As I got in my car today after work, I fired up the Great Clips app and used their online check-in option. Once checked in, I started my car and headed out to get my haircut.<\/p>\n
I pulled into the parking lot and went in and up to the counter. The man in front of me was told their would be a wait – which was odd since there was only one person in the waiting area. He couldn’t wait and left – and I stepped up to the counter and checked in formally. I sat down and in a few moments – not even enough time to fold a crane – I was called up.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the woman that had been waiting when I walked in. I realized that I was the “wait” that drove the man away.<\/p>\n
By checking in online, I had jumped the physical line. Which is the whole point of the app – I suppose. That, and gathering some degree of data about me and my habits and travel for some wacky marketing scheme.<\/p>\n
I got my haircut, paid, and was on my way in short order.<\/p>\n
My next stop was Chipotle. I hadn’t ordered ahead and stood in line for nearly 1\/2 an hour. When I got up to the front, I had to wait further as they made a burrito for someone that had called in their order ahead of time. Those folks jumped the line ahead of me and I had to wait – on people that weren’t there yet and who hadn’t stood in line.<\/p>\n
The app for Great Clips seemed like a…well, great… idea. Check-in, head out, no line when I arrive, haircut and gone.<\/p>\n
It seemed less of a great idea when the reverse happened and I was stuck in line for what turned out to be a not-great burrito.<\/p>\n
The problem in both of these cases is that there are two ways to approach the same resource: the pre-order and the stand in line. If everyone pre-ordered, there would be no line. If everyone stood in line, there would be no line jumping – well, at least not any “legal” line-jumping. The mix, though, rewards the planners and punishes the spontaneous.<\/p>\n
I have seen some Chipotle’s that segment off the pre-order and have a separate line and crew for that function. When they aren’t busy, that second crew does other tasks around the restaurant. Not sure how that would work at Great Clips without a lot of costly idle time.<\/p>\n
What disappoints me is that technology is creating artificial and temporary class systems. And those are rarely good.<\/p>\n
I resented the call-aheads at Chipotle and I’m pretty sure the woman in the waiting room at Great Clips wasn’t happy at my legal line jump – but short of redundant crews, I’m not sure how to fix the problem.<\/p>\n
Food for thought as I ate my “just-okay” burrito…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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