I've had the Wetherspoon App on my iPhone 7+ for some time now, but I've never got around to using it in anger. Either I've not needed to use it or just not been in an establishment that the service was available to use it in.
So, today I decided to break my journey home from work and eat out. On entering the Carron Shore in Falkirk, I found an available table, sat down and fired up the app to begin...
If you haven't previously set a favourite pub, you will need to find the place you are in in the pub list and add it to My Favourite Pubs then you can browse the app menu and choose what you would like to eat, or drinks, or both.
Items not available are scored through and backlit in a pale grey, and can't be selected. This is a good feature as I've experienced many occasions where I've ordered and paid for a meal only to be told a short time later it's out of stock.
Options need to be selected, or deselected, before you can continue too, the option to have a curry sauce with my fish and chips - why you would want that is beyond me but there you go - can be selected or not. Choose the quantity, then add it to the purchase basket and move to the next item. When you are ready, enter a table number, then place your order. The options for how you can pay are quite good and on this occasion I optioned to pay with Apple Pay: scanned my finger and, done.
The speed of delivery will depend on how busy the establishment is at the time of order, but my two pints of beer arrived promptly and the food not much longer after.
There are a few problems that I could see happening to sour the experience depending on where you use the app, or just saunter up the the counter in the tried and tested way of old.
Ordering at the bar can be quick, or extremely slow. That's down to how busy it is and how many staff are on duty too. You do see a human being, some are pretty too, and you can have a wee bit of banter with theme as they deal with you. You also can make sure the pint of beer is correct too; either by having a wee taster or to have it topped up if the head is too big. This you can't do when you sit down and order through the app.
The best thing though, is when you are on your own, and in need of food and a drink. Finding a table that's free, and being sure you will still have it after being up to the bar to order, can be tough. So the app means you can just sit down, browse the menu and place you food and drink order, pay, and await it being delivered to you. Where I do see its use is for those that are unable to stand in a queue, either due to poor health or a disability as this will mean they can just find a table and be served hustle free.
On this occasion, I can honestly say it was a 90% success... well, the app was a 100% success as it was just a minor problem of the mushy peas not being hot.
My recommendation: worth it a try.
James Ormiston