Just eat strangeness

[Dr Jekyll]

Several weeks ago I ordered some fish and chips from a local independent through Just Eat. They were better than the takeaway I usually use so a couple of weeks later I ordered again. This time my order wasn't accepted, it was a Friday evening so I just thought they were busy. I tried again the next week on a Wednesday and all was fine, food not quite as good as the first time but fine.. Then again the middle of next week and rejected again, then again a couple of weeks later. I tried yet again out of curiosity a few weeks after that and the order was accepted, then a text message came a few minutes later cancelling. Last week I decided to give them another try and the order was accepted. Then I got a phone call from the manager implying that it had accepted in error and explaining that the reason my orders had been rejected was because I gave a poor review on the website. Apparently the 4 out of 6 I gave them isn't enough and anything less than 6 out of 6 counts as poor . So I have to give 6 out of 6 if I ever want to order again.

Surely 4 or above is a decent score. If you give 6 every time it's acceptable then you have nowhere to go if it's exceptional, or it's perfectly acceptable but slips a bit.

Is this common on Just eat?

[Truckosaurus]

Seems odd, I'd be surprised if places could see who gave them a bad review.

I can see them rejecting orders if they were busy, or wanted to ignore smaller orders in favour of bigger ones if they were limited by how many they could deliver.

If the scores were that important they'd be putting in a leaflet saying 'give us 6/6 please' like you get with certain Amazon sellers.

[hotchy]

Iv never left a review tbh so wouldnt know. It's not really a 4/6 if your wanting it that many times though.

[Jamescrs]

I never leave a review on Just Eat either and I have never had an issue with any order except at the start of the first lockdown when I ordered a curry from a local place and they cancelled order and called to tell me they had run out of curry! That's another story though

[shopper150]

There is a relatively new trend of businesses refusing customers due to bad reviews. I guess they can serve who they wish. It’s an interesting dynamic as when reading about a couple of these types of cases randomly online, it really upsets the customer. Like they have some type of right to be served by the business.

Also, interestingly, I’ve read that online fashion retailers are going to form an alliance where they share details of customers to monitor customers who return too many products and will then ban them. Amazon already ban people who return too much stuff.

[steveo3002]

can you go back and alter the review to reflect the fact they ban less than perfert reviewers?

[AlexC1981]

The thing is there are so many places to choose from, no takeaway that only gets a mid-range score will get a look in.

The hungry punter will simply scroll further along and order from one of the many 5 or 6 out of 6 restaurants. You have definitely harmed their business by giving them a mid-range score.

I haven't left any reviews myself, but I think most people either give good or bad reviews. Meals that are simply ok, probably don't generate a review in most cases, so any restaurant with a mid-range score probably has a high number of bad reviews that are balancing the good ones.

[Sheepshanks]

I think some people think they're being constructive but business owners don't see it like that. You've got to leave top marks, or bottom ones and never use the business again.

[Psycho Warren]

definitely just a metric of online food delivery.

cant see them asking your name as a walk in to a chippy to see if youve left a bad review....

i guess its only small indendents doing it? cant imagine a chain would ever consider turning down a customer like that.

i do think ita a bit dodgy them turning you away like that. if the review is 4 of 6 then surely they need to look at thier customer experience. that fact you went back means it was acceptsble even if not perfect.

[Psycho Warren]

Sheepshanks said:

I think some people think they're being constructive but business owners don't see it like that. You've got to leave top marks, or bottom ones and never use the business again.

why do just eat (and others) allow you to give a range of feedback 8f thats not how they intend the system to work?

[Psycho Warren]

AlexC1981 said:

The hungry punter will simply scroll further along and order from one of the many 5 or 6 out of 6 restaurants. You have definitely harmed their business by giving them a mid-range score.

maybe im odd but i tend to have a favourite chinese or indian or kebab shop that i use regualrly because of good service etc.


is the average joe just randomly picking out new busineses every time they want food? seems against humans general beahaviours out of habbit.

[Sheepshanks]

Psycho Warren said:

why do just eat (and others) allow you to give a range of feedback 8f thats not how they intend the system to work?

It's a tool to beat people up with. ie Just Eat may use to lower restaurants' commission (or increase their charges, however it works).

I'm minded of the thread on a Mercedes forum I use where someone had a perfectly average car purchase experience. So he left a perfectly average review. Got a call a few days later from the dealer GM saying it was the worst review they'd ever had and asking why he shouldn't fire the salesguy!

