I’m done with you, Debo

Sad to see many similar experiences with so little comments from the business... I’m another victim of the online order fail- I placed an order at 19:54 on 20 December via the app. About 20 minutes in the app gave me an error message for tracking( tracking was no longer available). I was ok with that... but when another 20 minutes passed I decided to call and check on my order- no answer... after multiple tries. Eventually I got through to a lady who seemed to have been expecting my issue- and again, I didn’t expect anything major- sometimes things take longer than we hope- so when she said that the delivery guy had my order and should be with me soon, I was happy. She mentioned that he has a few orders with him which may be why it takes a bit longer- but again, I didn’t expect anything major. Weather was food so I went to wait out front- 5 minutes, 10 minutes.... 25 minutes- now I was getting worried, so I tried to call again... no answer. After multiple attempts again (and when I say multiple I mean 7-8 at the very least), I finally get through to someone who transfers me to a supervisor... except that the super visor doesn’t answer their phone, and instead of transferring me back the system cuts my call. So I go through the call attempts again, but this time I call almost 20 times with no answer. And I’m officially concerned since the store would close in 20 minutes time. (This was around 20:40, hour and 40 minutes after order was placed).

I decided to drive to the store to request a refund (again, store closes soon and I wasn’t prepared to lose out of my R260). What an absolute mess, i wasn’t the only upset customer looking for answers about their online order... the store was FULL of customers just like me- most of them angrily waiting for their food. When a manager eventually came to speak with me as I requested, I firstly got a “didnt I speak to you and you said that you would collect your food?”... uhm, no, you said my food was in the way- and that was 40 minutes ago... then I was told that they can only process my refund online and I’d have to wait. How about no, if my order took 2 hours and still no where to be found, I’m not about to trust you with my money. After some time wasting, reviewing my order receipt over and over again as if something may magically change, the manager gave me my money back in cash as I asked.

Just some comments from my fellow customers: “This always happens with online orders” “It’s been 2 hours, and my family has been waiting for supper” “The online service is pathetic”

So, being the very patient and understanding customer I am, I can honestly say that this experience has been the worst I have ever experienced... especially with online ordering! The fact that they had a store full of customers just like me tells me that something is very long... and, I forgot to mention earlier the manager says she’s sorry, the store is very busy today”. My response:” that is not my problem as your customer, but it would probably be a food idea for your to consider cutting down or stopping order intakes next time you guys bite off more than you can chew to avoid the continuation of orders coming through when the store is already drowning. I have deleted the app to prevent any temptation should Debonairs try to reel me back in with their promos and coupons- they could offer me a free pizza for all I care, I wouldn’t risk the wait. There’s just no excuse for a 2 hour wait, with no updates or feedback, zero customer service or assistance, non existence escalation line via telephone (since managers simply ignore the phone), and then having to drive to the store myself to find out what’s going on just 100% defeats the purpose of online ordering. shut down Debo, you cant manage, and what happened on Friday will definitely continue to damage your brand if your stores can’t cope a little weekend rush hour...