Phone is still the best way to order pizza • Hacker News Board

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#221

Post by function_seven » Sun, Jan 30, 2022, 4:18 AM UTC

kemayo wrote: post #216

Okay but, and hear me out here, I hate talking on the phone. I cannot stand the difficulties of mutual accent-interpretation and talking over restaurant crowd noise. I will always use an app/website to order if it's an option, even if it's technically less efficient. (Similarly, I also hate ordering at drive-throughs because the intercoms are generally terrible. I'll get out of my car and walk inside to order if that…

The Taco Bell and Chick-fil-a apps are amazing. I spend as much time as I want going over the menu, customizing my items as I see fit (steak instead of ground beef, or creamy salsa dressing instead of avocado lime), and pay for it before I get in the car.

When I drive up, I just say "online order for function_seven" and they say, "cool, we'll have it at the window".

The staff taking orders from the speaker are often doing 2 things at once. They're also taking money from another car or prepping orders as well. They don't catch every nuance, and screw it up half the time. Not their fault! They're not being allowed to focus on one thing.

The app is like skipping that unreliable middleman and putting my order directly into their system.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#222

Post by kzrdude » Sun, Jan 30, 2022, 4:24 AM UTC

bee_rider wrote: post #185

kzrdude wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is wild, I didn't know such default pizzas existed (my context: scandinavia)

Cheese pizza must be the default, right? It is the lack of toppings. Although whether they follow up to clarify about toppings must depend on the place. In my experience, if the guy on the phone is rude and lets you mess up your order, they are much more likely to produce a good pizza. Places will only be polite (or offer lots of options) if they can't compete on quality.

Ah, the 'Soup Nazi' hypothesis

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#223

Post by themadturk » Sun, Jan 30, 2022, 4:25 AM UTC

I cannot tell you how much money I've save at Round Table Pizza by earning points. Can't do that over the phone (that I'm aware of). And, if you want to downgrade to Dominos, for a long time pre-pandemic I was able to get large single-toppings for $7 each if I ordered via the app -- nothing even close to that on the phone or in the store.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#224

Post by franzwong » Sun, Jan 30, 2022, 4:26 AM UTC

If the app adds guest order, does that solve author's problem?

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#225

Post by boomboomsubban » Sun, Jan 30, 2022, 4:31 AM UTC

Someone1234 wrote: post #159

duxup wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked at a pizza place as a kid, we were told to apply coupons regardless if they mentioned it. Probably a midwestern thing. It was a chore.

You and the person you're responding to are saying the same thing. If you call you won't have a coupon, and they aren't going to tell you about any, therefore you're paying more. How do you find coupons? Check online, but now you're already there so why not just order it there? A lot of coupons work either online or over the phone, but they're only advertised online and therefore that advantaged is largely to avoid m…

>If you call you won't have a coupon, and they aren't going to tell you about any

They will, I worked at both Pizza Hut and Dominos twenty years ago and if you asked for the specials we'd basically tell you the coupons. I think our script even said "would you like to hear the specials today?"

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#226

Post by samtheDamned » Sun, Jan 30, 2022, 4:32 AM UTC

function_seven wrote: post #221

kemayo wrote: post #216

Okay but, and hear me out here, I hate talking on the phone. I cannot stand the difficulties of mutual accent-interpretation and talking over restaurant crowd noise. I will always use an app/website to order if it's an option, even if it's technically less efficient. (Similarly, I also hate ordering at drive-throughs because the intercoms are generally terrible. I'll get out of my car and walk inside to order if that…

The Taco Bell and Chick-fil-a apps are amazing. I spend as much time as I want going over the menu, customizing my items as I see fit (steak instead of ground beef, or creamy salsa dressing instead of avocado lime), and pay for it before I get in the car. When I drive up, I just say "online order for function_seven" and they say, "cool, we'll have it at the window". The staff taking orders from the speaker are often…

> I spend as much time as I want going over the menu, customizing my items as I see fit (steak instead of ground beef, or creamy salsa dressing instead of avocado lime)

Having worked in fast food for a long time, I've noticed that with the rise of ordering on mobile apps, a lot of the apps have started to nudge customers to customize their orders way more. It can be somewhat frustrating to be on the receiving end of orders that would normally sound extreme to order over the counter or through a drive-thru speaker, but the app makes it seem fine. They're usually not a problem other than slowing down the line, but getting them in a rush can be a nightmare.

I do have to say though, I do like the ability to browse the menu without feeling like I have to hurry up and order, and I think the benefits of ordering through an app generally outweigh the downsides.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#227

Post by ma2rten » Sun, Jan 30, 2022, 4:35 AM UTC

hilbert42 wrote: post #219

mvid wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Moreover, you can't even phone Uber Eats! I had a huge delivery of Chinese food left on my doorstep (it was still quite hot). Obviously, delivered to the wrong address. The bill was fully itemized and stapled to one of the Uber bags and it came to just short of $200 but there was no correct address and no telephone number to be found on it anywhere. Anyway, I did my best to contact Uber Eats to get the delivery perso…

Believe me, they save more on call center bills than you did on food bills.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#228

Post by mmcgaha » Sun, Jan 30, 2022, 4:35 AM UTC

throwawayboise wrote: post #154

halostatue wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- the restaurant is busy, they forget to check the printer(s) - the restaurant is busy, the printer ink or thermal paper smudges

- The restaurant is busy, they don't answer the phone, so you call somewhere else that isn't busy. - The app takes your order, because apps are never busy, but the restaurant is busy and they don't even start making your food until an hour later.

Ordered sushi online and the site said it would be ready in 15 minutes. I get there and they tell me an hour. Next time I will call it in.

On the other hand Chipotle is always ready when I get there.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#229

Post by PakG1 » Sun, Jan 30, 2022, 4:41 AM UTC

mvid wrote: post #186

oxplot wrote: 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

They only stopped refunding you? They completely banned my account and my wife's account. We're still not sure what we did and they won't explain to us. Even escalated on Twitter and communicated by email. All we were told is that they have a zero tolerance policy for fraudulent behaviour and that the decision was final. WTH?

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#230

Post by nvr219 » Sun, Jan 30, 2022, 4:42 AM UTC

Domino's web app is the one to beat here. Superior to phone - it remembers my past custom orders, remembers multiple addresses, gives me a free pizza every once in a while, my kids get to watch the gps of the delivery driver (creepy imo but hey it sells)