A delivery boy’s tantrums

I went to a friend’s place recently. We decided to order food from Swiggy – one of the most popular food delivery apps. We ordered momos from a well-known restaurant. Initially there was no problem at all. The delivery executive called us after 35-40 minutes after he was near our location.

He was having a problem understanding the address, even when we had clearly mentioned it. Anyway, he called me and I gave him a more detailed understanding of the exact location. But from the very beginning, he was arrogant. He kept on saying, ‘I have already reached the given location, why will I come any further?’ Yet he was 10 minutes away from our location.

I tried to make him understand that he was not close to the location. And after much convincing, he agreed. But then after 5 minutes he again called up, and this time he was adamant and said ‘I have already reached the location, that is what it is showing in my phone.’ I was polite with him even after his rude behaviour, but then also he refused to come further. He was 5 minutes away from my place, was he expecting me to walk up to him?

After a point, I lost my cool, telling him firmly that if he does not come in the given location, I will complain against him. Shockingly enough, he said ‘Do whatever you can; I am not going to deliver the food to you.’ He had the audacity to cut the call after saying this. My friend and I were at our wits’ end looking for a contact number in the app itself to complain about him directly.

Just when we were about to do so, he called up and says he is standing in front of our building. I suppose he got scared and thought about what could be the consequence of his behaviour. Then also, when we went downstairs to take the food, he was standing a little far from the main gate. He did not come forward to hand over the order, even after he saw us. We went and took the food, and thought it pointless to say anything more to him. We complained about him, but have no idea whether the same was effective or not.

Shreya Ganguly is a journalist

— As told to Shruti Das

‘They cancelled my order last minute’

I once ordered food from Uber Eats at around 11 pm. After returning from work, I mostly do not feel like cooking so these food apps come to my rescue. That day I wanted to avail a 50% discount in a given restaurant. Initially, they did not mention any terms and conditions. After placing the order, it was showing that there is a minimum amount – only after which the discount can be considered valid.

Then also, I went ahead with the order and placed it. Firstly, they took about 15-20 minutes just to assign a delivery executive. Then, it was showing that the estimated delivery time is 35 minutes – which was surely the biggest lie!

There’s a tracker which enable us to see how far the executive has come but again I was not able to locate the executive. So, I called him to ask but he was not picking up. After a long time, he answered my call, and said, “I need about 30 minutes or so more.” Half an hour later, I called again, but he was not answering – again! So, it was really annoying. Plus, I could not even decide whether I should cook or not. I was also confused whether or not to cancel my order. I had already waited for an hour or more.

After waiting for so long, it was around 12.30 am when I received a message informing that my order has been cancelled. The reason they cited was that ‘the delivery executive could not reach me.’ After waiting for one and a half hours, I get to know this. Moreover, they initially said they will charge a cancellation cost of Rs 50. Had I cancelled the order myself, I would have had no problem paying for it. But since it was them, not me, why should I pay the price? So, I complained about it and got my full refund.

Pratip Banerjee is a journalist

— As told to Shruti Das

‘Got the wrong food’

I am a pure vegetarian. I am very particular about what and where from I order my food. I have to check multiple times before ordering. Recently, I used Zomato to order a plain naan and gravy. What they gave me instead was chicken paratha and dal makkhani. Initially I thought it is just a plain paratha, so I even took a bite. But then I realised that it’s chicken. Had I been a non-vegetarian I would have still had it, and not wasted it completely.

But I could not do it. I sent my complaint to the Zomato Customer Care Chat. They called me up. When I tried to explain, at first they were reluctant about it. They said, “Okay if it has been misplaced, can you have whatever you have got?” Then I told them that I am a vegetarian, and only then they understood my problem. They gave me a full refund.

Himanshi Sharma is an air hostess

— As told to Shruti Das