# Long wait times, restaurant took an attitude



## goobered (Feb 2, 2020)

How do you handle long wait times? If I am there 5 minutes and no one speaks to me I prefer to move on. 

But if I have taken the trouble to drive there, it really burns me up to take a loss on it.

Tonight was so bad, I just stopped accepting pings because almost every place I went to was running behind and not acknowledging drivers. 

At Red Lobster it is routine. Nothing to do with the Friday night rush, always a 15-30 minute wait while they disappear in the back and ignore you.

Tonight I had enough, so I spoke up about it, and sure enough one of the employees started making snide comments about how they don't get tipped on those orders. I said well I don't get paid for waiting. I lose money when I have to wait. 

He went in the back and the other employee who was handling the pickup orders came out a minute later with a big smirk on her face. She said so you lose money when you come here, maybe you should stop taking our orders. 

I spoke to the manager and she said that was uncalled for. But I doubt anything will change. She just kind of shrugged off the wait times. "They can only bag them up so fast" lol.

I called Uber and asked if they can stop sending drivers to this place so early. 

Chilis/DD is hopeless. I won't even bother trying to do anything about that one.


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## iheartsubarus (Dec 23, 2019)

goobered said:


> How do you handle long wait times? If I am there 5 minutes and no one speaks to me I prefer to move on.
> 
> But if I have taken the trouble to drive there, it really burns me up to take a loss on it.
> 
> ...


As a retail manager in my regular job, I can tell you they are just telling you what you want to hear. They don't give a shit. The goal is to use empathy and apologize but after you leave you know they all had a good laugh. Screw them.


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## Teksaz (Mar 16, 2015)

I have no trouble with any of the restaurants you mentioned in my market. Picked up a $150 order from Red Lobster yesterday and as soon as I was walking in the door they were bringing the food out. I guess market?
Chili's same. I do have a problem with Famous Dave's and the Cheesecake Factory tho. Always have the finger on the unassign button lol


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## Seamus (Jun 21, 2018)

goobered said:


> How do you handle long wait times? If I am there 5 minutes and no one speaks to me I prefer to move on.
> 
> But if I have taken the trouble to drive there, it really burns me up to take a loss on it.
> 
> ...


I don't wait for them to acknowledge me. I grab someone right away and tell them what I'm there for. If you do this gig long enough, they all recognize you. After 3800 deliveries in my market I've been to all of them so many times they all know me and I've developed a good relationship with most so they help me out by getting the food pronto.

Tonight I walked in to a five guys and there was 2 DD guys and an UE guy waiting. I have developed a relationship with the manager so he moves my order to the front of the line. The other drivers looked pissed. If you do this long term be friendly and nice and you'll reap the advantages.


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## IR12 (Nov 11, 2017)

goobered said:


> How do you handle long wait times? If I am there 5 minutes and no one speaks to me I prefer to move on.
> 
> But if I have taken the trouble to drive there, it really burns me up to take a loss on it.
> 
> ...


Consider getting the restaurant to cancel which they're willing to do sometimes if they're super busy.

In Bay Area Buffalo Wild Wings, Wing Stop & Chills are always the wait from hell unless order has already been cancelled by a few drivers.


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## goobered (Feb 2, 2020)

Seamus said:


> I don't wait for them to acknowledge me. I grab someone right away and tell them what I'm there for. If you do this gig long enough, they all recognize you. After 3800 deliveries in my market I've been to all of them so many times they all know me and I've developed a good relationship with most so they help me out by getting the food pronto.
> 
> Tonight I walked in to a five guys and there was 2 DD guys and an UE guy waiting. I have developed a relationship with the manager so he moves my order to the front of the line. The other drivers looked pissed. If you do this long term be friendly and nice and you'll reap the advantages.


I wish that this would solve the problem. It doesn't do any good.

At Red Lobster they acknowledge everyone but it still takes 15-30 minutes. I have waited when tips are high enough, for stacked orders or when things are slow, but waiting during Friday dinner rush is such a waste of time. They really can't get it together at this place. Uber should just delay sending pings for them by at least 20 minutes.

I have found at other places that saying up front I can't wait and will have to cancel gets them to move faster, especially with GH orders because it may become a dead order.


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## observer (Dec 11, 2014)

goobered said:


> How do you handle long wait times? If I am there 5 minutes and no one speaks to me I prefer to move on.
> 
> But if I have taken the trouble to drive there, it really burns me up to take a loss on it.
> 
> ...


Ask the manager for the phone number of the general manager.

If they don't cough it up tell them it's OK I'll google it.


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## Seamus (Jun 21, 2018)

goobered said:


> I wish that this would solve the problem. It doesn't do any good.
> 
> At Red Lobster they acknowledge everyone but it still takes 15-30 minutes. I have waited when tips are high enough, for stacked orders or when things are slow, but waiting during Friday dinner rush is such a waste of time. They really can't get it together at this place. Uber should just delay sending pings for them by at least 20 minutes.
> 
> I have found at other places that saying up front I can't wait and will have to cancel gets them to move faster, especially with GH orders because it may become a dead order.


In a case like that I just wouldn't accept any offers to the restaurant. Unless the offer was over $20 it isn't paying for your time. There is no way it's worth it to tie yourself up for a whole hour by the time you deliver for anything less. Let the noobs take them.


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## goobered (Feb 2, 2020)

Seamus said:


> In a case like that I just wouldn't accept any offers to the restaurant. Unless the offer was over $20 it isn't paying for your time. There is no way it's worth it to tie yourself up for a whole hour by the time you deliver for anything less. Let the noobs take them.


