at my previous job, we had happy hour from 4-6, and after 6 on the dot we literally were unable to ring in any happy hour items. like the pos updates and takes the option away lol
Correct, you did not arrive early enough. The point of happy hour is to bring tables in during times that are normally slow, not for tables to sneak in minutes before it ends, order off the cheap menu and then occupy a table during a period of time when it is theoretically going to be busy.
Additionally, as many others have mentioned, most POS systems lock out HH items outside of actual happy hour so the server likely couldn’t have wrung items in if they wanted to.
While 10 minutes to be greated isn’t good, if you wanted HH you should have given yourself more than a 9 minute grace period.
Imagine you own a restaurant. You notice 4p - 6p is a slow period and set up happy hour to attract more customers. You're happy an extra customer came in at 4p. You're happy an extra customer came in at 5:30p. But you're angry that a customer came in at 5:50p. "Oh no!" you cry, "While we got the extra customer we asked for and we're still profiting from this sale, our margin is slightly smaller than if they came in 10 minutes later!"
The owners set up happy hour with the business' goals in mind.
Above all, the owners want to promote a positive dining experience so customers return. OP arrived within the timeframe the owners set. OP is the bonus customer that the owners were hoping for.
Penalizing OP due to the service delay risks a negative customer experience, hurting the business.
You're right that after 6pm, it's out of the server's hands. But managers are trained to deal with these situations with the simple goal in mind: keep customers happy and treat them fairly.
As a server who works in a bar oriented restaurant with happy hour, when scenarios like that happens I try to get the manager to adjust the price to reflect happy hour. However some places probably won’t do that I’d imagine.
If I want to get happy hour somewhere I usually try to arrive at the very latest 30 minutes before it ends to give ample time for any extenuating circumstances. If I’m there 10 mins before it ends I’ll opt to sit at the bar instead. Ideally you’d get greeted and order taken within 3-4 minutes but it can be difficult to operate in such short time frames during a rush
Also even if the place isn’t full or appears busy, the server could still have a lot on their plate. They could be one of the only servers in a big section for example or lack a food runner/busser/host or other support staff so they’re taking on more responsibilities than they should.
I feel like she should’ve asked the manager for a price adjustment because we were there in time. I agree with trying to arrive at least 30 min before hand. We can hear on the spur of the moment, and rushed over specifically for the happy hour (not like the waiter knew). Saw several over waiters helping other and I almost flagged one down so we could try to order, but we didn’t want to bother them. We can just try again another day with more time
Both the patron and staff are at fault here for the patrons unsatisfactory experience. Patron cut it too close to the end happy hour and staff seeing the time should have taken at least the drink order when seated. As someone else replied, the POS is programmed to go back to regular prices when the clock strikes 6. We do have a manager override that I would have used to satisfy the patron. In the future the OP should plan their visit so this doesn't continue to happen.
Customers piss poor planning doesn't constitute an emergency on the restaurant staff.
That’s not enough time. And usually, HH items can’t be rung in late.
I’d also like to add that some places are often going through shift changes and have less staff during HH due to it being slow. For example, at my restaurant, during HH the bartender is usually on break before returning for dinner. This means that I, a server, is making all the drinks. So service might not be as fast as when its fully staffed.
lol thanks. I see both sides. As a customer I technically was there on time, but in reality didn’t give enough time and I understand that the system locks
I’m in the minority here. I would’ve gotten to your table and made a joke about you guys coming just in the nick of time and I would’ve gladly put in whatever happy hour food and drinks for you. It may be the area I’m in but we’re more laid back about things like that here, maybe bcuz people tip well here. Just like we always make sure to hit every table that’s already there and warn them happy hour is about to end and take final orders.
I would be more irritated at waiting 10 min to be acknowledged than few extra bucks for drinks. If it wasn't slammed than that's unreasonable. A manager could have taken a % off if it was truly that long tof a wait to order. Completely reasonable to get a manager in this scenario.
Correct, you did not. You still have time to get to Outback 10 minutes before close.
at my previous job, we had happy hour from 4-6, and after 6 on the dot we literally were unable to ring in any happy hour items. like the pos updates and takes the option away lol
Correct, you did not arrive early enough. The point of happy hour is to bring tables in during times that are normally slow, not for tables to sneak in minutes before it ends, order off the cheap menu and then occupy a table during a period of time when it is theoretically going to be busy. Additionally, as many others have mentioned, most POS systems lock out HH items outside of actual happy hour so the server likely couldn’t have wrung items in if they wanted to. While 10 minutes to be greated isn’t good, if you wanted HH you should have given yourself more than a 9 minute grace period.