[AlexC1981]

Psycho Warren said:

AlexC1981 said:

The hungry punter will simply scroll further along and order from one of the many 5 or 6 out of 6 restaurants. You have definitely harmed their business by giving them a mid-range score.

maybe im odd but i tend to have a favourite chinese or indian or kebab shop that i use regualrly because of good service etc.


is the average joe just randomly picking out new busineses every time they want food? seems against humans general beahaviours out of habbit.

I used to order by phone from one of the decent restaurants locally to me, almost always the same one. I've downloaded a few of these apps since (Just Eat, Uber Eats and Deliveroo), and it's quite fun to browse through all the different options. It's like having a giant menu on my phone.

I get notifications by email of special deals occasionally, so it's nice to take advantage when you see a good offer and to try something different.

I've posted on the forum before about how I don't like these apps because they are introducing middlemen to take a cut of the profit, but I have to admit that I am coming around to them now.

[craigjm]

How do they know each time you order that you have previously reviewed?

[anonymous-user]

i don't trust JE reviews better to google the place.

[Trophy Husband]

Just Eat is a race to the bottom. In more ways than one.
Disruptive theft from both you and the supplier. Lazy people do lazy things and get lazy results.

[HairyMaclary]

Why not ring the take away direct? Cuts out the middle man. My favourite curry shop you get a discount for not using one of the apps even though they use them! They have a system when you ring who tells them who you are and what you order. Lol. I just ask for the usual

Plus the few times I have used just eat other take aways around here want a 25 quid minimum order and also bump up the delivery time once it's been accepted even though you asked for it asap. Meh.

[48k]

shopper150 said:

Also, interestingly, I’ve read that online fashion retailers are going to form an alliance where they share details of customers to monitor customers who return too many products

This has been going on for years. And not just fashion retailers.

Pretty much every major high street name you can think of uses a company called MetaPack to process their eCommerce retail transactions (next time you get a parcel from Argos, John Lewis, M&S, River Island, Next, Asos, Halfords etc etc see if you can spot the MetaPack logo on the label). MetaPack provides the software interface between the retailer and the carrier network. So instead of each retailer having to build myriad interfaces to all the different carriers, they build one interface to MetaPack, and MetaPack has all the interfaces to all the carriers. MetaPack has the knowledge of what carrier contracts each retailer has. So when, for example, someone in Birmingham buys a jumper on Next, the Next system tells MetaPack "we need to get this jumper product to this address on a next day service", the MetaPack system works its magic, figures out which Next warehouse that jumper is coming from, figures out that Next have a suitable contract with Hermes to meet the delivery promise, contacts Hermes to manifest the item, receives the tracking number from Hermes and responds back to the Next system with confirmation and tracking number. Meanwhile the MetaPack system generates the correct Hermes parcel label(s) and paperwork with the correct details, barcodes or whatever, for the Next warehouse to print off and stick on the correct parcel. Equally, MetaPack provides a "reverse supply chain" solution - in fact sometimes when you log on to the retailers website to request a return and generate a returns label you are actually in a MetaPack system branded as the retailers own solution - so MetaPack has full sight of the delivery and return supply chain for their retail partners.

So naturally the upshot of having a central conduit for deliveries and returns is the huge amount of analytics that can be gathered from the data. Including returns profiles and trends for certain postcodes generating a higher than national average ratio of returns to deliveries for example. This kind of intelligence is available to the retail partners and it allows retailers to make informed decisions such as whether to automatically send a replacement when an "arrived damaged" return is reported or whether to wait for the item to be sent back and inspected or conduct more detailed anti fraud checks. So even if a new retailer comes in to the MetaPack ecosystem and has never dealt with a delivery to address "X" before, it's possible for them to have insight in to the "trustworthyness" of that address based on any previous deliveries to that address that other retailers have carried out.

eCommerce fashion retailers have always been at the forefront of returns process technology because they have the highest percentage of returns due to their online business model ("buy one thing in three different sizes return the two that don't fit") but the "retail intelligence" concept applies across all sectors.

[anonymous-user]

shopper150 said:

Also, interestingly, I’ve read that online fashion retailers are going to form an alliance where they share details of customers to monitor customers who return too many products and will then ban them. Amazon already ban people who return too much stuff.

They are already doing it, mate of my wife was kicking off about being banned from some retailers and having orders limited by others. She was outraged by their decisions as she was a great customer, and couldn't understand it was anything to do with her buying habits.

Which could be summed up by: Order 1k worth of clothes from Next, send £850 worth back. Rinse & repeat.

[R56Cooper]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Absolutely. Bloody outrageous to turn down your business on that basis.