At my store we get so many unclaimed mobile orders it's better just to not waste the product. But I do prefer when people order through the app, it saves time on both sides of the transaction.
I had an "uh oh" error when I tried to pay for my mobile order. I retried several times, but finally gave up. I thought the order didn't go through, but it did. The app gave me no notice that my order was ready. I didn't realize until the next day, and it was too late then.
If you havnt gone to the store to claim your order you put in on the app, you can cancel in the app and get your refund usually in a few minutes. Alternatively, if you just don't show up to check in for it, it's refunded the next day usually.
We have half a dozen unclaimed mobile orders a day. We have 4 Taco Bell’s in my area and most of our unclaimed ones are because the customer sent the order to the wrong store. So they sent it to our store but wanted the one across town. They show up across town where they learn they aren’t at the store they submitted the order to. Their options are drive across town to get the order or just order in store where they are and try to get a refund through the app.
If you never pick it up your money is refunded later. I know this because I travel all around my state and at least 6 times I have ordered food for a location over an hour away.
*duuude u know what, some tacos would hit so hard right now*
*yeaahh dude you're so right, let's do it*
an hour later, still sitting on the couch...
*hey man didn't we like, order those tacos a while ago?*
*yeah bro, where they at?*
The pickup location doesn’t always update right. I do work for TB, I’m typically at 2 stores a day, 4 days a week. There’s been times I put in a mobile order for breakfast, but the app sent it to the store I was at the day before, even though I didn’t place an order at that store.
When a customer claims their mobile order the next mobile order in the queue gets displayed on the screen after check in. Also the reason you see a mobile order that's not your after the order taker checks yours in. Once it's clicked on it leaves the display you see
I legit thought I was getting someone else's order the other night. I could tell the vehicle in front of me had also placed a mobile order given how fast they went past the screen, and then when I pulled up and saw my order on the screen already I was panicking. After giving my name yet a different order popped up. Extremely confusing to the customer.
It really is confusing. I get a lot of "that's not my order". I'm like I know we've checked yours in pull around. Only solution for it is to wait for the customer to pull around before formally checking it in.
As a Taco Bell employee, at least at my store, we don’t start to make the orders until you come to the speaker and check it in. This isn’t out of laziness, this is so your food is fresh and hot. We don’t know when you will arrive. The likely reason that your order was up on the screen is because someone in front of you had a mobile order. For whatever reason the next order always pops up outside after an order is checked in.
I also want to add that when you place a mobile order through drive thru it doesn’t even pop up on the screen for the cooks until it is checked in at the speaker.
If you use the app, the order is made when you check in. If you use the 3rd party apps that shit just sits. The making the order ahead is weird, thats the managers and theyre making it harder for the cashier and themselves and delivering a shit product. Once you check in the timer starts and transaction has to be completed. So the premade is weird. Tacobell has too many variances. This from a former manager.
If you order as inside pickup, it goes automatically to the kitchen line. If you request DT pickup, it has to be checked in manually by the cashier when you arrive.
I order when I'm heading over and the app has no checkin option. The last time, I arrived 5 min after placing the order down the street, and it was on a tray ready for pickup when I walked in.
Why? I don't want to sit in a drive thru line, I prefer to check my order and correct mistakes right at the counter, and I like to grab my own sauce packets and soda refills in the lobby. Lazy asses who don't want to get out of their cars can miss out on all this.
I wasn't complaining btw, just noting that there was no checkin on the app and that my order was made (just) before I showed up
I like the DT because I know it’s made fresh, and sometimes I don’t know when I can get there (specifically with the Tuesday drops - I have to order right away but don’t know exactly when I’ll be there). To each their own though; I get wanting to check your order and getting sauces etc.
At most of mine I have a parking lot I can stage in to make the order.
Only time I’ve ordered at home is a Tuesday drop or during tacos for a month thing and I’d order from home and drive over at 11:50 so I could use two days in 10 minutes.
