Aussies have bound together in protest at a “problematic” restaurant trend that became mainstream across the country during the Covid pandemic.
Thousands have agreed to being “f***ing tired” of being asked to order food and drinks via a QR (quick response) code on their phones, in lieu of having orders taken by a worker or placing orders at the counter.
One particularly fed up Aussie’s complaint received an enormous reaction this week following their visit to an establishment on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
“Went to a restaurant earlier in Sunny Coast, asked for a menu – the only menu they had was on the door and was directed to a QR code menu on the table.
“It’s for this f***ing web app called meandu which proceeded to charge a 6.5 per cent venue surcharge, a 2 per cent payment processing fee, and then had the audacity to ask for a tip (10, 15, 25 per cent) as the cherry on top,” the diner wrote in a post to social media.
They added how sick they were of technology supposedly intended to solve an issue actually “making everything worse and more inconvenient for everybody”.
“I’m so f***ing tired of ‘tech’ being used to solve an ‘issue’ but only making everything worse and more inconvenient for everybody,” they wrote.
Hundreds of others enthusiastically agreed and many added they also didn’t like being asked to enter their personal details.
“You’re waiting your own table and paying an extra fee for the privilege. It’s f***ed,” one person responded.
“It’s also a big stinking FU to anyone old or not tech savvy. All just to hoover up your data,” another added.
Some, however, shared they preferred using QR codes to order their food – they removed the need to move to order more and limited engagement with staff.
“I actually like the QR ordering because I don’t like people, but the surcharges and tipping can f*** off,” one said.
“I love the QR codes – don’t need to leave the table to order another beer,” someone else wrote.
Consumer advocate Adam Glezer, from Consumer Champion, argued that unless hospitality staff had provided a service, they shouldn’t be asking for a tip.
“A tip is something you pay for good service and it’s optional,” Mr Glezer told news.com.au.
“In Australia, the waiting staff are on a much higher wage than those in America, where they rely on their tips,” he said.
“It sounds like Australian businesses are trying to Americanise themselves. There is no justification for paying a tip before a service is provided.”
QR code ordering swiftly became the new normal during the Covid pandemic when establishments worked to minimise contact between staff and patrons.
While coined by some as the best things to come out of the pandemic, many believe they have become tools to take advantage of consumers.
Dr Veronica Jiang, a senior lecturer at the school of marketing at the UNSW Business school, warned that restaurants should make decisions on QR codes “according to their population”.
“Fast speed is linked with fast food restaurants,” she said.
“Fine dining or mid-tier restaurants want to position themselves far away from fast food, because that justifies their high prices and because restaurants try to differentiate with good service.”
News.com.au recently spoke to owners of Aussie establishments which had either implemented QR codes or were considering doing so.
Jonathan Holmes-Ross, owner of board game restaurant, The Lost Dice in Adelaide told news.com.au that the use of QR code ordering had let his eatery “reduce costs by around 25 per cent”.
“We no longer have to take orders, work out bills and manually take payments,” he said.
“This gives our wait staff more time to look after our customers, and the kitchen has excellent order information as the accuracy of the orders is great.
“We now have very few mistakes saving us time and waste. We can also mark items that have run out instantly on the app by using stock levels, again avoiding the disappointment of (the) customer.”
Zoran Milosavljevic, from Cafe Alexandria, in Sydney’s central business district said his business was currently considering using the technology.
“If a customer sees a congested line-up they may consider using the quicker alternative of a digital menu rather than moving onto another cafe,” he said.
“With Covid still around some tend not to like waiting in queues for the fear of catching something.”
One cafe not budging is Zinc in Potts Point, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
“We try to be a neighbourhood cafe,” explained owner Nigel Nickless.
“We recognise our regulars, remember what they want, remember their coffee order, if you don’t know their name you make sure you know their coffee order.”
– With Carla Mascarenhas
brooke.rolfe@news.com.au