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Honored Contributor
Posts: 32,486
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Self Serv Food Kiosks new trend

Is the Automat back?  Deja-vu all over again as they say!  LOL!!!

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Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,612
Registered: ‎10-25-2010

Re: Self Serv Food Kiosks new trend

I was at Panera with my sister and the place was packed.  People had to wait In a line outside before they could even get inside the door.

 

The lady beside me ordered her food on her smart phone.  By the time, we actually got inside, her order was ready.

 

I like ordering at kiosks and over a smart phone or even the Internet.  It speeds things up and I know at least that I ordered correctly. 

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,829
Registered: ‎03-18-2010

Re: Self Serv Food Kiosks new trend

My daughter and I went to a chain restaurant several months ago (think it was Chilis) and all the tables had little iPads where you could place your order and even pay your bill. I hadn't seen that before at a sit down restaurant but I don't go to a lot of chains. I don't know if that is becoming more the norm or not. Not a good sign for servers which I did for years. They will probably phase many out and just have food runners. Hopefully that doesn't stick. I know I depended on that for quite a while until I built up a clientele.

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
JFK
Valued Contributor
Posts: 666
Registered: ‎09-05-2014

Re: Self Serv Food Kiosks new trend

As. many have stated, fast food jobs are not 15.00 hour jobs. They are jobs for kids and retirees to make a little extra not support a family of 5. All the protesting was doing nothing more then to progess automation and they are reaping what they sow. I would rather deal with a machine then some of the smart ****** behind the counter.

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,789
Registered: ‎06-26-2014

Re: Self Serv Food Kiosks new trend

Personally, I don't want to touch an iPad left on a table to order food; I have no idea if they are cleaned after every customer. Yuck!

 

@Annabellethecat66- I believe that a server's base is $2.35 per hour or thereabouts, legally, because their main income is dependant on tips.

 

It doesn't surprise me that in this world where young people do most of their "talking" by texting, that self-service kiosks and not talking to a human are becoming popular. I do think that automation is going to put a lot of food service workers out of jobs. I saw profiled in the news a pizza place in Silicon Valley where even a robot makes the pizza. And the clientele loves it.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,788
Registered: ‎08-18-2016

Re: Self Serv Food Kiosks new trend

[ Edited ]

I keep hearing that Millennials do all their socializing through technology and have trouble making eye contact with human beings.
They're uncomfortable placing orders and dealing with another person at the fast food counter.

Super Contributor
Posts: 498
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Self Serv Food Kiosks new trend

I too wouldn't want to use a public Ipad to place an order at a restaurant and use it to pay for my bill.  Would it be secure enough?  What if it got hacked....can Ipads get hacked?  

 

While my smartphone has very good antivirus protection (webroot) I still would anguish over using that as well to pay for a bill.  I have never put my cc information into my phone to pay for anything.  

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,829
Registered: ‎03-18-2010

Re: Self Serv Food Kiosks new trend


@Annabellethecat66 wrote:

My friend and I eat out usually at least 4 times a week.  It's always at restaurants, not fast food.

 

We usually talk to the waiters and waitresses.  They tell us they make (from the restaurant around $2.35 an hour).

 

How does a restaurant get away with this?  This is crazy!  I've always known the customer is responsible for paying the salary of the waiter and that's always bothered me, but good grief!  The waitress said today that she hasn't gotten a real paycheck in years.  She said she has to report her tips we give her or the IRS would be on her.

 

I don't understand how they still get away with paying these people this small amount?

 

She said she used to work for the Marriott (sp) company and it was a wonderful job with health care and good salary but had to quit because she had to be at work by about 5:30AM and was having trouble sleeping.  She said she became a zombie.

 

Are any of you ex-waitresses?  How did you make a living?  It must have been so hard depending on what tips people give you.  My friend and I have always been generous.  We give over %20 because we've gotten so that we kind the waitresses.


I worked as a waitress for years while building up my clientele as a colorist @Annabellethecat66. My daughter served her way through college and has many friends who are still servers. I have several friends who are still servers and one works in NY where I used to live. She is doing this until her youngest starts kindergarten next year and she will then start working for what she went to school for but serving gives her much more flexibility in hours. She works at a family owned Greek restaurant where menu items aren't really expensive but she made a great living there for quite a while but that started to change for her when NYS changed the min wage for servers. I believe it changed to $7.50 in 2016 and she said once that happened all of the servers there tips took a nose dive. She averaged about $20 an hour and during Christmas time it was between 25-$30. She said many of the servers who had worked there years left because they were making a little less than half of what they used to make. She said she is lucky if she now makes $15/hr because since that went into effect people don't tip nearly as much. Her husband is now picking up all the OT he can get until she starts her new job in Sept.

