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

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.

Comments

How can people not know...

[forkfail]

... 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...

Re:How can people not know...

[110010001000]

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.

Re:How can people not know...

[bondsbw]

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.

Re:How can people not know...

[ctilsie242]

I always take the survey to give the waiters all 5s. I'm neutral about those things, the biggest thing I like is the fact that I can punch out, swipe my card, and be out without having to wait for the check and card to be returned. Of course, the downside, it is another camera, screen with flashing crap on it, and a microphone in your face, and $DEITY knows what is done with the audio/video footage those devices get.

Re:How can people not know...

[forkfail]

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.

Re:How can people not know...

[As_I_Please]

Yeah, customers aren't told what the scores really mean:

Ziosk scores are tabulated as an average out of five stars, and on the device, it says four out of five stars means “satisfied.” But anything less than perfect drags a score down and has the potential to hurt the server.

“The company only counts fives as good scores,” said Mathew, who works at an Uno Pizzeria & Grill in New Hampshire. “Everything else is basically a complaint.”

...

Also surprising to customers is the fact that survey questions that have seemingly nothing to do with a server’s duties, like how well their food was prepared, are factored into a server’s overall rating. Restaurant brands, not Ziosk itself, set the questions on the device, which means they can vary widely. Some common questions across restaurants include, “How likely would you be to return to this restaurant?” “How would you rate the cleanliness of this restaurant?” and “How likely would you be to recommend this restaurant to a friend?”

...

Brittany, who serves at a Chili’s in the Midwest, meanwhile, said customers have given her low Ziosk ratings because of problems with the plumbing in her restaurant. “It ... cost me a few shifts, so that was less money,” she said..

Re:How can people not know...

[Mr D from 63]

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.

Re:How can people not know...

[110010001000]

The article is ridiculous. Any manager knows who the good employees are already - they are using this as a tool to justify the action. The fact is if you are getting consistently low scores compared to others at the same location there is an issue. Even in white collar jobs there are places where your coworkers can give anonymous feedback during your review. People hate it. I know I do, because I always get low scores (probably because I am so awesome and they are all jealous, not because I post on slashdot all day).

Re:How can people not know...

[H3lldr0p]

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.

Re:How can people not know...

[Mr D from 63]

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

Re:How can people not know...

[110010001000]

Yes, but we aren't talking about me.

Re:How can people not know...

[mlyle]

Unless there's some kind of systemic bias --- in what kind of customers someone gets (e.g. ratings are poorer at night)--- it should average out and you should be able to use an average of different customers' types of ratings to compare employees. I agree yes or no questions, and long form "please explain" have value *also* in teasing apart what the customer experience is actually like.

Re:How can people not know...

[alvinrod]

I have a hard time believing that though. You can't just remove one worker without replacing them with another or bumping someone else's hours up. It really doesn't matter what score a person gets as long as it's not the worst. If everyone gets a 5.0 and you're at a 4.8, then you're the lowest scoring person. If you've got a 3.0, but everyone else is in the 2's, then you're the best person there. Management isn't going to cut hours for someone with a 4.5 unless it's worse than everyone else, in which case can you blame them? If it was your business, wouldn't you want to give more customers the best experience possible?

Re:How can people not know...

[sconeu]

I've been told many times that on those surveys "management considers anything less than an 8 [out of 10] a fail"

Re:How can people not know...

[forkfail]

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.

Re:How can people not know...

[msauve]

"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.

Re:How can people not know...

[cayenne8]

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.

Re:How can people not know...

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

God help the waiter who, when wandering by, absentmindedly wonders if Linux would be destroyed by hacker assaults the way Windows was, were it to become similarly popular and thus the focus of attacker attention, giving the lie to the slashdot denizen belief that it is inherently much more secure, when it just hasn't been pounded on round the clock by a thousand motivated hackers in corrupt countries.

Re:How can people not know...

[Obfuscant]

So you freely admit that you trade convenience for privacy? Why would you continue to go to a restaurant that you think is recording your conversations at the table? Is it the only place in town that sells crack along with the burgers?

Re:How can people not know...

