Customer Service Often Stops Once You Pay

As many of us often do at the end of the week, we look forward to being able to kick our feet up, catch up on some of our favorite shows, read that book we have been trying to finish forever, and not cook because we can use local delivery services such as Door Dash to bring delicious meals to our home. In fact, prior to the COVID- 19 pandemic the food delivery service was found to be struggling in many areas. Now, businesses and individuals do not seem to be able to survive without them. The convenience the service brings to our lives keeps many of us utilizing the service repeatedly. Recently, a meal order placed through Door Dash, caused me to rethink the handling of delivery services and what true customer service means when you encounter a problem with your food. Who should be the one to make a correction when a problem arises?

Always ready for one of my favorites, a Red Robin Gourmet Cheeseburger was my meal of choice on this evening. For our family of three, 45 minutes, $62.00 later (including tip) food arrived on our front doorstep. The only thing left to do was have a tasty meal, and enjoy the rest the evening. However, this time there was a different taste noted as I was munching on my burger. I had enjoyed a small portion of my meal before discovering something else had been cooked in my meat. Pulling sections of it from my mouth , along with the rest residing in the food it appeared to be wax paper or something similar. A little hard, definitely not meant to be eaten. Unsure of what to do and having never experienced this before I figured contacting Red Robin would be a simple fix. Things happen, and little did I know that a simplicity was far from what I was about to encounter.

Ten days later after receiving the run around through telephone calls, email exchanges, waiting to be contacted regarding a refund request I had submitted for a meal I had been unable to eat and enjoy I was met with “you need to contact Door Dash because this is handled through a third party.” First time, I heard this during all our days of communication. Disappointing considering the frustration, but that was something I was willing to follow-up on. Contacting Door Dash and retelling my scenario one too many times, they were surprised that I was told to contact them. But, since I did I needed to be informed it was too late for any resolution from them. If I had any issue, it must be presented within 72 hours. With a “sorry,” and "goodbye," the conversation ended almost as quickly as it began. I could tell there was not much interest in helping me acquire any reimbursement.

This entire scenario made me re-examine things. Prior to this, I didn't think much about problems with cooked delivered meals. It is different when you are in a restaurant and encounter a problem. A discussion can occur instantaneously between you and staff, things can be sent back, exchanged and rectified in a timely manner. However, when that is not an option, and when customer service is not what you expect for a resolution things can become tricky. Who is responsible for the correction for customer satisfaction when something inedible is in the food you have purchased for delivery? Is it the preparer or the company that brings it to you? Sometimes, you have a 72 hr. window that no one informs you about until it is too late. In the end, we often learn for some businesses, customer service may stop once your money has been acquired.