The Grubhub application and website started to crash and go through glitches just minutes into a promotion which promised New Yorkers a free lunch
Grubhub is a delivery app. Grubhub announced this week that it will offer New Yorkers "free lunch" between the hours between 11 a.m. until 2.30 p.m. this day. Of course, that offer was accompanied with a few conditions such as the fact that lunch isn't actually "free" but discounted by $15 when you use the coupon discount code "FREELUNCH," or that "users will remain responsible for any applicable tax, fees, and optional tip.
Also there's nothing more attractive than the idea of food for free, particularly in the context of increasing food costs in the United States and food shortages across the country, Grubhub seems to have undervalued the appeal of this offer. It was clear that the rollout was a disaster.
The Grubhub application and its website were crashing and glitching for a few within a few minutes of the promotion and causing problems such as rejection of payments and prompts for error messages, which Twitter users promptly noted. A few users complained that there were fewer restaurants than normal were accessible through the app, and that restaurants shut down orders, possibly because of the massive spike in demand.
A Grubhub spokesperson has told Eater the following "During the Free Lunch promotional period redemptions were six times higher than a similar promotion we launched in 2021, and at times we were averaging six thousand orders per minute." (At certain restaurants the orders were increasing in the midst of waiting for an delivery which threw an obstacle in their business.) A spokesperson for the company also states that Grubhub "worked with our restaurant network in advance to notify restaurant partners leading up to this promotion," although certain restaurant owners claim they were unaware of the promotion.. Despite these complaints appearing across Twitter as well as other platforms platforms in real time -- and for which the delivery company provided a sly acknowledgment -the delivery service Grubhub tweeted amid all the noise to remind customers to make sure they get their orders in.
Similar post report noted that offers similar to this have become more commonplace in food delivery services since delivery has lost its popularity during the height of the epidemic. As more people opt for dining out instead of delivery and as consumers become frustrated with the app's massive service and delivery charges businesses such as DoorDash or Uber were able to see their stock fall significantly, NBC reported; DoorDash shares fell from $246 in November to $89 by the latter part of April. The reason for this is the ongoing struggle of delivery apps to become profitable, as the Wall Street Journal reported in the past. So, what customers are getting is more desperate attempts from delivery services to earn some goodwill and generate businesses.
Of course, a shaky application -- or lunch that hasn't been served -may not be the most effective way to win customers back, especially like a silly promotion doesn't help improve the tense relationship between food establishments and delivery platforms. However, Grubhub has proved that one thing is true: "Free lunch" will always be a siren call regardless of whether it's in fact free. If you're still waiting for their lunch menus We'll just make sure you're giving a good tip and most likely with cash. It's a good idea to be patient in all situations however, especially this day.