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Phone is still the best way to order pizza

dan.bulwinkle.net

201–210 of 456 posts

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#201
post #186
post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use Uber Eats for ordering food exclusively exactly because when there is a screw up and I receive the wrong item or none at all, I get refunded immediately by Uber with a few taps.

Uber Eats sent my order to restaurants that were absolutely not open. After two times, and two refunds, they stopped refunding me because of a “pattern of suspicious behavior”. No way to escalate review to a human. None at all. So maybe be aware of your choice

Why is there no way to escalate review to a human? I've never had trouble getting through to Uber customer support and having my issue dealt with

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#202
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hah, this is really interesting! This is the one case where an "engagement" metric actually makes sense. Is your storefront inviting enough that a customer would place an order in person just to hang out for a few minutes? And does that drive sales (beer?). Incredible.

I have never seen a restaurant try to sell you a drink while awaiting your pickup order, but it seems like quite a clever idea.

Well, they don't make it a selling point, but they should. $1 off a pint while you wait kinda deal maybe?

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#203
Having worked at a Dominoes for 5 years, well before apps were a thing, I can say the benefit of an app is for the business. While the author's account of ordering a pizza by phone is quite efficient, it almost never goes like that. Most customers ask a lot of questions and don't know what they want, and this costs time for the employees. We had one customer who was notorious for taking 10-15 minutes to order, even though in the end he always ordered the same thing. He certainly wasn't the norm, but would make up for dozens of the "large peperoni, thanks" orders.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#204
meh. I really hate talking on the phone for some reason. When calling an order in it is usually worse because they are usually busy, you have to repeat it to make sure they get it right, spell you name (and my name is pretty standard Anglo-Saxon). On an app or website, I don't have to talk to anyone and I can see the order is right.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#205

Most of the comments here are focused on the question of why you would prefer an app to calling. The author's point is a great one though, and something I've wondered a lot. Why should I create an account to order a pizza? The app should reduce friction even from the very first order. Instead it adds, and adds for every order... Got to go look up coupon codes! On the phone I just ask the guy what their best deal is i…

A lot of times with food apps I don't immediately see how to set the pickup time or don't have a lot of faith that it really is going to be ready when I want it.

When I talk to somebody on the phone I feel a lot more sure.

I worked at a place near Union Square, NYC and was in the habit of ordering food for pickup from sweetgreen because I knew it all worked. I have thought about ordering from restaurants in Collegetown, Ithaca from the web but just haven't gotten in the habit because I don't feel the certainty.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#206
post #177

Most of the comments here are focused on the question of why you would prefer an app to calling. The author's point is a great one though, and something I've wondered a lot. Why should I create an account to order a pizza? The app should reduce friction even from the very first order. Instead it adds, and adds for every order... Got to go look up coupon codes! On the phone I just ask the guy what their best deal is i…

I use Uber Eats for ordering food exclusively exactly because when there is a screw up and I receive the wrong item or none at all, I get refunded immediately by Uber with a few taps.

Until they start doing this to you :)

https://www.reddit.com/r/assholedesign/comments/rj0a19/made_...

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#207
post #186
post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use Uber Eats for ordering food exclusively exactly because when there is a screw up and I receive the wrong item or none at all, I get refunded immediately by Uber with a few taps.

Uber Eats sent my order to restaurants that were absolutely not open. After two times, and two refunds, they stopped refunding me because of a “pattern of suspicious behavior”. No way to escalate review to a human. None at all. So maybe be aware of your choice

I have probably used Uber Eats for 100+ times over the past two (pandemic) years, and I've maybe have my orders being messed up 3-5 times, each time refunded within the next ten minutes. YMMV.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Weird. Literally the opposite of my experience. I don’t do delivery except pizza because I don’t want to pay a premium for cold food. Websites always have built in timers that take longer. Usually 45m. Meanwhile I can call a pizza place, have pizza and wings ready in 15m, pay cash or whatever and have hot food. Order online, chances are it’s sitting there for 10m to avoid getting penalized on the SLA for online order…

> Plus, shitty middlemen like DoorDash are gross Hmm... do you feel the same way about the middlemen who make it possible for you to buy bread without ordering the wheat direct from a farmer in 5,000 bushel lots, storing it, grinding it into flour, and then making it into bread? Everyone hates "middlemen", but if they're really not adding value they tend to get disintermediated fairly quickly. I remember the bad old…

Biggest issue is that DoorDash lies about how much you’re paying for delivery. They show you some of the fees, but hide the fact that the menu prices are often jacked up by 50% or more.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#210
post #19

That is the happy path. It has a lot more possible sources of error/time consumption than the app and there are many benefits to the app. 1. The line is busy. The app is next to never busy. 2. The line has static and you are not heard correctly. Especially problematic for delivery or complicated orders. Or they may get your name wrong. My first name is common and my last isn't great over the telephone. 3. You have to…

Door dash would be nice if they didn't have the system where you have to blind bid in a "tip" auction to be able to actually get food.

Baffling you pay the tip and have no way of changing it.
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