Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

What's inside the QR code menu at this cafe?

peabee.substack.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–120 of 328 posts

Re: What's inside the QR code menu at this cafe?

#111

Post by peoplefromibiza »

PUSH_AX wrote: post #98
peoplefromibiza wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

few comments - you are ordering food and drinks, speed is not essentials, if you're in a hurry you don't sit down in a diner/restaurant - you assume that everything on the menu is perfectly clear, but what exactly is that thing with the mysterious name? (for example peri peri fries means nothing to me) you can ask to a person, not to a PDF - you really want X but you have food allergies or some other dietary restrict…

> you are ordering food and drinks, speed is not essentials, if you're in a hurry you don't sit down in a diner/restaurant Honestly if I received poor/slow service and management came back with this I'd be pretty upset. Especially given a large number of places have an explicit service charge or there is a cultural expectation that this should be paid extra for. You're either trying to solve the problem of service or…

> You're either trying to solve the problem of service or you're not, it's binary.

Do or do not, there is no try

They are trying indeed, if they succeed or not is a completely different story.

The point is: throwing a QR code at your issues won't solve your issues.

> Honestly if I received poor/slow service and management came back with this I'd be pretty upset.

I don't understand what you mean, it's probably that I, as a non US citizen, don't understand why people should sit down and enjoy a meal while also being in a hurry, there's no management involved here, it's just my opinion.

if I'm in a hurry I'll buy a sandwich or some pizza slice (it has a kinda different meaning here than in the US, but to get you an idea of what I mean)

Re: What's inside the QR code menu at this cafe?

#112

Post by [deleted] »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #74
thih9 wrote: post #60

> Next time you're at a restaurant that makes you scan a QR code and enter your mobile number to order, I want you to remember that random strangers on the internet are looking over your shoulder and watching what you're eating. Isn’t this just sample size one? In other systems this information can be passed securely and not leaked later.

Let's not forget though that these systems aren't made to make your ordering experience better (they do the opposite) - they're literally made to make it easier for more "random strangers" look over your shoulder and watch what you're eating. Strangers working for the vendor, working for the QR-menu solution provider, working for various marketing companies, etc.

[deleted]

Re: What's inside the QR code menu at this cafe?

#113

Post by throwaway4233 »

rapnie wrote: post #13

> Is this what the peak ordering experience looks like? Call me old-fashioned, but to me the peak experience is a paper menu to choose from, and a waiter that patiently takes the order. Far prefer that to everyone at the table fiddling on their phones in some weird-ass website or even god forbid custom app.

One of the restuarant chains mentioned in the author's post (Social), is an extremely crowded pub during the night and for the rest of the time, a place where freelancers or remote workers come in to work and socialize. At least that was the case in Bengaluru,India before Covid.

I would say that from the restuarant's point of view, having the order-from-app experience works out since the freelancers can order via their laptops whenever they want, without having to flag down a waiter. And during rush hours, tables could order what they want without having to spot and call a waiter among a very drunk dancing crowd.

Re: What's inside the QR code menu at this cafe?

#115

Post by hot_gril »

austinjp wrote: post #109
digitalengineer wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

inefficiency? It's part of the experience. I'm not in a restaurant or café to drink as fast as possible. I'm there to socialize as well. Waiting a bit is not a bottleneck, but a feature. (If I wanted speed, I'd take the drive-through).

There are plenty of comments disagreeing with you, but I'm fully in agreement. As for the arguments that QR codes are somehow a time-saver, they can be a real time waster . Find phone (not glued to my eyeballs), scan QR, swerve option to install app, wait for enormously bloated website to render badly, get frustrated trying to find what I want, get up to find a staff member to order something but with X instead of Y…

I don't understand the privacy part. If you order through a waiter, they still record what you ordered.

Re: What's inside the QR code menu at this cafe?

#117

Post by PUSH_AX »

peoplefromibiza wrote: post #111
PUSH_AX wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you are ordering food and drinks, speed is not essentials, if you're in a hurry you don't sit down in a diner/restaurant Honestly if I received poor/slow service and management came back with this I'd be pretty upset. Especially given a large number of places have an explicit service charge or there is a cultural expectation that this should be paid extra for. You're either trying to solve the problem of service or…

> You're either trying to solve the problem of service or you're not, it's binary. Do or do not, there is no try They are trying indeed, if they succeed or not is a completely different story. The point is: throwing a QR code at your issues won't solve your issues. > Honestly if I received poor/slow service and management came back with this I'd be pretty upset. I don't understand what you mean, it's probably that I,…

> The point is: throwing a QR code at your issues won't solve your issues.

I believe this to be (generally, but with exceptions) false. On one of my contracts I worked on solving this during covid for a large restaurant chain, they still use the QR system today and there are clear and concrete metrics that tell the story of large improvements to service.

> don't understand why people should sit down and enjoy a meal while also being in a hurry

You're hyper focused on the ideal situation. You can not be in a hurry and still receive a level of service that makes you feel uncomfortable with the service charge/cultural expectation of the tip for this specific service.

Re: What's inside the QR code menu at this cafe?

#118

Post by frereubu »

rapnie wrote: post #13

> Is this what the peak ordering experience looks like? Call me old-fashioned, but to me the peak experience is a paper menu to choose from, and a waiter that patiently takes the order. Far prefer that to everyone at the table fiddling on their phones in some weird-ass website or even god forbid custom app.

My main beef with these menus is that I can't see the entire menu on my phone screen, and end up scrolling up and down multiple times before I can decide what I want to order. With a paper menu my eyes can flick up and down much faster. It's like trying to edit spreadsheets on a phone - technically possible but a real pain in the arse.

Re: What's inside the QR code menu at this cafe?

#119

Post by eleveriven »

rapnie wrote: post #13

> Is this what the peak ordering experience looks like? Call me old-fashioned, but to me the peak experience is a paper menu to choose from, and a waiter that patiently takes the order. Far prefer that to everyone at the table fiddling on their phones in some weird-ass website or even god forbid custom app.

I'm with you on that. There's something special about a personal interaction with a waiter and a paper menu

Re: What's inside the QR code menu at this cafe?

#120

Post by siddharthgoel88 »

From technical standpoint, I find the details interesting. However, this irresponsible disclosure of vulnerability troubles me. I am guessing that last year, Indian government has passed the bill of PDPA (https://www.meity.gov.in/writereaddata/files/Digital%20Perso...) if I am not mistaken. Even though irresponsible disclosure of vulnerability is not explicitly mentioned in this Act, but I am pretty sure that such irresponsible disclosure are enough for the author to land into trouble.

Leaving PDPA aside, as a Software professional I find this act kiddy and unethical. 10 years back I found a major vulnerability bug in an major multinational bank where I was able to see monthly statements of any person. I reported this to the bank and they took approx 1 year to fix that. I did not even mention about this bug to my friends or my CV till it was fixed.

Post reply on HN