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

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#231

Post by wingerlang » Sun, Jan 30, 2022, 4:44 AM UTC

hnal943 wrote: post #108

ineedasername wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because traditional pizzarerias don't have crust options like that, and if they do they are not the default. With my local place the call really is as simple as: Me: I'd like a large plain pie for pickup. Pizzeria: what's your name? [Name]. Okay $name, 15 to 20 minutes. And we're done. If you're ordering from a big 3 chain then you have to deal with a bunch of non-dedault options, but if you know what you want it can…

you don't order toppings? They don't ask?

You order toppings for all pizzas? We usually just order by number/names (via menu). Toppings are very rarely adjusted, and NEVER "built" from scratch. At least I've never seen anyone do that.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#232

Post by capitalsigma » Sun, Jan 30, 2022, 5:00 AM UTC

jeffbee wrote: post #161

lostgame wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Why should I create an account to order a pizza? Most of the apps in my area (Toronto, Canada) absolutely do not require account creation and allow you to just use a ‘guest’ account; usually just requiring (reasonably) your phone number. As to why I’d want an account to order? Let’s say I have a local favourite pizza joint and a favourite pizza I like to order. Having my personal info and payment info already fill…

Just FYI, this is something I really like about Google Maps integration with restaurant take-out ordering. They put the "Order Again" button front and center and let's face it, I'm not really planning to switch it up at my corner lunch spot. Obviously in that case I need an account, with Google, but I already had that and I trust them with my info more than I just some merchant's white-label mobile app.

I had a restaurant screw up my order via Google's ordering platform and there was no one to ask for a refund -- the Google platform doesn't accept complaints about the merchant, and there's no way to contact the merchant through the Google platform after your order is complete. They forgot an item in my order and so overcharged me by like 40%. YMMV

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#233

Post by mariojv » Sun, Jan 30, 2022, 5:02 AM UTC

jdavis703 wrote: post #114

And how does he pay for the pizza? Cash? Check (do they even take checks these days?) Seriously, I can open the Toast (they started off making POS software) for my go-to pizza place. I can look to see if their special of the day looks worth ordering. If not, I go to my default. Then comes the fun part: payment. They have Apple Pay enabled, so I let them save my Apple Pay token. So even if Toast gets compromised, they…

You just pay when you pick up the pizza, card or cash. If it's delivery, you just read out your card number to them or pay the driver in cash. Are you in the US?

When I was in Mexico, delivery people carried devices to process credit card payments with them. That's less common here.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#234

Post by hilbert42 » Sun, Jan 30, 2022, 5:03 AM UTC

ma2rten wrote: post #227

hilbert42 wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Exactly!

In that sense they're not fuckwits but their ethics are in the gutter.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#235

Post by cookie_monsta » Sun, Jan 30, 2022, 5:05 AM UTC

oxplot wrote: post #177

jimmyswimmy wrote: post #23

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.

Plus you get to share your food with the driver[1] which is nice.

[1] https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-eats-delivery-drivers-e...

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#236

Post by ofcrpls » Sun, Jan 30, 2022, 5:07 AM UTC

extra88 wrote: post #127

technothrasher wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I used to live in Rochester, NY I ate Dominos because it was the best pizza in town. Rochester is a pizza wasteland. Or at least it was when I lived there.

Salvatore’s was better.

I'd go with OP too. Dominos was our best bet circa 2007-10.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#237

Post by mariojv » Sun, Jan 30, 2022, 5:08 AM UTC

0xbadcafebee wrote: post #139

Phone is the only method that supports all pizza places and prevents any barrier to ordering. It is the best method by default . I've lived all over the USA, and I like pizza. In big cities, the closest pizza place is not a franchise. In small towns, often no pizza place is listed on an online service, the closest pizza place is literally a gas station, nobody takes credit cards, and delivery makes no sense. People i…

I agree with you wholeheartedly that phone ordering is the best method, and I use it myself most of the time. It's always been the best method except during the busiest takeout periods at the busiest restaurants.

I just wanted to point out one nitpick, when you mentioned this: "Even if you're deaf or blind, you can order pizza over the phone without issue."

That is true, but that doesn't mean that online ordering systems cannot help people with disabilities. My brother does not have to live alone, but if he did, he is mute and has trouble using a speaking device. An app would be far easier for him than a phone call. In other words, accessibility requires both systems, not one or the other.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#238

Post by hilbert42 » Sun, Jan 30, 2022, 5:17 AM UTC

cromka wrote: post #217

axlee wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That’s because you were refunded automatically without human intervention. This is what the author of the comment pointed out: once you do that too often in a short period of time, the bot assumes you’re scamming them and there’s no way to escalate that.

"...once you do that too often in a short period of time, the bot assumes you’re scamming them and there’s no way to escalate that."

The only way that'll be fixed will be with legislation. It's not only Uber, it's Google et al - they all into it.

Simply, they need to be halled kicking and screaming to plow some of their enormous profits back into customer servive.

Trouble is consumer protection law is decades behind where it ought to be.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#239

Post by SOLAR_FIELDS » Sun, Jan 30, 2022, 5:22 AM UTC

Spooky23 wrote: post #95

shagie wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dominos has a patent on this - https://patents.google.com/patent/US10262281B1/en - and its rather accurate. The "its done" in the app or web page and it is within a minute or so of being able to walk out the door with it or have it show up. And ordering with Dominos you get a dominos driver - not a middleman.

Dominos is tough as their systems are awesome, but the product itself is… not so much.

Dominos is interesting to me as a product because it’s the result of decades of bean counters trying to strip everything good away from a product while still trying to make it appealing. Nowadays the technology itself seems to me like it’s more of a product than the pizza.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#240

Post by devoutsalsa » Sun, Jan 30, 2022, 5:23 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…

Next time try calling the restaurant!