{"id":221633,"date":"2026-01-07T15:33:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T15:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/221633\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T15:33:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T15:33:09","slug":"food-apps-are-ruining-fast-food-one-glitchy-order-at-a-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/221633\/","title":{"rendered":"Food Apps Are Ruining Fast Food One Glitchy Order at a Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time to order up another heaping helping of gripes with a new edition of The Gripe Report<\/a>!<\/p>\n

And speaking of ordering things, I want to talk about food apps.<\/p>\n

Y’know, applications on your phone that you can use to order food.<\/p>\n

It’s a simple idea that years ago sounded amazing. You just hop on this app, press a few buttons, and then someone brings you grub.<\/p>\n

Have a gripe? Send it in!: matthew.reigle@outkick.com<\/a><\/p>\n

However, it’s an idea that’s far from perfect, and there are plenty of things about these apps that drive me insane, so this week, we’re complaining about food apps.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

No one should have to live like this. There must be a better way. (Photo by Yu Chun Christopher Wong\/S3studio\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Too Many<\/p>\n

My biggest complaint about food apps is that there are too many of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are like three or four apps for delivering food (not counting apps for grocery stores), and then every restaurant you go to has its own app, and they\u2019re all completely different.<\/p>\n

Like, I just want a dollar coffee from McDonald\u2019s, but I can\u2019t remember how to do it because it\u2019s different than the Jersey Mike\u2019s app, which is different than the Starbucks app, and so on and so forth.<\/p>\n

I want a one-stop shop for food apps. One singular food app, which we will call “F\u016aD.”<\/p>\n

Pronounced “Food,” not “Fudd” like Elmer Fudd\u2026<\/p>\n

F\u016aD would tackle anything and everything that has to do with food.<\/p>\n

You want to get some grub delivered? F\u016aD has your back.<\/p>\n

Want to check a menu? F\u016aD can do it.<\/p>\n

Want to rack up reward points to feed your food addiction? F\u016aD.<\/p>\n

Now, I have no idea how this would work. Like, who would run F\u016aD? I like to think I would with the help of funding from angel investors, but I think some major corporations would have a problem with this, thus defeating the point and the beautiful simplicity of F\u016aD.<\/p>\n

The Fact That I Gave In And Now Have An Armory Of Food Apps<\/p>\n

Years ago, I was anti-food app. In a lot of ways, I still am.<\/p>\n

I still think it\u2019s kind of nuts that to order from a drive-through, I have to have a specialized tool to let Wendy\u2019s know I\u2019ve got a hankering for a Dave’s Double like some kind of burger Batphone.<\/p>\n

But, in the same way people had to cave to the email, I had to give in and download a collection.<\/p>\n

Why was my hand forced? I dug my heels in for years, but then one day I cracked.<\/p>\n

Was it the promise of a $0.99 any-size coffee at McD\u2019s\u2026 yeah, actually I think it was.<\/p>\n

So, I guess I\u2019m just a sellout on this, and all it took was a dollar.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

That’s a nifty stack of gift cards\u2026 it’d be a real shame if you couldn’t use them on apps for some stupid reason. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The Gift Card Situation<\/p>\n

I recently discovered that some of these restaurant apps don\u2019t let you use gift cards on them.<\/p>\n

While I\u2019m usually not a fan of government intervention, I would like to see swift action on this point.<\/p>\n

It’s my understanding that this has to do with fees, but how ridiculous is that? They have already got their money, and now they want to decide how I spend it.<\/p>\n

On top of that, you can’t use restaurant gift cards to order through delivery services.<\/p>\n

Just ridiculous, and if and when I run for office, this issue will be at the top of my platform.<\/p>\n

No One Is As Impressed By My Reward Points Total As I Am<\/p>\n

While I\u2019m not big on food apps, I do have a weird sense of pride about how I could get an Egg McMuffin for nothing thanks to my accrued reward points.<\/p>\n

I keep this close to the vest (don\u2019t tell anyone, please) because no one seems to be as impressed by my reward points balance.<\/p>\n

Like, I couldn\u2019t even tell you the last time I paid for guacamole at Chipotle. I\u2019ve got the points to get it for free\u2026 then pay for it on my wife\u2019s bowl because they only let you redeem one at a time.<\/p>\n

But not enough people are impressed by this. It feels like some kind of flex. Not quite like having a black AmEx card, but only a few notches down.<\/p>\n

This is especially the case with the Jersey Mike\u2019s app, which dished out our rewards for picking NFL and NHL games.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t tell you how proud I was to eat a chicken cheesesteak I had earned by correctly picking random hockey games.<\/p>\n

Sure, I haven\u2019t had any kids yet, but I assume it\u2019s on par.<\/p>\n

Of course, I could\u2019ve just bet on those games the old-fashioned way and used the winnings \u2014 which can be exchanged for goods and services \u2014 to buy sandwiches.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Meh\u2026 this was more fun.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Delivery apps are great when they work, but if they don’t, be prepared to lose your mind. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Delivery Faux Pas That Leave You Scrambling\u00a0<\/p>\n

One last thing that I hate about food delivery apps, specifically \u2014 your DoorDash and your Uber Eats and your Postmates (if anyone uses that one) \u2014 is the way that when they go wrong, they really mess up your evening.<\/p>\n

For instance, I placed an order 24 hours in advance for New Year’s Eve for my wife and me. Just a pizza and some wings, nothing fancy.<\/p>\n

However, despite the Earth having made an entire rotation around its axis since I placed the order, half an hour before it was due to be delivered, the restaurant canceled it.<\/p>\n

No explanation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I know that’s more the restaurant’s fault, but it kind of feels like this is the app doing me wrong.<\/p>\n

That left me scrambling, searching for alternatives, making me spend some of the final hours of 2025 trying to figure out how the f–k I could get someone to bring me a pizza.<\/p>\n

I realized that this is a big problem with these apps. When they work, they’re great (aside from the upcharges on everything).<\/p>\n

But when they go wrong? Well, it’s bad enough to inspire an entire edition of The Gripe Report.<\/p>\n

\u2026<\/p>\n

That’s it for this week’s edition of The Gripe Report!<\/p>\n

Be sure to send in any gripes you’ve got for future editions!: matthew.reigle@outkick.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time to order up another heaping helping of gripes with a new edition…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":221634,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[342,111,139,69,145],"class_list":{"0":"post-221633","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-mobile","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}