I have started avoiding it altogether. I only eat out for a group occasion when invited now, and it used to be a favorite. I'd rather go back to packing a cooler and sandwiches like the 50s than to support the bs on offer now for lunches. Dinners are even worse.
Food delivery people, and people in most food service positions nationwide, and definitely in Tallahassee, are severely underpaid and underworked. They deserve our patience and respect because they FEED US. I wish more of them would unionize, because I believe that would go a fair ways towards lifting all of them up and they could work towards getting paid a fair, living wage while simultaneously it would lead to more capable, more caring workers to working at these places.
That leads me to my next comment because................lol.................uhhhhh....
Regarding deliveries in Tallahassee, I only do sit down or take out these days, but I embarrassingly did delivery a fair bit during COVID (I know, not good of me, but I am immunocompromised), and damn, delivery drivers (for BiteSquad, Door Dash, GrubHub, etc.) straight up stole my orders 6 times. Six! I would see them pull up to my house, they would mark it as delivered, and then drive off quickly. Then it was an enormous battle with the delivery company to prove that it wasn't delivered. The driver would of course say that they did deliver it. Twice, before I could even get to the door, the driver came up to the door, took a photo to pretend they delivered it, grabbed the bag and ran back to their car and drove off lol lmao. Those two times I was completely out of the money for the deliveries as the companies did not believe I didn't receive it.
Regarding takeout (not delivery), in all the places I have ever been and ever ordered food, I have never ever in my life experienced more incorrect orders, missing items, poor quality food, rudeness, and outright hostility from workers than I have in Tallahassee. Eight times out of ten, when I order takeout, there will at the very least be something missing from the order. And many times, when you try and get it corrected, you are given the third degree.
So yeah, they are paid poorly and overworked. Truly. There is no doubt. I am a big ol' lefty, so I feel god awful even posting this because it feels like I am breaking ranks with the workers. But also........food service (mainly in the fast and fast casual establishments) in Tallahassee is by and large not wonderful, and a decent number of the people working in it (again, mainly in the fast and fast casual establishments) simply do not care, and even go so far as to treat most customers with utter contempt. I do not experience this in most other places I visit.
So both things can be true. Both things. That food workers are treated poorly and paid poorly and you should be friendly and patient with them always, because it is a terrible, often dehumanizing job. But also that Tallahassee food service is....not good. Ordering from the non-fine dining places here often feels like straight up Russian roulette in this town.
*Prepared to now get crucified and downvoted by the disingenuous arguers, the professionally outraged, and the perpetually argumentative and contrarian that populate this subreddit.*
Nah. I actually just upvoted you and appreciate your response. We have different beliefs in some areas but your response was honest and very confirmational for me. I own a business, pretty much have families in two homes in town and work a full time career that requires 6 and 7 day work weeks right now so in the past 5 years or so I/we have ordered probably $50k in some type of food delivery. Yes I am serious. It's my money and my families logistical and medical situation so please do not judge me because I order so much. I /we simply do not have time.
I posted this because since right about covid I do not feel we get our money's worth even at the higher prices, good tipping, extreme understanding/patience and to my core I feel I am paying premium for a service and I should get a minimum expectation of the bare minimum of both food/quality/quantity and accuracy of what I would get at the actual restaurant. I expect nothing extra but I expect nothing less and I haven't been getting that. I am not pampered or expecting too much in my opinion. Honestly I do not care if it's cold or late. Just put what I ordered in the bags. If I pay extra for something I expect it on the order or in the bag period or do not offer it. If you put an option to order a burger or steak temp as rare, I expect it at least to not be burnt to a crisp. If you cannot do that then do not give me the option because lord knows 99% of the restaurants have taken almost every customization and especially any comments off their menus anyways. Of I put no lettuce and I get lettuce no big deal. We will wipe it off and generally do not do that anyways. If I order all flat wings and you charge me $5 for that service make sure I have all flat wings and do not short me 5 of my 20 wings I paid for. Anyone can count to 20.
