I use yelp to see reviews and menu but call directly to place a "togo" order.
People think they're calling restaurants directly but Grubhub is getting a fee
41–50 of 258 posts
Re: People think they're calling restaurants directly but Grubhub is getting a fee
#42It's disheartening that there's so much due diligence required just to conduct the most basic transactions right now. I have a narrow list of vetted restaurants, where I understand the costs and to the business, the delivery model, the safety (food handling and Covid precautions), and I only take out from these particular places. I tried a new place recently, only to find out I had been duped by Grub-hub, even though…
The due diligence is because the restaurants offer a terrible experience. Most still do not have an independent online ordering function. They want me to call. Most still haven't set up meaningful profiles on Yelp and other review sites. So I would need to root around to find contact information. That is in addition to needing to give my credit card over the phone, not knowing how long the order will take, and needin…
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Re: People think they're calling restaurants directly but Grubhub is getting a fee
#43Can Grubhub do this phone scamming thing if the restaurants don’t agree to work with Grubhub? If not, it’s on the restaurants to figure out they’re being scammed and cut off Grubhub. I agree it’s extremely sleazy but if restaurants opt into it what can you do?
Regarding online ordering: restaurants need to decide if this is a space they want to be in (to grow business by allowing another channel for ordering) then research the field, pick a vendor with a fee model they like (or build their own!) and get actively into the game. For better or worse this is like having a phone number however-many years ago. You can choose not to but the technology is getting more and more popular so if you want to “keep up” you have to learn a new trick.
There are some up-front flat-fee vendors out there that will allow you to set up your menu for online order at your domain. And if you don’t want to spend the time, Grubhub will do it for you for a fee, and if you don’t want to pay the fee or spend the time, then cross your fingers and hope your customers are ok ordering by phone. But online ordering is not going to come out of nothing at no cost.
Re: People think they're calling restaurants directly but Grubhub is getting a fee
#44People should ask where who are they speaking to and if the operator lies they should take legal action.
Re: People think they're calling restaurants directly but Grubhub is getting a fee
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
Grubhub’s CEO said on an earnings call that customers are “promiscuous” and not demonstrating loyalty to a single dining app, so while you have your anecdote, it doesn’t appear to apply across larger sample sizes. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-grubhub-results/grubhub-b...
Sure, but are they also promiscuous about ordering from the restaurants themselves or just across apps? I am also promiscuous across apps (DoorDash just because I got the DashPass for during the pandemic), but it has been years since I ordered anything other than pizza directly. So the industry as a whole just owns the customers rather than the restaurant.
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Re: People think they're calling restaurants directly but Grubhub is getting a fee
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't understand why this isn't treated like domain name hijacking, though. Suppose you want to go to McDonald's. I buy the McDonald's domain name. I put a credit card form on my site, and I "deliver" McDonald's to you. I charge a $40 surcharge for the privilege. There is no way in hell that McDonald's would have to go begging at realmcdonald's.com because of my shenanigans. They'd have no patience for this bullshi…
I mean you can absolutely do your first businesses model as long as you don't claim to actually be McDonald's your fine. The issue here is they agreed to allow GrubHub to pretend to be them. You'd never get that deal with McDonald's since they'd just not agree to it since they know it's a horrible idea but tons of people running restaurants don't understand they are getting a raw deal.
> The issue here is they agreed to allow GrubHub to pretend to be them.
Sadly, that's false. GrubHub is a bad actor.
https://www.eater.com/2019/10/30/20940107/grubhub-to-add-res...
Re: People think they're calling restaurants directly but Grubhub is getting a fee
#47If GrubHub brings awareness to your restaurant that turns into an order why shouldn't they be compensated? You may not like the commission. Don't like it, leave. The only case I think is a step too far is if GrubHub uses their search rank to display results above a non-participating restaurant and attempts to extort commissions by displaying a proxy number anyway. Is there any evidence of this? If a customer decides…
If GH takes a 25% cut, then they need to be adding 25% more revenue to the takeout market. I would bet good money they are not.
Instead, they are paying for ad space to siphon the traffic of already hungry customers looking to order from a restaurant.
GH then shows the numbers to the restaurant and says "Look how much business GH brings you. You need to pay us for this"
In many cases they are extorting restaurants over what would be organic web traffic. In these cases they are not adding new revenue to the industry, and are instead choking the restaurants that already operate on thin margins.
Re: People think they're calling restaurants directly but Grubhub is getting a fee
#48Can Grubhub do this phone scamming thing if the restaurants don’t agree to work with Grubhub? If not, it’s on the restaurants to figure out they’re being scammed and cut off Grubhub. I agree it’s extremely sleazy but if restaurants opt into it what can you do? Regarding online ordering: restaurants need to decide if this is a space they want to be in (to grow business by allowing another channel for ordering) then re…
> Can Grubhub do this phone scamming thing if the restaurants don’t agree to work with Grubhub?
I don't know whether they (legally) can, but they do.
https://www.eater.com/2019/10/30/20940107/grubhub-to-add-res...
Re: People think they're calling restaurants directly but Grubhub is getting a fee
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't understand why this isn't treated like domain name hijacking, though. Suppose you want to go to McDonald's. I buy the McDonald's domain name. I put a credit card form on my site, and I "deliver" McDonald's to you. I charge a $40 surcharge for the privilege. There is no way in hell that McDonald's would have to go begging at realmcdonald's.com because of my shenanigans. They'd have no patience for this bullshi…
The Grubhubs and DoorDashes are not logistic services but also marketing services. Most companies sign a marketing agreement with them.
I think I remember reading that they often set all of this up prior to speaking with the owner / without getting their approval and then basically go to them after the fact and say "look how much traffic we've been bringing in for you"
Edit: Ah, yup - see link to eater.com post elsewhere in the thread
Re: People think they're calling restaurants directly but Grubhub is getting a fee
#50If GrubHub brings awareness to your restaurant that turns into an order why shouldn't they be compensated? You may not like the commission. Don't like it, leave. The only case I think is a step too far is if GrubHub uses their search rank to display results above a non-participating restaurant and attempts to extort commissions by displaying a proxy number anyway. Is there any evidence of this? If a customer decides…
In all cases where GrubHub has the first result in my area, they didn't do anything to "make me aware" of the restaurant I'm trying to order from. All they're doing in many cases is making it a pain in the ass for me to order via the restaurant's own delivery page.