[mspohr]

You're right. It's basically a master/slave relationship.
You, the customer, are the master. The slave must do whatever you want (ever wonder why sexual harassment of female waitstaff is so high).
Time to eliminate tipping so waitstaff won't have to prostitute themselves to earn a living. Just pay them a decent wage.

Re:How can people not know...

[BlazeMiskulin]

The problem with your argument is that it applies to regular customers and not at all to transients. The TIP comes AFTER the service, and thus cannot be a causal mechanism for GOOD service.

Wrong.

It isn't 100%--because some customers are self-important, snobbish, or cheap--but in the aggregate, it is an excellent mechanism for getting good service. Anyone who works in business or industry understands this. It's the same as year-end bonuses or profit-sharing. "If you do a good job, there will be a bonus at the end."

Plus, an experienced server knows how to spot those people that won't leave a good tip (it's almost always quite obvious in their behavior from the get-go). I've worked F&B off-and-on for about 30 years (I've family in the business, and frequently helped out). I could tell you with 70% accuracy if a table would be good tippers before they even sat down. After taking their order, that would jump up to 95%.

Waiting tables is a skill. It involves acting, customer service, sales techniques, conflict resolution, and an incredible degree of self-control. If you think the servers are all just going through the paces until after you've tipped them once, you're quite mistaken. Any server worth their salt will know how you're going to tip and adjust their approach (and expectations) accordingly.

Re:How can people not know...

[larryjoe]

I've been told many times that on those surveys "management considers anything less than an 8 [out of 10] a fail"

Then the problem is with the management for overvaluing a survey that is non-uniformly sampled, based on a small sample size that results in large confidence intervals, with statistical aggregation based on non-standardized data, and that doesn't collect corresponding data to tease out factors (e.g., maybe low scores are correlated with time of day, amount of purchase, etc.).

Re:How can people not know...

[Obfuscant]

"If you do a good job, there will be a bonus at the end."

Using that statement to induce good performance is based ENTIRELY on "regular customer" status. I.e., if you've worked for this employer for one month and never seen what his bonus looks like, you'll not have as much incentive as someone who has been there ten years and knows the bonus history has been really good. Tipping, for transient customers, cannot be the cause of good service because there is no history to predict what the tip will be. It could be zip, it could be great.

I could tell you with 70% accuracy if a table would be good tippers before they even sat down. After taking their order, that would jump up to 95%.

So you base your service not on what their tip IS, but what you predict it will be. That's different.

If you think the servers are all just going through the paces until after you've tipped them once, you're quite mistaken.

I said nothing of the sort. I said that good service cannot be caused by the tip. Period. Good service is something that is caused by a desire to get a good tip, maybe, and maybe because of pride in their work, or maybe any number of reasons. But what I tip cannot be the cause, because that number is unknown even to me prior to it being left on the table.

Any server worth their salt will know how you're going to tip

And any server who guesses wrong is going to pay for it. Base your service on prejudice and your tip will suffer accordingly. If you base your level of service on what you predict the tip will be, you may find yourself with a self-fulfilling prophecy. I know that any server that ASSUMES I will stiff him on the tip and decides to provide poor service WILL be getting a miniscule tip. Never 0, because 0 can be cultural (some cultures don't tip), or it can be forgetfulness. But $1 on a $20 tab is a sign that I think your service sucks. Or even 47 cents on a $19.53 tab. Have I run across such poor service that I would do that? Yes, I have, but rarely. And it has to be really bad -- not just slow or "a bad day" kinds of things. Guessing I'm going to stiff them and ignoring me is one of those "really bad" cases.

And I'll also tell you, I don't leave the tip until I leave the table. I had one server who took a $14 tab up to the register with my $20 bill and decided not to come back until I asked her explicitly where my change was. She thought her tip was going to be $6 (43%). Wanna guess what it turned out to be? It was one of the only times "zero" was the right answer.

Re:How can people not know...

[Solandri]

It's a problem if you're trying to obtain an absolute measurement of customer satisfaction. e.g. Waiter A is 1.5x better than waiter B.

