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Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

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241–250 of 735 posts

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#241
post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your comment reeks of entitlement. Restaurant owners have been struggling to survive by serving customers any way they can. Sorry your high dining-out standards can’t be met while a few million people die from the pandemic.

How is this entitlement? Dining at a restaurant is a luxury, if I’m going to spend my money on a luxury, I’m going to choose an experience that is safe, enjoyable, and to my interests. Why are you so upset? Why do you feel that the conditions in place are acceptable? Personally, I grew up quite poor and never got to go to restaurants. It wasn’t until I started making a little money in my late 20s that I could start t…

> why do you feel like the conditions in place are acceptable?

“Acceptable”? To whom? This is why you sound entitled. The alternative is not dining out. You make it sound like restaurants are letting you down or should try harder. The word “acceptable” has no place in this conversation.

It’s fine that you don’t want to go out to restaurants right now. But you’re complaining about how inconvenient it is for you like there is no underlying reason for things to be in this state. Businesses ate also victims of this pandemic.

All of this makes me upset because it sounds extremely insensitive. The world is mourning millions of dead and you’re grumpy about your restaurant experience being ruined. Might be just your wording but one would expect a bit more empathy.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#242

Digital menus can work when they are made for the digital format. Most Qr codes are just the menus that were made to look beautiful on paper and suck to look at on your phone, I don't want to have to open up my phone and jump between pages on two separate documents on my phone. It's also terrible that I have to waste my battery life to order food every time. The ideal situation is isn't the China situation people are…

> Most Qr codes are just the menus that were made to look beautiful on paper and suck to look at on your phone

This is only the case because restaurants had to hurriedly find a solution to a bazillion problems at once, on a strained budget. Corners get cut.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#243
This has been a really interesting thread for us, if anyone commenting here wants to provide some more feedback on QR code based menus and payment at table and have a more in-depth discussion feel free to reach out at hn@pomelopay.com.

We have a product directly related to this which we're always keen to improve - https://www.pomelopay.com/features/table-ordering

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#244
post #38

IMHO it should be like this: Read QR code next to dish. It executes order for dish, and subtracts set amount of Bitcoin (perhaps with a confirmation so you're not scammed).

It also automatically files your income tax... (what a stupid law the US Gov. made when they decided to not consider crypto as currencies)

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#245

My biggest surprise in these comments is that people seem to have actually successfully used a QR code! I always assumed they were an iPhone only feature, so I ignore them. I've read that the Android camera app is supposed to recognize QR codes, but it doesn't seem to on my phone.

On iPhone Firefox has QR code support - you click on the address bar and tiny QR icon appears on the right. Maybe Firefox on Android does the same?

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#246
post #220
post #138

It's really simple: if I can't read your menu, I'm not eating. Goodbye. IIRC there's a law here that mandates a menu visible from outside the premises, it isn't always followed to the letter, but but most places comply, and it's a great way to avoid unpleasant pricing surprises. Same with paying. You don't accept cash or credit cards? Goodbye. You only accept apple pay or some other nonsense payment system? Goodbye.…

> You don't accept cash or credit cards? Goodbye. Where did you encounter such a restaurant? I'd estimate that 99.9% of restaurants accept credit in the US based on the anecdote that I've only had to pay 1 restaurant in cash over the last decade. How would a restaurant refuse both credit and cash? Do they make you pay before eating?

these are everywhere in China now. They use WeChat pay or Alipay :)

I haven't been there in almost 3 years so it must have gotten a lot worse now, I doubt I can survive next time I visit.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#247
post #220
post #138

It's really simple: if I can't read your menu, I'm not eating. Goodbye. IIRC there's a law here that mandates a menu visible from outside the premises, it isn't always followed to the letter, but but most places comply, and it's a great way to avoid unpleasant pricing surprises. Same with paying. You don't accept cash or credit cards? Goodbye. You only accept apple pay or some other nonsense payment system? Goodbye.…

> You don't accept cash or credit cards? Goodbye. Where did you encounter such a restaurant? I'd estimate that 99.9% of restaurants accept credit in the US based on the anecdote that I've only had to pay 1 restaurant in cash over the last decade. How would a restaurant refuse both credit and cash? Do they make you pay before eating?

Quite a few places went to online-only payment during the pandemic. And while you can pay online with a credit card, you can’t actually pay by presenting the physical card at point of sale - which is argue counts as “not accepting credit cards” for a significant minority of the population (those without smartphones, primarily)

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#248

The best solution — pandemic or no pandemic — is a tablet at the table that you can use to order directly and also works as POS. Unfortunately, it's seen as low status so unlikely to be widely adopted. The fact that waitering uses a push model vs a pull model is insane.

Any time I've ever seen a tablet at the table, it's been used to push annoying ads at me trying to upsell shit. No, I don't want to add a wicked bloomin' onion or a Chocolato(tm) margarita. I don't need a flashing squawk box bothering me while I'm trying to have dinner, thanks. While I'm sure you could design a table tablet that didn't do that, it's obviously too tempting for them to do it.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or NFC in your phone. I can't imagine it being more convenient than that.

How is NFC on a phone more convenient than tapping a card?

The phone would be already out whereas the card is more likely in a wallet. The phone is probably faster than getting the card.

Re: Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

#250
post #129

When they work well, they're really good, but when they work badly, they're _really_ bad. The other week, I went for dinner at a place that had a online ordering system. My experience was as follows... Arrive at the table, scan the QR code No phone signal in the restaurant, so I need to connect to the wifi. Connect to the wifi, get a captive portal Need to put my phone number in to connect to the wifi; there is no si…

what if I dont have smartphone?
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