You did the right thing. The restaurant was wrong and here is why. When you buy things on line they are cheaper because anything through a machine of some type such as ATM’s is saves the business money, LOT’S of money because they do not have to pay for someone standing around answering a phone, taking orders or doing some other type of paper work, or in a simpler term “wages”.

It does not matter that the restaurant has to pay to have a web-site and that point is mute because it can be written off as a business expense. Why? Because it is in their advertising budget, at least if they have any business sense it is.

The web site is 24/7 same amount of money every day of the week and on holidays. Not so with having a human standing around 24/7/365 it would cost them much more money and be less efficient.

Why do you think many banks charge or want to charge you a fee if you go inside the bank to take care of something rather then using their ATM or other on-line method to take care of the same business.

That $1.50 is a crock anyway you look at it. Also, assume just 2 people a night use the web site to place an order and average that for a 30 day month would come out to 60 orders or $90.00 (or $1080.00 a year). Jack it up to 5 orders a night, 30 day month and now it is 150 orders or $225.00 (or $2700.00 a year). Now ask the question ”How much does it cost to have a web site to begin with?”

Must be nice to get paid for advertising (web-site), then writing it off at the same time. Let’s not forget that if you can pay for this food on-line you have further reduced the restaurants cost of doing business because they are not messing with cash and charges on the premises and keeping in house records. It is all nicely, neatly, and efficiently done over the net. No bank runs to make with cash deposit, no transactions to make since it has been nicely taken care of them through their web site.

This is no different then say Sears placing an add in a newspaper and when you go to buy something they change you an extra $1.50 for advertising.

All business’s price their merchandise with the advertising cost in it. So there is absolutely NO reason for this restaurant to charge their on-line customers, who are saving them money, an additional cost that is already included in their pricing to begin with.

You my friend almost got double “taxed” for saving them some money. You called their bluff so good for you…

 

I would be extremely mad about it, too. That's a crock of crap, and I stand behind you, Habibi!

 

i have a small mfg company.

just did a commercial website and it was more than $2700.00

e-commerce, telecheck, credit card terminal, computer,
maintance cost money.

i spend over $25000 a year in advertising and yellow pages.

dsl or internet conection, the extra phone line and the cost of having it tied into a phone system and lets not forget that someone has to man that computer. plus the salary for the person who over sees it, somewhere somebody has to spend extra time to make this happen.

$1.50 is a deal. i would love to see what some of the companies, that people here work for, charge for extra services.

 

Habibi,

Do you need us to come up there and open up a crate of whoopass on them?

 

BROTHERDAVE:

I agree with you that it cost money to operate a web site. However anything that is automated, such as a web site, cost a business LESS money then to have it all manually done by actual humans.

I would respectfully disagree that the $1.50 is a deal. It is a rip off to those who take advantage of a cost cutting measure, and/or an enhancement to the business’s bottom line. A smart business would either absorb those costs or put most of them back into the actual pricing of the product or item they are selling thus eliminating a service charge that is bogus.

If they are going to charge someone $1.50 to order on-line then it would stand to reason that they should charge those who actually come in, take up space (which cost HUGE money for sitting area), and cost money in labor should be charged, say $3.00, for the “service charge” of the employee who has to cater to the in-house customers demands…

 

Habibi, I agree with what you did in theory. BUT, in reality, you did something my Mother used to tell me about. You "cut off your nose to spite your face." If it was a good place to eat, you have narrowed your choices because of a buck fifty charge.
Better to go back to management and suggest they have a sliding scale for charges from the internet ordering. Under 25 bucks, charge the 1.50, over 25 up to 50, charge them 1.00, etc.

 

Don't worry about it, I quit shopping at radio shack because they wanted 2 forms of id with a check. Last time I set foot in their store.

 

Actually, brotherdave and 01xlt sport are both right, but at different times.

Dave's example is true of the cost of starting up and maintaining internet access/sales arm of one's business. The idea that it costs less in wages is true only after the startup costs are recovered...
and sometimes that isn't even true ... (it's sort of like how computers were going to make all business paperless...when in fact they have contributed to more paper use than ever...welll, depending on the scale of the enterprise, if it isn't gigantic computers can end up costing you more in service costs and manpower than without it...this computer stuff works both ways unfortunatley)

In all reality this business is incuring high costs and the logistics of something new like this are probably causing them headaches too...which in the end costs them money...

THAT SAID...

If you as a business decide to try something new, ultimately you should be prepared for the expense as a cost of doing business. You then have to decide if you want to pass that on to your customer or not. This has consequences such as Habbi no longer being their customer.
A s a business you gotta decide what it's worth to you.

Personally I wouldn't expand into something like that without knowing that I'll eat the cost in the short term knowing that once it takes off it will more than pay for itself, so I would not pass it on to the customer.

So, I say, good for you Habibi...
Now to make it effective, start a word of mouth campagin and have everyone else in town not frequent this establishment and let the business know that the drop of slaes they are starting to notice is a result of their shortsightedness/greed.

Never do anything half-assed son.

 

:bandito

Rule Numero Uno: The customer is always right.

They offended you and it cost them business!

They keep on offending customers, they're on the way out of town.

Uncle Ray

(of 'Uncle Ray's Texas Style Bar-B-Q' Fame)

 

This reminds me of when our Banks sold us on ATM use.

They touted the benefits of us consumers on how it would hold down costs because they didn't have hire people (tellers) to interact with others making transactions slow and inefficient.

