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

[TeaAndBrie]

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?

I hate this underlying sneeriness that people are somehow needy for preferring to speak to an actual human when they are out and about.

Looking through the thread it isn't the app users who are saying what people "should" do or what they believe that "humans need".

No one really has the right yo be sneering at what others choose to do in this context, spend your money wherever suits you and your preferences.

I don't really use any apps as they are usually inferior to the website, many more people must not use them either because shops have to bribe you to use them, I have had payments from Amazon, Next, M&S and JL and other stores, usually about £5-£10 gift vouchers type thing or similar using their apps, then I delete them.

There has been more sneeriness from those who don’t like the websites from what I can see.

In reality there is a place for both methods, and I have never been somewhere (post covid) that offers online ordering that doesn’t also let you order in person if you wish.

Don't forget the cheek when they add service charge on the end too 🤣

I don't like it because I am more of if I am going out to eat with someone I want to be talking to them, phones away. Having to use your phone to order takes away that element.

I do like it for paying though as sometimes you can get stuck waiting ages to pay.

Depends on the context. If it's very busy then I'd use it. I also like being able to pay without having to wait.

Ugh no this annoys the life out of me too, 100% would avoid places like this now after an awful experience 😒

Usually my phone memory is pretty full so if I go out for a meal no I don't want to have to be wasting time sitting going through my phone finding things to delete to have enough space to download an app to order through instead of the few minutes it takes to take an order. (Having worked in various hospitality venues I would imagine it would also be frustrating when people want to make adaptions to menu items as quite often the apps are never designed for alterations which means a lot of verbal back and forth which I imagine leads to more mistakes as opposed to just writing down they want this sandwich with no onions)

A while ago my ex MIL was taking kids away to her caravan and they were each bringing a friend so rather than her driving all 4 kids I drove up with her and we took 2 kids each and stopped for some lunch, the place is a very popular tourist place due to its remote location, therefore very few locals/regular users (that would repeatedly use an app therefore most guests would have to download it), we have both been on multiple occasions over the years so familiar with the setting and ordering process, take a table outside because it's a nice day and go into order at the bar and told we need to scan a qr code to download an app and order through that - so first off my phone didn't have an inbuilt qr reader so had to try download an app for that to get the link for the app, it's remote and neither of us have a signal on our phones so they give us the WiFi info which was very slow so eventually download the app to get read the qr and the the app itself to then have to show the 1 phone around everyone to decide what they'd like to eat, then get it all ordered and because it was through an app you obviously can't split payments so go to put it all on my card as MIL only has cash and a notification pops up that because I haven't used the app my bank wants to verify payment through phone or text which I couldn't do because of no signal - by this point we'd been there around 45 minutes, obviously been travelling so the kids were tired and hungry, we were stressed and then eventually they turn around and say oh OK we will just take the order normally and take cash after saying they couldn't do that and we had to go through the app?!

So that whole experience put me right off, was meant to just be a quick lunch stop that turned into completely unnecessary stress, by all means have the option but don't force people into it especially when some people may not necessarily have the means to use it - you shouldnt have to rely on technology to eat, I know I'd often go out with a nearly dead phone and cash only and wouldn't expect not to be able to pop in somewhere and grab something while I have means to pay for it 🤷‍♀️

“Honestly I hate it, it’s impersonal and I feel that it’s laziness. Part is why you go initially and then return to eat somewhere is because of good food and good service - otherwise you’re paying a lot of money for basically something you could make much cheaper at home or go to McDonalds”

@TeaAndBrie thats a bit of a leap 😂 so anyone that doesn’t mind using an app to order food may as well only ever make food at home or eat at McDonald’s?! How pretentious of you!

Some of us don’t need others to be our courteous slaves to enjoy a nice meal out. At least on the app I can quietly choose what I want and not worry about them writing the wrong thing down. Really doesn’t bother me at all, and there’s usually the choice to order via bar/waitress if it’s actually a half decent establishment (even at McDonald’s!!!)

I can see that it’s less personal but I don’t mind it. Typically we have only come across it in chain restaurants and restaurants where you have to go to the bar to order anyway and I prefer being able to sit and order while chatting to queuing alone at the bar. It was also much more efficient when we wanted to order extra drinks and a side dish when in a busy restaurant this week without having to wait to catch a wait staff’s attention.

