# How long till fast food counter order takers replaced ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 14, 2015, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-till-fast-food-counter-order-takers-replaced/727822 "2015-08-14T11:12:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davida03801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@davida03801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davida03801)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-till-fast-food-counter-order-takers-replaced/727822/1 "2015-08-14T11:12:49Z")
A related question from this thread [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?f=4](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?f=4) A wave of minimum wage hikes is occurring in the US, mostly city driven. The predictable result is loss of jobs. So, how long do you think it will be before you walk into a fast food restaurant and you not see an actual human order taker, but just an order station with an electronic ordering device and you pay with card, no cash ? My guess is I will see this in 3 years or less, and will be common in 5 years or less. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-till-fast-food-counter-order-takers-replaced/727822/2 "2015-08-14T11:22:24Z")
> [@davida03801](#): > > A related question from this thread [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?f=4](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?f=4) A wave of minimum wage hikes is occurring in the US, mostly city driven. The predictable result is loss of jobs. > > So, how long do you think it will be before you walk into a fast food restaurant and you not see an actual human order taker, but just an order station with an electronic ordering device and you pay with card, no cash ? > > My guess is I will see this in 3 years or less, and will be common in 5 years or less. I’ve seen something similar already - not at the big chains like McDonald’s or Wendy’s , but at convenience store snack counters , a casino cafe and other places and even sit-down restaurants where you order on a tablet kept at the table. Some of the systems are just for ordering and some are for both ordering and paying ( although there’s no reason to restrict payments to cards- the self-service stations at the supermarket, the drugstore, the transit system and my library all take cash. ) ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-till-fast-food-counter-order-takers-replaced/727822/3 "2015-08-14T11:52:05Z")
You’re almost 120 years behind the times. Behold the [automat,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automat)restaurant of the future! ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-till-fast-food-counter-order-takers-replaced/727822/4 "2015-08-14T11:53:08Z")
Nothing about minimum wage but just consumer preference will push us there alone. Smartphone apps and virtual assistants (and better interconectivity between technology) will allow one to order via a smartphone, see it on screen and pay all from one’s own device or store terminal for those who resist. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-till-fast-food-counter-order-takers-replaced/727822/5 "2015-08-14T12:21:00Z")
I haven’t used a human grocery store cashier since self scanners were installed. ---
**Author:** ![Hi\_Medlo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hi\_Medlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Medlo)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-till-fast-food-counter-order-takers-replaced/727822/6 "2015-08-14T12:21:42Z")
I have some friends visiting Switzerland right now and the automated kiosks are already at McDonalds. They said the store they visited only had about three employees working at a time. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-till-fast-food-counter-order-takers-replaced/727822/7 "2015-08-14T13:44:41Z")
> [@davida03801](#): > > So, how long do you think it will be before you walk into a fast food restaurant and you not see an actual human order taker, but just an order station with an electronic ordering device and you pay with card, no cash ? I don’t even think they would need to be card-only. Supermarkets and large hardware store chains have self-checkouts that accept cash and return change. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-till-fast-food-counter-order-takers-replaced/727822/8 "2015-08-14T13:50:41Z")
Given that they already exist (very popular at UK motorway services), I’d say three years or less. I think there will always be “one server” in the same way the self checkouts at the supermarkets are staffed by one person overseeing them all. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-till-fast-food-counter-order-takers-replaced/727822/9 "2015-08-14T14:18:54Z")
> [@davida03801](#): > > So, how long do you think it will be before you walk into a fast food restaurant and you not see an actual human order taker, but just an order station with an electronic ordering device and you pay with card, no cash ? Already exists. They opened a Sonic near me. I went in, there’s a wall with a screen/menu, a swipepad, & a door next to it. No visible way to take cash. Since I had cash, I left. I was later told that you could knock on the door & the person who came out to bring your food could take cash; however there was no sign to stating this that I saw anywhere & no way to see anyone in the back. It felt like a speakeasy but for fast food instead of booze. Really. Stupid. Design. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-till-fast-food-counter-order-takers-replaced/727822/10 "2015-08-14T14:32:24Z")
