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The story
A FORZA STYLE article recounting one man in his 50s’ bewildered experience with QR code and LINE ordering at an izakaya (Japanese pub) — he wondered aloud, “Is this actually the customer’s job?” — sparked a wave of reactions on a 5channel (5ch) News Speed+ thread. The real sticking point wasn’t the ordering system itself, but resistance to LINE Official Account setups that require “adding the store as a friend” before you can even see the menu. While some praised QR ordering as “convenient” and said it “cuts down on order mistakes,” others pushed back with complaints like “I don’t want to friend a place I’ll only visit once” and “don’t make customers pay for the data,” splitting the thread between those who valued convenience and those who resented the hassle.
FORZA STYLE
“Humor is a gentleman’s virtue”
“I hate QR code ordering…” Fed up with smartphone ordering at izakayas, a man in his 50s baffled by digitization let slip: “Is this seriously the customer’s job?” [Expert advice]
Source: forzastyle.com / Original article here
What people said
If it's from a tablet the store provides, that's fine — I just don't want to register on LINE for a place I'm only visiting once.
People are losing it over having to cover a fraction of a yen in data charges.
Actually read the article.
> It wasn't the browser-based ordering type — you had to add the store's LINE Official Account as a friend before you could even reach the menu screen.
Even I'd hate that.
Depends a lot on the individual.
If you check the source, his point was: "Some places make LINE registration mandatory, and that's just wrong — things are heading in the wrong direction."
Just give me my data charges back.
Fair point. If LINE registration is mandatory, they should at least accept PayPay (a popular Japanese mobile payment app).
On the flip side, I don't want to touch a device that who-knows-who's been handling right before I eat.
Major chains basically never do this — they run their own in-house ordering/payment systems. It's independent, mom-and-pop places that use the LINE registration system, since it's cheap to set up.
Don't worry, I won't be going.
Well, it goes both ways, so I guess there's no problem lol
There used to be places that banned anyone who wasn't young. No idea if they're still around.
I see. Guess that's just the era Japan's in now.
Even izakayas running about 10,000 yen a head sometimes use QR ordering (´・ω・｀)
Right there with you. Even at 50, I love Sushiro's big tablet screens.
Older folks can't see small text, after all.
Then post the ordering method in big letters outside the store — and the payment method too, ideally.
If they'd just post the ordering method at the entrance, I could avoid those places.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
The backdrop here is that independently owned restaurants often adopt LINE Official Account ordering systems because it lets them avoid the cost of building a dedicated app or POS system. Unlike browser-based QR ordering that works on its own, requiring customers to “add as a friend” on LINE keeps setup costs down for the store, but tends to create friction for customers — the hassle of registering and unease over handing over personal information. The thread’s split reactions come down to the fact that QR ordering itself and the LINE-registration-required operating model are really two separate issues; it was the latter the man in the original article was questioning. Conflating the two makes it look like a simple generational story about “older people who can’t keep up with digitization,” but the complaints actually center on paying for one’s own data usage and the hassle of registering — reactions that could come from any age group.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (News Speed+) thread ““I hate QR code ordering…” Fed up with smartphone ordering at izakayas. A man in his 50s baffled by digitization… “Is this the customer’s job?””.
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