Robot waiters at a Chinese restaurant were “fired” after complaints of spilling food and drink on customers as well as failing to match the quality of service provided by human beings.
The Workers Daily, a Chinese newspaper, reported that restaurants in the Chinese city of Guangzhou had originally used robots as a means of revolutionizing their services, but after multiple complaints from customers and staff alike, they have decided to scrap the initiative.
“The robots weren’t able to carry soup or other food steady and they would frequently break down. The boss has decided never to use them again,” one employee told the newspaper.
“Their skills are somewhat limited, they can’t even take orders or pour hot water for customers,” another waiter added.
The restaurants spent 50,000 yuan, (approximately $7720), excluding the sizeable maintenance costs, to hire each robot.
Restaurant managers in the region have decided that robots are in fact not worth the money and no more cost effective than the humans they have replaced. Two of the restaurants that begun the initiative have closed down, while another has “fired” all but one of their robots.
“The robots can attract plenty of customers, but they definitely can’t reduce the need for human labor,” said another restaurant boss.
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