Add this to the list of outsourced jobs: Taking your food-to-go order.
When you call to place a take-out order from several Albuquerque area restaurants, you might think you are ordering from a local employee, but you are actually talking to someone in a Colorado call center.
You might not even notice because the call center employees speak as if they work locally – Hi, this is “Dave in Albuquerque” – until you ask for directions and they can’t help you, or upon arrival, you ask for the employee who took your order.
Restaurants like California Pizza Kitchen, which has used the system for a couple of years, and P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, which just started using it, told the Journal that outsourcing take-out orders to a call center reduces phone call volume at the local eateries. That frees staff for other duties on site and increases business because of reduced wait times.
“It has revolutionized our take-out business,” said Keith Rachlin, a manager at P.F. Chang’s near Interstate 25 and Jefferson NE.
He said the location began phasing into the system around Christmas, and the transition became final Jan. 1.
Rachlin said P.F. Chang’s locations nationwide now use a call center to take to-go orders.
“The problem was sometimes we were so overwhelmed by calls and sometimes customers would have to wait. This expedites the whole process,” he said.
Rachlin did not know where the call center was located, but a Journal online search found a company in Colorado Springs, Colo., called Stellar Restaurant Solutions, which provides “outsourced call center and online ordering solutions for the U.S. restaurant industry.” The company’s website lists P.F. Chang’s as one of its clients, along with California Pizza Kitchen and others.
Stellar Restaurant Solutions said its CEO – the only person who could comment for the story – was not available to answer questions.
Jacque Phillips, a manager at the California Pizza Kitchen at ABQ Uptown, said the location has been using a call center in Colorado to handle its take-out orders for a couple of years. She did not know the name of the center.
“It helps because no one has to stop what they are doing,” she said. “It reduces time and phone calls.”
Phillips said most customers who place takeout orders don’t realize they are talking to someone who is not a local employee.
“It does appear they are actually calling the restaurant,” she said, because call center employees are trained about the menu and its prices and can transfer calls to the local restaurant if necessary.
When a Journal reporter recently called to place an order from the local P.F. Chang’s, the call was greeted by a recording asking the caller to press 1 to place a take-out order.
After less than a minute on hold, the call was connected to “Dave in Albuquerque.” Dave says the wait time on a Friday evening at the location is about 25 minutes.
When asked if the restaurant is busy, he replies, “We’ve been busy today.”
After going through the order, Dave says the eatery is at 4440 The 25 Way NE. When asked if the Jefferson exit is the best place to get off the freeway to get to the eatery, he replies, “Ummm … I’m not sure. I’m new around here,” and then offers to transfer the call.
When asked if he is in Albuquerque, his reply is, “No, I’m sorry. I am at a call center,” he said, adding that it is in Colorado Springs and that employees there handle calls from P.F. Chang’s, California Pizza Kitchen, Boston Market and others.
Employees are supposed to act as if they are at the location customers think they have dialed, he said.
“We’re supposed to, yes,” he said. “People are starting to catch on, especially when they ask for directions or you pronounce something wrong.”
Boston Market did not verify the use of a call center to take to-go orders, but a call to a local restaurant got connected to a worker in a Colorado Springs call center to place a to-go order.
Rachlin said the system is in use at P.F. Chang’s seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. – the prime time for to-go ordering. The eatery is open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight.
The staff at the restaurant will still take orders during off hours or if customers press the wrong option and end up speaking to the eatery instead of the call center, he said.
“No one gets denied,” Rachlin said.
— This article appeared on page 16 of the Albuquerque Journal
Reprint story -- Email the reporter at rbrodsky@abqjournal.com. Call the reporter at 505-823-3820