You're right. I may give them another chance on a GH order with a big tip, if there's nothing better going on, but I'm sure as **** not going there for a $4 Uber order.


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## ericvocals (Feb 29, 2020)

In San Diego it's Luna grill.Better off to cancel and move on.Ain't nobody got time fo dat.


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## WAHN (May 6, 2019)

Inexpensive tool for getting the attention of restaurant employees during food delivery and/or unruly pax when doing Uber/Lyft.


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## goobered (Feb 2, 2020)

I can get their attention alright just can't get the food.



observer said:


> Ask the manager for the phone number of the general manager.
> 
> If they don't cough it up tell them it's OK I'll google it.


I'm glad you mentioned that because I did find a number to call on trip advisor, underneath a lot of bad reviews that corroborate my experiences at this Red Lobster.


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## Seamus (Jun 21, 2018)

WAHN said:


> Inexpensive tool for getting the attention of restaurant employees during food delivery and/or unruly pax when doing Uber/Lyft.
> 
> View attachment 422704


Perfect! Going to start carrying one around on Friday nights!


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## observer (Dec 11, 2014)

goobered said:


> I can get their attention alright just can't get the food.
> 
> 
> I'm glad you mentioned that because I did find a number to call on trip advisor, underneath a lot of bad reviews that corroborate my experiences at this Red Lobster.


If I was the GM of that place I'd like to know.

The problem here is one the manager is unlikely to solve without direct orders from above. Sounds like a weak manager and its been going on for a while.

I'd talk to the manager so he knows you're willing to go above him and give him a chance to fix things one last time.

When and if you talk to the GM ask him for HIS boss' phone number.


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## Woohaa (Jan 15, 2017)

That sux. But it's really up to drivers to know which restaurants to ignore in their markets. I can tell you which restaurant orders to turn down in my market. It's based entirely on long wait times or lack of street parking. There's several restaurants I will refuse in Santa Monica near the beach, a Red Robbins near San Dimas that I won't touch with a 10-foot poll and a few others in various cities. [Yeah, I have different accounts on GH so I can work diff regions.]

Going there will generally be money losers in terms of time wasted completing that order. And always have your eyes open to add to your list.


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## DiceyDan (Jun 9, 2016)

goobered said:


> How do you handle long wait times? If I am there 5 minutes and no one speaks to me I prefer to move on.
> 
> But if I have taken the trouble to drive there, it really burns me up to take a loss on it.
> 
> ...


This is starting to become a trend...I'm usually the first to arrive at almost all the restaurants, but the last to leave as I'm sure the DD order gets moved to the bottom.
Last night I arrived at Outback at the time of pickup. I went to pick the order up, and the carhop 16/17 year girl said she hadn't even put the order in. This was a $16.00/2 mi delivery, so I decided to wait (stupid me). It was 8:20 and they close at 9:00. I went back in at 8:40 and she didn't even put my order in. 
I was furious so I asked for her mgr. I explained how I'd been waiting for the order that apparently she had no intention of fulfilling. She then started to use profanity at me, and I mentioned that was no way to handle this nor to speak to a customer. She replied, you aren't a "customer" that you work for us. I started to explain how things work, when the mgr made her leave after saying fu to me. The mgr asked how to make things right, so I asked for a gift card for wasting 30 minutes of my time. I got a $30.00 gc, but they deleted the order,and I didn't have a chance to get 1/2 the guarantee too.
What would you guys have done or handled it?


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## goobered (Feb 2, 2020)

DiceyDan said:


> What would you guys have done or handled it?


I'm surprised you got a gift card out of it...that's probably about the best outcome you can have, money wise.

A few times if they haven't put the order in when I show up, I tell them sorry I'll have to cancel, and they get on it right away to keep me from leaving. It's still not really worth waiting for unless the prep time is fast. But no way would that have helped in your situation, with a teenager giving lip like that. I probably would have unassigned and moved on. But you came out a lot better than that with a gift card.


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## Uberdriver2710 (Jul 15, 2015)

My blacklist is long, making my acceptance rate low.

100% of the problem, is 100% at the top.


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## 25rides7daysaweek (Nov 20, 2017)

goobered said:


> How do you handle long wait times? If I am there 5 minutes and no one speaks to me I prefer to move on.
> 
> But if I have taken the trouble to drive there, it really burns me up to take a loss on it.
> 
> ...


Dip your balls in the butter...


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## part-timer (Oct 5, 2015)

Seamus said:


> I don't wait for them to acknowledge me. I grab someone right away and tell them what I'm there for. If you do this gig long enough, they all recognize you. After 3800 deliveries in my market I've been to all of them so many times they all know me and I've developed a good relationship with most so they help me out by getting the food pronto.
> 
> Tonight I walked in to a five guys and there was 2 DD guys and an UE guy waiting. I have developed a relationship with the manager so he moves my order to the front of the line. The other drivers looked pissed. I*f you do this long term be friendly and nice and you'll reap the advantages.*


This is so true. I try to be polite and courteous to everyone every time, it goes a LONG way when you have an issue of any kind. I have been told many times how I am one of the nicest and most polite delivery drivers, some places the manager offers me a drink while I wait. I have gotten many free sandwich coupons at Chick Fil A, just for being polite and understanding when they are super busy.


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## Elland Rd (Feb 26, 2020)

goobered said:


> How do you handle long wait times? If I am there 5 minutes and no one speaks to me I prefer to move on.


for me, those are two different issues.

I can put up with some wait time if they are polite. But if they don't speak to me or acknowledge that I'm waiting, then it pisses me off more.


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## VanGuy (Feb 15, 2019)

I had a few restaurants like that and just stopped taking those orders with Skip.


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