What Can I Get You Folks? - Applebee's Lets Guests Electronically Summon Servers

12-15-2009 @5:31PM Eating The Road said... "But the system demeans servers, and undercuts their professionalism with the implication they can't be trusted to figure out what guests need and when they need it."

If this were the case then tools like that would not be implemented. Obviously Applebee's is not receiving positive feedback about their servers and are attempting to improve something. They wouldn't willy-nilly spend money on something they didn't feel they need. Maybe you are a good server but from dining out often I hate to tell you there are PLENTY of poor servers around.
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12-15-2009 @6:06PM Gobo said... I'm not a fan of this idea, as a diner. It dehumanizes servers. It conveys the idea that servers are so poorly trained that the diners need to summon them rather than simply receiving attentive service. I would not eat in a restaurant with this system.
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12-15-2009 @8:12PM Andrew said... Wow...glad I don't wait tables anymore.
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12-15-2009 @8:26PM Seth M. Stevenson said... Oi. I just have to respond to "If this were the case then tools like that would not be implemented."

You are clearly presuming that management would never do something without good cause.

Permit me a hearty laugh. Having witnessed the machinations of upper management from both within and without, allow me to assure you that all that is required for a new idea to be implemented in a corporate setting is someone either enthusiastic enough, articulate enough, or well-connected to see it through, even if the concept itself is entirely moronic.

My guess is that Applebee's has made the same decision most other corporations have in the recent recession: cut labor to save costs, which in a restaurant setting means cutting servers. Fewer servers + same number of tables = worse service.
From a corporate standpoint, the happy idea is that you can replace servers (an ongoing labor cost) with technology (a large initial cost that has few ongoing costs, and in the long term is cheaper than people.)

Now, that said, this technology isn't necessarily bad, but I can only imagine the hell of being constantly paged by a clientele that has no concept that they exist within a queue of other customers and tasks, much less duties like clearing tables and making salads. This technology really can only improve service by alerting oblivious servers...but it can never compensate for overworked servers.

(I do like the idea of something like this that both alerts the server as well as lets the client know where they are in the service queue. Can you imagine how quickly management would be forced to modify staffing when subjected to the complaints of clients who are actually aware that their delay in service was due no to a lazy server, but to the workload of other clients and various side duties before them?
Think of it: You are 15th out of 37. Before you are 10 guest requests for service, 3 salad orders, and 1 soup...)
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12-15-2009 @8:58PM Erika said... "Gobo" is right..I will never eat at any restaurant
that demeans their servers in such a way
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12-15-2009 @10:30PM bragirl said... Having worked at this restaurant: the servers are poorly paid, often made to "wait" until the restaurant is "busy" enough to clock in for their shift, but may roll silverware if they should choose, but cannot leave--just in case the restaurant gets busy. Not trying to demean anyone who eats there, because they are very very good about their cleanliness and food prep, but typical patrons in my regional area are cheap, and a 10% tip is considered great. And no, I am not a crappy server complaining, this is one of the few restaurants that does make money in the off season- it's just not great, or to the mass of a summer job at a finer place on the beach-it appeals to the blue class locals, and really old cheap people.
So a button to "summon" your server: don't be an annoying dip who guzzles their soda, or in a horrible mood. We are servers, we rely on patron's enjoyment of their meal. We don't try to anger you, or ignore you, unless you are that customer who wants everything special, wants more than just a little extra for free... A button is just going to alienate your waitstaff more, because people will get angry if they are mashing a button w/out an immediate response. And it's not always feasible to great and speak with a table in under 60 seconds. However, a smile, and to let them know that you are aware of them and will be with them shortly usually suffices. But with a stupid button, people are going to automatically try to give you their order,even if you have your arms full carrying hot food to another table. Unless people have worked in restaurants, they just don't know...
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12-16-2009 @2:37AM T. Oakley said... I agree that this is demeaning to servers. If I want this kind of service, I'll just go to Sonic, not a sit-down restaurant. If everyone was reasonable and polite, perhaps this wouldn't be a problem. However, since so many people are only focused on what they want when they want it, it's just going to end up being something that chases the best servers to other restaurants. Applebee's will be scraping the bottom of the barrel.


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12-16-2009 @12:13AM chelsmeadows said... Being a part-time waitress myself, I hate this idea. I see it as putting servers on a leash and basically going "Here boy, c'mere! Fetch my drink, boy!" And if you don't want to be disturbed during a phone conversation don't talk while you're eating at a restaurant. I actually find it extremely rude for somebody to be chatting away while I'm trying to do my job, and for them to get snotty with me if I ask them if they need anything.
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3-04-2010 @1:20AM Nancy Malcun said... I completely hate this idea being an applebees server. Using this machine will definitely make people more impatient. It really does degrade the server. That would really make me feel like a dog.
I think that I would straight up leave applebees if my manager told me that they were going to put in the new machines. I would get another job.
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12-16-2009 @10:55AM Adam said... Sounds like an "escalation" button to me. If that button is pressed and nothing happens instantly then I'd expect the customer to be a lot more pissed than without the button.

