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Today's Boston Globe reports that the popular local restaurant chain Legal Sea Foods is installing payment terminals at every table in every one of their locations.
There's a growing realization that a lot of credit card fraud comes from waiters who steal your card number when they take it away from the table to ring up the check (just ask my wife's brother-in-law, who was sent up the river for doing just that), and a growing acceptance of self-service payment.
Personally, I think this is a killer idea and you'll find card swipers at tables in just about every imaginable chain restaurant in short order (pun not intended). Easily one of the most aggravating parts of dining out anywhere is the silly business of attending to the check: it requires no fewer than 3 trips to your table by the server if you are paying with a credit/debit card. It slows down the servers and can keep you waiting long after you're done eating -- with a squirmy small child in tow that wait can be nearly unbearable.
I forget where we were, but I know I have dined somewhere where the server brought a wireless swiper to the table. I think that's a much better concept for high-end restaurants, where it would look incredibly tacky to have a swiper bolted to your table. The wireless device even had a printer that immediately gave out a receipt. But at your average Crapplebees or Chili's, this is perfect.
When I was in London two years ago, almost every restaurant had equipped its waiters with the wireless charging (and ordering) contraptions. Our whole party commented about how smart that was, especially from the credit card security perspective. I was sure those would have swept the U.S. by now and am just surprised it's taking so long. Wonder what's holding it up when the technology obviously exists ....
Posted by shelley [URL] at 03/14/07
Come to think of it, it very well might have been London where we encountered one. I can't be sure where, but I do remember using one.
Posted by Brian [URL] at 03/14/07
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