Yeah, businesses operating under the assumption _everyone_ uses a smartphone app and pays the same way are going to lose at least 30-40% of their customer base, possibly higher. My employer takes every form of payment short of bartering for small farm livestock. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-till-fast-food-counter-order-takers-replaced/727822/11 "2015-08-14T16:08:04Z")
Jack in the Box has had kiosks in most of its stores for nearly a decade now. They’re not very popular, even when the company offers free stuff if you use them. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-till-fast-food-counter-order-takers-replaced/727822/12 "2015-08-14T17:17:12Z")
There will be a certain percentage of people who will happily use an app to order, and some of them will whine until every place has a human-free ordering option. I’m not one of them. I don’t even like using the self-checkout at the grocery store. AFAIK, the pizza places have come fairly close to mastering the online ordering process. I can save something complicated like “Large hand tossed, extra sauce, double cheese, all pepperoni, left half onions and mushrooms, right half ham, pineapple and artichoke hearts” (No I couldn’t…ick!) as a favorite, making it possible to fire up the app and click “Deliver this” and be all paid and done in less time than it takes to find their phone number and dial. No reason the fast food places can’t do the same so a person can hit “My Favorite” before they get out of the car and have a double cheeseburger, onion rings and a large orange drink waiting for them by the time they get in the building. Once they have that running, then it’s an easy step to put the app on kiosks. I’m sure we’ve all had our share of encounters with counter-intelligence that can’t comprehend “A #3 with no mustard” and then receive a burger with \*extra \*mustard. I’m generally against replacing people with software, but that support weakens when the people can’t understand that “no” does not mean “extra.” ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-till-fast-food-counter-order-takers-replaced/727822/13 "2015-08-14T17:29:40Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > My employer takes every form of payment short of bartering for small farm livestock. Well, that’s me going hungry! ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-till-fast-food-counter-order-takers-replaced/727822/14 "2015-08-14T17:44:00Z")
This can’t come soon enough for me. The order-takers at most fast food places these days are such mush-mouthed slackers that I can barely understand them. I’d much rather deal with a computer screen. Now get off my lawn! ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-till-fast-food-counter-order-takers-replaced/727822/15 "2015-08-14T19:49:26Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Well, that’s me going hungry! Couldn’t you just eat the livestock? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-till-fast-food-counter-order-takers-replaced/727822/16 "2015-08-14T20:09:47Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Yeah, businesses operating under the assumption _everyone_ uses a smartphone app and pays the same way are going to lose at least 30-40% of their customer base, possibly higher. > > My employer takes every form of payment short of bartering for small farm livestock. Damn, I have some spare geese … ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-till-fast-food-counter-order-takers-replaced/727822/17 "2015-08-14T20:23:21Z")
My local Carl’s Jr. (Hardee’s for you right coasters) put in an automated teller that could take cash or credit. It lasted a few months, and is now gone. One reason it probably didn’t last is that (IMO) it had a poorly designed entry menu system - too many button pushes, and not obvious how to get to what you wanted to do. You had a choice of whether to use the automated teller or use a human teller. And I guess most everyone preferred the human teller. There is a gas station/quickie-mart called Sheetz that uses automated tellers for their prepared food, and the menus are a bit better. The difference is that if you want something, you have to use the automated teller, and their automated tellers don’t deal with the payment end: you take a receipt to a cashier and pay. I think people have learned how to navigate the menus so they adapted. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-till-fast-food-counter-order-takers-replaced/727822/18 "2015-08-14T20:47:39Z")
10 years or so ago, Arby’s put in video terminals - touch screen. The only store I used ended up having an employee stand there and take the order and punch it in on the terminal behind the counter. It was replace in less than a year. The McD I use has an idiot-friendly terminal for the order-taker. It feeds an display in the food-prep area. Only a matter of time until the terminal with buttons for each product are turned around for the customer’s use. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-till-fast-food-counter-order-takers-replaced/727822/19 "2015-08-14T21:29:33Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Yeah, businesses operating under the assumption _everyone_ uses a smartphone app and pays the same way are going to lose at least 30-40% of their customer base, possibly higher. I doubt very much that any business that currently has human order takers is going to replace them with just a smartphone app. Ordering a burger on a screen isn’t any harder than operating an ATM. Most people manage to figure that out. ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-till-fast-food-counter-order-takers-replaced/727822/20 "2015-08-14T22:02:53Z")
There goes the ‘secret menu’ items! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-till-fast-food-counter-order-takers-replaced/727822.md?page=2)