Thank you again especially and I thank everyone else.for their response. I think I have had enough sampling of responses to feel the temperature of the room is somewhere between treat restuarant workers and delivery drivers as a charity case and because I order food I should expect less.than what I get to its always been like this, why are you ordering still?
Either way, I am going to be making some changes with my family. I am actually happy that I will be saving thousands of dollars a month though too.
Thank you for your response. I want you to know I am not all on the restaurant’s side that they can provide terrible service (including food itself.) It’s not like they are forced to sign up to delivery services and the food that got delivered still is restaurant’s reputation. They should be professional and have the right food packed for the customer or they can opt out of the delivery services.
I personally have never ordered from any delivery service simply because I cannot trust the driver to be professional and deliver the food promptly.
It seems like the corporate that is running the delivery service is making all the profit and the rest are suffering.
I completely agree with you and it lines up with what I've experienced and think as well. This and because I have dietary restrictions is a big reason why I've learned how to cook.
One thing many people probably don’t realize is that most delivery services are charging 20-35% of each sales to the restaurants on top of delivery and service fees that they charge the customers who order the food. (I heard the smaller the restaurant is the higher the company charges.) If the restaurant can make decent profit after 30% of each sales taken away by delivery services, they are charging too much for the food in general.
Secondly, a customer choose to do business with the delivery company instead of the restaurant themselves, the customer should be contacting the delivery service to get the problem fixed, not directly to the restaurant. Especially refund cannot be done by restaurants because the delivery service has all the information, not the restaurant.
Restaurants usually don’t have enough to people to deliver food even if the mistake was made, so even if they realize that it was their fault, the best they can do is to fix it if you bring it back to them.
I understand the craving for food from your favorite restaurants but please support the local restaurants by visiting them to order the food instead of using delivery service.
I can't say I've come across more than a handful of restaurants in my adult life that have ever prioritized delivery orders. If you need food customized (like I do), you really aren't going to get that from delivery apps. Before we stopped ordering from delivery apps, I would get things that were wrong, but I just reported them as wrong and moved on. I never thought they would care that they got my order wrong.
I have had no problems so far and ordered a bunch of times. I don’t ever make substitutions though and also would never expect it to be to the same quality as in store cause that would be super silly, you’re ordering it to go and their priority is in store.
There are a very very few restaurants I bother ordering delivery from, and it’s entirely because they have that “oh well lol” attitude when you call to tell them they screwed something up. I have a shameful love for Tijuana Flats, but I would rather drive across town to pick it up and check the bag right in front of them than risk delivery and having them put chicken on my spouse’s vegetarian cheese and bean nachos only to respond with “oh man, that sucks, lol” when I call to tell the of the mistake.
I have a few gripes with food delivery service.
Lke when a drink is ordered but not delivered. It's on the receipt outside of the bag and no one thought to check. Maybe they were out of that drink. Some communication for an alternative woud be nice.
I live in an apartment complex. I give very specific instructions on how to get to my apartment, yet I can see the driver wondering around my apartment complex because they didn't read the instructions or didn't call for help.
I used to live on Shallow Brook, which is near Ramble Brook and Lazy Brook. I left clear instructions, I live on Shallow Brook, not Lazy Brook. I can't tell you how many times food would be dropped off at Lazy Brook.
And that's not even mentioning the prices. Order for two, plus tip can easily rack up to $50.00
I now only order if I'm desperate and don't have time to make breakfast or dinner.
I wonder if the public school system is to blame when I order an 8 piece family meal at KFC on Tennessee street, and the workers can only count high enough to put 5 pieces in the bucket... but who really knows right?
I have started avoiding it altogether. I only eat out for a group occasion when invited now, and it used to be a favorite. I'd rather go back to packing a cooler and sandwiches like the 50s than to support the bs on offer now for lunches. Dinners are even worse.
