Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Do you get less food when you order online? That's what the data shows

medium.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 66 posts

Re: Do you get less food when you order online? That's what the data shows

#21

Post by dbg31415 »

kjkjadksj wrote: post #13
dbg31415 wrote: post #8

Hey, for Chipotle, I've had the exact opposite experience. Order online with their app, and the order is always bursting at the seams. Order in person, and it's meh. Plus the line! Order through like Favor / Uber, and it's like, "Why did I do this?" Curious how worker training factors in, or if it's just, "Oh we had more time so we made a better order..." Or, "Oh, we had the data in our own system that prints slips w…

My theory is if the manager is not near the line at the time when you order, you get bigger scoops.

I worked at a sandwich shop in high school... I don't know, like we wanted tips and we knew that if we made good sandwiches people would tip. I suspect Chipotle is the same.

The manager was on the hook to make sure we didn't use too much of the ingredients, since they had a little quantity checklist... "If I make X sandwiches, I should only need Y slices of bread" type metric to go off of.

But we had so much waste anyway, hard to think anyone really cared. I think probably 20% of the food we prepared got thrown out. Maybe that's less these days, but like we would slice tomatoes and onions knowing we might as well chuck every 5th slice directly into the bin. More some days. It was really frustrating to prepare a bunch of onions, only to literally throw out 95% of them later if we had a slow day.

I don't know that my manager ever really cared about us adding more ingredients. But... it does seem like something they would worry about. =P

Re: Do you get less food when you order online? That's what the data shows

#22

Post by throwaway22032 »

nmstoker wrote: post #17

They ought to give you more, to make up for when the delivery agents invariably mess things up. At least Deliveroo UK finally relented to give delivery failures back as a refund rather than their old position which was effectively: "Oops, we messed up leaving you without a portion of your meal... Please can we keep your hard-earned cash as a credit, so that you can only use it by spending more money with us". Has any…

Tons of people use cash. I used to work for Deliveroo. I got cash tips approx 30-50% of orders.

I always tip in cash. I pay in cash for orders that accept it. Why would I use card unless forced?

edit: this is a rhetorical question, I don't literally need to know why physical objects are cumbersome to you, this is HN lol

Re: Do you get less food when you order online? That's what the data shows

#23

Post by SoftTalker »

MuffinFlavored wrote: post #2

I've ordered food from Chipotle online, taken 30-40 minutes to get to the store, and very often it would have been more convenient (I would have gotten my food more quickly) if I had skipped the online order and waited in the in-person line instead. This doesn't always happen and it depends on a ton of things (store, time/shift, crew working at the time) but it got to the point where I couldn't reliably get the food…

If a restaurant is deliveries only (or primarily) like Dominos then I will order for delivery. I'll never order delivery from a place with a dining room. It just doesn't work. It will take the best part of an hour at minimum, the food will be cold/soggy/crushed when you get it, and you'll have to pay delivery fees.

I learned this lesson way back in the 1980s when a McDonald's here tried to partner with a delivery startup to deliver food. They went all in, renovating the store with a call center and a half-dozen phones and order taking stations. It was a novelty for a few months but everyone quickly figured out that burgers and fries don't travel well.

Learn to cook some simple meals at home. Or go out to eat. Delivery is the worst way to get your food.

Re: Do you get less food when you order online? That's what the data shows

#24

Post by SoftTalker »

dbg31415 wrote: post #21
kjkjadksj wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My theory is if the manager is not near the line at the time when you order, you get bigger scoops.

I worked at a sandwich shop in high school... I don't know, like we wanted tips and we knew that if we made good sandwiches people would tip. I suspect Chipotle is the same. The manager was on the hook to make sure we didn't use too much of the ingredients, since they had a little quantity checklist... "If I make X sandwiches, I should only need Y slices of bread" type metric to go off of. But we had so much waste an…

Food waste can make or break the profitabilty of a restaurant. If the manager didn't care, he wasn't really managing (and many don't).

Re: Do you get less food when you order online? That's what the data shows

#25

Post by unsupp0rted »

throwaway22032 wrote: post #22
nmstoker wrote: post #17

They ought to give you more, to make up for when the delivery agents invariably mess things up. At least Deliveroo UK finally relented to give delivery failures back as a refund rather than their old position which was effectively: "Oops, we messed up leaving you without a portion of your meal... Please can we keep your hard-earned cash as a credit, so that you can only use it by spending more money with us". Has any…

Tons of people use cash. I used to work for Deliveroo. I got cash tips approx 30-50% of orders. I always tip in cash. I pay in cash for orders that accept it. Why would I use card unless forced? edit: this is a rhetorical question, I don't literally need to know why physical objects are cumbersome to you, this is HN lol

Cash is friction.

