This One Thing You Do At Restaurants Is Making Your Server’s Life Hell

Working as a server in a restaurant is incredibly difficult. The job requires you to multitask effortlessly, remember a ton of information every single night, and act friendly even when your customer is being rude. On top of that, servers struggle with the constant expectation to be perfect, from both their managers and their patrons. One slip-up could mean they make considerably less money in a night, and could have long-term effects with management as well. Customers don’t often realize the pressure that comes with the job, and there are many things they do that can be making things more difficult — and there’s one thing in particular you might do at restaurants that is negatively impacting your server’s life. Without you even realizing it.

It’s an action you probably aren’t really giving a second thought: using tabletop tablets, called Ziosks, to rate your server’s behavior.

According to a new report from Buzzfeed News, the tablets, which were created to make service faster when eating out, are also making a server’s job even worse.

You’ve probably seen and used a tabletop tablet before — they’re found in many chain restaurants, like Applebee’s and Outback Steakhouse. Customers can use the tablets to order drinks and food, as well as pay their bills. Once that bill is paid, customers are asked to take a survey to rate the server’s performance. Management in restaurants keep tabs on the results, and it’s really tough for servers to make a good impression. Getting less than a perfect score can mean serious trouble from management, which could mean anything from getting bad shifts to having their number of tables reduced. All of the punishments result in servers making less money.

Buzzfeed News spoke to dozens of servers, all of whom said the same thing: the tablets are making their jobs feel nearly impossible. Many said they were forced to quit because their schedule was so negatively impacted.

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The scoring system is problematic for many reasons. Most of the restaurants accept nothing less than perfect, which is unrealistic and unfair. There are way too many factors that go into the scoring system that make it tough for a server to get the best score possible every time.

I'm not even going to get into the harrassment using Ziosk. Read the article and rage for yourself. pic.twitter.com/RopOUvawD2

— Insect Fanny Pack (@morgoid) June 22, 2018

First, the scoring system doesn’t acknowledge the fact that some customers are never going to give a perfect score no matter what — they might be too hard to please, or one small thing could have set them off that resulted in a really bad score.

The scores don’t take into account the server’s side of a situation — they only look at one side of the story, the customer’s side. Ifeoma Ajunwa, an assistant professor at Cornell’s Industrial and Labor Relations School, told BuzzFeed News that, “It makes very literal the idea that the customer is always right, to the complete disregard of the worker.” And TBH, anyone who has worked in a restaurant knows that a customer is not always right.

Secondly, many customers are considering the quality of food in their rating — something servers have almost no control over.

One server from a Smokey Bones in Ohio told BuzzFeed News, “When Ziosk came into play, the corporate office told our management team, ‘If your servers aren’t getting 70% or higher, you’re going to cut their shifts. I could be the best server in the world, but if my score for the quality of the food or the host aren’t over 70%, I lose my shift.”

Third, the scoring system makes it easier for servers to be discriminated against based on their gender, age, race, or appearance.

While employers are not allowed to fire or punish someone for these things, customers can rate based on whatever factors they want. So if a racist customer comes in and has a server who is a person of color, then gives them a poor rating simply because of the color of their skin, that leads to the employee getting in trouble — and that’s absolutely not okay.

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"Employers are legally restricted from evaluating employees based gender, age, race, or appearance (...) but nothing is stopping Ziosk users from doing that,"

IT'S ALMOST AS IF THE DEVELOPERS DIDN'T EVEN CONSIDER THIS. pic.twitter.com/fhd3CpfRz2

— Insect Fanny Pack (@morgoid) June 22, 2018

On top of all of that, some customers are using the tablets to make offensive, sexual comments.

One server at a Smokey Bones said, “There’ll be some off-the-wall comment like, ‘She was sexy and had a great attitude,’ and they’ll highlight that. It should be about the service, not how you look, but they praise those kinds of comments.”

A server from Olive Garden summed up how the system makes them feel, saying, “It’s very unnerving. I do what I can to make their visit enjoyable, but it’s almost like that doesn’t even count anymore. It’s just a number — our whole job is based on numbers.”

Some person that I served last week left a comment on the Ziosk and said “nice butt” 😂

— Papa Sean (@ItsPapaSean) June 23, 2018

Unfortunately, on the financial side, the tablets are working.

Restaurants have said that the use of tablets has boosted check averages as they encourage diners to add on additional items throughout their meals. As long as the tablets are increasing profit, it’s unlikely that restaurants will get rid of them or even get less strict about the ratings. BuzzFeed News reached out to many of the restaurants for comment, but most declined to answer.

So the next time you go out to eat and you use a tablet, seriously think about the rating you’re giving. Know that a low rating for a small mistake, or one that wasn’t the fault of the server, could cost someone their job.