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That Tablet On The Table At Your Favorite Restaurant Is Hurting Your Waiter (buzzfeed.com)

Posted by msmash on from the closer-look dept.

In data-hungry, tech-happy chain restaurants, customers are rating their servers using tabletop tablets, not realizing those ratings can put jobs at risk, an investigation by BuzzFeed News has found. From the report: When the Smokey Bones restaurant in Dayton, Ohio, where Nicole Bishop waits tables introduced Ziosk tabletop tablets, she wasn't too worried about them. Ziosks are designed to increase restaurant efficiency by allowing customers to order drinks, appetizers, and desserts, and pay their bill from the table without talking to a server. But, as Bishop soon discovered, they also prompt customers to take a satisfaction survey at the end of every meal, the results of which are turned into a score that's used to evaluate the server's performance. One day not long after the Ziosks appeared, Bishop found that her work schedules had been cut short in half, a change she estimated would cost her between $200 and $400 a week. The report documents stories of several other waiters, all of whom have been affected by the tablet. It adds: Ziosk tablets sit atop dining tables at more than 4,500 restaurants across the United States -- including most Chili's and Olive Gardens, and many TGI Friday's and Red Robins. Competitor E La Carte's PrestoPrime tablets are in more than 1,800 restaurants, including most Applebee's. Tens of thousands of servers are being evaluated based on a tech-driven, data-oriented customer feedback system many say is both inaccurate and unfair. And few of the customers holding the reins are even aware their responses have any impact on how much servers earn.

13 of 360 comments (clear)

  1. How can people not know... by forkfail · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ... that the ratings will be used to evaluate their wait person?

    I really hate those things, personally. And I don't like to be forced to provide survey information before I am allowed to pay my bill. Especially knowing that the impact of that rating is potentially going to be a lot more significant than a small or large tip. As a result, you'd just about have to curse me out and throw my food at me to get anything less than a perfect rating.

    A bad day for a wait person might result in a poor tip. It should not result in loss of hours or job. Unless it is truly chronic. In which case, even the proverbial Chotchkie's manager ought to be able to diagnose and correct the problem...

    --
    Check your premises.
    1. Re:How can people not know... by 110010001000 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You aren't forced to provide survey information. One bad rating doesn't affect a waiter. If you read the article the waiters were complaining because their managers decided to cut their hours because they were getting consistently bad ratings.

    2. Re:How can people not know... by bondsbw · · Score: 5, Insightful

      As a result, you'd just about have to curse me out and throw my food at me to get anything less than a perfect rating.

      A big problem with any numeric survey is that we don't give the same rating for the same performance. My default rating is 3 out of 5 for "average". Your default is a perfect 5 for "I hope you don't lose your job". The next guy might default to 4, or even 1 for "you have to earn it".

      Surveys that are tied to wages or job retention should be binary and allow for comments. "Were you satisfied with your server?" "If no, please explain." That's enough.

      --
      All my liberal friends think I'm a conservative, all my conservative friends think I'm a liberal.
    3. Re:How can people not know... by forkfail · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The ones at the local Pizza Uno are in the workflow, and are not optimal to complete the transaction.

      And I did read the article. It appears it doesn't take much to get cut.

      I think that this bit really sums it up:

      “It makes very literal the idea that the customer is always right, to the complete disregard of the worker.”

      Petty and entitled customers get to play god with the servers jobs. But worse, they get to do it anonymously. They don't have to face the person or their boss - just click a button and quietly stick the dagger in someone's back. If someone really has a problem, they should have to go to the manager, and not be given this coward's weapon.

      --
      Check your premises.
    4. Re:How can people not know... by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      A bad day for a wait person might result in a poor tip. It should not result in loss of hours or job. Unless it is truly chronic. In which case, even the proverbial Chotchkie's manager ought to be able to diagnose and correct the problem...

      A bad day is one thing. But consistent poor performance compared to other servers is another.