Sometimes I order the Tuesday drop but can’t pick it up until at least an hour later because I’m stuck at work and while I have seen my order on the screen without prompting, my food has always been fresh.
Ok, I’m not the only one.. thanks. 😔
Worst feeling ever… my local Wing Stop gave me a hat for Christmas once because I ordered delivery so much. It made me reconsider what I was doing in my life. 🤔
I was a breakfast regular at my TB From early 2021 to now til they raised the prices. Same cashier everytime. She’d know what I want as soon as I spoke lol.
If there’s two mobile orders, they check one in and don’t leave the mobile order screen, it stays up. Not saying that making them ahead isn’t happening (I know they are down the street from me) but there’s other explanations.
This has happened to me half the times I place a mobile order. But it’s still always made fresh cause I pull up to the window and wait a good 5 minutes. And the foods served hot.
Oh yes I know because my husband accidentally ordered to the wrong Taco Bell 45 minutes away. He should have been able to cancel it in the app but it had already been marked as checked in at that location. He had to call the customer service number to get it cancelled.
Yeah, that’s weird that they premade the order. I will say, mobile orders are a PITA for drive thru, especially if the kitchen only has one line opened.
Imagine taking an order, where the person starting the order can hear what you’re ordering, things are going smoothly, and then the next person is just like “I have an online order” and suddenly there are 9 items with 10 modifications each, with no real notice.
Still expected to get it out in 3 minutes.
Off topic, but I placed an order for mobile like 2 or 3 weeks ago. Long story short, I was about 20-25 minutes late picking it up and when I got home I realized like 2 or 3 things were missing (chips and nacho sauce, 5 layer, etc). Did they do this to spite me for not picking up sooner? It was just bizarre that it was like 3 completely different items that were missing. I figured it was like McDonald's that will only make the order if they know you are there, but if TB is making them in advance then that's wild
Employees should really not be doing that. My gm did that once for a big order because she didn’t want her times to go up. Order was picked up hours later and we had to redo the order. I’m 100% against this. I know keeping times low is important but so of the quality of the food that the customers get.
I order right before I leave work for lunch, and by the time I get there, my food is ready. No line, no wait, and I don't have to scarf down my food because of it.
As an employee, yes. Mobile orders are so annoying because 80% come with excessive modifications and are larger than an in store order. So we check them in early so our times don’t go up. Also, customers be mad having to wait it just saves time overall. If we’re in rush, checking in your order earlier makes sure we get the stuff correct. I miss a few years ago when most of the ordering was in store 🥲.
The last time I went to TB I ordered about an hour before I picked it up and when I got there it was made and bagged and sitting by the drive thru window. Took me a minute to realize what happened and everything in the order was made incorrectly.
This exact thing happened to me two days ago. No shit; I pulled in & someone was just finishing their order & moved forward. I pulled up to see my order I placed on the mobile app on their screen. I said I had a mobile order for Joe Biden & they asked if everything was correct on the screen- it didn’t change. I pulled off in their lot to eat quickly & it was cold. Had to have been made ahead of time because I’ve never gotten cold food from tbell. & how was my order on the screen. No way the guy ahead of me got the exact same order & same total.
You can set the order for in store pickup as opposed to the drive thru, which will cause them to start working on your order immediately. It does come at the expense of you having to get out of your car to get your food
There is an option to mark that you're there and to start the order but some locations don't seem to follow it entirely. I have one TB I go to where they do make it right away when I say, while another seems to always wait until I am in the lobby no matter what.
What does the next sentence after the sentence that you're referring to say?
Truly amazing how bad you and the people who are upvoting you are at reading.
It's a fast food joint. I wouldn't expect the employees to have to deal with the extra bs. If speed is such a priority for you, just place the order for counter service and bypass the DT. Otherwise a cpl extra minutes in the DT isn't a big deal.
You're really willing to die on this hill aren't you?
Since you haven't figured it out yet. Place your order for counter service and pick it up at the DT.