 

I was a server about 20 yrs ago. I worked there while attending cosmetology school and several years after until I built up my clientele enough to solely support myself. I would work there on weekend nights and maybe one or two days a week at nights. I worked usually about 4-6 hrs each night and on the weekends I never left that place with less than $150-$200 a nigh on the weekends but many times $225-300. I don't know of any servers that weren't right around where I was and if they weren't it was because it simply wasn't the right job for them. You did need to be on the ball, be able to multi-task and be quick. Your tips depend on how you treat customers, how efficient you are and how quickly you turn over your tables. That job isn't for everyone, that is for sure. Over the years I have known so many servers and people in the service industry and I can honestly say the only people I know who didn't make at least $10/hr was because it just wasn't a job for them and they could not keep up or they were just in restaurant that was poorly run, bad food, bad management or a combo of all of that and/or they just didn't have the traffic. It has been extremely rare. Usually a good server will see pretty quickly if the place is a disaster and will move on fairly quick.

 

My daughter worked as a server her last year of high school and all 4 yrs of college. She started off at Applebees and then went to a really high end restaurant. At Applebees she worked on weekend nights and several days a week, usually nights too but occasionally lunch. She averaged about $200 a night on the weekends. When she went to the higher end restaurant her tips went up substantially. During the weekends she was making between $650-$750/weekend and that was for 12 hrs of work (6 each night). LIke you said, her check was for 0 each week as are most servers. That is because when you claim your tips, that eats up what you would get paid each week which is $2.13/hr. This is the problem my friend in NY complains about. While her min wage is higher, she still has to claim those tips that she makes so when she is done claiming that, it affects her hourly. While she isn't getting tipped nearly as much as she did before they change the wage, the raise in that wage is really affecting her and the other servers. Now there are places where servers receive no tips and work solely on the hourly wage so their hourly rate isn't affected by claimed tips. Most good servers prefer to work at a place that does a decent business and work for the regular server salary because they simply make more. I know that may not be the case w everyone, but all the servers and those in the service industry I know find that to be true. Now for my friend who works as a server in NY the menu items have increased in price once that business had to raise the pay of the servers. That has caused less business in general for them and she said the owner is going to be retiring early because of this. There are over 60 servers employed there. Now all of these servers do not work full time but there are at least 25 who work FT and the rest range from part time to even one or two days a week. Their payroll has skyrocketed and restaurants do not have huge profit margin to begin with.  Profit margins vary according to the cost of the average check per person. Those with checks under $15 showed a profit of 3 percent. Those with checks from $15 to $24.99 boasted the highest profit margin at 3.5 percent. Finally, those with checks of $25 and over had the lowest profits, at 1.8 percent. 

 

When I lived in Australia servers there do make a set hourly but I found that eating out there is more expensive also. Whether the customer tips or the owner pays an hourly you will be seeing money either being spent on paying for the owner to pay the servers a higher hourly wage or paying for the increased price of menu items. Either way, you will pay. 

 

I also find a server who works for tips has more of an incentive to make sure that customer is greeted promptly with great service. I can't tell you how many times I have waited long periods of time to place my order, receive my drinks and food and even my check when I was in AUS. 

 

I just don't know of a decent server who isn't making at least $15/hr and that includes little diners where the average check may be around $10. That isn't to say it doesn't happen but I just don't think that is the norm for a good server. 

 

 

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
JFK
Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,283
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Self Serv Food Kiosks new trend


@Irshgrl31201 wrote:

My daughter and I went to a chain restaurant several months ago (think it was Chilis) and all the tables had little iPads where you could place your order and even pay your bill. I hadn't seen that before at a sit down restaurant but I don't go to a lot of chains. I don't know if that is becoming more the norm or not. Not a good sign for servers which I did for years. They will probably phase many out and just have food runners. Hopefully that doesn't stick. I know I depended on that for quite a while until I built up a clientele.


We were at Chilis over the weekend and they were on the table.

I had read somewhere that they were eventually going to try to make it mandatory to use them if you were using your card.

I said to my husband, we are not swiping our card into that thing...they aren't tethered to the table and who knows how easy it is to put one of those hack things into it or if it malfunctions and doesn't clear itself.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,201
Registered: ‎10-07-2013

Re: Self Serv Food Kiosks new trend

Haven't seen them yet, but probably will soon.  Those arguing for a higher minimum wage will begin to reap what they've sown.  Fewer and fewer peope finding minimum wage jobs.