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What's the "best" ordering app to use these days if I want to prioritize how well they treat restaurants? I've tried looking this up recently to no avail. I kn

by doytch 6y ago

What's the "best" ordering app to use these days if I want to prioritize how well they treat restaurants? I've tried looking this up recently to no avail. I know at the end of the day, "call and pick-up directly" is going to be it but occasionally I just don't want to go pick it up.

jetpackjoe 6y ago
Not all restaurants have their own website, but a lot do, and you can order online there.
- RHSeeger 6y ago
  Of course, some apparently have fake websites setup by grubhub to mislead customers. > Grubhub is using thousands of fake websites to upcharge commission fees from real businesses > They also list phone numbers that don’t belong to the actual business https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/28/19154220/grubhub-seamless-fake-restaurant-domain-names-commission-fees https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/28/19154220/grubhub-seamless...
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
okprod 6y ago
I don't know if there's a best one. I've been using online ordering since Foodler days, and they seem to all be getting worse. Grubhub almost always sticks to a $5 credit even if the problem with the other is much more than $5. I routinely place an order on Postmates thinking everything's fine, and then they cancel due to not having someone go pick it up. Why list the restaurant at all? Just last week, my Uber Eats order was missing a sandwich. This was probably the third order in a row where the restaurant didn't include an item as part of the order, with a fourth order containing a pubic hair in the food. For the missing sandwich, Uber refused to refund the one item, citing my account was flagged. After multiple levels of customer service, yeah, they just refused to refund me for a sandwich I never received. It's only $6 and frankly I just disputed it with my credit card, but the principle just sucks. I was halfway to creating a Twitter account to message Dara to ask if this is the new Uber he promised.
- rossjudson 6y ago
  There is definitely somebody out to get you.
  - okprod 6y ago
    No, it's a pattern of incompetent restaurants combined with money-losing VC-funded companies like Uber who don't know how to run a business. But thanks for your helpful comment.
nobody9999 6y ago
Not sure if they're "the best", but there are sites that claim not to be abusive to restaurants (some do have "apps," but why use an inferior interface to a website?) like chownow, slicelife, 9fold and beyondmenu are (or claim to be) extensions of the point-of-sale systems and only charge monthly fees or credit/debit card processing fees.
KittenInABox 6y ago
ChowBus? I also got an advertisement for Shef.
- rossjudson 6y ago
  There's also GrubBus, DoorHub, ChowDash, PostHub, etc. Really, the possibilities are infinite.
whatarethembits 6y ago
None. Use the restaurant's own ordering system whenever possible. But I understand that often these systems tend to be not as good. My family recently started a small takeaway and currently we rely entirely on JustEat/Deliveroo for orders. They take a killer commission per order and you always have to have an offer running on top to compete with incumbents who are favoured in terms of listing order. In the end you end up getting barely 50% of your list price. They can barely make ends meet. Luckily they have me (software developer) as someone who can create an online experience that rivals these big companies but competing with billion dollar companies on marketing is always gonna be a losing battle.

by doytch 6y ago

jetpackjoe 6y ago

Not all restaurants have their own website, but a lot do, and you can order online there.

RHSeeger 6y ago
Of course, some apparently have fake websites setup by grubhub to mislead customers. > Grubhub is using thousands of fake websites to upcharge commission fees from real businesses > They also list phone numbers that don’t belong to the actual business https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/28/19154220/grubhub-seamless-fake-restaurant-domain-names-commission-fees https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/28/19154220/grubhub-seamless...

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

okprod 6y ago

I don't know if there's a best one. I've been using online ordering since Foodler days, and they seem to all be getting worse. Grubhub almost always sticks to a $5 credit even if the problem with the other is much more than $5. I routinely place an order on Postmates thinking everything's fine, and then they cancel due to not having someone go pick it up. Why list the restaurant at all? Just last week, my Uber Eats order was missing a sandwich. This was probably the third order in a row where the restaurant didn't include an item as part of the order, with a fourth order containing a pubic hair in the food. For the missing sandwich, Uber refused to refund the one item, citing my account was flagged. After multiple levels of customer service, yeah, they just refused to refund me for a sandwich I never received. It's only $6 and frankly I just disputed it with my credit card, but the principle just sucks. I was halfway to creating a Twitter account to message Dara to ask if this is the new Uber he promised.

rossjudson 6y ago
There is definitely somebody out to get you.
- okprod 6y ago
  No, it's a pattern of incompetent restaurants combined with money-losing VC-funded companies like Uber who don't know how to run a business. But thanks for your helpful comment.

nobody9999 6y ago

Not sure if they're "the best", but there are sites that claim not to be abusive to restaurants (some do have "apps," but why use an inferior interface to a website?) like chownow, slicelife, 9fold and beyondmenu are (or claim to be) extensions of the point-of-sale systems and only charge monthly fees or credit/debit card processing fees.

KittenInABox 6y ago

ChowBus? I also got an advertisement for Shef.

rossjudson 6y ago
There's also GrubBus, DoorHub, ChowDash, PostHub, etc. Really, the possibilities are infinite.

whatarethembits 6y ago

None. Use the restaurant's own ordering system whenever possible. But I understand that often these systems tend to be not as good. My family recently started a small takeaway and currently we rely entirely on JustEat/Deliveroo for orders. They take a killer commission per order and you always have to have an offer running on top to compete with incumbents who are favoured in terms of listing order. In the end you end up getting barely 50% of your list price. They can barely make ends meet. Luckily they have me (software developer) as someone who can create an online experience that rivals these big companies but competing with billion dollar companies on marketing is always gonna be a losing battle.