The real reason service is slow at your favorite restaurant

12 years ago

Well, none of that applies to ME! As for MY experience>

1. Drive throughs..... Problems due to STUPID attempts at presells, bad assumptions, and NOT LISTENING!!!!! ALSO, various employees have heavy accents, and/or don't understand english well.. That WAS more of a problem in California though.

2. EVERYWHERE.... A store/restaurant may be virtually SHUT DOWN because employees are chating with themselves about PERSONAL things.

So I can't speak to the supposed restaurant. Maybe they DID see that on ONE day. But I DOUBT that is so common. It is NEVER the case with me!

Steve

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laurencewins

12 years ago

Wow, that is eye-opening. It's a statement about today's "connected" society.

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seasoned

12 years ago

ANOTHER thing! They take FOREVER to serve me, and ask for the bill. At various times I have said AT THE ORDER that I want the bill with the food, and they practically NEVER give it to me. They seem to ignore me. If I had nothing better to do, I would bring in groceries and stay there out of SPITE, but sometimes I have had to literally chase down a bill. I usually know what I want before I sit down, and RARELY order dessert,

Steve

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joe golfer

12 years ago

Originally Posted by seasoned

ANOTHER thing! They take FOREVER to serve me, and ask for the bill. At various times I have said AT THE ORDER that I want the bill with the food, and they practically NEVER give it to me. They seem to ignore me. If I had nothing better to do, I would bring in groceries and stay there out of SPITE, but sometimes I have had to literally chase down a bill. I usually know what I want before I sit down, and RARELY order dessert,

Steve

I like it when they seat you, but then you turn invisible. Finally, after what seems forever, a waiter appears and says casually, "Have you folks ordered yet?" with a SLIGHT edge to their tone that suggests you are somehow at fault.

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seasoned

12 years ago

Originally Posted by joe golfer

I like it when they seat you, but then you turn invisible. Finally, after what seems forever, a waiter appears and says casually, "Have you folks ordered yet?" with a SLIGHT edge to their tone that suggests you are somehow at fault.

They may ask if I am ready yet, but not with the tone.

Steve

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joe golfer 12 years ago

Originally Posted by seasoned

They may ask if I am ready yet, but not with the tone.

Steve

It's veeerrrryyy subtle. Not easy to pull off. Sliiiiightly haughty with the tiniest pinch of disdain. Very, very small doses but it's there. Kind of funny.
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- bizgrower 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by joe golfer
  
  It's veeerrrryyy subtle. Not easy to pull off. Sliiiiightly haughty with the tiniest pinch of disdain. Very, very small doses but it's there. Kind of funny.
  
  Waiter school.
  
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Rick Rodd

12 years ago

A nice slogan for a budding restaurant: We serve WiFi (and sometimes, food)

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lanfear63 12 years ago

I think your all getting away from the point. This was obviously a good restaurant that had always prided itself on its service only to be accused of something that was down to cellphones and the resultant change of behavior in the general public. Video evidence too. 18 tables wanting to be re-seated as opposed to 3 in 2004, whats that about?

Fast food places are a victim of their owners greed, employ school kids and pay them peanuts equals poor or indifferent service. They don't care.
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- David Beroff 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by lanfear63
  
  18 tables wanting to be re-seated as opposed to 3 in 2004, whats that about?
  
  They need much better lighting and decor so as to be able to take more robust pictures of their food, and far closer placement to the wifi router for improved transmission speeds, 'natch.
  
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thunderbird

12 years ago

I ate a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner tonight. Service and food alike were great. No complaints from my side.

Anyway, maybe someone who opens a restaurant should have a slogan like, "A place to enjoy delicious food and take a vacation from your cell phone,."

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Dan Riffle 12 years ago

Originally Posted by thunderbird

I ate a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner tonight.

Damn, TB, you must have been starving...
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- thunderbird 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Dan Riffle
  
  Damn, TB, you must have been starving...
  
  Here's a portait of me, to provide context:
  
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HeySal

12 years ago

I went to two restaurants this weekend in two different towns. One where I live, one a resort town.
Both had incredibly skilled and friendly service. The food was better at the resort town, but then, it cost twice as much, too. I saw not one cellphone at either one. That makes me happy after reading this.

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Kurt

12 years ago

If that many people are using cells in their restaurant, maybe they can embrace the technology and have an app developed that lets people order using their cell?

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thunderbird

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Kurt

If that many people are using cells in their restaurant, maybe they can embrace the technology and have an app developed that lets people order using their cell?

They could even set it up so they could order straight from their cells, sending the message straight to POS machine and kitchen. Set up right, maybe it could even result in more spendings per table.