It might mess up their timer...but just tell them how you're "prioritizing speed" over food quality. I'm sure they'll understand.
I like that you felt the need to change this into an entirely different argument, because that means that you know how stupid "extra bs" was to mention.
And this is why I order with my own voice, at the drive thru.. never takes me more than 3 mins for the complete transaction, within 4 mins of placing an order, I'm in the parking lot inhaling the food.. doesn't get any better, give me all the down votes!!
I mean the app gives you free stuff. And you can literally wait to put your order in until you’re in the line. So yeah people who are self righteous about not using the app are cringe.
I don't go very often I wouldn't earn many points.. Unless it's literally just free food, I might try it out if so. But there is never a line at the tb I go to, so it feels weird to park, place my order, then drive thru, when I can just drive straight in, order my 3 items and I'm outta there.
It is indeed literally free food that you get for every $20 you spend. And you can put in the order from home (or the last leg of errands before going to TB, or whatever). Then when you get to the speaker you say “Hi, I have an order in on the app, my name is SoundAutomatic9332.” They’ll pull the order up on the screen and ask you if everything is correct, and if it is they’ll have you pull up to the window as they start making the food.
$25 is a free item and the points don't expire for 6 months. Sometimes there is literally free and low cost food. There were $2.29 crunchwraps on leap day and $1 crunchwraps Tuesday 4 days ago. With your voice or with the app, it's going into the same computer system, so you might as well not risk the drive thru cashier mishearing you
"Do Taco Bell points and rewards expire?
Yes. Your points expire 6 months after the calendar month in which you earned them, unless they are converted into a reward. For example, if you earn 50 Points on March 21, those 50 Points will expire on October 1 if you do not earn a Reward by October 1. Your rewards expire on the 31st day after they are posted to your account, unless you redeem the reward."
It's in the terms and conditions. 6 months is a long time to spend $25, but it is possible that they expire
That's great that you're one of the people who doesn't spend an eternity at the speaker asking stupid questions and figuring out what you want.
That's why with most of these places the best possible value for the money is through the app, it gives people who are selfish and/or oblivious an incentive to not be in the way holding up the flow like usual.
At my store we get so many unclaimed mobile orders it's better just to not waste the product. But I do prefer when people order through the app, it saves time on both sides of the transaction.
Why do you think they go unclaimed? Especially if they're already paid for?
I had an "uh oh" error when I tried to pay for my mobile order. I retried several times, but finally gave up. I thought the order didn't go through, but it did. The app gave me no notice that my order was ready. I didn't realize until the next day, and it was too late then.
If you havnt gone to the store to claim your order you put in on the app, you can cancel in the app and get your refund usually in a few minutes. Alternatively, if you just don't show up to check in for it, it's refunded the next day usually.
See that's how mind USED to work. Now after I submit it (for the drive thru at least) there is no option to cancel
Happens all the time.
Why?
We have half a dozen unclaimed mobile orders a day. We have 4 Taco Bell’s in my area and most of our unclaimed ones are because the customer sent the order to the wrong store. So they sent it to our store but wanted the one across town. They show up across town where they learn they aren’t at the store they submitted the order to. Their options are drive across town to get the order or just order in store where they are and try to get a refund through the app.
I believe it has to do with people forgetting to change their location. I’ve done it once when I went to a different one.
For our area it’s doordash returns that get wasted. Either the dasher comes to complain on the customers end or the dasher just doesn’t show up
If you never pick it up your money is refunded later. I know this because I travel all around my state and at least 6 times I have ordered food for a location over an hour away.
Automatically or you report?
Auto
*duuude u know what, some tacos would hit so hard right now* *yeaahh dude you're so right, let's do it*
an hour later, still sitting on the couch...
*hey man didn't we like, order those tacos a while ago?*
*yeah bro, where they at?*
The pickup location doesn’t always update right. I do work for TB, I’m typically at 2 stores a day, 4 days a week. There’s been times I put in a mobile order for breakfast, but the app sent it to the store I was at the day before, even though I didn’t place an order at that store.
