One of the best things about having so much competition now in food delivery is that everyone is upping their game. Talabat I realized have been adding a lot of new features recently and the latest one is for their Pro customers and is called “On-Time Guarantee”. If your order is delayed more than 15 minutes beyond the estimated time, then you’ll be eligible for a compensation from Talabat:
15 Minutes Late = KD 1 voucher
30 Minutes Late = KD 1.5 voucher
45 Minutes Late = KD 2 voucher
60 Minutes Late = KD 2.5 voucher
On more than one occasion when an order of mine has been late I’ve had to completely cancel it. Not because I’m trying to be a dick or anything but sometimes I have to be somewhere and if the food is delayed I’ll have to leave the house. I’m talking like estimated delivery time of 20-30 minutes and an hour later still not getting my food. In those situations Talabat have canceled my ordered and refunded me the full amount, so I’m hoping that won’t change now that they’ve introduced this compensation fee.
14 replies on “Talabat On-Time Guarantee”
Try your best not to cancel an order. Recently my order was late and they gave me a 1kd voucher, and I specifically asked if this will hurt the rider then I dont want it. I was told explicitly no, late vouchers do not come out of the riders pocket, however (and they emphasized this) if you cancel an order it does hurt the rider. He did not elaborate more, but I hope it’s not for the full amount of the order, because that would be crazy and super cruel!
Usually in my case the delay is from the Restaurant, not the driver
Exactly same point I was wondering.
Already the delivery drivers are rushing and risking everyone on the roads to maximize their earnings.
These penalties would invariably come out of their pockets and incentivize more rash driving.
Even if they say no who will bear the cost. The delivery company won’t. The restaurant won’t. Invariably the driver is the weakest stakeholder and will be penalized for delays.
Nah, delivery companies bare the cost or the restaurant if the delay is from their side.
Bear*
Last week, I ordered ice cream from Marble Slab Creamery through Deliveroo. It arrived about 20 minutes late. Deliveroo gave me a cashback of 2.5 KD which was surprising, considering my order was less than 4 KD.
Maybe it had something to do with the free Deliveroo Plus upgrade they gave me the day before, even though I have used the app only twice or thrice. Either way, sweet deal.
PS: If I knew it would hurt the rider’s fee as @Shenu said above I would have gave up the cashback!. Poor fellow brought it on a heavily humid & hot evening!
I don’t think it comes out of the driver, unless driver did something really weird like ignore your location and head somewhere else then maybe, but drivers aren’t in charge of traffic and if they’re late because of traffic I can’t see why they’d get penalized
Hope so!. I remember seeing an update about they were unable to find a rider.
After commenting here I checked the receipt again. It was 3.320 (with a discount of 0.830 applied. May be cheaper than in the shop?. ) to be precise and the cashback was 2.5KD. In effect it costed me less than a KD, though late delivery is not an everyday thing!
As you said in the original post, it seems there is lot of competition and everyone is trying to up their game!!.
What I want to know is if any of the tips go to the rider, because on many occasions I’ve heard people say that the drivers themselves told them that they don’t get the tips, and I personally was told by a driver who I tipped say that he will not get it.
I’m pretty sure Talabat don’t steal the drivers tip money or else it would be a huge news story and they’d be breaking some sort of law. Most likely the rider said he won’t get it so you can tip him cash.
If I am not wrong riders are not employed directly by Talabat and there are other parties inbetween. That may be reason they’re not getting the tip paid through the app
Are you using AI for these photos?
this image was taken from their instagram and 100% it was done with AI
I’ve had multiple frustrating experiences with Deliveroo Plus recently. Twice, I placed orders around 12 AM, expecting quick delivery. After waiting an hour each time, I contacted support—only to find out the restaurants were closed, despite the app showing “preparing food.” Deliveroo apologized, but initially refused compensation until I pushed for it. A week later, the same issue happened again. Why are closed restaurants still accepting orders?
Additionally, a month ago, a rider delivering to my office in Shuwaikh completely missed the route, bypassing three roundabouts and heading into the Free Trade Zone. It delayed my order by 20 minutes. I later learned he was new. Shouldn’t riders be tested on Kuwait’s road map before being assigned deliveries?
These repeated issues show a lack of system checks and proper training.