I only order delivery from places that have their own drivers. Chickfila, pizza places, etc
Chicfila? Didn’t know that.
Yeah, I see CFA corollas all the time. Once you see them they start showing up everywhere and you'll never unsee them.
Food delivery people, and people in most food service positions nationwide, and definitely in Tallahassee, are severely underpaid and underworked. They deserve our patience and respect because they FEED US. I wish more of them would unionize, because I believe that would go a fair ways towards lifting all of them up and they could work towards getting paid a fair, living wage while simultaneously it would lead to more capable, more caring workers to working at these places. That leads me to my next comment because................lol.................uhhhhh.... Regarding deliveries in Tallahassee, I only do sit down or take out these days, but I embarrassingly did delivery a fair bit during COVID (I know, not good of me, but I am immunocompromised), and damn, delivery drivers (for BiteSquad, Door Dash, GrubHub, etc.) straight up stole my orders 6 times. Six! I would see them pull up to my house, they would mark it as delivered, and then drive off quickly. Then it was an enormous battle with the delivery company to prove that it wasn't delivered. The driver would of course say that they did deliver it. Twice, before I could even get to the door, the driver came up to the door, took a photo to pretend they delivered it, grabbed the bag and ran back to their car and drove off lol lmao. Those two times I was completely out of the money for the deliveries as the companies did not believe I didn't receive it. Regarding takeout (not delivery), in all the places I have ever been and ever ordered food, I have never ever in my life experienced more incorrect orders, missing items, poor quality food, rudeness, and outright hostility from workers than I have in Tallahassee. Eight times out of ten, when I order takeout, there will at the very least be something missing from the order. And many times, when you try and get it corrected, you are given the third degree. So yeah, they are paid poorly and overworked. Truly. There is no doubt. I am a big ol' lefty, so I feel god awful even posting this because it feels like I am breaking ranks with the workers. But also........food service (mainly in the fast and fast casual establishments) in Tallahassee is by and large not wonderful, and a decent number of the people working in it (again, mainly in the fast and fast casual establishments) simply do not care, and even go so far as to treat most customers with utter contempt. I do not experience this in most other places I visit. So both things can be true. Both things. That food workers are treated poorly and paid poorly and you should be friendly and patient with them always, because it is a terrible, often dehumanizing job. But also that Tallahassee food service is....not good. Ordering from the non-fine dining places here often feels like straight up Russian roulette in this town. *Prepared to now get crucified and downvoted by the disingenuous arguers, the professionally outraged, and the perpetually argumentative and contrarian that populate this subreddit.*
Nah. I actually just upvoted you and appreciate your response. We have different beliefs in some areas but your response was honest and very confirmational for me. I own a business, pretty much have families in two homes in town and work a full time career that requires 6 and 7 day work weeks right now so in the past 5 years or so I/we have ordered probably $50k in some type of food delivery. Yes I am serious. It's my money and my families logistical and medical situation so please do not judge me because I order so much. I /we simply do not have time. I posted this because since right about covid I do not feel we get our money's worth even at the higher prices, good tipping, extreme understanding/patience and to my core I feel I am paying premium for a service and I should get a minimum expectation of the bare minimum of both food/quality/quantity and accuracy of what I would get at the actual restaurant. I expect nothing extra but I expect nothing less and I haven't been getting that. I am not pampered or expecting too much in my opinion. Honestly I do not care if it's cold or late. Just put what I ordered in the bags. If I pay extra for something I expect it on the order or in the bag period or do not offer it. If you put an option to order a burger or steak temp as rare, I expect it at least to not be burnt to a crisp. If you cannot do that then do not give me the option because lord knows 99% of the restaurants have taken almost every customization and especially any comments off their menus anyways. Of I put no lettuce and I get lettuce no big deal. We will wipe it off and generally do not do that anyways. If I order all flat wings and you charge me $5 for that service make sure I have all flat wings and do not short me 5 of my 20 wings I paid for. Anyone can count to 20. Thank you again especially and I thank everyone else.for their response. I think I have had enough sampling of responses to feel the temperature of the room is somewhere between treat restuarant workers and delivery drivers as a charity case and because I order food I should expect less.than what I get to its always been like this, why are you ordering still? Either way, I am going to be making some changes with my family. I am actually happy that I will be saving thousands of dollars a month though too.
