It could just be that I'm an antisocial jerk, but the modern Chick-Fil-A drive through experience is awful to me. I preferred the faceless interaction ordering at the speaker box. I don't want an employee walking up to my car fumbling with printed menus and payment processing devices. I don't want to tell them I've already ordered because the several order-takers running up and down the line don't know who has/hasn't ordered.
At one point the nearest location to me set it up such that I had to interact face to face with 3 people before I would get my food - one to take my order, one to take my payment, one to give me a receipt. Then I'd actually get to the window and be handed my food by a fourth person. This slowed things down substantially because the pattern was so far outside what customers expected. Employees frequently had to chase down people because they didn't stop for their receipt...because where the hell did the idea of a receipt pickup station come from anyway?
The end result is I only go to C-F-A anymore if ordering online ahead of time is convenient. At least then I'm back to the single face-to-face interaction at the point of food delivery. I have zero desire to interact with their employees more than that.
Or you know you could enjoy having a brief conversation about sports, or the weather, or their kids, or the latest celebrity gossip while waiting.
At the places I go to frequently I'm on a first name basis and I see the photos of their kids and share about what's going on in my life.
Face-to-face interactions are much more social than nameless, faceless, speaker boxes.
Think of it as a chance to make 4 people smile, briefly laugh, and get your food. Hopefully those 4 people can make you smile, laugh, and have a tasty meal!
Except I will not enjoy that. That is not a pattern of interaction I enjoy. I find small talk with people I don't know exhausting. I don't want to impose on an employee who would rather not share their personal life with me. I can't possibly know if that employee legitimately wants to share with me or is doing so because they feel they must because I am a customer.
I eat less C-F-A nowadays because they have chosen to make the experience different than other drive through restaurants, and it's not an experience I care for.
At one point the nearest location to me set it up such that I had to interact face to face with 3 people before I would get my food - one to take my order, one to take my payment, one to give me a receipt. Then I'd actually get to the window and be handed my food by a fourth person. This slowed things down substantially because the pattern was so far outside what customers expected. Employees frequently had to chase down people because they didn't stop for their receipt...because where the hell did the idea of a receipt pickup station come from anyway?
The end result is I only go to C-F-A anymore if ordering online ahead of time is convenient. At least then I'm back to the single face-to-face interaction at the point of food delivery. I have zero desire to interact with their employees more than that.