App vs Human

Post by Andrew Thorp - 16th July 2024

As the self-styled ‘multi-story man’, I’m always hoovering up interesting anecdotes, some of which originate from other people. I’m indebted to Fay Evans for telling me about this ‘delicious’ little story. 

(It relates to a couple of adjacent towns close to Manchester, namely Altrincham and Sale). 

Fay found herself in the Altrincham Sainsbury’s on a Saturday afternoon and fancied a coffee from the in-house Starbucks. It was quiet, no one in the queue. A young woman took her order, passed the ticket to the barista and her latte was quickly in production. 

All this time, a middle-aged woman had been standing by the ‘delivery end’ of the counter, staring at her phone. As Fay’s coffee was served, this woman became agitated. 

“I ordered first,” she said. “Why’s she got her coffee first?” 

The girl serving looked perplexed.  

“I ordered on the app,” the angry woman continued. “Look, it’s here on the app.” 

The girl took a peek at the woman’s phone and explained (and you’ll like this): 

“I’m afraid you ordered the coffee from our Sale branch. It’s there waiting for you!” 

We live in a world where things are getting faster and seamless, but sometimes you just need to have an actual conversation with a human being to get what you want. 

And the funny thing is, we’re designed for it!