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George Wright

12 years ago

Originally Posted by thunderbird

They could even set it up so they could order straight from their cells, sending the message straight to POS machine and kitchen. Set up right, maybe it could even result in more spendings per table.

Think of the up sells and OTO possibilities...

T bone $1.99

OTO with meet $22.99

George Wright

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yukon Banned 12 years ago
Originally Posted by George Wright

Think of the up sells and OTO possibilities...

T bone $1.99

OTO with meet $22.99

George Wright

Maybe force them to give you their email before they order from the phone menu. Make it a long drawn out content locker process where they have to:
- double optin email
- Like you on FB
- Give a positive review (before they eat)
- Tweet about the restaurant
Everyone that doesn't have a cell just orders from the paper menu & done eating before the cell table even finds the menu on the free wifi.
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Paul Myers

12 years ago

If I ran a restaurant that catered to people typically in groups of more than one, I wouldn't offer public wifi, and would probably install a cell jammer or Faraday shielding.

Follow that with a sign that said:

"This restaurant is free of cell and wifi signals. Focus on the company you came here to spend precious moments of your life with. Or just take a break from the electronic leash.

Enjoy your visit. --- The Mgt."

Guaranteed... Combine that with good food and service and you'd have a maniac fan base.

Paul

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bizgrower

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Paul Myers

If I ran a restaurant that catered to people typically in groups of more than one, I wouldn't offer public wifi, and would probably install a cell jammer or Faraday shielding.

Follow that with a sign that said:

"This restaurant is free of cell and wifi signals. Focus on the company you came here to spend precious moments of your life with. Or just take a break from the electronic leash.

Enjoy your visit. --- The Mgt."

Guaranteed... Combine that with good food and service and you'd have a maniac fan base.

Paul

There is (or was) a steak house chain that would literally cut off neck ties if people wore them.
A novelty marketing thing. They would then hang the remaining part of all the ties throughout the
restaurant.

Conversely, there is a renowned local Denver steak house called Emmaline's that would provide
a suit coat and tie to males if they did not wear them. They have a huge cottonwood tree in the middle of the dining room.

---------------------

I walked by a young couple on probably their first date. The guy was twiddling his thumbs
whilst the girl was buried in her texting.

Why do habits/addictions get so strong that people don't know how and when to stop?

---------------------

The OP restaurant should do as Paul suggested.

Or, put in the right signal boosters or additional access points. Believe me, commercial (larger building, structural, and equipment issues) is a bit different than home wifi, but with the right equipment it can
be fairly stable and maintenance free.

Somebody should always be on duty who at least knows how to reset a router or access point.

Dan

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David Beroff

12 years ago

Originally Posted by bizgrower

There is (or was) a steak house chain that would literally cut off neck ties if people wore them. A novelty marketing thing. They would then hang the remaining part of all the ties throughout the restaurant.

Pinnacle Peak Patio Steakhouse & Microbrewery: Our History

My tie (circa 1987?) is hanging up there... somewhere!

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bizgrower 12 years ago

Originally Posted by David Beroff

Pinnacle Peak Patio Steakhouse & Microbrewery: Our History

My tie (circa 1987?) is hanging up there... somewhere!

The one in my neck of the woods - so to speak:

Trail Dust building about to bite the dust | Westword
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MikeAmbrosio

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Paul Myers

If I ran a restaurant that catered to people typically in groups of more than one, I wouldn't offer public wifi, and would probably install a cell jammer or Faraday shielding.

Follow that with a sign that said:

"This restaurant is free of cell and wifi signals. Focus on the company you came here to spend precious moments of your life with. Or just take a break from the electronic leash.

Enjoy your visit. --- The Mgt."

Guaranteed... Combine that with good food and service and you'd have a maniac fan base.

Paul

If there was a restaurant near me with this policy I would go there all the time. People on their phones in a restaurant annoy me.

We have a "no cell phones at the dinner table" policy. At home or when we eat out. Dinner has always been about family time.

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The Content Professional 12 years ago

Originally Posted by Kurt

If that many people are using cells in their restaurant, maybe they can embrace the technology and have an app developed that lets people order using their cell?

This would be an absolute disaster on so many levels.
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- Kurt 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by The Content Professional
  
  This would be an absolute disaster on so many levels.
  
  Because ordering pizza online is such a failure, right? Or Jimmy Johns? Hurry, you better tell them before it's too late!
  
  PS...How about making fun out of it and have the app call a waiter/waitress who then takes their order over the cell phone?
  
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garyv 12 years ago

Originally Posted by Kurt

If that many people are using cells in their restaurant, maybe they can embrace the technology and have an app developed that lets people order using their cell?

