[Technology] Out of touch with the 21st century, now it's Stat's turn - Lounges.

[Stat Brother]

After a hard mornings graft we went to our local 'Lounges' for lunch, I believe Alcampo is the Brighton version.

"Are you ok to order on line, sir?".
"No we want a table"

Not a great start.

So it turns out they've done away with table service.
You QR the code, on your phone. (after downloading a QR reader)
Order your meal and drinks on your phone.
Pay on your phone.
Sit and wait half an hour until the cold food arrives, desperately trying to not look at your phone.


I'm incredibly conflicted by this.

It seems like back in the good old days we had appropriate service.
Then we had "is everything alright with your meal" over service.
Now we have no service at all.
A direction I'll be amazed if it isn't the norm in 5 years time.

It felt like once I'd placed my order I should go out into the kitchen and cook it myself.


Weird, very weird indeed - I'm gonna buy a MkIII Escort and listen to The Charlatans on the tape deck.
Things were simpler back then.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Mate, what can I say?

In 30 years time you'll be a version of BG.

Hang on, did I say 30 years? I meant 30 minutes.

 

[BNthree]

Loads of pubs and restaurants have had this system in place since last autumn. I’m now picturing that you look something like this..

 

[Stat Brother]

Mate, what can I say?

In 30 years time you'll be a version of BG.

Hang on, did I say 30 years? I meant 30 minutes.

Our inability to cope in the decade in which we were living was the only thing we had in common.

 

[Stat Brother]

Loads of pubs and restaurants have had this system in place since last autumn. I’m now picturing that you look something like this..

View attachment 137353

I've not been out much since last Autumn!
Yesterday was the first time it's crossed my path and I found a little discombobulating.


Oh and I absolutely own my gittishness, it comes to us all eventually.

 

[sydney]

After a hard mornings graft we went to our local 'Lounges' for lunch, I believe Alcampo is the Brighton version.

"Are you ok to order on line, sir?".
"No we want a table"

Not a great start.

So it turns out they've done away with table service.
You QR the code, on your phone. (after downloading a QR reader)
Order your meal and drinks on your phone.
Pay on your phone.
Sit and wait half an hour until the cold food arrives, desperately trying to not look at your phone.


I'm incredibly conflicted by this.

It seems like back in the good old days we had appropriate service.
Then we had "is everything alright with your meal" over service.
Now we have no service at all.
A direction I'll be amazed if it isn't the norm in 5 years time.

It felt like once I'd placed my order I should go out into the kitchen and cook it myself.


Weird, very weird indeed - I'm gonna buy a MkIII Escort and listen to The Charlatans on the tape deck.
Things were simpler back then.

go somewhere else or just cook for yourself till all this bullshit is over ......they will still take your money but offer half the experience ....not my thing at all so if you don't like it just don't entertain it.

 

[sydney]

Loads of pubs and restaurants have had this system in place since last autumn. I’m now picturing that you look something like this..

View attachment 137353

that is Dennis from Goring having his sunday morning stand off with the pikes at number 17.

 

[HastingsSeagull]

Been to places across Asia (especially Shenzhen China) where similar is done extremely well but also to ones where it’s shockingly bad. It seems the more expensive the venue the worse the system works. Small, simple places it speeds things up and everyone is friendly.

 

[sydney]

Mate, what can I say?

In 30 years time you'll be a version of BG.

Hang on, did I say 30 years? I meant 30 minutes.

frankly surprised at you ........if i lived in the UK i would be avoiding all this rubbish ....i'd have avoided football and anything else where they expect my coin but want to treat me like a leper at the same time , bollards to the lot of it/em.....i may entertain an uber eats set up where i can move around my own home like a normal person ......you know , like 2 years ago ......it has taken these twerps 2 years to make us virtual prisoners ....wake the **** up.

 

[Chicken Run]

I met two Swedish pilots yesterday who were up at CAE in Burgess Hill who are training on the sims there, anyway they are staying in the Jury’s Inn Waterfront for two weeks, can you believe there is no ‘maid service’ a sack is provided for you to leave towels out and if you want room hoovering and fresh bedding you have to pre book and pay extra!!!!!

Any excuse to downscale levels of service during these unprecedented times.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[HastingsSeagull]

I’ve also had customers pay me and book me by QR code for almost 10 years and I’m as good as 40 years old now. The key thing is that they don’t HAVE to and the one system/calendar/account I have can handle cash too just as easily. Every poster/business card/flier etc. has both options.

It works well done right and simply. Not trying to be TOO fancy or pretentious but just thinking of it as another tool.

 

[Bry Nylon]

I'm with Stat on this. I understand that the Hospitality sector is suffering but this is hardly surprising when the hospitality component has been engineered out of the Hospitality sector and you are expected to do everything on your frigging phone. Still, I'm sure it looks / works great when the Head of Digital demos it on the big screen in the boardroom alongside the slide showing the projected decrease in overheads and corresponding increase in profitability plus opportunities for x-marketing shit offers.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

frankly surprised at you ........if i lived in the UK i would be avoiding all this rubbish ....i'd have avoided football and anything else where they expect my coin but want to treat me like a leper at the same time , bollards to the lot of it/em.....i may entertain an uber eats set up where i can move around my own home like a normal person ......you know , like 2 years ago ......it has taken these twerps 2 years to make us virtual prisoners ....wake the **** up.

Come now. I share the OP's sentiments, but can never resist the opportunity to tease the angry man on the bicycle a little bit

 

[strings]

I've been to a couple of bars since lockdown eased and I have to say I liked it. Order drinks on your smartphone, they appear at your table a few minutes later. No wasting time at the bar, more time to chat.

I hope it is something that stays.

 

[TWOCHOICEStom]

iPhones natively read QR codes using the camera app.

 

[Stat Brother]

I met two Swedish pilots yesterday.

 

[schmunk]

iPhones natively read QR codes using the camera app.

As do Android phones running Android 9 (2018) or later.

 

[Chicken Run]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Swansman]

As someone who refuses smartphones and never had one and never going to get one... I relate to being out of touch with the 21st century.

I was 11 when year 2000 began so you would think I would get along fine with the 21th century but no.

Back in 1999 when I got my first computer + internet I thought "**** me, this is wonderful, in ten years everyone is going to be online everywhere all the time" and thought it was horrendous. A few years later I rewatched Die Hard 3 about 500 times. I didnt care about Bruce Willis or Samuel L Jackson or Jeremy Irons, I just watched car models, clothing, social interactions in the backgrounds. Die Hard 3 raised me to become this backwards human being. **** the 21th century.

 

[dazzer6666]

I met two Swedish pilots yesterday who were up at CAE in Burgess Hill who are training on the sims there, anyway they are staying in the Jury’s Inn Waterfront for two weeks, can you believe there is no ‘maid service’ a sack is provided for you to leave towels out and if you want room hoovering and fresh bedding you have to pre book and pay extra!!!!!

Any excuse to downscale levels of service during these unprecedented times.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

The 'covid arrangements' are going to carry on for sure (Spoons have been doing it for ages pre lockdown so it must be cost-effective if that **** Martin is doing it). We've just been at a hotel in Devon - no housekeeping unless there for more than 3 days, towels replaced by leaving them outside the room if you wanted, paper cups for tea/coffee in the room etc. Took the nephews tenpin bowling - everything had to be done online, including ordering drinks from their website (and to show the folly of some of the measures, the lanes were segregated with perspex and we had to wear masks all the time, but the bowling balls were shared between two lanes ) - then went for a pizza, same there - all food and drinks had to be ordered using their website (QR Code on the table to make this easier).

BIG savings on staff costs..........