Chayan Yuese queue rules: what coffee online news says

Chayan Yuese faced renewed criticism over its ordering and pickup rules after a customer at its Changsha airport store waited nearly fifty minutes for a drink despite a line of only about ten people. Reports on September 20 described a two-step process: pay at one counter for a pickup number, then queue again to scan and collect the drink. The brand said the rules protect milk foam texture, but many customers were unconvinced.

It was not the first adjustment. On September 8, Duyi Caijing reported new ordering and pickup rules, and customer service said at the time that the change was recent. Complaints have recurred since. The case sits inside a wider discussion of queueing culture in the milk tea industry and whether such processes shape perceived demand or genuinely protect drink quality.

Recently, Chayan Yuese has once again become the focus of public opinion due to its ordering and drink pickup rules. Some customers waited nearly fifty minutes at the Changsha airport store before getting their drinks, questioning its cumbersome ordering process and unreasonable marketing methods, which sparked widespread resonance. In fact, Chayan Yuese has adjusted its ordering rules many times, and consumers have continuously complained. Although the official response stated that the new rules are intended to ensure the texture of the milk foam, netizens were not convinced. This article reviews the course of the incident, the views of all parties, and the brand's response, and explores the logic and controversy behind the queueing phenomenon in the milk tea industry.

According to a September 20 report by Feidian News, a netizen in Changsha, Hunan, bought Chayan Yuese milk tea while waiting at the airport and found that a line of just over ten people actually took nearly fifty minutes to get the product, and immediately questioned the brand's marketing approach. Customer Mr. Wu described that he had originally thought he only needed to line up to scan a code and order, but when it was his turn, he was told that he first had to pay on the other side and receive a pickup number, and then line up again to scan the code and get the drink. Because he had lined up in the wrong queue, he had to line up again, and the final wait was close to fifty minutes. Mr. Wu believed that this arrangement seemed to deliberately create the illusion of a busy store, making people feel as if they were paying an "idiot tax," and the experience was very unpleasant.

The incident quickly fermented online. Some netizens commented: "Chayan has always been slow to serve drinks, deliberately creating the effect of long queues," "The new ordering model is useless, you have to line up to pay and then line up again to get the drink," "Even when there are few people, you still have to wait half an hour," "Very inconvenient." Some netizens also pointed out that "only some stores are like this," and believed that "this is a marketing method to create the phenomenon of many people queueing."

In fact, as early as September 8, Duyi Caijing reported that Chayan Yuese had launched new rules for ordering and picking up drinks. At the time, customer service responded that this was a recently introduced new regulation and was only being tested in some stores. Verification is a drink ordering and pickup scheme previously introduced by Chayan Yuese. After customers complete their order, they need to line up at the pickup area, and only after verification does the drink begin to be made on site.

Chayan Yuese has changed its ordering and numbering rules many times, and many consumers complain that buying a cup of milk tea also requires "constantly learning the rules." In response, staff explained that milk tea has a layer of dense milk foam on the surface, which will gradually dissolve if left for too long and affect the taste. In order to ensure that customers receive the freshest state with the fullest milk foam, the brand "absorbed a lot of suggestions, so there may indeed have been some changes to the drink pickup rules."

Netizens were not convinced and complained one after another: "This is seriously messed up, it just makes people stand in line and wait," "A milk tea shop with so much nonsense," "The experience is extremely poor," "These days you can order on your phone, but this one still makes you stand in line. What a huge attitude," "It's not like you absolutely have to drink it," "Waiting an hour in line for a cup, a complete waste of time."

At a time when other milk tea brands generally enable self-service ordering through mini programs, Chayan Yuese's event stores do not support self-service ordering through mini programs, and customers must line up in-store to order. After arriving at the store, there are also two lines: one for ordering and another for picking up drinks. Consumers therefore need to wait in line for a long time, and once they leave the line, they have to line up again.

This practice has repeatedly pushed the topic of "queueing" onto Weibo's trending searches. Chayan Yuese responded at the time that this was a small-scale test lasting three days, after which the previous ordering and pickup method would be restored. But to this day, some stores are still implementing the in-store queueing method, which has caused dissatisfaction among many consumers, who believe the brand intentionally creates the phenomenon of many people queueing.

At 11 a.m., Chayan Yuese's official customer service said that it was not to create the scene of a crowded store. The receipt reminds consumers that after ordering, they need to go to the nearby serving area for verification before the drink will be made, and customers can arrange according to their own time and come back to drink when there are fewer people. Customer service admitted that there may be areas that need improvement and said they would continue to pay attention and optimize in the future.

In response, netizens said one after another: "Once you've ordered, you can leave, so why line up to get the drink????" "Wouldn't it be better to just line up and buy it directly?" "First line up to get the pickup number, then line up to verify the code and get the drink. What a waste of time!" It can be seen that Chayan Yuese's response did not convince the vast number of netizens.

What do you all think about this?

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.