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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To not want to order via an app in a restaurant!

232 replies

TeaAndBrie · 25/10/2023 22:21

Visited a restaurant for brunch today, it wasn’t super fancy but £12 for eggs Benedict to give an idea of price.
we were told to sit anywhere that’s free and then use the QR code on the table to see the menu and order. I must’ve pulled a face as she said she would get a paper menu and that we could order at the counter.
surely part of eating out if the experience and the service and this is all part of what you pay for?

OP posts:
DappledOliveGroves · 26/10/2023 09:17

I absolutely prefer the apps if it's a chain or somewhere basic. It means I can order drinks as soon as I sit down and don't have to wait for someone to notice me and take my order. I can pay as I order so then don't have to hang around asking for the bill and waiting for the card machine to make an appearance. The online menus are in real time so if there's anything not available it shows you. I think it's a great system.

Fair enough, in a high end place where they want to tell you about the menu, the specials, advise on wine - then absolutely have table service (but then I expect the service in such places to be impeccable). But places like Giraffe, Wagamama etc, I'd much rather be able to use an app.

Dontcallmescarface · 26/10/2023 09:18

My phone doesn't support apps as it is quite old. Anywhere that insists on "App only" ordering just doesn't get my money.

GrandHighPoohbah · 26/10/2023 09:22

I had such a faff with this in a basement restaurant with crap phone reception. "Oh but you can use our free WiFi" they trilled. Well that's fine until my bank, with their enhanced security measures, require me to verify my identity via text messages I can't receive in your basement, in order to pay for the bloody food!

LadyDanburysHat · 26/10/2023 09:33

Haven't read the entire thread, but the worst for me was the Pizza Hut one asking me if I wanted to tip. That day we got the buffet lunch, you have to fill your own drink. The only service received was the drinks glasses being brought to out table. What service exactly am I tipping? Even if we ordered menu items they would literally have carried a plate from the kitchen.

theleafandnotthetree · 26/10/2023 09:34

ACGTHelix · 26/10/2023 08:16

for me, i was thinking of the sheldon coopers, the Leonard hofstedars,etc from the show the big bang theory, type people that love to use tech to do different activates

So a tiny minority then....

PrincessHoneysuckle · 26/10/2023 09:49

I've just returned from Turkey where you ordered drinks from your sunlounger using an app.loved it!

sollenwir · 26/10/2023 10:19

I'm not keen on it either.
My son is not keen on the fact that I'm not keen on it.

Ozgirl75 · 26/10/2023 10:20

sollenwir · 26/10/2023 10:19

I'm not keen on it either.
My son is not keen on the fact that I'm not keen on it.

Now that is a great idea!

Sirzy · 26/10/2023 10:23

A market near us has a website you can order via (qr code to the website) it’s great because if you want to order food and drink from multiple venues you can in one order. You can still go to the venue and order in person if you want but it seems mainly that’s only people just wanting drinks rather than food too.

sollenwir · 26/10/2023 10:36

Ozgirl75 · 26/10/2023 10:20

Now that is a great idea!

What is a great idea?

Ozgirl75 · 26/10/2023 10:59

Ha, sorry, quoted wrong post - the ordering drinks on the beach was a good idea.

Sausagenbacon · 26/10/2023 11:18

If I have to use the qr code or app I go elsewhere.
I don't know if anyone else has pointed this out, but they are also using your information as data when they do this.
For the same reason I won't use 'free' WiFi when it entails putting your information into their system.

Pottedpalm · 26/10/2023 11:19

InWalksBarberalla · 26/10/2023 09:01

Do people not realise you can delete apps from your phone when you no longer need them??

And apps can be used to put malware on your phone?

OneTC · 26/10/2023 11:27

I don't go to a place with bar or counter service for the service experience tbh.

I don't like it as a replacement for table service.

In places like spoons it's amazing, as I mostly go on my own and then you don't need to worry about someone nicking your table while you order

ntmdino · 26/10/2023 11:52

I've done it once, and once only - was at a large (but reasonably up-market) farm shop. The app simply didn't function properly - the sign-up process was broken, such that it was an endless loop of emails and failed requests, to the point where the service manager had to spend 15 minutes sorting it out. We then spent 15 minutes placing our order, because the app kept clearing our order every 5 minutes, but was so slow that we couldn't complete it any faster (no wifi, and barely any reception in the restaurant). By the time we'd finally got an account sorted and our order placed, we'd been there 45 minutes already, and it was only then that we were told it was going to be another 45 minutes for the food to arrive, which turned out to be an hour.

Of course, there was no way for us to get updates, because they clearly thought that forcing everyone to use an app that barely works meant they only needed a skeleton staff - 5 waiting staff and a service manager for over 300 covers, at lunchtime on a Saturday.

The food came out, and there was bacon in a dish that was clearly labelled "vegetarian" in the app - another 10 minutes to get hold of someone, and "Oh, yes, we changed some of the menu but the descriptions haven't been updated yet". Send it back, want the other dish re-cooked so I'm not eating cold food..."The kitchen's quite busy, it'll be about an hour". Could've been avoided if we'd actually been able to ask somebody at our table to verify it was suitable for vegetarian.

Order cancelled, asked for a refund (apps make you pay up-front)...another half hour because the manager was dealing with three other parties in the same boat.

Two and a half hours later walking in, we finally left without eating.

Never again.

TheBirdintheCave · 26/10/2023 12:01

As an autistic person, I'm a fan of the apps.

TigerRag · 26/10/2023 12:05

I hate them! I don't have issues scanning a QR code to pay which is sometimes quicker.

SchadenfreudeIstMeinMittelname · 26/10/2023 12:07

Anything that cuts down on waiting time and interaction with random strangers is fine by me.

ntmdino · 26/10/2023 12:07

TheBirdintheCave · 26/10/2023 12:01

As an autistic person, I'm a fan of the apps.

That's genuinely what I thought (I'm also autistic), until my first encounter with one (above). It actually resulted in more awkward interactions with intractable people and processes than just ordering in person, not less, and it was just an awful experience.

VeridicalVagabond · 26/10/2023 12:11

I love it, makes life so much easier. As long as the place has decent 4/5G reception and/or free wifi, and the app was designed by someone sensible and doesn't require a computer science degree to operate.

I like having exactly what I ordered right in front of me clearly, find it so much easier to sort out paying, and honestly I don't like people so the less I have to talk to strangers the better. I also like being able to summon drinks whenever I feel like it rather than having to get up and fart arse around at the bar or counter, or try and get someone's attention.

toadasoda · 26/10/2023 12:35

Already posted upthread saying I don't like online ordering at all, but just to add for me it's not just the lack of human contact or inconvenience of the app, its the principle behind it. Every time somewhere moves towards a tech alternative its to increase profit, nothing else.

MintHoneyTea631 · 26/10/2023 12:46

I have walked out of app only restaurants in UK & abroad

Most recent one was in Netherlands

NutellaEllaElla · 26/10/2023 12:47

I hate it, it's so antisocial to bury your heads in you phones. It is time consuming, frustrating and absolute bullshit. I don't want to do businesses jobs for them. Fuck that.

CesareBorgia · 26/10/2023 12:49

It wouldn't be so bad if there was a single, universal app for each activity - parking, food ordering etc. Download it once, know it's not a scam, all sorted.

Bookworm20 · 26/10/2023 15:05

I'm also in the hate them camp.
Recently left a cafe because the only way to order was via the app.

And in restaurants I do not want to be sat at a table with my dp or my family to enjoy a lovely meal and evening out only to be faffing about on my bloody phone ffs.