    5. Re:How can people not know... by H3lldr0p · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That's the way these surveys have been used for a while now. I know people who used to work at GameStop and the same applied to them. Anything less than a perfect score didn't count for anything positive.

      It's a purposeful misunderstanding of how statistics work and only used to squeeze working people harder everyday. The management only want a single number to understand things when the world doesn't even come close to working like that. Nuance is lost because it's hard to manage through it. By making it a literal pass/fail, black or white situation you've suddenly gained the ability to fire people on a whim if business has a slight downturn. Keep the churn going, there's always another 18 year old kid looking for after school money.

    6. Re:How can people not know... by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      But this is really unfair to the motivational challenged, and those with effort and attitude disabilities.

    7. Re:How can people not know... by forkfail · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I actually agree with this.

      What I don't agree is the ability of what amounts to AC's having this level of control.

      Don't like the service? Don't tip.

      Really don't like the service? Talk to the manager.

      But because the waiter scowled at your screaming, snot nose kid when he poured his coffee all over the the waiter's pants and you and your kids are entitled to better and so you gave him a 1 and got his hours cut is not right. And if you don't think that happens on a regular basis, then perhaps you'd share some of what you are smoking.

      --
      Check your premises.
    8. Re:How can people not know... by msauve · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "If you read the article the waiters were complaining because their managers decided to cut their hours because they were getting consistently bad ratings."

      Yep. Ratings are relative. For those complaining their hours were cut due to poor ratings, there are others (unheard from here) who saw an increase in hours because they had better ratings.

      Win-win. Customers get better service, waitstaff gets rewarded based on the quality of their work.

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    9. Re:How can people not know... by cayenne8 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Don't like the service? Don't tip.

      Really don't like the service? Talk to the manager.

      THIS^^

      So much THIS!!!

      Nothing motivates a server like a good tip.

      I remember this from MY waiting and bartending days....and I also remember to try to keep up MY end of the arrangement and be a cheerful, happy and friendly customer.

      It's amazing what being nice, and tipping decently will do for you if you become a regular somewhere.

      I'm the one getting a bit more attention and better drinks and food and service than you, perhaps just because of this.

      Give it a try, especially if you are a regular somewhere.

      Hell, I like to call out my bartenders and waiters by name when I can, before their ever looking for a name tag......I mean, you know how good it makes YOU feel when someone remembers your name?

      Its all about people and people skills folks....and the bottom line on top of that.....they work for tips.

      It can be quite lucrative.

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
  2. In theory by jbmartin6 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In theory, not a bad idea. But the devil is in the details. I get satisfaction surveys for tech support encounters all the time. They are carefully constructed to only deal with the specific support engineer, not the whole experience. Most of the time there is no option for 'the tech was fine but the organization has its head up its ass.' I will bet a lot of these restaurant surveys are the same, where the customer is trying to complain about something the server has no control over.

    --
    This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
  3. it's a fact of population evolution by supernova87a · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Well, you can debate this automation controversy from every angle and every perspective. But what it dances around is the fundamental unavoidable fact that (a la Rumsfeld) "demography is destiny".

    When the cost of labor gets too high, people will find a way to replace it. You're not going to find these ipads in places where it costs only $1 an hour to have a waiter.

    With higher standards of living and wages (and people's unwillingness to work for less) comes the pressure to replace the people. Countries get old and rich, and want higher pay. Technology provides a way to get around that. It happens. Whether you have the iPad or not, they're going to find a way to reduce the number of waiters needed. The iPad is just a messenger.

  4. Re:Are tips lower as well with tablets? by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If a server doesn't bring me my bill and run my credit card, or if they don't actually take my full order (I order some / all of my meal on the tablet), should I tip the amount that I would normally tip at a full service place? Personally I tip less when I have to run my own credit card. Also be aware that many of the tablets calculate the tip on the total bill (including the tax), where historically you don't tip on tax.

    Tip culture is out of control. There are places they seem to expect tips now for picking food up at a counter. For pete's sake, I don't tip at the deli or grocery store. Why should I tip you?