Late Deliveries and Customer Complaints Plague Food Delivery Apps in Hyderabad
Hyderabad: When Spandana Thalari recently placed an order for a sandwich at around 6.30 pm, the delivery time showed 15 minutes, which soon changed to 20 minutes, and again and again. The order eventually arrived close to 90 minutes later.
"Customer service kept saying 15 more minutes throughout, so I wouldn't cancel. When I questioned, they pushed the blame onto the restaurant saying the food wasn't ready. By the time I could eat it, it became soggy and I couldn't enjoy my favourite dish," said the MNC employee.
For several people in the city, especially those that live alone and have barely any time to make a fresh meal every day, depending on food delivery majors like Swiggy and Zomato is their only chance at a good meal on some tiring days.
Many consumers pointed out that the problem lay in the apps promising to deliver within a certain number of minutes but never giving an exact or even tentative time by when it should arrive. "They say 30 minutes when I place an order at 4 pm instead of saying it'll be delivered by 4.30 pm. When you check your phone after 20 minutes, it doesn't reduce to 10 more minutes left, rather it shows 25," said Manisha Raghavan.
In another cheap tactic, some consumers complained that for places that aren't even that far away or food that is available instantly, "They show a longer delivery time only to come early and claim 'woah, that was some lightning fast delivery'," said Nadar F. Thompson, a graphic designer and food blogger.
A customer, Pratyusha Bellary, and her colleagues ordered a set of six ice-creams and trusted the order to be protected and cool with dry ice. They were shocked to receive the delivery two hours later, that leaked from every corner.
"When we asked for a response because the ice-creams were no longer in an edible state, they promised a refund which never came," she said.
For some, the refund is a few rupees for an order that is worth more than ₹1,000. "After repeated complaints, they gave me a refund of ₹50 against my order which was easily above ₹600. There is no real accountability or anyone being taken to task for the delays," said Harsha Vardhan E, an assistant director.
Another consumer complained that their refund came in the form of a coupon, and not real money. He added that a better way to catch the agencies in the act would be to take a screenshot when the order is placed and match it with the time the delivery was made.
Recounting a bitter experience, a consumer, a senior citizen, said, "Swiggy guys have become headstrong and they have serious problems. Two weeks ago, one of their representatives didn't deliver the items ordered through Instamart and told me to cancel it. I didn't and escalated it through Twitter. Some manager called me up asking me to cancel the order so that they could resend it. I refused and they pocketed my money and never delivered it nor cancelled. They are the most indisciplined company and they don't seem to care about their reputation either."
Customers added that though the usual delays and troubles happen at any time of the day, it's mostly during certain peak hours between 4.30 pm and 8 pm. "Never expect your delivery on time if you place your order during these hours, even though you place the order hours earlier than you consume it," said Ramana K, a consumer.
