Happy March everyone! Sorry I’ve been so quiet of late. Had quite a lot going on and just haven’t been able to get back to blogville. Thank you for being patient and still visiting 🙂
During February I was lucky enough to have been given some credit to try out UberEats. I really wanted to put the system to the test and am happy that I’ve managed to learn a few things on how to get the most out of the app. Here are my 7 lessons, over 7 days, of UberEats:
Day 1 – You Need Money in Your Credit Card/Debit Card
Before we even get into the actual working of the app, let me just clear this up (student friends, I got you!). So I was given credit for the Uber app, but I recently started transferring my banking into my new married name, so my credit card had no credit on it, although it still existed. Thinking I had Uber credit ( credit within the app), I thought it would go through. Nope.
How the app works is that Uber reserves the money on your credit card/debit card to ensure that you can pay for the meal. They reserve the money first; once it clears THEN the restaurant gets your order and starts to process it. When it comes to actually paying, it will take money from your Uber credits, but the initial approval step is tested against your active bank account. So, even if you have Uber credit, you do need a working credit/debit card that has funds in it. Credit alone won’t end up in foodies.
Day 2 – Restaurants Control the Working Times
UberEats is awesome and makes life A LOT easier. Personally, I hated having to navigate my way to Cavendish just to get a smoothie on a Saturday morning. Now I can lie on my couch and have it brought to me! WIN!
But, UberEats is only available when the restaurants are open. So when the restaurants shut, so does Uber eats. They very helpfully grey out any restaurants that close early (like coffee shops) so you can see what’s available and taking orders.
Day 3 – Be Sure to Check the Delivery Address
So last Saturday I popped off to my folks to show them how cool UberEats was, ordered my Saturday morning Kauai BUT!!!!!!!!!! Forgot to change the delivery address. DOH!
UberEats DOES NOT automatically readjust your address. It will, however, say, “Is this the right address?” which is a type of notification. When you log in, it will also show your last delivery address.
I didn’t realise or see that on the day though, so I ordered UberEats, went to my folks and my food ended up coming to my flat 🙁
I did message the driver and contact the help center, but he didn’t see it in time. I’m sure if we’d asked him to come around the corner to my folks’ house, he would have. But Mr John didn’t know I’d contacted the customer service center and accepted the order. EISH. SO! LONG STORY SHORT! Check the address!
Day 4 – You Can Customise the Order
As you know by now, Mr John is a VERY fussy eater. We were keen to try UberEats, but were pretty sure they’d get his order wrong. Nonetheless, we added our details into the order space (under each food item, you are able to add a space with instructions). The first place we ordered from was Engruna Eatery in Sea Point (we were at the beach). They absolutely NAILED the order, including the extra napkins I requested! As my Mom says, “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.” So don’t be shy to specify the details.
Day 5 – You Can Watch Your Food Arrive!
One of the BEST features of UberEats is that you can check WHERE your driver is once they’re on the way to you! I LOVE this because, in the past, I’ve ordered from a food delivery service – who KNOWS how long it’ll take for them to deliver to you and where they actually are?! But with the Uber app you can watch the driver drive to you – just like on the Uber Car app. This is awesome ’cause it gives you an estimated delivery time and a map of the driver on the road.
Day 6 – Some Orders Will Be Rejected
Unfortunately, not all of your orders will be accepted. If the restaurant is super busy or they can’t handle your order, they will decline it. I was warned once and another time the restaurant declined the order as they were too busy. Just choose something different or wait half an hour so that you can get your food warm, fresh and in good time.
Day 7 – You Can Add Service Feedback
After your food has been delivered you will be able to rate the food and driver. It’s not immediate and does take about 20 – 30 minutes (that I’ve gathered). Here you will be able to add some feedback. It’s SUPER simple, just a thumbs up, thumbs down and the option to add a comment. I think this is really worth is at quality control can only come from us who are using the service and eating the food. So take a moment to respond, personally I quite like it! So far I’ve had amazing driver’s and I genuinely wanted to let them know they had done a good job.
I’m personally loving UberEats. As I said, driving around for food can be quite a mission (or maybe I’m just next level lazy?!) It’s not the leaving the apartment that’s the problem, it’s the parking mission! So sitting at my desk or lying on my couch and having someone deliver tasty foodies suits me just fine.
AND AND AND – if you’re already an existing Uber customer, you don’t even have to sign up! You just log in with your Uber account and it pulls all your info across for you. NO RESETTING THINGS UP! YAY!
If you want to give them a go, try my promo code (eats-uberlovesboringchicks) and get R50 off 🙂
