Lesson learned
Dec. 24th, 2025 06:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidMonday I put in an order for delivery by the Wandering Que (a kosher BBQ place in NJ): they were offering dropoff at the local Chabad (0.75 miles from home), Wednesday between noon and 1p.
So today I was getting random small things done around the house (put laundry away, start another load, do the dishes, put dry dishes away, bring out the recycling, etc., etc.), and decided I’d not bother with breakfast when food was going to be arriving noonish. I walked over, arriving just after the church bells rang noon, and was surprised that there was absolutely no one around. I waited a quarter of an hour or so, then went home to see whether there was any message from them. No email, no voicemail, no text. I replied to a comment by the business to their post in the Kosher Boston FB group, asking about delays, but got no response. I figured maybe the “noon to 1p” was, instead of the window they’d be there, a window for their arrival, so I walked back, arriving before 1. Still no one, though the falling snowflakes were quite pretty. I waited around a while again, then noticed there was someone in a basement office at Chabad. We chatted briefly: it turned out she hadn’t known about this dropoff until someone else asked about it. Not a good sign. She was nice enough to call them in NJ, but even though she waited a long time, no one picked up, and there wasn’t an answering machine either. I walked some loops nearby, regretting I hadn’t brought the mishnayot I’ve signed up to learn by New Year’s, checking back after each loop. Nothing. At quarter to 2, I decided to wait by Chabad until 2, then head home. I sat under the tent that was set up, stretching my feet/ankles, and when the clock struck 2p, I headed home, footsore and annoyed. I’d turned off my phone because I was almost out of charge, so when I got home I plugged in and checked messages: the nice woman from Chabad let me know there was a delivery on their front steps. So I turned around again and walked over, but there wasn’t anything on the front steps. What?! I started to check the front steps of the other two Chabad-owned buildings, but then the nice woman came out and brought the box of food: apparently they’d rung the doorbell then left two orders on the front steps, a minute or two after I left. The other person who’d put in an order had apparently called the restaurant multiple multiple times before getting through to a person. And while I was chatting with her, SarahM showed up to pick up her order… which didn’t exist. Not good, except that, since she lives around the corner from me, she was kind enough to give me a ride home, so finally managed breakfast at 3p, after 5+ miles walked.
I have no issues with their lateness; traffic can happen to anyone. The problem was that they didn’t let their customers know, nor provide a revised ETA, nor even let us know after the drop-off had happened (that was all the Chabad lady).
The food is decent, but I will not be ordering from them again.
So today I was getting random small things done around the house (put laundry away, start another load, do the dishes, put dry dishes away, bring out the recycling, etc., etc.), and decided I’d not bother with breakfast when food was going to be arriving noonish. I walked over, arriving just after the church bells rang noon, and was surprised that there was absolutely no one around. I waited a quarter of an hour or so, then went home to see whether there was any message from them. No email, no voicemail, no text. I replied to a comment by the business to their post in the Kosher Boston FB group, asking about delays, but got no response. I figured maybe the “noon to 1p” was, instead of the window they’d be there, a window for their arrival, so I walked back, arriving before 1. Still no one, though the falling snowflakes were quite pretty. I waited around a while again, then noticed there was someone in a basement office at Chabad. We chatted briefly: it turned out she hadn’t known about this dropoff until someone else asked about it. Not a good sign. She was nice enough to call them in NJ, but even though she waited a long time, no one picked up, and there wasn’t an answering machine either. I walked some loops nearby, regretting I hadn’t brought the mishnayot I’ve signed up to learn by New Year’s, checking back after each loop. Nothing. At quarter to 2, I decided to wait by Chabad until 2, then head home. I sat under the tent that was set up, stretching my feet/ankles, and when the clock struck 2p, I headed home, footsore and annoyed. I’d turned off my phone because I was almost out of charge, so when I got home I plugged in and checked messages: the nice woman from Chabad let me know there was a delivery on their front steps. So I turned around again and walked over, but there wasn’t anything on the front steps. What?! I started to check the front steps of the other two Chabad-owned buildings, but then the nice woman came out and brought the box of food: apparently they’d rung the doorbell then left two orders on the front steps, a minute or two after I left. The other person who’d put in an order had apparently called the restaurant multiple multiple times before getting through to a person. And while I was chatting with her, SarahM showed up to pick up her order… which didn’t exist. Not good, except that, since she lives around the corner from me, she was kind enough to give me a ride home, so finally managed breakfast at 3p, after 5+ miles walked.
I have no issues with their lateness; traffic can happen to anyone. The problem was that they didn’t let their customers know, nor provide a revised ETA, nor even let us know after the drop-off had happened (that was all the Chabad lady).
The food is decent, but I will not be ordering from them again.
no subject
Date: 2025-12-25 03:14 am (UTC)Wow, that's bad customer service. Delays happen, sure, but communication! That should not be hard. Oy.