Audio By Carbonatix
A Sam’s Club shopper says that the warehouse retailer has a new policy for its food court that is inconveniencing a core part of its customer base. According to her and others online, at least some locations now require customers to order food through a mobile app.
Dusti Allee Berrelez (@dustilatham) posted a clip from inside a Sam’s Club over the weekend.
“So Sam’s Club has now made it that you can only order food if you have the app, and you have to order it through the app,” Berrelez says. “But yet they cater to the elderly. I’m so confused why they think that this is a good idea.”
She says that she witnessed a veteran get denied service.
“He’s had a membership for 27 years,” Berrelez adds. “Make it make sense.”
In the TikTok, there is a Sam’s Club worker in the background. “There’s literally a person standing right there that will not take your order,” the TikToker says.
Berrelez told BroBible the veteran was roughly 80 years old and that she offered to buy him food there after seeing what happened. “He was upset (understandably!!) and said he wasn’t going to be the reason Sam’s club got another dime,” Berrelez recalled.
She said the veteran wasn’t the only one she witnessed having issues ordering. “It’s really sad because there was another elderly couple behind me that the worker had walked back to ask if they were finally able to place an order after over 20 minutes of trying,” she said.
“I hope they recognize that this is a problem quickly x our elderly don’t deserve this, and the veteran definitely didn’t either,” Berrelez added.
No Humans Required
Restaurants throughout the nation have increasingly moved ordering to mobile applications.
For some, this is much preferable to dealing with an actual person. In an ideal world, you just tap a few buttons, and your food is being made to your exact specifications. This at least theoretically reduces the risk of human error.
Fans of mobile ordering also praise its efficiency, saying it saves both money and time.
Not everyone sees it that way, however. If you’re visually impaired, don’t own a smartphone, or simply aren’t tech savvy—like the elderly Berrelez mentions—being required to use a mobile app to order can be prohibitive.
A mobile app also might not necessarily be updated with the latest menu offerings, prices, or other pertinent information. And it certainly isn’t going to tell you if the clam chowder is a little funky that day.
Among the detractors are those who resent the endless encroachment of technology into every facet of our lives. As one Redditor puts it, “Because I don’t want an app for every single thing in my life and mobile websites are a– 99% of the time.”
For these and other reasons, some people simply prefer to order food from an actual person.
That’s not stopping businesses from moving to ordering online, however.
‘Write Your Senators’
Other people have noted that Sam’s Club is moving orders at its in-store cafes to a mobile app. Earlier in the month a Facebook user warned customers that Sam’s Club Cafe only accepts orders via its app or by pre-checking out at the register.
According to multiple people online, including in comments on Berrelez’s TikTok, not all Sam’s Clubs currently have this requirement.
“Must be at your Sam’s Club only I just left there today July 27th with cash and my card they took the cash,” wrote one.
Several chimed in to say that their Sam’s Club doesn’t require mobile ordering. But others believe that it’s merely a matter of time.
Neither Sam’s Club nor Walmart, its parent company, responded to BroBible’s inquiries sent via the contact forms on their websites Tuesday afternoon.
Sam’s Club’s website doesn’t specifically say whether it requires you to order on its app. It does insinuate such, however. On the FAQ section of the Sam’s Club Cafe page, it says, “You’ll need a mobile device with the Sam’s Club app downloaded to order when you’re inside a club.”
Most people who commented on Berrelez’s post seem exasperated by mobile ordering requirements.
“Forcing ppl to download an app in general for anything, especially for food should be illegal,” wrote one.
A second urged people to contact Congress in the hopes of outlawing mandatory mobile app ordering.
Another worried that this is further evidence we’re becoming a cash-free society. “Why are we as society allowing all these business to go cashless?” they wrote. “That is seriously not a good road to go down.”
Content shared from brobible.com.