Service issues revealed by old security footage

I don't know how much of this story is factual, but it offers some interesting statistics. When confronted with increased service complaints, a restaurant dug up some old security tapes and did a minute by minute comparison of customer visits from 2004 with a similar day from this year. They discovered that the issues had more to do with changed customer behavior than with the operation of the restaurant itself. If the numbers are accurate (I have no reason to disbelieve them), it seems that cell phones and other digital technologies are causing customers to monopolize more of the waiters' time, limiting their ability to do their jobs as efficiently as 10 years ago. The restaurant involved is a touristy location in New York, so it may suffer more profoundly than other establishments, but I would be interested in hearing anecdotal data from people in the business. Does your experience support the conclusions presented in the linked article? Are customers wasting more of your time by playing with digital toys (by making you wait while they talk on the phone, take photos, or connect to the Wifi etc.)? Do they take longer to order, eat, ask for their checks and leave because they are busy with their phones (according to the study, the average customer visit is nearly twice as long as it was 10 years ago)?

http://www.lifebuzz.com/restaurant-truth/

My experience absolutely 100% supports this, as does everyone in the industry I've talked to who has seen this article. We had some fun circulating it over the past week on Facebook, etc. We've talked about it in pre-shifts as well.

Another trend that the article does not mention is ordering by pointing to pictures on your phone. Sometimes a guest will pull up the Yelp pictures and just point at what they want. No human interaction whatsoever.

EDIT: to say the phenomenon described in this article was much more on display when I worked on the Mag Mile than when I've worked in more "neighborhood" restaurants. But 10 years ago this was a non-issue.

The frustrating thing about it is that some guests don't mind being interrupted while they're on the phone (in fact, they become antsy when you DON'T interrupt them), some guests will raise the "give me a minute" finger when you approach them in the middle of phone time, some guests don't even look up at you at all . . . and then all of a sudden, they're READYIMMEDIATELY OMGWHYISTHESERVICESO SLOWWWWWWWW

We teach that the best thing to do is make friendly eye contact and be as available as possible.

NeroW wrote:We teach that the best thing to do is make friendly eye contact and be as available as possible.

That would be a good rule for all waitstaff to follow regardless of whether customers are on cellphones.

Not that I don't understand your point about customers on cellphones and how this has raised the "level of difficulty" for servers. I do. But as a customer who is never on his cellphone in a restaurant, I'll simply say that the world would be a better place if all servers made it a point to be as available as possible.

riddlemay wrote:

NeroW wrote:We teach that the best thing to do is make friendly eye contact and be as available as possible.

That would be a good rule for all waitstaff to follow regardless of whether customers are on cellphones.

Not that I don't understand your point about customers on cellphones and how this has raised the "level of difficulty" for servers. I do. But as a customer who is never on his cellphone in a restaurant, I'll simply say that the world would be a better place if all servers made it a point to be as available as possible.

I certainly agree.

NeroW wrote:

riddlemay wrote:

NeroW wrote:We teach that the best thing to do is make friendly eye contact and be as available as possible.

That would be a good rule for all waitstaff to follow regardless of whether customers are on cellphones.

Not that I don't understand your point about customers on cellphones and how this has raised the "level of difficulty" for servers. I do. But as a customer who is never on his cellphone in a restaurant, I'll simply say that the world would be a better place if all servers made it a point to be as available as possible.

I certainly agree.

To me the relationship of host and guest is sacred. The guest is a jewel resting on the cushion of hospitality.

Seemed appropriate given the source.

Friendly eye contact is a perfect way to set the stage for hospitality. It is our burden (as the hosts) to set the tone for the evening. It is not a one-sided relationship. The guest beholds just as much responsibility to play an active role in the conversation.

HI,

Some restaurants have made their location a non-wifi zone. While it would approve customer attention to their meal, friends and family, does it backfire with people not visiting?

When a waiter was beckoned to look at a cellphone, I was expecting they were wishing to order something from pictures. Instead if was treating the waiter as an IT person to figure out how to connect to wifi. Maybe these very busy restaurants need a roving IT guy to assist with these issues to free staff to do their intended work? I know it sounds silly, but five minutes lost explaining over multiple tables is a lot.

Regards,

That story set of my b.s. o-meter. I think the reason it was so widely shared and talked about is because it plays on all of our peeves and annoyances about how people behave with cell phones in restaurants these days. It reeks of an urban legend. As far as any kind of valid empirical study ... until the actual source is revealed, I'd take it all with many many grains of salt.

Nevertheless, it has got a lot of people talking, and that can't be a bad thing.

Cathy2 wrote:HI,

Some restaurants have made their location a non-wifi zone. While it would approve customer attention to their meal, friends and family, does it backfire with people not visiting?