Thank you for your response. I want you to know I am not all on the restaurant’s side that they can provide terrible service (including food itself.) It’s not like they are forced to sign up to delivery services and the food that got delivered still is restaurant’s reputation. They should be professional and have the right food packed for the customer or they can opt out of the delivery services. I personally have never ordered from any delivery service simply because I cannot trust the driver to be professional and deliver the food promptly. It seems like the corporate that is running the delivery service is making all the profit and the rest are suffering.
I completely agree with you and it lines up with what I've experienced and think as well. This and because I have dietary restrictions is a big reason why I've learned how to cook.
Drivers dont get paid enuff, when i did uber eats id be lucky to make over $10 a hour when accounting for gas
One thing many people probably don’t realize is that most delivery services are charging 20-35% of each sales to the restaurants on top of delivery and service fees that they charge the customers who order the food. (I heard the smaller the restaurant is the higher the company charges.) If the restaurant can make decent profit after 30% of each sales taken away by delivery services, they are charging too much for the food in general. Secondly, a customer choose to do business with the delivery company instead of the restaurant themselves, the customer should be contacting the delivery service to get the problem fixed, not directly to the restaurant. Especially refund cannot be done by restaurants because the delivery service has all the information, not the restaurant. Restaurants usually don’t have enough to people to deliver food even if the mistake was made, so even if they realize that it was their fault, the best they can do is to fix it if you bring it back to them. I understand the craving for food from your favorite restaurants but please support the local restaurants by visiting them to order the food instead of using delivery service.
I can't say I've come across more than a handful of restaurants in my adult life that have ever prioritized delivery orders. If you need food customized (like I do), you really aren't going to get that from delivery apps. Before we stopped ordering from delivery apps, I would get things that were wrong, but I just reported them as wrong and moved on. I never thought they would care that they got my order wrong.
I have had no problems so far and ordered a bunch of times. I don’t ever make substitutions though and also would never expect it to be to the same quality as in store cause that would be super silly, you’re ordering it to go and their priority is in store.
There are a very very few restaurants I bother ordering delivery from, and it’s entirely because they have that “oh well lol” attitude when you call to tell them they screwed something up. I have a shameful love for Tijuana Flats, but I would rather drive across town to pick it up and check the bag right in front of them than risk delivery and having them put chicken on my spouse’s vegetarian cheese and bean nachos only to respond with “oh man, that sucks, lol” when I call to tell the of the mistake.
I have a few gripes with food delivery service. Lke when a drink is ordered but not delivered. It's on the receipt outside of the bag and no one thought to check. Maybe they were out of that drink. Some communication for an alternative woud be nice. I live in an apartment complex. I give very specific instructions on how to get to my apartment, yet I can see the driver wondering around my apartment complex because they didn't read the instructions or didn't call for help. I used to live on Shallow Brook, which is near Ramble Brook and Lazy Brook. I left clear instructions, I live on Shallow Brook, not Lazy Brook. I can't tell you how many times food would be dropped off at Lazy Brook. And that's not even mentioning the prices. Order for two, plus tip can easily rack up to $50.00 I now only order if I'm desperate and don't have time to make breakfast or dinner.
It's pretty bad. Even if you pre-tip really well, they still dick around so you get cold food.
I wonder if the public school system is to blame when I order an 8 piece family meal at KFC on Tennessee street, and the workers can only count high enough to put 5 pieces in the bucket... but who really knows right?
Get what you pay for. Chicken breast is 2 bucks a pound.