Restaurant Payment is an Awful Experience
nickcammarata.com
Restaurant Payment is an Awful Experience
1–10 of 21 posts
Re: Restaurant Payment is an Awful Experience
#2I agree with the article.
Why can't we just pay at the register and be done with it?
Adding on to the Japanese restaurants. They have a call-button system which is much more efficient than having to flag down a waiter.
And, payment is more common at the register.
This allows Japanese restaurant to have fewer waiters and waitresses working.
You miss out on the interaction with the wait staff, but that's not really why I was there.
Japan is far from perfect when it comes to business practices, but their dining experience is second to none for the most part.
Re: Restaurant Payment is an Awful Experience
#3I like the South Korean system. Stand up when you're ready to leave and walk out. They will intercept you by the door for payment. No high tech necessary, sorry YC folk.
Re: Restaurant Payment is an Awful Experience
#4There are a few startups tackling this end of the business. Integration here with restaurants is challenging and usually only applicable to people who use restaurants as a utility (not a luxury).
Spoke to someone yesterday about http://www.tabbedout.com/ which markets it's "Pay when you're ready" thing.
Re: Restaurant Payment is an Awful Experience
#5I like the South Korean system. Stand up when you're ready to leave and walk out. They will intercept you by the door for payment. No high tech necessary, sorry YC folk.
what if they fail to intercept you? free lunch?
Re: Restaurant Payment is an Awful Experience
#6I simply won't be held hostage at a restaurant when I'm the one with something they want (payment). After a reasonable amount of time, I'll get up and head to the door, bill in hand. If the waitstaff does not come dashing toward me, I'll stop by the register if there is one, or tell the hostess that I want to pay my bill. I rarely need to do this, but the fact that I ever have to do it at all annoys me. I'm not annoyed because my oh-so-precious time is being wasted, but because it's such a broken system for both patron and restaurant staff. Business owners have incentive to fix it if only for themselves (and some do, with payment at the register up front).
Re: Restaurant Payment is an Awful Experience
#7There is always the option of asking for the check when your food arrives, explaining that you will need to leave as soon as you are done eating. I've seen this done many times without ever seeing someone refuse.
And, as others have pointed out, attitudes on this vary considerably around the world. To some, the idea of being brought the bill and expected to pay and leave as soon as you are finished eating is strange.
Re: Restaurant Payment is an Awful Experience
#8Leave cash on the table, that's the fastest way to do it.
This is also a great use for bitcoin. Just have the waitress drop a QR code (specific to your party) on the table when you sit down, and you can pay without ever having to flag anyone down, and no need to have an ipad per table or anything expensive and fancy like that, and unlike cash above, no one can swipe the money off the table. That's trivial to do even with current bitcoin technology.
Re: Restaurant Payment is an Awful Experience
#9There is always the option of asking for the check when your food arrives, explaining that you will need to leave as soon as you are done eating. I've seen this done many times without ever seeing someone refuse. And, as others have pointed out, attitudes on this vary considerably around the world. To some, the idea of being brought the bill and expected to pay and leave as soon as you are finished eating is strange.
That is one good way to handle it. I unfortunately usually forget to do so.
One other thing I've tried is tried to do is give them my card in the beginning and charge me when I'm done. This works well, because at the very end I just get a paper to sign them I'm done. The issue is this seems arrogant, so I don't do it.
I'm writing this from an American point of view, and I imagine it's handled differently in different places.
Re: Restaurant Payment is an Awful Experience
#10Leave cash on the table, that's the fastest way to do it. This is also a great use for bitcoin. Just have the waitress drop a QR code (specific to your party) on the table when you sit down, and you can pay without ever having to flag anyone down, and no need to have an ipad per table or anything expensive and fancy like that, and unlike cash above, no one can swipe the money off the table. That's trivial to do even…
How do you calculate tax and such properly? Also, I like having it attached to a digital system so I can review my expenditures later.