Service?!

It really seemed like an easy question.  I ordered DoorDash from a local restaurant in September.  It arrived on time, warm, well presented, and delicious.  So I was surprised to discover in December I couldn’t reorder from the same restaurant (which hadn’t moved) because I was now out of their delivery range (and I hadn’t moved either).

This was the question I had for DoorDash customer service, a title that is a bit of an oxymoron itself, since you have to move heaven and earth to get in touch with them.  Why can’t I order from the same restaurant?

The answer came by chat in two parts:

“The restaurant changed their delivery area, since they felt they couldn’t delivery quality food to your location.”

“You may want to just drive to the restaurant with your family and enjoy the food there.”

Pointing out the assumptions and insensitivities behind her remark (what if I’m using DoorDash because of mobility issues?  How do you know I have a family?), I asked to speak with a supervisor.  After several apologies, she purportedly passed me along to a supervisor.  Following a long wait, I got an AI response saying the supervisor would be in touch.  The next day, I got a DoorDash email.  My request for a refund had been denied. 

After determining this wasn’t from a No Reply email, I responded by saying I never asked for a refund.  I had, however, contacted the restaurant, where the manager told me DoorDash changed the delivery zone, and if it were up to him, he’d have all of Michigan in his delivery area.

I’d like to think this didn’t prime me for the next day, when a company I’d ordered a gift from told me it had arrived—and yet it hadn’t.  I emailed them, and their response made me swear I was talking to the agent who had, er, handled my DoorDash question.

“The first thing you want to do is check around your house and with your neighbors to see if your package is there.  The shipping carrier also occasionally marks packages “Delivered” in error and they are re-routed.  They are often delivered 1-3 business days later.  Please let us know if you haven’t been able to locate it after that time.”

Since I had paid for both the product and for the product to be shipped to me—at my house, not to my neighbor— I couldn’t quite understand why it was suddenly my job to make sure the order arrived.  I shared this perspective with Hal, and they said they were simply asking the questions they needed to before the shipping company would look into it.  I responded by saying, if you are paying the company to deliver the package, why are they telling you—or me—what to do?  How about if they just do their job?

In a perfect world, DoorDash would send the Dasher back to where they misdelivered the item, and put it where the customer asked for it.  Ditto for FedEx and UPS.  Then again, customer service would take you directly to a person. With AI, customer service is neither.

I rechecked the DoorDash page of the restaurant I was suddenly too far away from.  I’m back in their delivery area. I cancelled the other order, and a real person emailed.  It had already shipped, but given my experience, I was getting a full refund, I could keep the item, and I got a discount on a future purchase.

I didn’t really care about the stuff.  I cared about the humanity of the response.

Persist.

Crème Brulee

He knew so little of it all
Yet something in him said
She’d have him if he’d only call
So he bypassed his head
And she agreed then let him go
With just three dates from yes to no.

He spent a year rehashing scenes
What could have better gone
They said she’s always boyfriend mean
Forget it and move on.
The tender can be self-involved
When laying blame’s the game to solve.

He turned to books and online chess
In high school and in undergrad
His studies good, his life a mess
No real joy, no real sad
Like put on hold by AI stores
He took what came not wanting more.

She didn’t wear a hippie vest
Thought disco rocked or partied fast
But something in her gave him rest
Like love he’d heard of from the past
Her vision of the world was new
And left him wondering what to do.

The top of crème brulee’s a crust
You can’t get past without the way
To break with firm but gentle trust
And that takes practice each entree
She waited nurtured and believed
The past was something he could leave.

He finally saw the burden rise
And briefly sighed for wasting time
That was a waste too he surmised
So with the day now so sublime
He took her hand since life was giving
His welcome home
And back to living.

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