This sort of thing seems to be for the tail ends of the curve for both crappy waiters and crappy customers (phantom servers and finger snappers). The good servers and good customers will just keep doing what they're doing.
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12-16-2009 @11:26AM amanda said... I'd sooner compare this to a flight attendant call button than a robot.

That said, the point of those buttons (or similar buttons that I've seen in GAP or Old Navy dressing rooms) are to call for assistance when you are unable to easily leave your immediate area.

If you absolutely MUST talk to your server, there are always other passing servers, bus boys, or hosts whom you can politely ask to send your server in your direction. The button simply seems unnecessary. Often, if you tell them what you need -- be it the check or a drink refill -- they pass along the message to your server for you. A call button won't be able to do that.
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12-16-2009 @1:22PM Bison said... After reading this review, I can see why people all reacted negatively. Because the piece is presumptuous, incomplete, and unbelievably biased. But of course, the author has a fair right to express her opinion.

HOWEVER, there are major gaps in the authors description of this system that are creating a false narrative. Nowhere is there a discussion of the benefits for the server (finding out when food and drinks are ready immediately), or being signaled immediately that a new table has been seated. Your dismissal of the message that a new table has been seated as merely a tool for managers to catch servers doing something wrong misrepresented the function entirely. As someone with serving experience and familiarity with this system I can say that these are extremely beneficial pieces of information.

The second thing I found a little over the top was the insinuation that the servers at Applebee's are a group of highly sophisticated workers, and although that may be the rare case (1 or 2 per restaurant), the majority of servers in large chain restaurants are not at that level. The system can be used as a tool to improve service (how can more information you can choose or not choose to act on be a bad thing?), or can be written off as an Orwellian control mechanism, but surely that represents a stretching of the truth.

As I said, I understand that your objective is to create a narrative based on opinion, and that strong opinion creates controversy (already 14 comments before me), but this piece strikes me as unfair and based on incomplete research. I would encourage you to learn a little more and consider the positives, and then attempt to balance that with your gut reaction which you have, to be fair, expressed eloquently here.
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12-16-2009 @3:10PM SK said... This is seriously the worst column ever. Pre-tipping? Doggie bags? Spare change? Combining ketchup? Every time I see the title I know it's going to be about the most inane and unimportant aspects of the restaurant business, and always end with some ridiculous poll.

Maybe you should try writing about something interesting like why servers at high-end restaurants make 3 or more times as much as the cooks they depend on for their customers' food.

How about asking why a monetary rewards-based system is preferable or even acceptable compared to a standard hourly wage or salary system? Maybe you could use your expertise to explain why so many people seem to believe this is the way to get the best results, despite research that would indicate otherwise? Maybe you could offer up some alternative reason for so many servers having the same transparent false sincerity as strippers and salespeople, and justify your ludicrous assertions that people should pay more than they currently do (possibly in advance), just to be treated decently by another human being.

Or maybe you should just get over yourself and stick to summarizing newspaper articles for ad revenue.
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12-16-2009 @3:48PM dtm said... or, "cue the server WHARRGARBL"

one conclusion or suggestion may be that applebee's doesn't employ the caliber of server that can be expected to figure out reasonably when guests need something.

would this development be as seemingly offensive if it came from below, if servers independently started using such a device, and if it didn't come from management? as a server, can you imagine a piece of technology that would help you do your job more effectively in regards to timing your visits to the table?

a final point is that the vibrating watch doesn't do anything to tell servers _what_ guests need, only when.

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12-17-2009 @8:41AM jehanneargentee said... Ok, our local Appleby's has this system, and my husband and I both love it. The restaurant has an awkward layout, with high-backed booths and too many levels and mini-sections. While it creates a sense of privacy for diners, makes it hard for a server to see what's happening at the table. When your waiter has 3 tables on the other side of a partition, and only you on your side, you can be forgotten. I don't expect the server to be a genie coming out of the bottle when I press it. It makes service a lot easier to get, especially on nights like Karoke night when I would not blame the waiters for hiding in the back as much as possible!
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12-17-2009 @11:59AM Merry said... This has been standard practice for years in Chinese tea houses (not the traditional, drink tea in a thousand year old garden variety, but the kind that serve meals and offer places to play mah jhong and poker); it's hugely helpful in that context, because when people want to linger and not be bothered, the server can ignore them, and when they need something they have a way to let them know. In more formal restaurants it'd be odd, but in a casual dining place where people linger it makes sense to me.
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