May 21 to July 15, 2026 · pulled live from Vapi + Square
1,580
Calls answered
1,165 real, 399 robocalls screened
496
Orders sent to staff
warm-transferred, never counted
$4,043
Collected, unrecorded
real card revenue since June
Hoku is not silent, the reporting layer was. In 8 weeks Hoku answered
1,580 calls, and phone orders collected $4,043.86 that the daily
report showed as $0. Every call and every payment was in the database the whole time.
01
Calls, month by month
Every call Hoku answered, straight from the Vapi log
Month
Total
Real
Screened
To staff
May 21 to 31
298
208
77
91
June
858
646
209
267
July 1 to 15
424
311
113
138
Total
1,580
1,165
399
496
Volume runs 9 to 38 calls a day, roughly two thirds real customers. The 496 sent to staff are cash orders Hoku took and handed to a person.
02
The money we couldn't see
Confirmed order by order against Square
$4,043.86
71 phone orders were paid in Square but still showed as pending in our dashboard.
June collected $2,980.71 · 51 orders
July collected $1,063.15 · 20 orders
03
Where card orders go
Card phone orders since June 1
Payment links sentcard phone orders
128
Paidcustomer completed checkout
71 · 55%
Abandonedopened or never checked out
57 · 45%
04
What this means
Two things worth acting on
The real opportunity
Nearly half of real calls are cash orders Hoku hands to a person, taken correctly but relayed by hand and invisible in every report.
Moving those into pay-online captures the order and the record in one step. That is the case for taking all phone orders online.
Money on the table
About 45% of card links go unpaid. Customers get the link but don't finish.
A follow-up nudge on unpaid links, or letting them pay before hanging up, lifts completion, separate from the reporting fix.
Why the report said zero. Hoku emails a payment link and most people pay 15 to 40 minutes later, often at pickup. The job that checks Square for payment gave up after about 10 minutes per order, so every later payment was never recorded and the daily digest read $0 paid. It broke around June 6. The calls, orders, and money were never lost, just never surfaced. A fix is staged.
05
Decisions we need from you
To fire the kitchen the moment Hoku takes the order, without forcing an online payment first
Right now the kitchen only sees an order after it is paid online, so the ~45% who never finish the link and every cash caller never reach the line. To let Hoku fire the ticket on confirmation and take the money at pickup, these are the calls only you can make. Each has a recommended default we can build to.
01
Does an unpaid order cook?
The core call. Everything else follows from it.
A. Fire the kitchen on Hoku's confirmation, collect at pickup. B. Keep pay-online first (today). C. Fire-first only for repeat customers.
Recommend A, fire on confirmation. It captures the abandoned links and the cash callers, and it is how a counter already works.
02
How do customers pay at pickup?
If pay-at-pickup is solid, the online link stops being a gate.
A. Square card terminal + cash at every location. B. Card only. C. Cash only.
Recommend A. Confirm the Kihei truck can take card at the counter, it is phone-card-only today only because of the transfer workaround. Taking payment in Square at pickup also removes the link-chasing that caused the $0 reporting.
03
Where is the line for still requiring prepay?
A no-show on a large order costs more than a plate lunch.
A. Fire everything free. B. Require a deposit above a set dollar amount or head count. C. Prepay for parties and catering only.
Recommend Fire-first under about $75; deposit for large, party, and catering orders. Catering already takes 50% up front.
04
What stops fake or no-show orders?
Payment was the filter. Without it we need another.
A. Text the caller a confirm before firing. B. Cap order value for first-time unknown numbers. C. Rely on the current robocall screen (399 already blocked).
Recommend A + C, and a cap on brand-new callers. Cheap protection, low friction.
05
How does the ticket reach the kitchen?
This is the one technical answer we need from you to build it.
What does the kitchen actually watch, a Square KDS screen, a ticket printer, or paper? And does your Square plan let an unpaid (open) ticket fire?
Recommend Fire the open ticket to the kitchen marked PAY AT PICKUP, then settle it in Square at the counter.
06
Do we still send the pay-online link?
A. Keep it as an optional "pay ahead, skip the wait." B. Remove it. C. Large orders only.
Recommend Keep it optional, no longer the gate. Some customers like paying ahead.
Lonely Pine AI
Prepared for Tasha · Sparky's Food Co · July 2026. Call figures from the Vapi log, revenue confirmed order by order against Square.