If you're trying to obtain a relative measure of customer satisfaction (e.g. do customers like waiter A or waiter B more?), then it's a valid measure as long as your sample size (number of customer surveys per waiter) is large enough that these individual deviations in rate scaling average out. Ratings at sites like IMDB and Netflix have to deal with the same problem. But their sample size is large enough that the best movies do end up percolating to the top ratings.

Re: How can people not know...

[mrvan]

If the waiter checks back shortly after delivering the food, the waiter will be interrupting my eating and likely interrupting my conversation. This is the kind of service I specifically DON'T want.

Yup.

When I started out as a waiter I was instructed to do just this (ask whether everything is in order a couple minutes after bringing the plates) and maybe for a mediocre restaurant that's actually a good idea. But you shouldn't go to mediocre restaurants, or at least not go there and then complain about it.

In a good restaurant they are confident that they didn't forget anything and that the food is good. However, they will actually keep an eye on the table, and if they spot something is wrong (guests are looking around, someone didn't start eating, etc) then you come in to ask if everything is alright. Because maybe they decided they'd actually prefer a different wine, or they want to ask something about the food or whatever.

Sign of good service: the waiter is always there when you need him, and never interrupts you.

The problem is: this requires a (socially) smart person and/or years of experience, and preferably both. Parisian service has a bad rep, but the places where you see mostly 50+ year olds waiting actually have really good service most of the time (speaking 3 words of tourist French helps) because they treat it as a profession, not a side job. But these people obviously cost more than 5-10$ per hour, and a lot of people prefer to pay less for their burger and get a novice waiter to help them. Which is fine, but again: don't complain about it.

Re:How can people not know...

[mrvan]

So much THIS!!! Nothing motivates a server like a good tip.

Tipping is structurally unable to achieve the kind of service which I want - which is a waiter who doesn't interrupt me while I'm eating or talking to ask if everything is okay.

Also, there is such a strong social pressure to give a certain %tip in the US, that tipping doesn't really give off a strong message about serving quality anymore. They should really just pay the waiting staff a decent wage (and increase the price of the food/drinks by whatever % needed), and then I will give a tip iff I like the service.

Re:How can people not know...

[BlazeMiskulin]

You appear to significantly misunderstand how service in the F&B industry works

"If you do a good job, there will be a bonus at the end."

Using that statement to induce good performance is based ENTIRELY on "regular customer" status.

No. Not at all. A server with any experience (and/or common sense) goes into a job armed with quite a bit of information about what sort of tips to expect.

I.e., if you've worked for this employer for one month and never seen what his bonus looks like, you'll not have as much incentive as someone who has been there ten years and knows the bonus history has been really good. Tipping, for transient customers, cannot be the cause of good service because there is no history to predict what the tip will be. It could be zip, it could be great.

Only if you're completely ignorant of the restaurant's menu, clientele, and reputation; don't understand the local economy; and have neglected to ask the manager, owner, and/or other servers what the average tips are.

One of the very first questions any applicant asks is "what are the tips like?" And the response will be "An average server gets X, a really good server gets Y." And, of course, there's the fact that you learn what the "bonus" will be in the very first hour on the job.

I could tell you with 70% accuracy if a table would be good tippers before they even sat down. After taking their order, that would jump up to 95%.

I said that good service cannot be caused by the tip. Period. Good service is something that is caused by a desire to get a good tip, maybe, and maybe because of pride in their work, or maybe any number of reasons. But what I tip cannot be the cause, because that number is unknown even to me prior to it being left on the table.

The issue here is that you're looking at this in a strictly linear, discrete incident, direct cause-and-effect, way. And that's not how it works. That's not how it works in most industries. Commissions, profit-sharing, and promotions are all "unknown until after the job is done". And yet... all of those are incentives for working harder and doing a better job.

Scenario: I'm a server, new to the profession. I provide reasonably good service to 100 people on my first night. I make tips ranging from 5% to 25%. Assuming an average of 4 person to a table (and no large parties), I have--on the first day--25 data points by which to judge both the quality of my service (especially when compared to other servers that night--we all talk about how much we made in tips), and the aggregate expectation. I can also look at the circumstances, per table, which resulted in higher or lower tips. I can even adjust my behavior throughout the night to reinforce the positive situations and avoid the negative (for those in which I have some control).

