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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

#361

Post by ratww »

ioman wrote: post #340

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…

In Brazil a lot of people moved to use WhatsApp for ordering, which keeps the history and requires the company to use nothing but a free app everyone already has.

At worse the pizza place has to ask for the address again if they're in a rush.

I find it a quite clever solution.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#362

Post by oneplane »

Imagine someone trying to attack you by simply ordering many paid-on-delivery services to your house... man, wouldn't it be great that to order something like that you had to do a bit more validation or proving you say who you are? Oh wait, that's exactly what is happening. (as a side-effect)

I also don't understand the “Large Pizza for Pickup” bit, do you just get a random pizza? What size is 'large'? 25cm? 35cm? 40cm? more? What is on it? Cold fish and milk? Used car oil and yesterday's bread? This all seems to be hyper-personal and while that is fine, it doesn't really mean that everyone wants to order this way. Especially when you simply do not want to call or talk to someone.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#363

Post by Ekaros »

dkdbejwi383 wrote: post #303

I like to order from apps because: - it helps to find new places I wouldn’t otherwise have ordered from - I can spend 15 minutes being indecisive if I want. I’m not sure someone in the shop would want to spend that amount of time reading the menu to me over and over

Not to mention I can spend the 15 minutes comparing different places.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#364

Post by antifa »

tjoff wrote: post #345
michaelcampbell wrote: post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is 100% backward from my experience. Having an account is a 1-time cost, and not only a small one, but one I do for hundreds of other things every day. Logging in is a keystroke that has my password manager auto type my username and password; again something I repeat daily. With the situation in the US at least, trying to get anyone on the phone is an exercise in frustration. The app (for me, so far) has always…

In theory you have a point. But installing a user hostile app is a total dealbreaker. And I guarantee that the eula is not only illegal but an absolute shitshow of trying to exploit paying customers so that the library of whatever third party module required to view an image could earn a sixteenth of a cent per pizza. And that is always the case. Just call instead. Unfortunately you can't do that for everything. Just…

I've been able to use the mobile websites for all my pizza establishments.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#365

Post by tjoff »

michaelcampbell wrote: post #358
tjoff wrote: post #345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In theory you have a point. But installing a user hostile app is a total dealbreaker. And I guarantee that the eula is not only illegal but an absolute shitshow of trying to exploit paying customers so that the library of whatever third party module required to view an image could earn a sixteenth of a cent per pizza. And that is always the case. Just call instead. Unfortunately you can't do that for everything. Just…

I will say that when I say "app", I mean web app. I don't use the phone app, although most of my post is still relevant there. My reasons for that are mainly that I'm at home on my big screen with a real keyboard 99% of the time that I'm ordering pizza and it's just easier. So the hostility is perhaps less there.

To even offer a webb app is in the minority. Even if the actual app is just a webview.

And the user hostility only starts at the surface.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#366

Post by AuthorizedCust »

This is hilarious because I just read a NYT article about restaurants ditching phones.

I submitted it here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30137434. Among the arguments is hourly wages paid for an inefficient job duty.

If done right, or if you are ok accepting lost business from disgruntled customers, ditching the phone can be a decent idea. I’d like to hobble my work phone by removing voice mail.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#367

Post by ratww »

ricardobayes wrote: post #307
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…

Chat, or message apps might be the best way yet. They don't need signup but easy to get your point across precisely. I ordered pickup through an app because I don't speak the local language but I had a flat tire so I needed to coordinate the delivery through phone (again, in a language I barely speak). They couldn't understand my address so we switched to whatsapp and could send them the coordinates. Twenty minutes l…

This is also a very cheap solution for merchants: only requires a mobile phone and a free app that almost everyone has in some countries. If push comes to shove, install Signal/Telegram or accept SMS.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#368

Post by mcntsh »

ioman wrote: post #340

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…

I'm not sure if Uber Eats/DoorDash are starting to force businesses to stop taking phone orders, but the last few times I tried to call and place an order I was told I need to do it from their website (which was an Uber Eats POS).

Which sucks because then you pay the app fees on top of everything.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#369

Post by thorwawayrus53 »

ioman wrote: post #340

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…

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

I feel this.

Re: Phone is still the best way to order pizza

#370

Post by Nextgrid »

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

I got banned from Deliveroo for a similar reason. I was a heavy user (several times a day every day) and mistakes are bound to happen - I'd estimate that maybe 20% of my orders ended up having something wrong. I guess they just assumed that 20% is an acceptable cost that the users should bear despite all the fees they add (to both the user-facing price and the fees they charge to restaurants)?

Uber Eats wasn't much better and tried to still make me pay for delivery fees even when the only item in the order was wrong/damaged, but a chargeback quickly took care of that.

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