We‘ve all been there – eagerly awaiting the arrival of our Grubhub delivery, only to watch the estimated arrival time continue to get pushed further and further back. Hunger and frustration start to set in as you wonder, "What‘s taking so long? I ordered this ages ago!"
As convenient as food delivery apps like Grubhub are, slow and late orders are an all-too-common occurrence that can really put a damper on your meal. While some delays are unavoidable, in many cases there are factors at play behind the scenes that can cause your delivery to take much longer than expected.
As someone who has spent years both ordering from and partnering with various food delivery platforms as a restaurant consultant, I‘ve seen first-hand the many reasons why a Grubhub order can end up being sluggish. In this article, I‘ll share some insider knowledge on the top 10 factors that can lead to a slow Grubhub delivery, and provide some tips on what you can do to help speed things up. Let‘s dive in!
Not Enough Delivery Drivers
One of the most common reasons for Grubhub delays is a lack of available delivery drivers, especially during the busy lunch and dinner rush periods. Grubhub, like other delivery apps, relies on a network of independent contractor drivers to pick up and drop off orders. If there is high demand from users but not enough drivers on the road, orders start piling up and wait times get longer.
This driver shortage issue tends to be worse in certain markets, particularly in suburban and rural areas that are more spread out geographically. Major cities have a higher population density of both restaurants and drivers, so while busy times still lead to delays, there are usually enough drivers to keep things moving at a reasonable pace. In less dense areas, a single large order can sometimes tie up the only available driver for an extended period of time.
Overloaded Drivers
Even when there are a decent number of delivery drivers on the clock, your order can still be slow if those drivers are struggling to keep up with demand. It‘s standard practice for drivers to pick up multiple orders from the same restaurant or ones that are located close together to try to maximize efficiency. However, this strategy can backfire if one of those bundled orders is especially large or complex.
Imagine your driver has 3 orders in their car: Yours, another order going to a location near you, and a third order with a dropoff address that‘s 20 minutes in the opposite direction. They‘ll likely deliver the first two orders as quickly as possible, but that third order is going to add a big chunk of time and mileage before circling back to you, even if you placed your order first. It‘s not an ideal scenario, but one that plays out all the time.
Understaffed and Busy Restaurants
People often overlook the restaurant‘s role in Grubhub‘s speed and efficiency, but issues on the restaurant‘s end are another frequent source of sluggish deliveries. Most eateries these days are dealing with labor shortages and are operating with skeleton crews, especially in the back of house. With fewer cooks and prep staff, kitchens get overwhelmed and ticket times start to suffer.
Restaurants can also get backed up with orders during peak times, particularly if they are understaffed. When you place a Grubhub order, it goes into the same queue as all the orders from in-person diners, phone-in carryout customers, and other delivery platforms like DoorDash and Uber Eats. On a slammed Friday night, your delivery order might be ticket #35 in line, behind dozens of other orders that got sent in first.
Some restaurants even deliberately "deprioritize" Grubhub and other third-party orders when things get crazy, focusing on their in-house diners above all else. While this is frustrating for customers, it‘s an understandable approach from the business‘s perspective – they don‘t want a lobby full of hangry customers and bad reviews. But as a Grubhub customer, you may not see your order even start getting prepared for a long time in these situations.
Distance, Traffic, and Weather Problems
Another set of factors that often get forgotten about are the basic logistics of getting from Point A to B – the distance from the restaurant to your delivery address, the traffic conditions along the route, and inclement weather that may be impacting road safety and speed.
If you live far away from your favorite restaurants, that‘s naturally going to add quite a bit of time to the delivery process, even if your order is ready to go and your driver hits the road right away. Grubhub does have a distance limit for delivery address (usually 5-10 miles max from the restaurant), but even a few miles can tack on 15-20 minutes to your wait in heavy traffic. Accidents, road work, train crossings, and other unexpected obstacles can also lead to major slowdowns.
Severe rain, snow, ice and other weather events will also put the brakes on the delivery process in a big way. Drivers have to slow down and be extra cautious in treacherous conditions, which is the safe and responsible thing to do, but not great for us hungry customers on the other end. Some drivers may even decline to go out at all if the weather is really bad, limiting the available supply.