Love apps - it’s easier, quicker, I don’t have to try to flag someone down each time I want something.

And I don’t really want to speak to a stranger or have someone wait on me. I’d rather speak with my friends or husband.

There's a demand for them and people who like using them, go for it. Like some others, I don't want single use apps cluttering my phone.

Miner's a bit rubbish, it rarely scans QR codes; last year, we went out for my birthday and it wouldn't work. I had to go to the bar (hardly any patrons in) and speak to a waitress, who sighed, rolled her eyes and told me to scan the code.

I tried in front of her and she said, "Give it to me!" before admitting defeat and taking the order by hand. She should have just done that to begin with, instead of being patronising.

I really like it for ordering. We did it last week and the staff seated us and talked us through the QR code, checked in on us to make sure it had worked. They then brought the food, talked to us, asked if we had everything we needed etc. It meant that we could look properly at each item and customise it, chat/change our mind, see the final cost as it added up, browse the full range etc and we still chatted to the staff who were cooking the food/waiting on us/checking in to make sure we were happy. They were clear that we could order at the bar if we preferred.

I like having the option 🙂

@Segway16

"And I don’t really want to speak to a stranger or have someone wait on me. I’d rather speak with my friends or husband."

+++

This is a really interesting point. Speaking to strangers is for most people is more uncomfortable than speaking with friends / family

However it is an essential social skill that we all need for both work and society and the less we speak to strangers the harder it gets.

I have noticed this in the work environment where more and more people choose to communicate via email rather than the awkwardness of phoning someone you don't know.

The problem of communicating by email for example rather than phone or face to face is that it is a one way communication (I send you an email then I wait for you to reply etc) which is way slower and less effective than a telephone call or a physical meeting (where in speech I can answer your question immediately and you get to follow up etc plus you can judge voice tone and body gestures etc).

This in turn makes everything take longer and reduces productivity.

That’s exactly my feelings. It’s so much easier to sit down, order and pay on the app then get on with chatting to the company you’re with and enjoying your evening without having to catch the servers attention, go to the bar etc.

I prefer it. I don't see how a server taking my order verbally and tapping into a tablet or scribbling it down adds to the dining experience or would make a lonely person's day brighter.

I struggled with Nandos when it first opened where i live!

With you OP. Im there cos I want to be looked after, and coddled! I dont get this.

Hate them. Unreadable, antisocial to sit scrolling through your phone, no opportunity to ask questions about the menu, poor tech means you can’t make swaps, menu prices sometimes differ from paper menus, if you’re in a group it takes forever to pass round the phone, and basically i don’t want to do the restaurant’s job for them! See also self-service tills.

I like the set up I experienced at Wagamama's the other day. Proper table service from very pleasant staff, but the option to pay using a QR code thing. I always hate hanging around for the bill and think this is an excellent way of doing it.

For instance, you can ask a human how spicy a particular dish is. For them to offer a no spicy alternative. An app can never do that!

it can if its programmed, the same way a ready meal curry has the spice symbols on it for the level of spicyness

I don't mind doing it at a pub/bar when ordering a round of drinks. Easier than trying to remember what everyone wants.
With food orders though, I'd prefer not to. And I don't go back to places that force you to do this.

A lot of apps just aren't up to the job, DH has an Android phone and the apps on there always seem worse than the Apple ones on my phone so often useless.

So you want to never interact with humans? Seriously?!😳 Will the app also ask me if my food was nice and give me a genuine smile? Or do I need to succumb to reading the question in the app and then look at a smiley face?
I stand by what I said - human interaction is the best.

Generally I hate it, like others I often have trouble with QR codes loading and it's infuriating having to download yet another app. I recently saw a crowd of people standing around in a car park trying to get a signal to download a car park app, with no other option to pay. By luck, I already had the app as it was the same as another car park I'd been to but I think I would've left otherwise. I don't mind it in our local pub as I have the app and can carry on chatting, plus you can still go to the bar if you wish. It's the places where there's no choice that infuriate me. Our local Aldi has about 20 self service tills and no manned ones. They only ever have about 5 open at once as only 1 or 2 staff members around to assist when they frequently go wrong or need age verification etc. I get this is progress and the way of the future but we're far from there yet.....