Earlier this week, a couple in Toronto ordered two delicious, fresh pizzas from their neighborhood mom and pop pizzeria via UberEats. What they received, however, was anything but what they wanted. Their delivery driver, who has a 4.8 out of 5 star rating and received no complaints in the past, delivered two mouldy sandwiches and a less-than-appetizing salad.
A GTA couple wants answers from UberEats after receiving mouldy sandwiches instead of the pizzas they ordered: https://t.co/5uRrglHtMp pic.twitter.com/txaFAQ1opA
— CBC Toronto (@CBCToronto) June 6, 2017
According to CBC, the couple then called the pizzeria, whose manager insisted that their original order was made correctly and sent off with the driver. The couple also found out that the order number on the bag that was given to them didn't even match their order number. How they ended up with a brown bag of mystery meals, no one could say.
The pizzeria even ended up with another almost identical complaint on the same night from another UberEats customer. After never having experienced anything like this to having two incidents happen in one night, they sent photos and an official complaint to Uber. The couple who wound up with the inedible meal also filed a complaint. What they got was an automated, scripted apology, a refund on their order and a $25 UberEats voucher.
While taking all the delivery responsibilities into your own hands is the best way to ensure customer satisfaction from store to doorstep, it's just not an option for some restaurants. So, if your restaurant is using third-party delivery services, how can you ensure that your restaurant is ready if something like this happens to you?
Have a Plan Ready
The easiest solution is to just have a plan. Will your restaurant offer anything to customers who are victims of a poor third-party delivery experience? If so, what? Will you submit an official complaint to the third-party service? Do you want customers to send you photos of their incorrect order for you to send in along with your complaint? How do they submit these photos? All of these are questions you and your managers should know the answers to. If your restaurant's menu is available on multiple different third-party apps, be sure managers suggest that customers can always order through other available services if they don't want to continue with the one that messed up their order.
Hearing from a customer who didn't receive the correct order is never a good feeling, but if your restaurant handles the situation properly and efficiently, any negative feelings the customer has will hopefully be reflected on the delivery service and not your restaurant.
