Most of the time, you’re not their only customer. There are other people being served, and most of them are in a different stage of their dining experience. To efficiently deal with many customers with different immediate needs, many waiters do “rounds;” they make continual passes by their tables to address each one. When doing so, it’s often considered bad form to walk by a table without checking in.
Diners have varied expectations of their waiters and some are more proactive and knowledgeable about the common cues and prompts that let the wait staff know they require assistance. Sometimes the person you have trapped in conversation would welcome the opportunity to order something else without being directly responsible for the interruption.
Since, as you state above, you’re very infrequently a repeat customer, how is a waiter supposed to gauge you? You should not fault the waiter the natural and profitable inclination to over-service someone they don’t know.
The Chili’s in my town has a similar thing. Each table has a small tablet-like device on a stand, on which you can play games (for a fee), or check USA Today headlines or the weather forecast. It also has the ability for you to order dessert and add it to your bill. You can also pay your bill on it with a swipe of your card … no waiting for the waitperson.
You can’t place your original order on it (yet), but it does serve as a bit of a supplement to the menus, with some pictures and descriptions of certain menu items.
I don’t mind it. When they first appeared, the staff was pretty thorough in explaining it and telling you how to use it to pay. More recently, though, they hardly make a reference to it and act like it’s not even there.
The one thing I noticed about using it to pay, though, is that it will automatically add a tip (I think 18%) to your bill when it is presenting the total amount. You can change that, of course, but you have to do a little work to do that. I am certain it has caught some people unaware who think that total shown on the screen is without the tip, and end up adding an additional tip on top of the already-calculated total.
I’ve actually seen this, it was a few years ago, I can’t remember which chain, but one of the fast-food chains (Carl’s Jr maybe?). A big touch screen facing the customer, and you just tapped the items you wanted and paid the bill like self-checkout at the grocery store, and then stepped to the side for someone to bring it to you.
I thought it was great, and hoped it would take off. Apparently it didn’t, I haven’t seen any since.
I saw this at a McD’s in Vienna (Austria) when I was there in December – you placed your order and paid at an electronic kiosk, then ambled 10’ over to the e-pickup counter to get your meal.
This was a meal for 3. By the time I grabbed my receipt and stepped over to the counter the staff person was getting the last drink for the tray.
I’d definitely say it was a good system. Especially since my German is non-existent and the kiosk definitely spoke better English than I would have expected the person at the counter to speak!
Most of the problems I listed are nothing to do with over-service, they’re just irritances and fly against basic common sense. And even if these things don’t annoy you, they annoy me, which is why I agreed with the person who said they disliked being waited on (hence tablets would be a good thing).
That nonsterile rag tends to be kept in water laced with quaternary sanitizer [or in some places common household bleach, but quat wipes are way more common.]
We were in a Chilis a few months back and they had something similar. You could play demo versions of games on it or pay a buck or so to play the full version or see videos or whatnot. It’s not a bad idea in regards to being able to distract kids for the 20 minutes it takes to get the food, but then you have to figure out how to share it and put it away when the food gets there.
We have a chain of gas stations in Texas that have self-order touch screens for things like desserts and malts or smoothies. So, there’s lots of ways to personalize your order. The only ass-backwards thing about it is it doesn’t let you pay. You do all of that yourself and then you have to take the receipt to the register to complete your transaction after they’ve made your item. Again, I love it and wish there were more of them.
Oddly enough, the Red Robin (yum) in Lancaster, PA (home of the Amish) have these. I love it–if my drink is getting low, then I press a button* and order a new one. Ready for my check? Press another button* and I can pay my bill without my credit card ever leaving my sight.
I could even order appetizers and dessert, if I wanted to do so, but I don’t typically order either, regardless of the place I’m eating.
As far as servers attempting to up-sell desserts, etc., these doohickies are loaded with ads, so there’s plenty of up-selling going on. Fortunately, I’m too cheap for up-selling.
*It’s a touch screen, so technically, there’s not button to press.
You don’t need as many waiters if they don’t have to take orders and check on customers. You only need as many as are required to bring food out and respond to customers’ needs.
This may or may not be an economic win right now, but it’s almost a certainty that it will be in the near future. Tech gets cheaper. Labor gets more expensive.
Oh I didn’t really think that at all. It’s just that I despise the idea of encouraging even more people to gaze at their electronic appendages than are already doing so. It’s a thing with me. Sorry.
I have been to a couple of restaurants that used ipads as part of the menu/ordering operation. In both places it was lame and stupid. The first is some hip burger place in the mall. They have ipads at each table and you enter your order. It was tedious and only one person at a time could be looking at the menu and choosing the various toppings on your burger. The user interface was lame and gimiky. It did not seem to save that much time as the system had to be explained to about 1/2 the people in the restaurant. The other restaurant was Olives in Las Vegas. This is a upscale restaurant associated with the celebrity chef Tod English. They had the wine list and drink menu on the ipad. Again it only one person at the table could look at it and the user interface was slow and lame.
Sevencl you know good and well that tipping is part of the cost of eating out in the US. Does it make you proud to steal from your servers?
Why would it be crude to use your phone for a menu app to order food, but not crude to look at a printed menu?
Obviously, we’re not there yet, but at some point smartphones really are going to be ubiquitous devices. Why waste paper and ink and labor to print and hand out menus and write down orders when everyone’s carrying a device that can do all that for them?