When a waiter was beckoned to look at a cellphone, I was expecting they were wishing to order something from pictures. Instead if was treating the waiter as an IT person to figure out how to connect to wifi. Maybe these very busy restaurants need a roving IT guy to assist with these issues to free staff to do their intended work? I know it sounds silly, but five minutes lost explaining over multiple tables is a lot.

Regards,

I worked in a nice restaurant that had a NO CELL PHONES printed on the menu. People were livid. We took it off.

Everyplace has WiFi nowadays. Not sure we can go back from that.

Teresa wrote:That story set of my b.s. o-meter. I think the reason it was so widely shared and talked about is because it plays on all of our peeves and annoyances about how people behave with cell phones in restaurants these days. It reeks of an urban legend. As far as any kind of valid empirical study ... until the actual source is revealed, I'd take it all with many many grains of salt.

Nevertheless, it has got a lot of people talking, and that can't be a bad thing.

Ha!! Had the same reaction--but didn't want to bubble burst--it was juuuust a bit too much.

Teresa wrote:That story set of my b.s. o-meter. I think the reason it was so widely shared and talked about is because it plays on all of our peeves and annoyances about how people behave with cell phones in restaurants these days. It reeks of an urban legend. As far as any kind of valid empirical study ... until the actual source is revealed, I'd take it all with many many grains of salt.

Nevertheless, it has got a lot of people talking, and that can't be a bad thing.

Mine, too.

Customers get seated and is given menus, out of 45 customers 18 requested to be seated elsewhere.

I probably ask to be reseated twice a year, usually because I want to be further from a door on a particularly cold day or in the shade if I'm on a patio on a hot day. In all of my restaurant-eating experiences, there's no way that one-third of diners ask to be reseated.

7 out of the 45 customers had waiters come over right away, they showed them something on their phone and spent an average of 5 minutes of the waiter’s time. Given this is recent footage, we asked the waiters about this and they explained those customers had a problem connecting to the WIFI and demanded the waiters try to help them.

An average of 5 minutes to troubleshoot wifi connections? Just sit and stare at the clock for 5 minutes. Yeah, no. Impossible.

26 out of 45 customers spend an average of 3 minutes taking photos of the food.

14 out of 45 customers take pictures of each other with the food in front of them or as they are eating the food. This takes on average another 4 minutes as they must review and sometimes retake the photo.

LTH is full of people who take pictures of their food. When was the last time you spent 3 minutes taking pictures of a dish? Time yourself next time you decide to photograph a meal. I'm guessing you spend less than 20 seconds per dish. And who are all of these people taking photos of each other with food? I took one picture of my friend holding Next: Chinese Modern's enormous fortune cookie, but other than that, I can't think of the last time I saw a picture that any of my friends posted on FB where they were posing with food they didn't personally cook.

What I would have liked to see is the number of minutes that customers are waiting for waiters/waitresses who disappear during the meal to play with THEIR phones.

I see that a lot more often in Chicagoland than in other parts of the country.

chgoeditor wrote:

Teresa wrote:That story set of my b.s. o-meter. I think the reason it was so widely shared and talked about is because it plays on all of our peeves and annoyances about how people behave with cell phones in restaurants these days. It reeks of an urban legend. As far as any kind of valid empirical study ... until the actual source is revealed, I'd take it all with many many grains of salt.

Nevertheless, it has got a lot of people talking, and that can't be a bad thing.

Mine, too.

Customers get seated and is given menus, out of 45 customers 18 requested to be seated elsewhere.

I probably ask to be reseated twice a year, usually because I want to be further from a door on a particularly cold day or in the shade if I'm on a patio on a hot day. In all of my restaurant-eating experiences, there's no way that one-third of diners ask to be reseated.

7 out of the 45 customers had waiters come over right away, they showed them something on their phone and spent an average of 5 minutes of the waiter’s time. Given this is recent footage, we asked the waiters about this and they explained those customers had a problem connecting to the WIFI and demanded the waiters try to help them.

An average of 5 minutes to troubleshoot wifi connections? Just sit and stare at the clock for 5 minutes. Yeah, no. Impossible.

26 out of 45 customers spend an average of 3 minutes taking photos of the food.

14 out of 45 customers take pictures of each other with the food in front of them or as they are eating the food. This takes on average another 4 minutes as they must review and sometimes retake the photo.

LTH is full of people who take pictures of their food. When was the last time you spent 3 minutes taking pictures of a dish? Time yourself next time you decide to photograph a meal. I'm guessing you spend less than 20 seconds per dish. And who are all of these people taking photos of each other with food? I took one picture of my friend holding Next: Chinese Modern's enormous fortune cookie, but other than that, I can't think of the last time I saw a picture that any of my friends posted on FB where they were posing with food they didn't personally cook.

It's not uncommon, especially in winter with tables that are in a drafty place, for requests to be re-seated. Multiple times. I have never counted, but it happens quite a bit. We call them Teflon Tables because nothing will stick to them After repeated failures seating the same table, we just avoid it if possible.

I would not be surprised if on certain nights, 1/3rd was indeed the case.

