They quoted a price to “buy it” but as you noted the real kicker here is maintenance. So Miso Robotics is quoting a $2,000 monthly fee that will include the maintenance. Pretty obvious that they are trying to get a unit in every franchise at a guaranteed, low-risk number. When these things ‘prove themselves’ and the restaurantuer see’s the actual maintenance overhead, the bigger franchises might go for a straight-purchase and create a technician position.
The other issue is that if the devices fail the restaurant no longer has trained employees and is stuck with needing a tech solution. We customers get poor service in that case and the business fails.