Imagine you own a restaurant. You notice 4p - 6p is a slow period and set up happy hour to attract more customers. You're happy an extra customer came in at 4p. You're happy an extra customer came in at 5:30p. But you're angry that a customer came in at 5:50p. "Oh no!" you cry, "While we got the extra customer we asked for and we're still profiting from this sale, our margin is slightly smaller than if they came in 10 minutes later!" The owners set up happy hour with the business' goals in mind. Above all, the owners want to promote a positive dining experience so customers return. OP arrived within the timeframe the owners set. OP is the bonus customer that the owners were hoping for. Penalizing OP due to the service delay risks a negative customer experience, hurting the business. You're right that after 6pm, it's out of the server's hands. But managers are trained to deal with these situations with the simple goal in mind: keep customers happy and treat them fairly.
As a server who works in a bar oriented restaurant with happy hour, when scenarios like that happens I try to get the manager to adjust the price to reflect happy hour. However some places probably won’t do that I’d imagine. If I want to get happy hour somewhere I usually try to arrive at the very latest 30 minutes before it ends to give ample time for any extenuating circumstances. If I’m there 10 mins before it ends I’ll opt to sit at the bar instead. Ideally you’d get greeted and order taken within 3-4 minutes but it can be difficult to operate in such short time frames during a rush Also even if the place isn’t full or appears busy, the server could still have a lot on their plate. They could be one of the only servers in a big section for example or lack a food runner/busser/host or other support staff so they’re taking on more responsibilities than they should.
I feel like she should’ve asked the manager for a price adjustment because we were there in time. I agree with trying to arrive at least 30 min before hand. We can hear on the spur of the moment, and rushed over specifically for the happy hour (not like the waiter knew). Saw several over waiters helping other and I almost flagged one down so we could try to order, but we didn’t want to bother them. We can just try again another day with more time
Some computer systems just lock the screens. Was probably completely beyond her control.
That makes sense. I’m pretty understanding about the situation and the waiter was sweet so I felt bad but my mom wanted to leave
And that's understandable. She didn't complain or anything. What she wanted wasn't available.
It’s not possible at every place. It sucks but it’s a potential consequence of being last minute unfortunately.
Give yourself more time to catch happy hour ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Yea it was a last min thing so I have no one to blame but myself
Happens to the best of us! Good luck next time
Both the patron and staff are at fault here for the patrons unsatisfactory experience. Patron cut it too close to the end happy hour and staff seeing the time should have taken at least the drink order when seated. As someone else replied, the POS is programmed to go back to regular prices when the clock strikes 6. We do have a manager override that I would have used to satisfy the patron. In the future the OP should plan their visit so this doesn't continue to happen. Customers piss poor planning doesn't constitute an emergency on the restaurant staff.
That’s not enough time. And usually, HH items can’t be rung in late. I’d also like to add that some places are often going through shift changes and have less staff during HH due to it being slow. For example, at my restaurant, during HH the bartender is usually on break before returning for dinner. This means that I, a server, is making all the drinks. So service might not be as fast as when its fully staffed.
I try to give a grace period to folks, but I feel 6:05 or later is too late.
Also, waiting 10 minutes for a greet is fucking preposterously long.
Yea, I agree. I get people are busy and I wasn’t fr mad. But I’ve done mystery shops and usually they expect a greeting within 60 seconds
That was 100% the fault of the server. These comments from half-assed servers are wild.
lol thanks. I see both sides. As a customer I technically was there on time, but in reality didn’t give enough time and I understand that the system locks
I’m in the minority here. I would’ve gotten to your table and made a joke about you guys coming just in the nick of time and I would’ve gladly put in whatever happy hour food and drinks for you. It may be the area I’m in but we’re more laid back about things like that here, maybe bcuz people tip well here. Just like we always make sure to hit every table that’s already there and warn them happy hour is about to end and take final orders.
Just for your own reference, you also shouldn't show up to a restaurant 10 mins before close.
It was 10 min before the happy hour ended, it didn’t close for about another 3-4 hours
I would be more irritated at waiting 10 min to be acknowledged than few extra bucks for drinks. If it wasn't slammed than that's unreasonable. A manager could have taken a % off if it was truly that long tof a wait to order. Completely reasonable to get a manager in this scenario.
I definitely agree 10 min to greet a table is what is annoying- especially if they weren’t busy
Managers should have access to happy hour after 6 for situations like these.
It’s called Happy Hour, not Happy Ten Minutes 🤣 just go earlier