Photos are very common as well. I don't time it, but it's not unusual at all for people to photograph everything in front of them--glassware, linen, food, bev, especially logo'd glassware--and then have their friends pose with items for even more photographs. That's why we say don't Tweet it, eat it.

So, I agree that the times in this article do seem exaggerated. But whether they're exaggerated or not, the cell phone has changed the nature of service from our POV.

One thing the article didn't mention is the number of times a guest will be dissatisfied with something and will Yelp it or Tweet it WHILE THEY ARE STILL SEATED IN THE DINING ROOM. Instead of giving us a chance to correct the matter, the Tweet flies up "I'm at such-and-such right now and the food sucks." That's obviously an exaggeration but it does happen.

I'm surprised all restaurants haven't banned cell phones from non-management floor staff. I've written people up for being on their phones during service in the past, and I'm sure I will do so again.

Hilarious takedown of this "story"--http://happyplace.someecards.com/stop-sharing-this-crap/a-restaurant-studied-its-old-surveillance-and-discovered-why-it-takes-so-long-to-get-a-table-happy-place-investigates/

One thing that makes me question the veracity of this "study", is the fact that so many more people asked to be reseated. 40% (exactly by the way) of all customers ask to be reseated. Why? in 2004 it was only 6%. Is it to get more "bars", or what is the point? The other figure is the number of people who ask for group pictures. 60% (again exactly 60%). That seems ridiculous. I think even a casual observer would notice 6 out of 10 tables asking for group photos. Also 20% (again exactly 20%) of customers sending their food back. Besides, the contention that picture taking is responsible for cold food is totally unproven. Maybe they need new infrared bulbs. Still, I think a casual observer would notice 1 in 5 dishes being returned. I think the numbers are just way out of line, and there are way too many numbers that happen to work out to percentages that are exact multiples of 10.

No doubt cell phone usage wastes a lot of our time. It used to be if a credit card was declined, the person who was declined waited until they got home to call the bank, now we have to wait in line while they call the bank and yell at everyone from the Sri Lankan receptionist to the Chairman of the Board. I just have my suspicions about the "statistics" used in the article in question. Like the automobile, cell phones have changed our lives forever. For good or bad we will have to live with them and their affect on our schedules.

EDIT:
I don't think it would be unreasonable for a restaurant to publish on their menus something to the effect of " We are very proud of the appearance of our food. We put a lot of work into making each dish look appetizing and certainly don't fault you for wanting to share the beautiful presentations with your friends and colleagues. But please don't ask us to reheat your food because you played around with it for too damn long and it got cold."

In fact, a restaurant could make a free-dvd available of pictures of their entrees to any patron that might be interested. And whatever happened to those photographers that used to run around supper clubs taking photos of tables of patrons for a reasonable price. I guess digital photography killed that business. They are, no doubt, hanging out with the cigarette girls, flower ladies and bathroom attendants.

I can't imagine turning off Wi-Fi would do anything unless the restaurant is underground and gets zero cell signal.

I found this article on Slate to be spot-on as far as my views on this "study" go, especially regarding the substantial benefits restaurants reap from smartphone culture.

http://www.slate.com/articles/business/ ... g_the.html

Restaurants Offer Incentives For Diners To Drop Their Devices

“If you make it through the duration of the meal, we’ll give you 5 percent off,” said Geraldine Infantolino manager of The Station. “Disconnect phones, reconnect families.”

I love the wording, "If you make it through the duration of the meal..." It suggests it will be a grueling test of character akin to what a heroin addict experiences when going cold turkey. Which, sadly, seems about right.

Last night, my group of four waited about 40 minutes past our reservation time to be seated at Joe Fish. The manager laughed it off, explained "that's Chicago on a Saturday night," said we should not have been surprised, and indicated the problem was that every table was lingering well beyond what would normally be expected.

This might all have been believable if it didn't take them a long time to come to take our order, 45 minutes to then deliver our cold shellfish platter, and 2.5 hours to complete the two-course meal (and they had run out of all but one of their breads by 9pm). And the table immediately next to us asked for the check while they were in the middle of eating their entrees and departed the restaurant hastily -- hardly what I'd describe as "lingering."

While I'm sure guests on cell phones have the ability to slow restaurant service, incompetent managers and service persons may also be to blame, but that will never be the message the restaurant delivers. No, it could never have anything to do with the restaurant or its management, right?

BR wrote:Last night, my group of four waited about 40 minutes past our reservation time to be seated at Joe Fish. The manager laughed it off, explained "that's Chicago on a Saturday night"...

How aggravating. The obvious rejoinder to the manager who claims "that's Chicago on a Saturday night" is, "Well, since you knew this was Saturday night, and you knew this was Chicago, why didn't you schedule your reservations appropriately for Chicago on a Saturday night?" Did it catch him by surprise that Saturday followed Friday on this particular week? Gah.