Get rid of a waiter? There’s an app for that.
A DUMBO techy has a remedy for snooty waiters who take too long to drop your check on the table: a new iPhone app that lets diners view and pay their bill on their phones without having to interact with the staff.
Jeff McGregor says he got the idea for his new Dash app two years ago while he and friend were sitting at a particularly slow restaurant.
“We were out to brunch and we got frustrated that we couldn’t wave down the waiter to get the check,” he said. “It seemed like a problem technology should be able to solve.”
So for the next six months, he went about solving it. Now, he claims he has an app that will get you out the door quicker than you can say “Check, please,” — and keep restaurant staff focused on more important things like preparing that after-dinner Remy Martin.
“If you’re dealing with 200 to 300 credit cards a night, that takes a lot of time,” said McGregor. “Since the staff doesn’t have to do that, they can be pouring drinks for other customers.”
Customers who use the app can easily open a tab on their phone, then they let the server know that he’ll barley have to keeps tabs on them.
But the new app doesn’t render the wait staff totally obsolete. Someone will still have to take your order and plug it into the restaurant’s computer. The app, which is presently in its testing phase, will take over from there, keeping track of everything you order and billing you accordingly. Customers can then cash themselves out at the end of the evening — and even leave a hefty tip for great service.
McGregor and his partners are currently shopping the app to restaurants around Brooklyn and are hoping to have about 100 restaurants on board by the summer.
In the app’s first stage, customers will have to hand over their credit card numbers to Dash, who will then pay the info along to the establishments. But in later versions, McGregor hopes Dash will use a bank-to-bank transfer service, which would allow restaurants to save on credit card fees.
Reach reporter Danielle Furfaro at dfurfaro@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-2511. Follow her at twitter.com/DanielleFurfaro.
