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Phone is still the best way to order pizza

dan.bulwinkle.net

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Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#331

Post by op00to »

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’ve literally never bargained with the pizza joint, and I would get smacked in the face and thrown out on my ass if I did it in person. Are you kidding me?

As far as when there’s a problem, with the major food delivery app I use, I am refunded merely for asking. I’ve used it heavily during the pandemic and literally every problem was solved through the app.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#332

Post by op00to »

ajuc wrote: post #273
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…

In my country there's a website that works in every major city and their suburbs that aggregates basically all restaurants, pizzerias, pierogarnias etc. And you don't have to have an account, the address and payment details are filled in by the browser autocomplete. So the friction is - click on the menu, click "order", type in the wireless transfer code. Also - almost nobody orders "pick up" pizza here, so phone req…

.. is pierogarnia a polish restaurant specializing in pierogi?

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#333

Post by cookie_monsta »

Macha wrote: post #326
cookie_monsta wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plus you get to share your food with the driver[1] which is nice. [1] https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-eats-delivery-drivers-e...

Restaurant driver is not a highly paid or long term job, so I wouldn't expect the incidence of this is actually any lower amongst restaurant employed delivery drivers.

Like you say, it is a job, though, and not gig work. I don't know what it's like now or everywhere but I did delivery work in the pre-app era. I got an hourly wage, cash tips and one staff meal per shift. That's what often happens when you get employed by humans who have to look you in the face. They treat you like a human.

It would never have occurred to me to take bites out of customers food but if you see just how little these app drivers earn and consider how little loyalty they feel to any one restaurant or platform, it's kind of understandable.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#334

Post by ajuc »

op00to wrote: post #332
ajuc wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my country there's a website that works in every major city and their suburbs that aggregates basically all restaurants, pizzerias, pierogarnias etc. And you don't have to have an account, the address and payment details are filled in by the browser autocomplete. So the friction is - click on the menu, click "order", type in the wireless transfer code. Also - almost nobody orders "pick up" pizza here, so phone req…

.. is pierogarnia a polish restaurant specializing in pierogi?

Yup.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#336

Post by southerntofu »

alexvoda wrote: post #311
hilbert42 wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The restaurant had its name on the bill but no telephone number. Presumably, this done to stop or reduce telephone complaints direct to the restaurant. Seems that everything must be done online.

I was a very slow adopter of Uber rides many years ago. When talking to some evangelist at that time offering me codes for free rides, one of the reasons I gave for not using Uber at that time, was that it was completely dependent on smartphone apps, therefore being unusable to certain portions of the population (old non-technical people, those who lost their phone, those who use an OS other than Android or iOS, dead…

Related anecdote: last time my smartphone battery died and i had to make a phone call, i walked into the nearest café just like i did many years back, and asked to borrow their phone. They were very suspicious and unfriendly, to say the least, despite having ordered a cup of coffee first. This was a very normal practice not long ago...

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#337

Post by southerntofu »

imroot wrote: post #293
PakG1 wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

I was blacklisted on Uber a few years ago when I reported a security vulnerability to them. They said no such vulnerability existed. I sent them video. They said I must have been doctoring the video because they couldn't reproduce it. They then banned me. This was in 2015. They were then sued because the vulnerability apparently identified someone's affair[0]. I sent my email exchange with Uber to the attorney who su…

Thanks for sharing this anecdote.

> I get by just fine with DoorDash and Grubhub these days, but both of those platforms have the same issues that UberEats does.

To get back to the original point, don't you think you would be better off saving as phone contacts the few restaurants you buy from, or maybe writing down the numbers on the fridge if you live with other people?

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#338

Post by iso1631 »

"Lage pizza for pickup", what is this, Soviet Russia?

1) Why would I go out and pick it up

2) What is a "large pizza". What toppings?

3) What happens when someone walks in and says "I ordered a large pizza", they take yours, you then turn up and yours is no longer there

It also misses steps like "find out what the number is of the pizza place in the first place"

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#339

Post by iso1631 »

madaxe_again wrote: post #281
SECProto wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My typical phone order for pizza lasts about 20-30 seconds, and goes as follows: > "Hey could I get a large house special for pickup?" > "Yeah it'll be ready in 15-20" Then I go to the shop, tap the card while they grab the box with my phone number on it, and I leave. If it's a Friday, the time estimate is usually longer. Sometimes I'll order two.

Man. I phone, I order, I arrive 30 minutes later, and only then do they start making the pizza, so I sit and stare for 40 minutes, and then I pay my $40 and swear I’ll never do it again, until two weeks later.

1) Why is it so expensive

2) Why does it take 40 minutes to make

3) Why didn't you just have it delivered

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#340

Post by ioman »

My local pizza place in Seattle has moved the technology the other way. Here’s the dialog when I call. “Pagliacci Pizza, how can I help you?” “I’d like to order a pizza” “Sure thing. Is this John Smith?” “Yes” “Do you still live at 1234 Main Street” “Yes” “Would you like to order the same thing you did last time?” “Yes” “Ok, it’ll be there in 20 minutes”

Even better, while you talk to the store you called, the order goes into some sort of pizza load balancer and gives the order to the least busy store with a good drive time to your house.

I’d seriously like to buy/have a beer for/with whoever designed it.

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