The feedback is (as I said originally) aggregate, and non-linear. Your tip can't, of course, retroactively change my service to you, but it can affect my overall level of service. Go through that 500 times a week, and patterns emerge. Your tip--everywhere you go--adds data to the pool. That influences how the pool responds. Just like actuarial tables and risk assessments, it's based on broad, aggregate data. And, as part of that data, your behavior does affect how you're treated (especially considering the "migrant" nature of restaurant servers--the waitress you stiffed at Bob's Burger House last week might be serving you at Bertha's Bistro next week).

Any server worth their salt will know how you're going to tip

And any server who guesses wrong is going to pay for it.

Just like any investor, salesman, supplier, retailer, manufacturer... Business of any sort involves a lot of guesswork and risk. As a server--as opposed to a desk-jockey--

In theory

[jbmartin6]

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.

it's a fact of population evolution

[supernova87a]

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.

Electronics at the table

[tuxkamen]

Call me old fashioned, but we don't allow electronics at the dinner table. When we see those things, they are immediately removed to a chair or the floor.

I guess the places I go to

[bobstreo]

are either too high end or too low end.

I have never seen a tablet in a restaurant, diner, dive, or food truck.

Re:I guess the places I go to

[b0s0z0ku]

This -- independently owned places are unlikely to have those things. Chains, meh, I can cook for myself better than they do.

Re:I guess the places I go to

[b0s0z0ku]

I wasn't being sarcastic. I was being honest -- I always carry cash. I actually *like* the idea of making more money off of card users instead of sitting back and being screwed by the card companies.

Credit card companies and banksters can drop dead and go to Hell. Anything that encourages people to use cash and keep their freedom/privacy is a good thing.

Waiters should walk

[Maxo-Texas]

I was at a restaurant yesterday and the manager was desperate because they were short staffed and no one would come in.

Payback is a bitch. If you get a reputation for screwing your workers, you may not have any.

That said, businesses have a valid interest in knowing if the waiters are angering customers.

But they really, really, REALLY need to do a reality check and slide into these new systems slowly or they could find themselves without employees.

Restaurants to avoid?

[b0s0z0ku]

Chili's = fake bland Tex-Mex food.
Olive Garden = fake greasy Italian food.
TGIF = diner food without the charm.
Red Robin = cookie-cutter burger chain.

Are those tablets used in any restaurant that's actually worth going to? Can you even use them if you're paying good, old-fashioned, cold, hard cash? I feel sorry for anyone who lives in places where "casual dining" is the only option.

Re:Restaurants to avoid?

[HornWumpus]

Those people are morons. Every city and town has independent restaurants that serve actual food for less money than those crappy chains.

The tablet or the metric?

[Gilgaron]

I saw that Black Mirror episode! Seriously, though, it isn't the tablet hurting them so much as that there is now an easy way to get metrics. No one is going to bother with the receipt URL for a $1 coupon, but if you've got the chance to complain at the same time you're being annoyed by the server then it is more likely one gets filled out.

Meh

[MBGMorden]

I honestly don't see this as a bad thing. Much like a lot of cops started complaining in the age of ubiquitous cell phone videos - this is just technology keeping people honest and identifying things servers had previously been getting away with.

There may be a slightly shaky start, but in general after a reasonable baseline is established the better waiters will indeed be differentiated from the no-so-good ones via feedback.

Re:Moscow Donald - History's pee smellingist trait

[Maxo-Texas]

Somehow ... that topic never comes up with wait staff when I go to restaurants.

What I hate is when they act like my fake friend and actually sit down at the table.

I want professional service. When I reach for my glass, it should never be empty.

If I start polite small talk then make polite small talk briefly but don't try to start it yourself.

"I hope you have a nice day/enjoy your meal/whatever" plays better than "Have a nice day, enjoy your meal whatever." One is your hope and the other is a command from you.

I tip well. At family owned restaurants I'm often offered off menu items and I even tip at buffets $1 despite the fact that I get my own food and drink and it galls me.

I don't like absent service and I don't like overly familiar service.

