Learned the hard way at a diner in Ohio why you shouldn't trust the kiosk

I was at a Bob's Diner outside Columbus last month grabbing breakfast. They had this fancy ordering kiosk that kept suggesting upsells and substitutions, so I just hit 'confirm' without reading. My omelet came out with mushrooms and no cheese, and the receipt had a $3 upcharge for 'premium veggies.' Now I treat those kiosks like any other automated system - double check everything before you trust it. Has anyone else gotten burned by those self-order screens at restaurants?

3 comments

3 Comments

brianreed1mo ago

Blame the kiosk but really blame the person who designed it to sneak those charges in while you're just trying to order eggs. Those things are programmed to trick you like a used car salesman in a touchscreen, offering a side of guilt with your hash browns. I had one try to add a $1.50 "donation to children's health" that I almost clicked through without noticing. Now I treat every screen like it's trying to pick my pocket, reading each line like a contract before I tap accept.

alicecraig1mo ago

That donation thing is a good example, but I gotta push back a little on blaming the designer as the only one at fault. You mentioned a $1.50 donation, but most of those kiosks actually let you choose a custom amount or skip it entirely if you read carefully. The real trick is how they automatically select the highest default and make the skip button smaller or grayed out. It's not exactly the same as a used car salesman lying to you, more like a fast food version of "opt out" vs "opt in." Still shady, but the person who designed it is following orders from some corporate VP who crunched the numbers and saw a 20% profit bump from guilt trips. Does that change how you see the whole thing?

jessica7071mo ago

@brianreed I get the frustration but I think the workers just follow whatever the screen shows them. The real problem is the company policy that lets them add those charges in the first place. The person tapping the screen is just trying to get your order done, not rip you off personally.