Door Dashed Expectations

My wife and I had been settling down after a hard day at our respective jobs. Neither of us was in the mood to cook. We got the idea that we would order Chinese food from a famous place up the road and have it delivered via Uber Eats (and yes, it is important to note which app we used).

About half an hour later, we get informed that our order is ready. I throw on my coat and go downstairs, and see the driver outside with his phone in one hand and a bag in the other.

When I open the door, however, he hands me his phone and says the restaurant wants to talk to me. I’m confused and tired and just want our food, so I take his phone and answer it.

The worker on the other end of the line starts by apologising, saying the driver grabbed the wrong food and that he still has ours, we can come and pick it up for free, and keep what the driver has already given us. I just replied with an “okay” and handed the driver his phone back.

The driver smiles as he takes his phone and hands me the bag, remarking that the restaurant must have screwed up our order badly if they want to talk to me. He hands me the bag and gets back into his car before I can process what’s going on (it was a LONG day).

I get back inside the building, into the light, and look at the bag; it is a DoorDash order for someone whose name isn’t even remotely close to mine or my wife’s.

It’s also not anything we wanted, as we were craving our comfort dishes and not these more adventurous choices.

My wife and I, thoroughly annoyed, get into my car and go to the restaurant. Once there, the teenage worker and his grandfather (the head chef) tell us what we more or less figured out on the drive over: this was not their mix-up; the driver had just barged in, grabbed the first bag on the shelf, and driven off before they could stop him.

My wife reversed the tip and deleted all her delivery apps. We just go get our own food now.