Line Cutting (Queue Jumping) Etiquette
Feb 13, 2019, 8:28 am
#17
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Economy, mostly :(
Programs: Skywards Gold
Posts: 7,801
Not to belabor the point, but photo of the reception is below. In my case, there was a single receptionist at the center and we were all queued behind her, and behind us was the main entrance. A second staff member came on duty to the right (where you can see staff members in the photo) and called the next person in our line over. The person behind me then went over there and stood behind the person who had been called over (same place as the 2 customers in the photo). Everyone else in front of me and the 4-5 other people behind me in the queue stayed put.
I guess this could have just been confusion but I have seen behaviour like this called out before in the UK. Anyway, again a very minor thing, just curious whether anyone would do what I did. Equally, do people think he could have had a valid argument against me for going ahead of him?
And to be fair to the staff involved, they did basically call me over instead of the guy standing at their desk, although they looked confused.
I guess this could have just been confusion but I have seen behaviour like this called out before in the UK. Anyway, again a very minor thing, just curious whether anyone would do what I did. Equally, do people think he could have had a valid argument against me for going ahead of him?
And to be fair to the staff involved, they did basically call me over instead of the guy standing at their desk, although they looked confused.
Feb 13, 2019, 10:43 am
#20
Suspended
Join Date: Feb 2019
Location: Buffalo, but live from suitcase
Programs: Delta, AA, Marriott
Posts: 240
Feb 14, 2019, 3:52 pm
#21
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Long Beach, CA
Programs: AA PLTPRO, HH Diamond, IHG Plat, Marriott Plat, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 3,559
I wish more places would go with the single line method. It really eliminates the inequality of choosing poorly when deciding on a line and then having someone take forever. Grocery stores seem to be the least capable of the single line setup.
Feb 14, 2019, 5:35 pm
#22
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 4,374
Feb 14, 2019, 7:26 pm
#23
Join Date: Jul 2009
Programs: BAEC Silver, IHG Diamond
Posts: 7,769
The Union Square and Columbus Circle Whole Foods stores I've been in have multiple lines and 3/4 of the time, it's a case of "you snooze, you lose" when they call the register number out.
Feb 15, 2019, 10:46 pm
#26
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: London / Los Angeles
Programs: Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond Ambassador, Marriott Platinum, Hyatt Globalist, BA Silver
Posts: 1,631
Well your assumption is that there was a new line. A second receptionist came on duty and called the next person from the one single long line. Someone from half way along this single line decided to go form a new line by himself behind this 2nd receptionist rather than wait in the single line with everyone else. This is not like a supermarket where it is more or less necessary to have a separate line for each checkout.
Either way, I still feel justified in going to the 2nd receptionist when she looked at the single long line and asked who was next, given that I had been in line before this other guy. Nobody has said I was in the wrong in doing this.
I also 100% realise that I have already gone way overboard on this thread
Either way, I still feel justified in going to the 2nd receptionist when she looked at the single long line and asked who was next, given that I had been in line before this other guy. Nobody has said I was in the wrong in doing this.
I also 100% realise that I have already gone way overboard on this thread
Feb 16, 2019, 8:22 am
#27
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Canada
Posts: 628
Well your assumption is that there was a new line. A second receptionist came on duty and called the next person from the one single long line. Someone from half way along this single line decided to go form a new line by himself behind this 2nd receptionist rather than wait in the single line with everyone else. This is not like a supermarket where it is more or less necessary to have a separate line for each checkout.
Either way, I still feel justified in going to the 2nd receptionist when she looked at the single long line and asked who was next, given that I had been in line before this other guy. Nobody has said I was in the wrong in doing this.
I also 100% realise that I have already gone way overboard on this thread
Either way, I still feel justified in going to the 2nd receptionist when she looked at the single long line and asked who was next, given that I had been in line before this other guy. Nobody has said I was in the wrong in doing this.
I also 100% realise that I have already gone way overboard on this thread
This was one of those situations where the cues (no pun intended) to onlookers were ambiguous.
First, I agree that the audio cue from the second person coming on duty should have signalled that they would be processing the existing queue as one queue ("may I take the next person in [the existing] line.")
However, people may not have heard the receptionist say that, and what is more unless there is a roped off area with an opening 'gate' in between the posts such that people can approach the desk from only one direction, people are apt to assume an 'open concourse' in front of the desk and infer a line is to form in front of each staff member on the desk handling requests.
As irritating as it is, the main thing is to process the entire group of people as quickly as possible. In a vehicular traffic situation, the person waiting to advance through an intersection who snoozes when the light turns green holds up a lot of people behind him/her (to the point that fewer cars can traverse the intersection on that light and have to wait for the next one) and overall, service declines.
Last edited by simpleflyer; Feb 16, 2019 at 8:29 am
Feb 16, 2019, 12:40 pm
#28
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 26,288
Failure of a hospitality business to clearly define waiting queues for a large number of guests, resulting in confusing Darwinism when added reception desks open, will likely result in my choosing another hospitality business the next time.
Feb 18, 2019, 10:59 am
#29
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Peoria
Programs: Southwest, Best Western Gold, La Quinta, Dollar
Posts: 819
The issue at grocery stores, Target, etc is that the lines are separated by racks of magazines, candy and other sundries. If a new register suddenly opens up, the people stuck in the slow lines are stranded there, hemmed in by the racks, while its the latecomer at the end of the line who has the clear path to be the first one in the new line.
Feb 18, 2019, 4:38 pm
#30
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Long Beach, CA
Programs: AA PLTPRO, HH Diamond, IHG Plat, Marriott Plat, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 3,559
The issue at grocery stores, Target, etc is that the lines are separated by racks of magazines, candy and other sundries. If a new register suddenly opens up, the people stuck in the slow lines are stranded there, hemmed in by the racks, while its the latecomer at the end of the line who has the clear path to be the first one in the new line.