Had a ticket machine melt down during Mother's Day brunch in Portland

We do a big brunch buffet every year for Mother's Day. 250 covers easy. This year the ticket machine that prints the order chits just died at 10am. Smoke and everything. We had to hand write every order for 4 hours. My handwriting is terrible. One server brought back a ticket that said 'chicken fried steak' but it was actually 'eggs benedict'. I went with it anyway. Guest actually loved it. Now I keep a notepad and pens in every station. Anybody else ever have a piece of equipment die at the worst possible time?

2 comments

2 Comments

jennifer35811d ago

Who handed you that ticket? The server or the expo? Because if a server wrote down 'eggs benedict' that badly, they need handwriting lessons. Or maybe they were just rushing. Did you comp that guest's meal or charge them full price? I'd be curious if they noticed the switch or were just being polite.

robertb3011d ago

Yeah but look at it from a different direction, @jennifer358. What if your ticket system dying actually saved you from something worse down the line? That machine smoked out at 10am on a high stress day. What if it had died during the middle of a dinner rush that same weekend when you're already in the weeds? Catching a failure like that early is kind of a blessing in disguise. You got the smoke and the panic over with in one shot and now you've got backup plans in place. That notepad and pen trick is going to save you more than once, believe me.