It seems to me that it costs more of my money to use a cost cutting system that was suppose to save me money, but yet hardly anyone can get by without an ATM card lately. Most gladly will pay $1.50 to use a convenience designed to save them money??? WTF!!!

Habibi you are absolutely correct to cancel your order but I would make a point by emailing them on daily basis with a different question each time that would require a human answer. Perhaps they would get the message.

Another thing you could do would be , order , pick it up and then refuse to pay because it was cold or not exactly how you expect it should be because of the added internet cost. After all it should be "Perfect" . You paid a premium for it to be that way.

 

One flaw I see with some of the thinking here is that a computer / web site is replacing a human, thereby lowering the restaurant's expenses.

If this restaurant is anything like those I frequent that provide take-out, there isn't a full time person delegated to taking phone orders - several people just answer the phone and take orders while doing their "regular" duties. If this is the case, they are not going to save money by offering web-ordering convenience.

Even if there is a full time person doing this, the phone orders are not going to magically stop just because the restaurant gets "web enabled". That person will still be necessary.

Not saying I agree, but it is kind of like the automated toll systems here: I paid $25 for a transponder so the state can automatically charge me for tolls without having to stop and pay them. I wanted the convenience - it cost $25 to get it.

Having said that, if the restaurant owner's had a clue they would build the expense into the entire menu structure and just let it ride...

Just my $.02

 

Wow, I'm really surprised at the amount of replies.

Well, I emailed them, they emailed me back, and I replied.
Here it is in a nut shell:



Hi!

I've been a ---------- customer for 5 years, and I have a complaint.
I was all ready to order our normal $75. worth of food today, and by chance I found your website and decided to order it "on-line"

I thought it was a great idea to order it this way, as it would be much more efficient.

As soon as I saw that you guys charge $1.15 for me to order online, I immediately cancelled my order.

Let me understand this, you are going to charge me money for the convenience of ordering online?
Hello? Listen up you guys, we like your food, we've been ordering it for a long time, and it's not cheap, but we never complain.

This $1.15 charge is the proverbial straw on the camels back.
As a business move, you guys should encourage people to order online, and offer a discount for doing so.
The customers don't pay enough for the meals?
If everyone ordered online, there would be less mistakes, it would be so much quicker, and this process is so much more efficient.

Maybe the $150 that our family spends at your restaurant each month is insignificant, but you know what? This has put such a bad taste in my mouth, I am not going to order from holy chow again.
Maybe in the future if you change your policy, I will reconsider, but this $1.15 charge is nothing more than greediness on your part.

It's not the buck, it's the point that you would even think of charging extra for your customers to order online.

I'm really disappointed with you guys.

Habibi


Here is their reply:


Hi Habibi
Thank you for taking the time to e-mail us at ---------- and expressing your concern.
I would like to take this opportunity to explain the on-line order charge.
We do not save money by offering this service as a matter of fact it costs us quite a bit. We do not save on phone lines or order takers. A supervisor must still verify the order and enter it into our system.
We receive a fax from the hosting company and then a phone call to make sure we received the fax. We then enter the order into our system. The hosting company charges us per order that we receive. That is the charge we pass on to the customer. We have incurred set up costs and pay monthly fees as well. Very expensive.
But - we wanted to offer the service for those customers that wished to use it and pay for it. It is just an added convenience. We have a fully staffed call center that still takes calls for free.
We do not charge for delivery except for out of area deliveries.

I hope this explains why we charge the fee.
We are not trying to make a fast buck but offer customers an alternative.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you and hope that this does not discourage you from ordering from ----------.
Thank you


So, I replied with:



Hi ----------,

Thanks for reading my letter of complaint, and taking the time to explain about your online ordering system.

While it makes sense the way you explained it, I still don't agree with charging the customer.
From a business perspective, it would be a better move to incorporate this price in the menu somewhere, rather then passing it onto the customer.

I realize the customer will pay regardless of how you do it, but perspective is everything.
Also, certain costs are a price of doing business, no?
I suppose some companies would rather make an extra dollar "once" (literally) than worry about having repeat customers.

Take ---------- as an example, I cancelled a $75 order to protest this extra charge.
Why? Because I viewed it as unreasonable, and I believe this should be a free service.

Remember 22 years ago? When VHS rentals were just starting to hit the scene?
Every video store that opened up charged a $50 - $99 annual membership, plus you had to still pay for your rental. This extra 50 or hundred bucks was merely a money grab because the technology was new.

Granted, my example is not the best, but ---------- charging me a dollar to order my food online is the same type of thing.

Rather than being happy that I am ordering food from you, you decide to stick me with an extra buck to show your appreciation. That's how I see it anyway.

Why am I wasting my time writing this to you?
Good question! As a business consultant, it truly amazes me how near sighted some companies are, and the difficulty they have seeing the big picture.

I could write a book about ":What Not to Do" when running a business, I would call it "How to lose your customers for life, and make sure they never return."

Anyhow, thanks for reading my babble, and I wish you well.

Regards
Habibi

 

holy chow?

 

Bleh! I'm such a idiot sometimes, LOL
I just read my letter and noticed one spot I forgot to feleted, LOL

Oh well, it's not like it's the cadbury secret or anything.

Here's their website:
http://www.holeechow.com/holeechow.html

If you need to input a postal code to look at menu, K7L4V2

The food is good,m but it's expensive, and I'm not paying the buck!!

 

Yeah right, blame us.

Good time to buy a new truck.
Record yesterday ($1.21).

Our export sucks though.