An employee at the coffee and donut establishment Dunkin’ has sparked debate on TikTok after allegedly turning off her store’s mobile order machine.
The video, uploaded to the platform earlier this month, shows @just_amethyst7 seemingly disabling the machine that informs her of orders made by customers through the company’s mobile app.
“[L]ike shut that damn machine tf up, come get your drinks like a normal person,” she wrote.
[Update: After publication the TikToker set their account to private.]
The video includes the popular “If that makes me a villain” sound from the hit HBO drama Euphoria. After allegedly turning off the machine, @just_amethyst7 can be seen walking away before flipping off the camera.
The footage has so far been seen more than 50,000 times and has sparked debate among TikTok users.
Numerous users appeared to praise @just_amethyst7, arguing that customers could merely get their coffee elsewhere.
“They can go to a different store I’m sorry,” one user said.
“[M]y manager got rid of our tablets bc i kept turning them off when i was busy during the overnight shift (by myself btw),” another user added.
But not everyone was supportive of @just_amethyst7’s bold display. Many pushed back at her decision to allegedly turn off the machine.
“Respectfully no,” one user replied.
“I gotta go to work bestie i just want an iced matcha latte,” another added.
Many users with social anxiety also chimed in, pointing out that mobile orders were a significant help to them.
“[N]ah baby don’t do that,” one commenter said. “[I] got social anxiety.”
“[N]o bcus im still coming and ordering the same thing at the speaker,” another person stated. “[M]e ordering ahead is trying to help u out my dude.”
It turns out, however, that @just_amethyst7 may not have actually turned off the machine. After one commenter pointed out that she only appeared to turn down the volume, the TikTok user admitted that she had staged the act for her video.
But @just_amethyst7 later claimed that she had turned off the machine numerous times before when her workplace got overwhelmingly busy.
“[W]e definitely aren’t supposed to but i do it anyways,” the TikToker said. “[E]nough is ENOUGH.”
Speaking with the Daily Dot, @just_amethyst7 said that she wished customers would be more considerate given ongoing staffing shortages linked to the pandemic.
“Customer service employees (especially fast food) have always gotten the shit end of the stick,” she said. “Everyone has their comments on how easy it is but it’s the same people who wouldn’t last a week.”
The TikToker also wasn’t surprised at how many other service workers could relate with the video.
“Some people will just never get it because they themselves know they wouldn’t want to work it,” @just_amethyst7 added. “I’m just happy that the people in similar positions were able to take a laugh away from it.”
She has since sent her video to private.
The mobile ordering app has become an important part of Dunkin’s business model. But some feel the influx of orders has made the job increasingly difficult.
Mobile ordering accounted for 8% of Dunkin’s transactions in Q3 2020, a 1% rise from Q2 in 2020. Based on comments from TikTokers, disabling mobile order machines appears to be an increasingly popular action among distressed workers in the food and drink industry.
This post has been updated with comment from the TikToker.
Today’s top stories
| ‘Fill her up’: Bartender gives woman a glass of water when the man she’s with orders tequila shot |
| ‘I don’t think my store has even sold one’: Whataburger employees take picture with first customer who bought a burger box |
| ‘It was a template used by anyone in the company’: Travel agent’s ‘condescending’ out-of-office email reply sparks debate |
| Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online. |