7 Reasons Why I Will Not Order From Zomato & Swiggy

I wish there was a reporting feature to understand how much I spent on food ordering apps like Zomato and Swiggy in 2019.

I am sure the number of times I ordered using these apps would be more than seventy five. 75 times? That is insane for someone who has never been to a restaurant in his growing up years. Indeed, I can count the number of times I ate out before I got a job.

If you did not know already, both Zomato and Swiggy wants to replace the lunchbox. For a country that has always been deeply rooted in getting a lunch box to office, this is alarming but not unexpected.

More and more people are getting busier with their jobs. Working hours are extending beyond the normal 9 to 5 timelines, nuclear families are a norm now and both spouses are working. For nuclear families where the members leave for their job by eight in the morning and returning at eight in the evening, cooking a fresh lunch and dinner is a challenge.

Punch in a few discount coupons, a bunch of cashback offers and the business idea of food delivery startups to replace lunch boxes, help the family to not worry about cooking dinner, and instead have food home delivered through a few clicks on the smartphone app makes a perfect proposition.

The issue is however, different. Zomato & Swiggy’s business goals come at a great cost for a young country like India.

In this blog, I will take you through seven such issues. Issues that the food delivery apps have refused to take cognizance of.

These are also reasons why I have finally put my foot down and decided not to order from these apps in 2020.

Inflated Price

Prices shown on the delivery menu of the food delivery apps are inflated. If you ever match them with the rates on the restaurant menu card, you would find a significant difference. This can range anywhere between 10% and 25%, most of the times.

This is done by the restaurants because for every order placed, the restaurants have to pay a commission of around 20% to the food delivery startups. The process of deducting the commission is automated or built into the system.

Unfortunately, the organizations enabling these food delivery apps lack the technology to prevent this inflation, and even if they did have the technology, they would never be able to implement it, thanks to the nature of the business model.

Misguided Discounts

I have noticed that restaurants providing discounts have already increased their price to account for the discounts.

There are no free lunches in the world. And restaurants are not charitable organizations to serve you for free. If not an increase in price, they will reduce the quantity to ensure that their margins are not impacted.

No Quality Control

I once ordered food from a restaurant in Bhubaneswar and the next day, I was shocked to see that this was not a restaurant but a street-side shack with rats and lizards having a hay day.

I did a quick tour of the area for the next few days and found that most of these eateries take orders through food delivery apps like Zomato and Swiggy.

Each of these eateries have zero quality control and lack hygiene standards. This is shocking and there is no assurance for the food you eat.

Did I say that I suffered from minor attacks of food poisoning a couple of times and had to resorted to medication to recover? I thought hard and decided to move away from these apps.

Stale Food is a Norm

Of course you can’t expect your order to be cooked afresh and delivered to you within 30 minutes. Or 45 minutes. However, it is your right to get food that has been prepared a couple of hours ago or at the very least, food cooked on the same day.

You do not expect food sitting in the refrigerator and freezing for days, is dropped in a hot tawa or kadai and packaged for delivery to you. You do not deserve stale food.

And these food delivery apps do not give a damn. You are delivered rotten food because these startups do not have the process, the technology, the bandwidth, or the intent to serve you proper food.

I do not care if a refund has been provided to me because of bad food. I have ordered for food because I am hungry and it is the responsibility of the organization through which I have ordered, to ensure that I get hygienic and quality food.

Not to forget that food laws in India are lax in nature. And most citizens of the country are not aware of the laws. Of course, no one would approach a legal system that is heavily tied with bureaucracy for a meal that costs a hundred or two.

Reduced Quantity

This is a general concern that many app-users like me have. For an already inflated price, restaurants deliver you lesser quantity than they would if you go and eat at their place.

Clearly, Zomato and Swiggy do not ensure that you see a standardized menu. A standardized menu is one where the customer knows how much food he should expect once his order is delivered. Of course there are challenges in implementing it, but hey, isn’t that the expectation from new age start ups?

Why would I pay more to get lesser quantity?

Hidden Costs

I am okay to pay a delivery charge for my food when quality, quantity, hygiene is maintained. However, that is never guaranteed. These food delivery apps are never ready to acknowledge the problem and never assured a solution.

It is like, you ordered, we delivered. Don’t blame us for bad food.

Surge prices are scams. A rainy day, a public holiday, surge prices are driven more by the intent to profiteer rather than facilitating delivery in time owing to a surge in demand.

Health Issues

There is no doubt that eating food delivered through apps lack hygiene and quality assurance. You never know the quality of oil used, or if it is even a good oil that is used to cook your order. You never know if the oil is reused.

Personally, I faced a riot of skin problems and developed a pot belly in less than four months.

Uninstall the Apps, Get Your Own Food

While I am currently working to reduce my pot belly, I have decided to avoid getting food through delivery apps like Swiggy and Zomato.

It’s a tough decision because no one likes to slog in the kitchen after a hard day’s work. You want to relax and eat a good, comfortable meal.

Failing is easy, success is hard work.

Follow me on my journey to unravel dishes that can tick the below check boxes.

• Minimal preparation
• Less cooking time
• Does not involve a lot of utensils, because doing the dishes are a real pain
• Healthy
• Tastes good and comforting in nature

Are you satisfied with the food and service from food delivery apps? If not, what do you want to change? Let me know in the comments.