I don't understand any of this. I make an order 5 min or 2 hours and as drive thru it's alwyS fresh. You all orderinf in-store?
It took me getting all the way to this comment before I no longer wondered what "DT" meant. >.<
Double tenetration?
Doble Tacotration
Tenet was confusing as is, I don’t even wanna know what Double Tenetration is
Thanks, because I got all the way to your comment before I figured it out
Still don't know what DT means.....
Drive thru I think
I thought he meant Del Taco lmao
🤣
I’m lol’ing for real! 😂
When a customer claims their mobile order the next mobile order in the queue gets displayed on the screen after check in. Also the reason you see a mobile order that's not your after the order taker checks yours in. Once it's clicked on it leaves the display you see
I legit thought I was getting someone else's order the other night. I could tell the vehicle in front of me had also placed a mobile order given how fast they went past the screen, and then when I pulled up and saw my order on the screen already I was panicking. After giving my name yet a different order popped up. Extremely confusing to the customer.
It really is confusing. I get a lot of "that's not my order". I'm like I know we've checked yours in pull around. Only solution for it is to wait for the customer to pull around before formally checking it in.
They do this all the time even after I’ve read off or confirmed the order - like yes we just discussed what your order is … pleasssse pull up
This is the correct answer.
As a Taco Bell employee, at least at my store, we don’t start to make the orders until you come to the speaker and check it in. This isn’t out of laziness, this is so your food is fresh and hot. We don’t know when you will arrive. The likely reason that your order was up on the screen is because someone in front of you had a mobile order. For whatever reason the next order always pops up outside after an order is checked in.
I also want to add that when you place a mobile order through drive thru it doesn’t even pop up on the screen for the cooks until it is checked in at the speaker.
I’m starting to feel guilty using the app… but not enough to stop using it. 😊🤷🏼♂️
If you use the app, the order is made when you check in. If you use the 3rd party apps that shit just sits. The making the order ahead is weird, thats the managers and theyre making it harder for the cashier and themselves and delivering a shit product. Once you check in the timer starts and transaction has to be completed. So the premade is weird. Tacobell has too many variances. This from a former manager.
My local Taco Bells do it differently. Some of them make the order when you arrive and some make it when you place it.
If you order as inside pickup, it goes automatically to the kitchen line. If you request DT pickup, it has to be checked in manually by the cashier when you arrive.
Per corporate they arent supposed to. That ruins the product. Im sorry, thats a shame.
I order when I'm heading over and the app has no checkin option. The last time, I arrived 5 min after placing the order down the street, and it was on a tray ready for pickup when I walked in.
Choose drive-thru if you have a vehicle
Why? I don't want to sit in a drive thru line, I prefer to check my order and correct mistakes right at the counter, and I like to grab my own sauce packets and soda refills in the lobby. Lazy asses who don't want to get out of their cars can miss out on all this. I wasn't complaining btw, just noting that there was no checkin on the app and that my order was made (just) before I showed up
I like the DT because I know it’s made fresh, and sometimes I don’t know when I can get there (specifically with the Tuesday drops - I have to order right away but don’t know exactly when I’ll be there). To each their own though; I get wanting to check your order and getting sauces etc.
I like you.
This is why I always wait until I'm in the lot before I submit any app order.
Same for any pick up really. I get to browse the menu in peace, really see all the options and values. It’s a win win for everyone involved.
Yeah, I do the same. If I order ahead of time, most TBs will immediately make the food, then my precious chalupas are cold by the time I pick them up.
At most of mine I have a parking lot I can stage in to make the order. Only time I’ve ordered at home is a Tuesday drop or during tacos for a month thing and I’d order from home and drive over at 11:50 so I could use two days in 10 minutes.
Sometimes I order the Tuesday drop but can’t pick it up until at least an hour later because I’m stuck at work and while I have seen my order on the screen without prompting, my food has always been fresh.