I believe Chili's has an app that allows you to order. I'm not sure how well it works out though.
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HeySal

12 years ago

People shouldn't be allowed to take pics of the food. Then they paste it on FB and it makes me sick to look at people's food. Why do people assume that everyone on FB cares what their food looks like? Yuck. That in itself is enough to make me want to see cellphones banned from restaurants.

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Sal
When the Roads and Paths end, learn to guide yourself through the wilderness
Beyond the Path

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yukon

Banned 12 years ago

They should do like in the 1970's when restaurants had smoking sections, have the cell phone section in the back of the restaurant next to the restroom doors where it stinks & lots of annoying people walking back & forth, lol.

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HeySal

12 years ago

My family all have cellphones except my sister ditched hers after she had a small bout with cancer that the lump was straight under where she carried it in her shirt pocket.

The rest of us just have avoided the addiction...........even my Niece who is in that age bracket of technology freaks. When she comes to see me, you'd not even know she has one. She picks out about 15 minutes or a half hour at night sometime to answer any messages she gets. Once a day, she'll call her SO to make sure he knows she's okay. I'm kinda proud that my family hasn't gotten as blinkin' crazed as so much of the country is. There's still hope for mobile and etiquette yet. It just needs to be socially reinforced as a signal someone's an idiot if they can't use it with judgement.

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garyv

12 years ago

Personally I think the restaurant in this story was focusing in the wrong area. While there has been a huge influx in smart-phones and devices over the years, the influx has been the same in every restaurant. So why was this restaurant receiving bad reviews for slow service while others do not?

Usually when you write a review, you base it on your own personal and previous experiences elsewhere. So this restaurant is not able to accomplish what others have, and that is a service time that is comparable to the reviewers' other experiences.

The time it takes to produce an order from the time an order is taken should be the same no matter how many iPhones are on the premises.

Also - if they found recording devices in storage that still had decade old tapes in them, then their problem is more likely a lack of organization I'd assume.

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seasoned

12 years ago

Originally Posted by garyv

Personally I think the restaurant in this story was focusing in the wrong area. While there has been a huge influx in smart-phones and devices over the years, the influx has been the same in every restaurant. So why was this restaurant receiving bad reviews for slow service while others do not?

Usually when you write a review, you base it on your own personal and previous experiences elsewhere. So this restaurant is not able to accomplish what others have, and that is a service time that is comparable to the reviewers' other experiences.

The time it takes to produce an order from the time an order is taken should be the same no matter how many iPhones are on the premises.

Also - if they found recording devices in storage that still had decade old tapes in them, then their problem is more likely a lack of organization I'd assume.

I think the whole thing was a LIE. Relatively FEW act like that! But if you go to a fast food place and they waste 1-3 minutes trying to presell, and doing something like ringing up the order takes over a minute, etc.... That is time you DON'T get back! If it takes them 20 minutes to ask for your order.....

HECK, in a way, I can appreciate JJs! They give you FEW options and try to do it FAST! Of course you sometimes have to come close to being "rude" because the person taking the order figures you want a #4 AS IS, and they try to sell OTHER THINGS!!!!!!! NO!!!!!!! LET ME FINISH FIRST!!!!!!! I DON'T want MAYO! NORMALLY, the order isn't important, but they may actually give you the order IMMEDIATELY!! HOW do they do that? They make it AS you order.

One way they do that is by limiting options though. If you want swiss cheese, or chocolate cake, or onion rolls, etc... you won't go there.

Steve

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AndreaBlom

12 years ago

One time I had three different waiters come up and ask for our drink orders haha! It was a chaotic day for them, poor kids.

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bizgrower

12 years ago

Arby's abandoned a touch screen system that let customers place their own orders.

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garyv 12 years ago

Originally Posted by bizgrower

Arby's abandoned a touch screen system that let customers place their own orders.

Yes it seems like it could cause havoc on the cooks, if some non-tech savvy person started hitting buttons.
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- yukon Banned 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by garyv
  
  Yes it seems like it could cause havoc on the cooks, if some non-tech savvy person started hitting buttons.
  
  I seriously doubt the monitor the cook is looking at shows anything until the customer places the order & pays.
  
  From what I read about the Arby's test, the customers really liked the concept.
  
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Floyd Fisher

12 years ago

This kind of stuff is why I don't like cellphones, smartphones, etc ad nauseum.

If I want to be bothered while I eat, I'll eat at home thank you.

If you really need to bother me about absolutely nothing while I am away, sit on it.

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The real reason service is slow at your favorite restaurant

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