I probably wouldn't like a server who wanted to discuss politics.

Are tips lower as well with tablets?

[Nkwe]

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.

Re:Are tips lower as well with tablets?

[cascadingstylesheet]

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?

why is this here?

[samantha]

Since when is slashdot against meritocracy and user/client/customer feedback. Is there any monitoring of what kind of tripe can be posted?

Re:why is this here?

[cmdr_klarg]

When said feedback is used to keep the boot firmly on the employees neck. After the third time it was mentioned to me that anything less than perfect scores are considered a failure, I stopped taking them.

My 4 out of 5 "good" rating should be used as an opportunity to reward someone for a good job. Not doing so is a ploy to keep wages low.

Re:why is this here?

[mrbester]

I don't see how it can be an honest appraisal of a server when they have been reduced to a skivvy: "computer says table 10, seat 4 wants a Cherry Coke; check for table 7; clear table 12 and join to table 8".

The computer is more highly regarded than them, and God help them if they aren't all smiles and fawning effusiveness during their brief interactions with the customers as they perform their menial job of doing what a machine tells them to do.

Tip Culture needs to Go

[decipher_saint]

I travel to the UK occasionally and have to remind myself that gratuities are not a thing (and in some cases seen as a rude gesture) the theory being that the people who tend bar or serve food are paid adequately enough that they don't need any extra.

Here in Canada its generally accepted that you tip your server (most Interac machines even have built in tip percentiles) this is factored into the system, I read the other day that many systems also only let servers keep a portion of the tip they get and the rest goes into a pool for all servers. At this point I don't understand the system at all, pay people to work a difficult job that absolutely requires you to be "nice" to every asshole that walks off the street to ensure you get a gratuity so you can make a halfway decent wage. This is almost like haggling the bill (which I have seen in Europe oddly enough) the expectation is that my service was satisfactory enough for me to allow this person to work at a livable wage.

I think the problem compounds for chain restaurants that may be off the beaten trail, so if you happen to work at a heavily trafficked location you are gonna do pretty well but if you work at a low traffic location you might barely be scraping by despite getting an hourly wage - that's management sticking it to the servers for something they have little control over.

I dunno, to me the whole system sucks and should just go away. Pay servers a decent wage and throw tipping out the window.

hmm

[Riceballsan]

Well then this isn't a tablet issue, it's a customer feedback issue. Now my questions, if the person interviewed is noticing less hours, then who's getting the hours? Obviously someone is scoring higher on these reviews and benefiting from it. That being said with that and customer feedback in general. It favors attractive people, over good service. That could be shrugged off and said "well duh but we give customers what they want, if they want an attractive bonehead that will mess up their order over an average or ugly server that will make sure everything comes out right, why not give it to them. The problem is in the dying american dream that often implies if you work harder you will be better off. When the reality is the things that you can't change about yourself can often outweigh the ones you can.

TERRIBLE TREND

[WolfgangVL]

When I take my family out to eat I expect everybody to interact. That's part of why I'm taking them all out to begin with, that shit aint cheap.

I always move the stupid thing to another table before we sit down. Sometimes, the waitstaff will switch it back to my table after accepting our orders, like they are doing me a favor. It's funny, they always point it at the youngest person at my table, who is automatically going to search it for games, find them, and beg for the 2 bucks or whatever to play them instead of spend time with us on this expensive outing.

I get that some people like them. They appeal to young people. yadda yadda.

I wish they would ask if I wanted one. "OK! Table for 6, tablet or non?"

Isn't it hurting everyone equally?

[Chelloveck]

If the tablet is the problem, shouldn't it be "hurting" all waiters in a restaurant equally? The article says that waiters are getting bad shifts because of less-than-perfect scores. If the tablets and the survey were the problems, all waiters would have equally depressed results. So it must be that some are consistently getting worse results than others, so maybe some are actually worse than others. Just a theory.

Yes, I agree that management is using the surveys wrong. Many of the example questions have very little to do with the quality of the server, and the idea that any score less than perfect is "bad" is ludicrous. Those are management issues, not technology issues. Leave the poor little tablet out of this. But still, it seems that the entire waitstaff under any given management is going to be affected equally by these external factors. The absolute scores may be meaningless, but a server's score relative to other servers should be a fairly accurate indication of which serves are preferred by customers.

