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People think they're calling restaurants directly but Grubhub is getting a fee

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Re: People think they're calling restaurants directly but Grubhub is getting a fee

#51

Post by ngoldberg »

obibring wrote: post #26

Its astonishing delivery services have the depravity to dupe customers trying to help a hurting industry. If you live in NYC or SF, I built a browser extension that will help you place delivery orders directly with local restaurants. It currently compares the price of your delivery across all delivery services, and within the next week, will link you to local restaurant websites if one is available. For those interes…

i've been using this in nyc and saved 16 dollars across 3 orders which is a lot more than i have with honey. would really like to use the direct order feature so restaurants can benefit more.

Re: People think they're calling restaurants directly but Grubhub is getting a fee

#52

Post by caymanjim »

It's possible to do this without resorting to the sleazy practices of Grubhub. I used to work for Slice, which provides order-taking (but notably not delivery) for mom-and-pop pizza shops. They don't add people to the platform without their permission. They only charge $1/order. They help restaurants digitize their menus, keep prices up to date, and they take orders digitally and over the phone. They have a large and responsive customer service department. It's all up front, honest, and affordable. It's not a direct comparison with Grubhub, since the restaurants still do the deliveries themselves, but it's a good business model and an honest company.

Re: People think they're calling restaurants directly but Grubhub is getting a fee

#53

Post by mrighele »

MattGaiser wrote: post #19
MaintenanceMode wrote: post #4

It'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…

Why do they ask the credit card number? I would expect to pay on delivery on a portable POS with card or phone. Safer for both.

Re: People think they're calling restaurants directly but Grubhub is getting a fee

#54

Post by HomeDeLaPot »

MaintenanceMode wrote: post #4

It'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…

$25??? That's criminal!

Re: People think they're calling restaurants directly but Grubhub is getting a fee

#55

Post by sequoia »

CharlesW wrote: post #48
sequoia wrote: post #43

Can 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...

“ In July, New Food Economy reported that Grubhub was buying restaurant web domains without restaurants’ knowledge or consent, and though Grubhub argued it’s technically allowed to do that in the contract, it was still a bad look.”

“In the contract” implies the restaurants are opting to work with Grubhub and pay them fees.

As for “non-partner” listings, how can Grubhub charge a fee if the order is phoned in or payed over the counter like a normal order? So I don’t think that situation is one where restaurants are paying Grubhub any fees (though Grubhub is surely charging customers fees and possibly marking up menu items, the latter of which I agree is shady and should be stopped.)

I am happy to be mad at Grubhub but I’m not condemning them for charging a restaurant a fee the restaurant agreed in writing to pay. Why did the coffee shop in TFA agree to pay $6.76 or whatever per call??

Re: People think they're calling restaurants directly but Grubhub is getting a fee

#57

Post by HaloZero »

I'm wondering if they changed their policy in SF or if the restaurants I looked up just have opted out of this.

I checked Phat Philly (all phone numbers on their website, grubhub, yelp, and google maps were the same). Same with Sultan Kebab & Gryo King (I couldn't find a number on their site but everyone else had the same number)

Re: People think they're calling restaurants directly but Grubhub is getting a fee

#58

Post by tomc1985 »

MattGaiser wrote: post #19
MaintenanceMode wrote: post #4

It'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…

I beg to differ. None of the places I've placed orders with (and I've been doing it a lot what with quarantine) have ever asked for CC over-the-phone. Most just want my name, some a phone number. Ordering usually takes less time than it would to fiddle about with a bunch of dropdowns, even if it had my customer information already saved.

Re: People think they're calling restaurants directly but Grubhub is getting a fee

#59

Post by rickpmg »

maest wrote: post #24
rickpmg wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I tried a new place recently, only to find out I had been duped by Grub-hub So you found a new restaurant, the restaurant found a new customer, and grub-hub is cut out of the (future) picture. Didn't grubhub earn that commission in this case? I have no love (or hate) for grub-hub... but it seems like a business hired a salesperson on commission, knowing full well the parameters of the deal, and then gets upset when…

There is no proof GH added value here. Allow me to share a related story: In some places in Eastern Europe, for a while, you could see these people stand in front of empty, free parking spots in the street. As soon as they would see a car approaching they would wave their hands and signal you to park there. To be clear, these people were not afiliated with city hall or other public institutions in any way. If you dro…

Food for thought (no pun intended)

The value that GH added here was that they were higher up than any of the restaurant's competitors, too.

So, absent of GH, that pizza sale, instead of going to GH, might have gone to a competitive pizza place.

So the restaurant has to evaluate-- it is better that I get the order through GH, or that I don't possibly get the order at all, and it goes to a competitor?

Re: People think they're calling restaurants directly but Grubhub is getting a fee

#60

Post by HomeDeLaPot »

gruglife wrote: post #3

I love this paragraph from the pizza arbitrage article, link below. If capitalism is driven by a search for profit, the food delivery business confuses the hell out of me. Every platform loses money. Restaurants feel like they're getting screwed. Delivery drivers are poster children for gig economy problems. Customers get annoyed about delivery fees. https://themargins.substack.com/p/doordash-and-pizza-arbitra...

It's venture capitalism, I guess. Enough cash became available for high-risk, high-reward ventures at a massive scale. The result has been this experimentation with platforms that undercut competitors using VC cash and have some vague plan to make a profit in the future when they've grabbed all the market share. In the meantime, plenty of individuals are making money off the scheme, while the competing businesses and the shareholders left holding the bag at the end will be the ones screwed.
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