[TiMSport]

So I went online to a local eatery to order some takeout tonight on my phone. I proceeded to select the items I wanted on the establishment's website and somehow without me knowing it my transaction apparently went through Postmates which is now Uber Eats. I provided my payment information, etc. and didn't realize it was going through this 3rd party service instead of the actual eatery directly. The point being it was for a "Pickup" as in me going to the restaurant and picking up the food myself, not a delivery to my home.

I don't use Uber Eats, period. I never used Postmates either. Question for those of you that regularly use this service. Do they charge a large percentage on top of what the food would normally cost even if you pick it up yourself?? It makes no sense to me because Postmates/Uber Eats didn't do jack but process my order so I'm confused why I'd have to pay what is essentially 30% more.

[vreihen16]

Local restaurants in our area frequently use online delivery services to take their web orders, even for pickup. A few are also outsourcing their phone lines, to save staff time in letting someone else take the phone orders. The local deli near where I work uses one, and that service tries like heck to bait customers into paying online even for pickup. You can pay at the deli though, but I don't know if the price is actually cheaper if you cut the middle man out like that.

Dominoes Pizza is running TV commercials about how some franchisees went out and bought gift certificates from competing restaurants as bonus gifts for their customers. Since those gift certificates can't be used to pay the delivery apps, it was an incentive for people to call in their orders and also a financial lifeline to mom-and-pop restaurants during COVID.

Anyway, I don't use delivery apps, and am old enough to dislike paying for food with debit/credit cards.....

[IllSic_Design]

I dont know about postmates/uber eats as I only use Doordash, but I know doordash does NOT charge any fees or anything besides what the food costs, for pickup.

I can't see how/why they could think they could charge you anything, you didn't even use their service

[TTV8M]

i think they do charge some sort of small fee for the pickup service.

they are powering/processing your order, the menu options etc, credit card processing fees, etc, and then facilitating the payments to the restaurant.

[TiMSport]

Originally Posted by TTV8M

i think they do charge some sort of small fee for the pickup service.

they are powering/processing your order, the menu options etc, credit card processing fees, etc, and then facilitating the payments to the restaurant.

The thing that is maddening is that I looked at the same website again and could actually order directly through the establishment and not get charged anything extra. Their site appears to be capable of doing regular transactions. Not sure what happened but somehow I got stuck in an alternative app and was charged roughly 30% more for the same damn thing which is why I'm ticked off about it. It was on my phone so not as noticeable when it happened I guess. If I did it on my laptop I would've probably have noticed something was off. Not sure I'll ever order food online again via my phone or at least I need to pay closer attention.

[RickFLM4]

You walked into a restaurant and placed an order on your phone while standing in the restaurant?

[TiMSport]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

You walked into a restaurant and placed an order on your phone while standing in the restaurant?

C'mon man, give me a little credit Rick. Why on earth would I do something like that?

I was at my office which is about 10 minutes away from the place and figured I'd order the takeout through their website so I can just simply pick it up and walk out rather than paying for it inside, etc.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by TiMSport

C'mon man, give me a little credit Rick. Why on earth would I do something like that?

I was at my office which is about 10 minutes away from the place and figured I'd order the takeout through their website so I can just simply pick it up and walk out rather than paying for it inside, etc.

Ok that makes more sense. I misread your first sentence in the OP.

[TiMSport]

It's cool. Yeah if I did what you stated I'd deserve to be charged extra for being stupid. Lol.

[dreamingat30fps]

I use Ubereats all the time because I’m lazy. I know for a fact they charge a service fee, delivery fee and tip when you have it delivered. Also depending on the specific restaurant they might charge MORE for the same items when ordered through Ubereats. I have no idea if that applies when you pickup (picking it up defeats the purpose of using Ubereats so I’ve never done it) however I would imagine the higher prices would apply no matter what.

The few times I order for pickup I will call the place and order directly. Also I’m cheap so I only use Ubereats when they send me coupons. Sometimes you can actually get it cheaper than pickup or dining in. Recently they gave me like 50% off my next 3 orders, of course they did so just as we came to NC and there ain’t no Ubereats here.

[BMW F22]

Going through the restaurant directly is oftentkmes cheaper vs ordering from the same restaurant via an app. Most of the times the same items cost more on the app. Somebody’s gotta pay for cost of operations.

What really irks me is how much more it costs to have a meal delivered. Example: looked up a chicken and rice meal the other day for $15 (which I am sure is already $2-3 higher on Uber Eats). After the delivery fees, taxes, and California driver benefits it was already $25+. Add tips on top of that and my meal would cost $30 which is twice what it should cost. Crazy, no?