Re:Moscow Donald - History's pee smellingist trait

[sycodon]

Yes.

Some people are very comfortable with the idea that others are lessor than they are and some are not. Not trying to be snarky, but that's the truth.

Had a friend with a pretty good business going who was involved in a patent lawsuit. They hired some fancy Beverly Hills attorney who was supposed to be the best. They were at a dinner at some nice place in Beverly Hills when, after dinner was over, his wife started collecting up the dishes and making neat piles for the waiter to take away. The attorney made a point of saying, "they have people for that".

If you have ever thought or uttered those words, you should consider partaking in some very deep self reflection.

Re:Unaware ?

[scotts13]

Apparently you have never worked in a survey-based environment. On surveys, when rating someone 1 through 10, only 10 is acceptable to management. 1 through 9 is failure.

Aye. At the car dealership where I work, 9 is the same as zero on customer satisfaction surveys. Further, less than an 85% average score cuts your commission for all further sales until the average goes up. With an average of 10-12 new car sales per month (less than half of which fill out the surveys) one middling score can cut my income for several months.

The company has the system well rigged.

Ziosks scam you out of money

[LordKronos]

I really hate those things, personally.

So do I, but for a completely different reason than you. Those little fucking devices are an absolute scam. At many restaurants they are programmed to add a $1.99 charge onto your bill for playing games if you interact with them in any way at all.

We don't go to the restaurants chains that uses those things very often, but the first time I saw one a few years back we ended up with a charge on our bill. I was 99% sure our kids had not actually played any games on them, but I couldn't be certain. I complained to the waitress and she removed the charge. Then last year we saw them in a restaurant on vacation. This time I was 100% positive...I never let the kids lay a finger on it. However, I did interact with it myself...I simply browsed through the menus on it, but absolutely did not launch a single app. End result....$1.99 charge on my bill. Again I asked and the waitress happily had the charge removed from the bill.

Then I went home and read up on it, wondering if something weird had just happened to me (maybe someone interacted with it after the last customer and it simply attributed it to me as the next customer in the booth). It turns out countless people have this happen continuously, and it's simply a scam they're running. Any interaction with the screen results in a charge on your bill. Not all locations are programmed to operate this way, but many are. And of course, the waitresses understand this and are always happy to remove the charge when you ask. But how many people simply pay their bill without checking it over, or figure "oh, I guess the kids used that game...I'll just pay for it then", or even people who realize the charge isn't right but are too embarrassed to bring it up for fear of looking cheap in front of their date/friends/coworkers. I really wonder how much money ziosk and the associated restaurants have scammed from those people.

So now if I ever find one at my table, the hostess takes it before I sit down.

Re:Moscow Donald - History's pee smellingist trait

[cyn1c77]

Yes.

Some people are very comfortable with the idea that others are lessor than they are and some are not. Not trying to be snarky, but that's the truth.

Had a friend with a pretty good business going who was involved in a patent lawsuit. They hired some fancy Beverly Hills attorney who was supposed to be the best. They were at a dinner at some nice place in Beverly Hills when, after dinner was over, his wife started collecting up the dishes and making neat piles for the waiter to take away. The attorney made a point of saying, "they have people for that".

If you have ever thought or uttered those words, you should consider partaking in some very deep self reflection.

You are incorrect. Some managers would fire waitstaff if they saw a customer stacking dishes.

For one, it IS the waitstaff's job to collect dishes. (Actually, technically it's the barback's.) For two, it sends the wrong message to the other diners in the restaurant. Thirdly, it sends a message to the waitstaff (intended or not) that the diner doesn't think that they are competent. Finally, if the diner has time to stack dishes, is means the waitstaff were not watching her closely enough.

It's like when you decline a bellhop or open the door yourself while the doorman is trying to get to it. You are trying not to treat them like they're lessor than you, but you are actually insulting them by even thinking this. They are there to do a job as a professional, and you are doing it for them in an amateur way in their workplace.

That's just about the most insulting thing you can do.