I would prefer it if I could pay in cash fractionally, without having to give or get slips of paper, file that paper in a portable filing cabinet in my pocket, keep up with how many slips of paper of what denominations I have in my filing cabinet, and periodically run out of slips of paper just at a time when I most need them.

The worst is giving somebody one slip of paper and receiving in return multiple slips of paper and several bits of metal. Then I need to file the bits of metal too and remember how much in my pocket they add up to, or, more likely, keep them at home and never use them for anything.

Re: Do you get less food when you order online? That's what the data shows

#26

Post by yamtaddle »

throwaway22032 wrote: post #22
nmstoker wrote: post #17

They ought to give you more, to make up for when the delivery agents invariably mess things up. At least Deliveroo UK finally relented to give delivery failures back as a refund rather than their old position which was effectively: "Oops, we messed up leaving you without a portion of your meal... Please can we keep your hard-earned cash as a credit, so that you can only use it by spending more money with us". Has any…

Tons of people use cash. I used to work for Deliveroo. I got cash tips approx 30-50% of orders. I always tip in cash. I pay in cash for orders that accept it. Why would I use card unless forced? edit: this is a rhetorical question, I don't literally need to know why physical objects are cumbersome to you, this is HN lol

I've started paying in cash for pickup orders so I don't have to cross out the "tip" line on the stupid receipt right in front of the clerk.

Re: Do you get less food when you order online? That's what the data shows

#27

Post by ladberg »

throwaway22032 wrote: post #22
nmstoker wrote: post #17

They ought to give you more, to make up for when the delivery agents invariably mess things up. At least Deliveroo UK finally relented to give delivery failures back as a refund rather than their old position which was effectively: "Oops, we messed up leaving you without a portion of your meal... Please can we keep your hard-earned cash as a credit, so that you can only use it by spending more money with us". Has any…

Tons of people use cash. I used to work for Deliveroo. I got cash tips approx 30-50% of orders. I always tip in cash. I pay in cash for orders that accept it. Why would I use card unless forced? edit: this is a rhetorical question, I don't literally need to know why physical objects are cumbersome to you, this is HN lol

A few % discount and the ability to get your money back if an uncooperative business shorts you?

Re: Do you get less food when you order online? That's what the data shows

#28

Post by MuffinFlavored »

SoftTalker wrote: post #23
MuffinFlavored wrote: post #2

I've ordered food from Chipotle online, taken 30-40 minutes to get to the store, and very often it would have been more convenient (I would have gotten my food more quickly) if I had skipped the online order and waited in the in-person line instead. This doesn't always happen and it depends on a ton of things (store, time/shift, crew working at the time) but it got to the point where I couldn't reliably get the food…

If a restaurant is deliveries only (or primarily) like Dominos then I will order for delivery. I'll never order delivery from a place with a dining room. It just doesn't work. It will take the best part of an hour at minimum, the food will be cold/soggy/crushed when you get it, and you'll have to pay delivery fees. I learned this lesson way back in the 1980s when a McDonald's here tried to partner with a delivery sta…

> I'll never order delivery from a place with a dining room

This was "pickup" ordering in case it wasn't clear. Not that your point doesn't still stand.

Re: Do you get less food when you order online? That's what the data shows

#29

Post by rand_flip_bit »

ezfe wrote: post #18
seangransee wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard anecdotally that Chipotle also gives you less food in online orders, although I haven't measured it. Maybe that will be next :)

Definitely not the case - I do both and while it does vary, it's not consistent across online/in-person

Depends on when you go. If you show up during lunch/hour when the line is getting long they absolutely will over scoop. It isn’t worth it for them to slow down the line when every customer asks them “can you scoop more” at every single step. They just over scoop to keep people quiet and keep the line moving. The difference is about 2x an online or off-peak order, and about 3x a late night order (hour before closing). Just my experience though.

Re: Do you get less food when you order online? That's what the data shows

#30

Post by MuffinFlavored »

ezfe wrote: post #18
seangransee wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard anecdotally that Chipotle also gives you less food in online orders, although I haven't measured it. Maybe that will be next :)

Definitely not the case - I do both and while it does vary, it's not consistent across online/in-person

I feel they are less likely to skimp you if they are face to face with you/you signal you are willing to pay extra for extra (whereas on the ticket as an online order they build, they might miss it)
Post reply on HN