You know many years ago when I was a much younger version of myself, I worked for a pizza shop that delivered…you guessed it pizza! Back in the day before worrying about dangerous procedures to do business we had a half-hour delivery guarantee or your meal was free. Now all of you old folks out there know where I worked. That delivery guarantee is gone but not the food deliveries.
Today most every restaurant out there participates or has a company that does with deliveries for them. Personally, I have not used any of them other than specific places that do deliver food to you. Until recently.
One night my wife and I were out at friends’ home and realized no one had eaten dinner. They could have cooked something up but the group decided to have a local restaurant which everyone loved deliver. They delivered to their house on a regular basis, so we knew it was available. We called the restaurant and got a busy signal, tried again a few minutes later, tried again after a long interval and got the busy signal again. I thought, “Shoot, there must be an app for this!”
I found there are many of them. So began my due diligence in checking user reviews, benefits, charges (if any), features, etc. I figured if I used it one time, I may use it again so I should find the best for me. I came up with two choices in my quick research. That being said, if you know of a better one, let me know. Those choices were GrubHub.com and DoorDash.com.
They are quite similar and the reason I went with Door Dash (doordash.com) was that I saw I could follow the delivery person. I was told a day or so later that it is also on Grub Hub but it depends on the restaurant and the drivers.
To make a long story short, I called the number I found and placed our order. I paid by debit card and they told me I would be getting it within 45 minutes. That is the standard time we get from the restaurant so not much difference there. When I installed the app on my phone, I had the ability to contact the driver if I wanted to. I did not do that at the time but it was cool having that feature. I got a text a few minutes later saying that our order would be delivered in approximately 45 minutes. About 25 minutes later I thought ok, let me see how I can communicate with the driver. I texted and asked if all was well. They immediately texted back and said that not only was it good they were running ahead of time and I would get it in the next ten minutes or so. They asked if there were any specifics on the delivery. I said only that we were sitting around back but to text me and I would come around front and get it.
I could then follow them on a map to see right where they were on the way in. How slick! Yes, I know others do this too but it was fun for me… the geek. Right on time, they pulled up and I met them at the gate to the backyard. There was a smile on my face and hers. I signed the receipt, gave her a tip. We made small talk for a minute and she left.
We sat down to enjoy a hot meal without having to drive to get it. Lazy? Yep. Cool? Yes to that, too. Really good use of technology – yes again. Life is good!
Take a look here for Door Dash and some of its competitors: dblclx.com/doordash.