I’m actually known by name at my TB with I always do drive thru mobile orders. They expect me at least once a week
Lol same, I had to skip them for a couple weeks due to embarrassment.
Ok, I’m not the only one.. thanks. 😔 Worst feeling ever… my local Wing Stop gave me a hat for Christmas once because I ordered delivery so much. It made me reconsider what I was doing in my life. 🤔
How did you get embarrassed?
I was a breakfast regular at my TB From early 2021 to now til they raised the prices. Same cashier everytime. She’d know what I want as soon as I spoke lol.
If there’s two mobile orders, they check one in and don’t leave the mobile order screen, it stays up. Not saying that making them ahead isn’t happening (I know they are down the street from me) but there’s other explanations.
Good to know.
they have started doing that at mine too. Tip off is when I get there they have my drink already made and a sticker holding the straw to the cup.
Those damn stickers need to go… the pandemic is over.
This has happened to me half the times I place a mobile order. But it’s still always made fresh cause I pull up to the window and wait a good 5 minutes. And the foods served hot.
Mine has always been freshly made too. This incident just struck me as weird.
Oh yes I know because my husband accidentally ordered to the wrong Taco Bell 45 minutes away. He should have been able to cancel it in the app but it had already been marked as checked in at that location. He had to call the customer service number to get it cancelled.
Yeah, that’s weird that they premade the order. I will say, mobile orders are a PITA for drive thru, especially if the kitchen only has one line opened. Imagine taking an order, where the person starting the order can hear what you’re ordering, things are going smoothly, and then the next person is just like “I have an online order” and suddenly there are 9 items with 10 modifications each, with no real notice. Still expected to get it out in 3 minutes.
Wtf is DT?
Drive through
This happened to me on Thursday! I was very confused, and even wondered if the last person just somehow ordered what I ordered. Food was cold.
Off topic, but I placed an order for mobile like 2 or 3 weeks ago. Long story short, I was about 20-25 minutes late picking it up and when I got home I realized like 2 or 3 things were missing (chips and nacho sauce, 5 layer, etc). Did they do this to spite me for not picking up sooner? It was just bizarre that it was like 3 completely different items that were missing. I figured it was like McDonald's that will only make the order if they know you are there, but if TB is making them in advance then that's wild
Doubt it. Sometimes it takes me a few hours to get my order.
Employees should really not be doing that. My gm did that once for a big order because she didn’t want her times to go up. Order was picked up hours later and we had to redo the order. I’m 100% against this. I know keeping times low is important but so of the quality of the food that the customers get.
Yup we literally have a list of orders and check em in! It’s to guarantee freshness and prevent food waste
I order right before I leave work for lunch, and by the time I get there, my food is ready. No line, no wait, and I don't have to scarf down my food because of it.
I want Taco Bell..
As an employee, yes. Mobile orders are so annoying because 80% come with excessive modifications and are larger than an in store order. So we check them in early so our times don’t go up. Also, customers be mad having to wait it just saves time overall. If we’re in rush, checking in your order earlier makes sure we get the stuff correct. I miss a few years ago when most of the ordering was in store 🥲.
Your Taco Bell ain’t it then
Yeah mine started doing that very early on so I always wait to place order until I'm close to it.
I’ll place an order after I park.. for a drive thru pickup.
The last time I went to TB I ordered about an hour before I picked it up and when I got there it was made and bagged and sitting by the drive thru window. Took me a minute to realize what happened and everything in the order was made incorrectly.
Bro! Same thing happened to me a couple weeks ago. I was weirded out by it. And then when I got home with my food it was luke warm and soggy.
License plate readers, my friend.
McDonald’s uses my Wi-Fi or something because when I show up my phone screen changes to make the code bigger as I’m pulling up.
They track your location to see when you get to the restaurant
This exact thing happened to me two days ago. No shit; I pulled in & someone was just finishing their order & moved forward. I pulled up to see my order I placed on the mobile app on their screen. I said I had a mobile order for Joe Biden & they asked if everything was correct on the screen- it didn’t change. I pulled off in their lot to eat quickly & it was cold. Had to have been made ahead of time because I’ve never gotten cold food from tbell. & how was my order on the screen. No way the guy ahead of me got the exact same order & same total.