Technical Difficulties
As a tech-driven service, Grubhub is also prone to the occasional technical issue or full-on outage that can grind deliveries to a halt. Connection problems between the app, the restaurant, and the drivers sometimes lead to orders getting lost in the shuffle or critical info like the delivery address not coming through.
Grubhub‘s driver app can also be buggy at times, causing problems with things like navigation, order status updating, and communication with customers. Some drivers have complained of the app randomly logging them out or sending them on wild goose chases to incorrect or nonexistent addresses.
On the rare occasion of a widespread Grubhub outage caused by things like a major server failure or DDoS attack, the entire platform can be down for hours at a time, causing headaches for everyone involved. In those cases, your only option is to sit tight and wait for things to come back online or consider other options like placing a phone order directly with the restaurant.
Large and Complex Orders
The size and complexity of your order can definitely be a factor in slower delivery times as well. While it may seem like a good idea to place a huge order for the whole office or a big family dinner, those extra items will almost certainly add to your wait time. Even if the restaurant is on top of things, it simply takes more time to cook, package, and check large orders for accuracy and completeness.
Highly customized orders with tons of modifications and special instructions are another common slowdown culprit. Asking for burgers with no bun, salads with 86 ingredients on the side, complicated pizza topping combos, or other picky requests will tap the brakes on your order. Restaurants have to be extra careful to get those custom orders right or risk irate phone calls and negative reviews.
The Tipping Factor
Here‘s a hard truth that a lot of Grubhub customers may not be aware of: The amount you tip (or don‘t tip) has a big impact on how quickly your order gets delivered. Grubhub drivers can see the tip amount you selected when deciding whether to accept or decline a delivery request, and most will prioritize higher-paying orders to maximize their earnings.
If you choose not to tip at all or select a very low amount compared to the size of your order, your delivery request may get passed over repeatedly by drivers until it eventually gets stacked with another order or given to a newer driver with less ability to be selective. Conversely, if you tip generously, your order will likely get snapped up and completed much faster by experienced drivers.
While tipping is technically optional, it‘s important to remember that delivery drivers rely on tips to make a living wage, as the base pay from Grubhub is quite low. Tipping 15-20% is considered the standard for decent service, with more recommended for especially large or complex orders. Cash tips upon delivery are also greatly appreciated if you want to really motivate your driver.
How to Get Faster Grubhub Deliveries
Now that we‘ve covered some of the key reasons why your Grubhub order may be slow, let‘s talk about a few things you can do to speed things up:
-
Order during off-peak times if possible to avoid the lunch and dinner rush. Late night and mid-afternoon tend to be quieter.
-
Select restaurants that are close to your delivery address to minimize distance and transit times.
-
Keep your orders on the smaller side and avoid complicated customizations and special requests when you can.
-
Be a good tipper! As mentioned earlier, this is one of the most effective ways to incentivize speedy service from drivers. Tip 15-20% or more in the app to entice drivers to accept and prioritize your order.
-
Give delivery preference to restaurants where you‘ve had good experiences in the past. Some restaurants are just better than others at handling online orders efficiently.
-
Take advantage of Grubhub‘s advance ordering option to place your order ahead of time, like right when the restaurant opens. This helps you avoid the busiest times and gives the kitchen a head start.
-
If things do end up running really late, don‘t be afraid to reach out to your driver or contact Grubhub‘s customer service. Sometimes a little nudge is needed to pinpoint what the holdup is.
The Bottom Line on Slow Grubhub Orders
At the end of the day, some Grubhub delays are simply beyond your control as a customer. There are a lot of moving parts in the delivery process, from the restaurants to the drivers to the app itself, and slowdowns can take place at any stage if the conditions are right. It‘s understandable to get frustrated when your food takes forever to arrive, but try to remember all the hardworking folks doing their best to get your grub to you.
Hopefully the info and tips covered here can help demystify the delivery process a bit and arm you with some new strategies for faster Grubhub orders in the future. The more you know about how it all works behind the scenes, the better you can tailor your ordering approach to avoid common pitfalls and keep things moving swiftly. Wishing you speedy deliveries and happy feasting ahead!
){kind=link}