We’ve all been there: waiting anxiously as your
food delivery app teases you with the promise that your order will arrive "in 20 minutes." You watch in despair as the driver appears to be stuck in some alternate universe, making you wonder if your meal is actually taking a detour through a black hole. Worse yet, the order arrives with half your items missing, or, horror of horrors, your curry has decided to bathe the entire delivery bag.
And when you try to reach out for some help? You're met with a
chatbot that’s more interested in looping you through pre-programmed responses than connecting you with a real human. As usual, redditors are here for your rescue.
Very recently, a Reddit user took to a Bengaluru sub to share a “hack” to help those who were struggling with food delivery apps and wanted the “premium experience” without paying more for it.
As per the redditor, the key is to choose
cash on delivery while placing your order on
Zomato or
Swiggy. They went on to claim that the app would then prioritise your order over even gold customers. Further, their chatbots are more likely to connect you to a human if the delivery is delayed beyond a point or if there’s any other issue with your order.
“The user experience remains exactly the same — once the order is delivered you can pay via any UPI app or wallet or saved card through the app but you never again have to worry about being Zomato’s starving hostage,” u/steve7evans
wrote.
Many users shared their bad experiences with the delivery apps and
customer support. While some agreed that they got the order faster than usual after opting for
COD, some felt that the experience is rather subjective.
“I'm always able to connect with an agent. And I am always offered a refund generally when I complain. But I only complain in case of a genuine issue. Maybe because I don't abuse their system?” read one of the comments on the thread.
However, this hack isn’t about cheating the system or stiffing hard-working delivery partners. The OP clarifies that this is about ensuring that you get the level of service you deserve, minus the unnecessary hassles.