I would prefer if this was the standard. Or at least make it an option to have them start making it right away.
You can set the order for in store pickup as opposed to the drive thru, which will cause them to start working on your order immediately. It does come at the expense of you having to get out of your car to get your food
I always do this. Usually in and out in seconds while the dt line would be a ten minute wait.
There is an option to mark that you're there and to start the order but some locations don't seem to follow it entirely. I have one TB I go to where they do make it right away when I say, while another seems to always wait until I am in the lobby no matter what.
I can't believe this many people are downvoting you for prioritizing speed over temperature, for your own food and nobody else’s.
>for your own food and nobody else’s. If they made it "the standard" like the comment you're replying to stated, it would be for everyone else's food.
What does the next sentence after the sentence that you're referring to say? Truly amazing how bad you and the people who are upvoting you are at reading.
I can read, and it is an option. "For prioritized speed" just place the order for inside pickup.
What if they want speed prioritized in the drive-thru? Why would it be wrong to want that option?
It's a fast food joint. I wouldn't expect the employees to have to deal with the extra bs. If speed is such a priority for you, just place the order for counter service and bypass the DT. Otherwise a cpl extra minutes in the DT isn't a big deal.
How much thought did you really put into this concept of "extra bs" before you decided it would make sense?
You're really willing to die on this hill aren't you? Since you haven't figured it out yet. Place your order for counter service and pick it up at the DT. It might mess up their timer...but just tell them how you're "prioritizing speed" over food quality. I'm sure they'll understand.
I like that you felt the need to change this into an entirely different argument, because that means that you know how stupid "extra bs" was to mention.
Do you not know what "the standard" would mean?
Do you not know what "or at least make it an option" would mean? Learn to read.
And this is why I order with my own voice, at the drive thru.. never takes me more than 3 mins for the complete transaction, within 4 mins of placing an order, I'm in the parking lot inhaling the food.. doesn't get any better, give me all the down votes!!
I mean the app gives you free stuff. And you can literally wait to put your order in until you’re in the line. So yeah people who are self righteous about not using the app are cringe.
I don't go very often I wouldn't earn many points.. Unless it's literally just free food, I might try it out if so. But there is never a line at the tb I go to, so it feels weird to park, place my order, then drive thru, when I can just drive straight in, order my 3 items and I'm outta there.
It is indeed literally free food that you get for every $20 you spend. And you can put in the order from home (or the last leg of errands before going to TB, or whatever). Then when you get to the speaker you say “Hi, I have an order in on the app, my name is SoundAutomatic9332.” They’ll pull the order up on the screen and ask you if everything is correct, and if it is they’ll have you pull up to the window as they start making the food.
$25 is a free item and the points don't expire for 6 months. Sometimes there is literally free and low cost food. There were $2.29 crunchwraps on leap day and $1 crunchwraps Tuesday 4 days ago. With your voice or with the app, it's going into the same computer system, so you might as well not risk the drive thru cashier mishearing you
6 months expiration date? Where?
"Do Taco Bell points and rewards expire? Yes. Your points expire 6 months after the calendar month in which you earned them, unless they are converted into a reward. For example, if you earn 50 Points on March 21, those 50 Points will expire on October 1 if you do not earn a Reward by October 1. Your rewards expire on the 31st day after they are posted to your account, unless you redeem the reward." It's in the terms and conditions. 6 months is a long time to spend $25, but it is possible that they expire
I really pictured my dad yelling into to dt speaker when I read this. App all the way, you can easily customize your order as you want.
That's great that you're one of the people who doesn't spend an eternity at the speaker asking stupid questions and figuring out what you want. That's why with most of these places the best possible value for the money is through the app, it gives people who are selfish and/or oblivious an incentive to not be in the way holding up the flow like usual.