NEW YORK — After studying surveillance video from 2004 and 2014, a Manhattan restaurant manager determined cellphone usage was to blame for increased wait times, reports U.K.-based The Daily Mail, as sourced from an anonymous post on a CraigsList ‘rants & raves’ board.
The manager reportedly compared footage to determine why service is significantly slower than it was 10 years ago, despite the addition of more staff and less menu items.
According to the research, the average time a customer spent in the restaurant from start to finish in 2004 was 65 minutes, while the average time spent in 2014 was 115 minutes. The manager found cellphones have become a large distraction, preventing customers from ordering as efficiently as they once did.
Customers are more preoccupied with their mobile phones, taking photos upon entering, having problems connecting to Wi-Fi, taking photos of their food, asking wait staff to take group photos and bumping into staff and other patrons as they text and walk. [dailymail.co.uk]
