tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292347297710646879.post4225811485711237971..comments2024-01-04T10:43:43.855-05:00Comments on I Hate Duane Reade: Service from Hell: Line It Up**http://www.blogger.com/profile/13656561723410718030noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292347297710646879.post-13515720579552336622008-11-10T18:05:00.000-05:002008-11-10T18:05:00.000-05:00Great work.Great work.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292347297710646879.post-91642038094439825842007-06-01T11:09:00.000-05:002007-06-01T11:09:00.000-05:00I'm just amazed that this is a problem at every fu...I'm just amazed that this is a problem at every fuckin' DR. I've never seen a similar problem at any other drug store, etc. <BR/><BR/>Ya know, if a single line works at the bank (as shitty as it is), it works for me. The one line approach seems the most civilized and fair. What DR needs to do is put greater clarity around whatever approach they want. Clearly this is a problem.<BR/><BR/>And, perhaps beyond the scope of your blog, Costco can also benefit by a Whole-foods traffic cop.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292347297710646879.post-25081174752361434412007-06-01T09:43:00.000-05:002007-06-01T09:43:00.000-05:00Great post. One line is usually better than multip...Great post. One line is usually better than multiple lines, as it's a more scalable model - cashiers can open and close and go on a break and return without affecting people adversely. The customers will always get served in the correct order, and a person with a huge number of items will not slow down the one immediately behind.<BR/><BR/>That said, the worse of the lot of a situation where the 1-vs-many is unclear. If stores want to go to the 1-line paradigm, they have to stick to it - like Whole Foods did in some locations. Leaving people to figure it out results in pure chaos.Kundan Senhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07919747157155931365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292347297710646879.post-64058405409514111232007-05-31T13:55:00.000-05:002007-05-31T13:55:00.000-05:00I agree with the grad student: one line is statist...I agree with the grad student: one line is statistically better. What I find maddening, though, is the nebulous situation when it's not clear whether it's one line or two, and of course the DR cashiers couldn't possibly make any effort to figure this out. So you suddenly get someone saying, "That cashier is open," and then half the line moves, and you end up further back, or maybe the cashier isn't really open, or whatever. Chaos.[the palaverist]https://www.blogger.com/profile/17382353970425145465noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292347297710646879.post-28269034658372195522007-05-30T17:33:00.000-05:002007-05-30T17:33:00.000-05:00I was in a Duane Reade on 3rd ave several weeks ag...I was in a Duane Reade on 3rd ave several weeks ago when confusion about the line ensued. There was one cashier working with 3 or 4 of us in one line down the aisle and another phantom line perpendicular feeding in from the left. Several customers realized their error and joined the aisle line. An older guy with a Mets cap on merged. As far as I know he might have been there first. I couldn't tell having spent several minutes in the aisle. He went in front of me and frankly I didn't give it much thought. As he approached the counter, the guy behind me started SCREAMING. "I see you, Met's cap. You think just because you're old you don't have to wait. That's right I'm talking to you. How dare you cut the line. I fucking hate that. People are so fucking rude."<BR/>The entire store could hear his rant and we all had to give him that I-might-agree-with-you-but-really you're-too-crazy-to-interact-with-so -please-don't-talk-to-me look.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292347297710646879.post-51107254578995185872007-05-30T16:52:00.000-05:002007-05-30T16:52:00.000-05:00Having done queueing theory in grad school, with s...Having done queueing theory in grad school, with some basic assumptions (that people don't switch lines, etc) average wait time overall is shorter in the one line.<BR/><BR/>That's cause when the stupid cashier takes 7 minutes to do a price check, in 2 lines everyone there has a 7 minute longer wait. In the one line model, at least people are still rolling through the other lane.<BR/><BR/>Wow, and that's the first time I've used that info since grad school. Ha.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292347297710646879.post-22651021097277629912007-05-27T22:47:00.000-05:002007-05-27T22:47:00.000-05:00I tend to prefer one line that just goes to the fi...I tend to prefer one line that just goes to the first open register. In multiple lines, I always end up in the one that has the idiot customer who is arguing about a sale or the world's slowest cashier.Rowenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07235185725930005474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292347297710646879.post-80188120217530257632007-05-15T23:53:00.000-05:002007-05-15T23:53:00.000-05:00multiple lines!!multiple lines!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8292347297710646879.post-31809572859938391742007-05-15T16:18:00.000-05:002007-05-15T16:18:00.000-05:00The thing is, once there is just one line that's f...The thing is, once there is just one line that's formed, it's virtually impossible to break it into two without someone getting screwed (unless every other person meticulously gets on one line in the same order that they were already in, which never happens).<BR/><BR/>In any case, it doesn't seem like two lines vs. one would make much of a difference since all DR cashiers seem to be equally slow.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com