Customer service is the most critical element in business, especially in the food industry, where consumers expect the best. Online delivery platforms aim to enhance convenience by taking the product to the consumer. However, this may be characterized by various challenges, such as delays and wrong orders. Notably, consumers at Uber Eats continuously complain about poor customer service. Hence, a new app should focus on immediate problem-solving using a humanized approach rather than consumer management.
The ideal way to dethrone Uber Eats is to provide an alternative app with impeccable consumer service. Food apps exist to offer convenience and must be inherently consumer-oriented. Such apps cannot focus on the companies and must be dedicated to providing the best service. Therefore, an alternative to Uber Eats would resolve the existing service problem by addressing customer issues. The current app has a chat queue that consumers use whenever they experience problems, such as receiving wrong orders and experiencing delays beyond the stipulated time. The individual on the chat box often has two options whenever presented with consumer issues. First, they can offer a refund to allow the customer to place another order. Second, the individual may provide appropriate credit to compensate the consumer for their loss or waste of time (Kline 1). However, these two options may not be satisfactory since the customer is still inconvenienced. Customer service representatives at the company lack the authority to initiate any other actions, leaving consumers frustrated.
Given these consumer service issues, a rival app would provide a better way to handle such problems using a customized approach. Customer service representatives would have more discretion to tackle consumer problems and ensure satisfaction (Suarez & Kirtley 38). For example, a representative on the chat box may feel obliged to call the restaurant and help the consumer place another order. The representative may also provide complementary options for future orders, especially when the restaurant is on the wrong. Other options include connecting the driver, restaurant, and consumer to ensure they resolve their issues. The consumer services may incorporate conference calls, phone calls, and other communication channels to enhance a collaborative approach to conflict resolution.
The rival app would seek a more humanized approach to responding to each problem uniquely. Uber Eats currently uses automated and scripted messages to address consumer issues. Hence, the new app would consider providing more communication options, such as phone calls where the consumer explains their problem in detail and explores solutions with the representative (Suarez & Kirtley 39). Often, consumers lack the means to reach the driver or the food establishment handling their order. They can only find solutions on the consumer service option on the app, where they need to log in to the site and are further directed to a page. The new app will eliminate this need to ensure consumers can directly speak to an agent who may connect them to the driver or restaurant, where their issue will be resolved quickly.
A prompt and humanized approach to problems would revolutionize the food delivery industry. Most apps do not offer solutions and merely provide generic messages. Meanwhile, consumers still experience the problem and are highly inconvenienced. A review of Uber Eats shows a comment by a consumer who received a wrong order. They were directed to a chat box where the representative gave them a scripted message that did not address the issue (Kline 2). Hence, the new app will train representatives to address each problem independently until it is resolved. As expected, some problems will receive scripted responses. However, the app will focus on follow-ups, collaboration, and speed in the consumer service department. Overall, Uber Eats can be dethroned with better consumer service that focuses on providing concrete solutions and meeting consumers’ needs.
Works Cited
Kline, Daniel. Uber Eats Has a Customer-Service Problem, 2022. Retrieved from https://www.thestreet.com/investing/uber-eats-customer-service-problem
Suarez, Fernando, and Jacqueline Kirtley. Dethroning an Established Platform. SSRN, 2014.
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