contactless" delivery during the darker days of the pandemic. For many of these fast food restaurants, it's been more effective to put the staff they can get into the kitchen and and delivery windows. Some places here also don't take cash, but will if necessary if one can wait to get a manager to open a register for that purpose. Most customers, even without the need to self order, don't use cash, however. BTW, my comments are not about Taco Bell since there isn't one nearby anyway. It's across all the brands.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I walked out of the Library in a bad mood, with no book, a day or two after the card catalogue had been taken away. It took me a month to want to go back. Fortunately one of the kids came with me. Taco Bell is still Old School near us, some McDonalds have modernized.

[Jim Koepke]

I won't use the Taco Bell self order touch screen. It took me a long time when all I wanted was a soda. Another guy was ordering on a separate screen when I walked in and finished his order when my soda was being delivered. He ordered from the breakfast menu. When he asked about his order, which he paid for at the touch screen, the counter person told him the breakfast menu is only available before noon. It was a little after noon.

If Taco Bell has a difficult time keeping employees behind the counter, they need to find out what they are doing to cause their employees to leave.

jtk

[Christopher Herzog]

I ran into this taco bell ordeal recently as well. We left.

Thought about using the drive thru and taking it inside to eat it. They have humans and take cash there.


Chris

[Larry Frank]

I think that this is the way of the future...ordering at a screen or ordering online. The minimum wage level, the quality of the employee and willingness to work are causing problems.

I get so frustrated with ordering to a person as they talk to fast, mumble and can not work their machine.

AND......the cost of a hamburger has gone out of sight. Then when you get it, it has been thrown together.

OK.....RANT OFF

[Bill Dufour]

Our mcdonalds tried the order screen kiosk. Took longer to figure it out and place order, still had to wait in line to pick up. They took them out in a few months.
Bill D

[Dave Zellers]

Our mcdonalds tried the order screen kiosk. Took longer to figure it out and place order, still had to wait in line to pick up. They took them out in a few months.
Bill D

Exactly how it is supposed to work. Take your business elsewhere. Only took a couple months for them to get the message. The in-store ordering kiosks are a royal pain, (from my 1 or 2 experiences), but using your phone is completely different IMO. Order before you even get there and then just pick it up.

[Alex Zeller]

I rarely eat at fast food places but the few times I have I've seen more and more people ordering from the touch screens than in person. It's like anything, as you do it you get use to it. Several local chain gas stations around here have also gone to a kiosk for ordering food (like grinders). I actually prefer it over having someone take my order. It's quicker, with a half dozen kiosks I never have to wait in line to order. I suspect that we'll see more and more automation reducing the need for actual workers at places like McD's.

[Curt Harms]

I rarely eat at fast food places but the few times I have I've seen more and more people ordering from the touch screens than in person. It's like anything, as you do it you get use to it. Several local chain gas stations around here have also gone to a kiosk for ordering food (like grinders). I actually prefer it over having someone take my order. It's quicker, with a half dozen kiosks I never have to wait in line to order. I suspect that we'll see more and more automation reducing the need for actual workers at places like McD's.

I think you're right, Alex. An unfortunate byproduct of that is kids that don't have a clue how the world outside their phones actually work and how to function within it. A lot of young people's first work experience is fast food and convenience stores.

[Jim Becker]

Our mcdonalds tried the order screen kiosk. Took longer to figure it out and place order, still had to wait in line to pick up. They took them out in a few months.
Bill D

All the Micky-Ds in our area are exclusively self-order and pay at kiosks or via their app. If anything, business traffic is higher, although a big part of that is because folks actually walk in the stores now.

[Bill Dufour]

All the Micky-Ds in our area are exclusively self-order and pay at kiosks or via their app.

Can you pay cash?
years ago Arco had the ability to pay cash at the pump. Took those out a long time ago. Forces customers to go inside so they can do impulse purchases.
The Kiosks theory may be you will figure out the one you go to most often and hesitate to go to a different fast food place you do not know how to order from.
Bill D

[Rob Luter]

I avoid fast food joints like the plague. My only exception is The Golden Arches for an occasional Breakfast Burrito from the drive-through. When that becomes a kiosk I'm done.

For what it's worth, our local Mac's franchises used to have a crew of 10 for breakfast. Covid and demands for unsustainable wage increases taught them how to get by with three. kiosks and doubling the prices was part of the calculus.

[Jim Becker]

Can you pay cash?

Not at the kiosk. They have a bell you can ring at the counter if you insist on cash. A manager will open up the register and take care of the transaction, but there have been a few times that there have been signs indicating no cash transactions because of staffing. More and more businesses are less interested in cash, too, because (for them) the electronic transactions are more secure and not easily affected by employee theft.

In all honesty, I don't have even a single dollar of cash on me right now...I gave a gratuity to the two guys who delivered our new refrigerator last week and that used up the very small amount of "emergency" cash I keep stashed in my wallet. I use ApplePay or a card for pretty much all retail and online transactions. That's not everyone's cup of tea I understand, but I prefer the convenience of using my watch to pay over digging into my wallet.

[roger wiegand]

Sounds like a win-win-win-- real food vs Taco Bell and pay the way you like. And support a local business. I prefer to use ApplePay for almost everything, its much more secure than a physical credit card and way more convenient than cash, but I'll definitely put up with a little inconvenience for a real taco.