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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

#161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can GrubHub represent themselves as a restaurant seemingly without the restaurant's permission? Isn't this a trademark violation?

This is an established long-standing tactic at Hotels.com as well-- you call what you think is the hotel based on a web search. The person on the line pretends to work for the hotel. They will even play along and say "oh no discounts are available this week" or "no I dont see any AAA discounts / corporate discounts" The entire time -- they are trying to book you full price. The hotel loses, because they cannot give y…

I can't help but notice these patterns all over society and especially in tech. FAANG, Uber, Microsoft, TV, internet, dark patterns everywhere.

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

#163
post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had a pretty great experience calling restaurants to place orders. I talk to a human, tell them my order, they repeat it back to me, and tell me it will be X dollars and ready at Y o'clock. I show up at the specified time and the order is ready to go. A couple times I had to wait 5 minutes because they were inundated and couldn't keep up. No stupid app to download. No account to create. No bullshit fees. No mark…

I agree 100% with you. I think the expectations of the parent comment are very misplaced. Restaurant owners are usually not tech people, nor can many of them afford to hire tech people. To expect all restaurants to pay exorbitant amounts of money setup/ maintain online ordering systems is not realistic. Also, I have never had a restaurant ask me for a card over the phone. Order times are a rough guess based on curren…

You can almost always find a picture of the menu on Google maps as well.

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

#165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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've had a pretty great experience calling restaurants to place orders. I talk to a human, tell them my order, they repeat it back to me, and tell me it will be X dollars and ready at Y o'clock. I show up at the specified time and the order is ready to go. A couple times I had to wait 5 minutes because they were inundated and couldn't keep up. No stupid app to download. No account to create. No bullshit fees. No mark…

You're describing a good experience. Try calling a restaurant where they barely speak any English. Or one that's busy and you and the other person can't hear each other over the loud noise.

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

#166

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…

How can GrubHub represent themselves as a restaurant seemingly without the restaurant's permission? Isn't this a trademark violation?

they have better SEO. Grubhub doesnt answer the call, they just generate a phone number that forwards to the restaurant phone and then get that new number higher ranking (including google sidebar)

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

#167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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've had a pretty great experience calling restaurants to place orders. I talk to a human, tell them my order, they repeat it back to me, and tell me it will be X dollars and ready at Y o'clock. I show up at the specified time and the order is ready to go. A couple times I had to wait 5 minutes because they were inundated and couldn't keep up. No stupid app to download. No account to create. No bullshit fees. No mark…

> No stupid app to download. No account to create. No bullshit fees. No marketing emails. I just tell them what I want and then go get it. It's refreshing.

The interesting thing is that I view all those (except the fees) as benefits.

App makes it always easy to access and I can casually browse for food when hungry.

Account means I can re-order a past thing with a tap and that all my payment information is saved.

Marketing emails mean coupons.

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

#168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had a pretty great experience calling restaurants to place orders. I talk to a human, tell them my order, they repeat it back to me, and tell me it will be X dollars and ready at Y o'clock. I show up at the specified time and the order is ready to go. A couple times I had to wait 5 minutes because they were inundated and couldn't keep up. No stupid app to download. No account to create. No bullshit fees. No mark…

Yes! I don’t know why there’s so much apprehension about calling the restaurant. So often I learn more about the dish I’m ordering - does it come with X ingredient yes/no, should I order Y add-on, is rice extra. Simple questions usually omitted from online menus. Makes the experience just a tiny bit more human and that’s honestly enough for me

> Yes! I don’t know why there’s so much apprehension about calling the restaurant.

Maybe it is because I am relatively young. I grew up apps first, so all the little annoyances of phones (accents, noise in the background, dropped calls, a lack of written records, etc) frustrate me more than others who didn't grow up with apps that just worked.

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

#169
post #24
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…

Also in SF:

https://web.archive.org/web/19991018181832/https://www.jwz.o...

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

#170

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…

So why shouldn't grubhub get the fee for making it easier for restaurants to sell food?
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