Today, I had my morning treat at Saizeriya for the first time in ages.
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| Chocolate cake, espresso and regular coffee from drink station: 500yen |
To my surprise, everything was done without human intervention except for being shown to my seat.
- Ordering was done through my own smartphone—using my own battery.
- When my cake arrived, I had to grab a fork from the box on the table and serve my own coffee.
- Then, I paid the bill at a self-checkout counter.
...Isn't the restaurant taking advantage of its customers by making them do all the work themselves and use their own phones, all in exchange for cheap meals?
To top it all off, on my way out, I saw their job advertisement offering an hourly wage starting at 1,200 yen with generous perks...
The whole experience left me feeling... ripped off? Hmm, no. The prices themselves were quite reasonable. It just felt... somewhat uncomfortable. I can't quite find the right word to describe how I felt.
The cake and drink were actually pretty good, and Saizeriya has every right to run their business however they want. But personally, I'd rather go to Secoma or Mister Donut for a quick break on a budget (most of the time), or a regular café (maybe combining two visits into one)—just for my own peace of mind.
Well, kind of glad to see this isn’t just happening in America. But I don’t like it. We ate at a place called the Corner Bakery after a long while and we did much like you did, completely serving ourselves. I remember the days when it was full of friendly employees. Another sad state of affairs.
ReplyDeleteThen how about the all-American custom of tipping? Are you still supposed to leave a tip? If so, the American situation might be even more frustrating...
DeleteBy the way, I checked out the Corner Bakery's website (https://cornerbakerycafe.com) and now I find myself craving American pancakes really badly!!
I would certainly not leave a tip. But you may not know that most of the time when you eat out ANYWHERE, when you use your card to pay you are prompted to give a tip.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I like to give tips to the people at the pizza place and at the sandwich place. I feel as if they work hard and likely are underpaid. I can do this type of thing now. Not as strapped for cash as I was when I was younger.
I remember when I was in the U.S., the receipts often had suggested tip amounts pre-calculated at the bottom (XX%: $YY, ZZ%:$AA...).
ReplyDelete"ANYWHERE"... wow. If that's the case, whenever I traveled to countries with a tipping culture, my poor tipping manners were probably kindly overlooked thanks to my flat face and funny pronunciation.