Taking responsibility

Responsibility is a big word that should not be taken lightly. When food deliveries go wrong, who's responsible for it – the food vendor or the person doing the delivery? Let me say something about an experience last Sunday, which was Father’s Day. My daughter had ordered a four-tub variety pack from Baskin Robbins for home delivery by GrabFood. The order was supposed to arrive at 12:30pm. By one o'clock, when I hadn’t heard anything from the deliveryman, I stepped outside and was surprised to see a box precariously balanced on my gate under the hot sun.

I have no idea how long it had been there, but I assume it was at least 30 minutes. My wife and I were home the whole time and never heard anyone call out or ring the doorbell. There were no missed calls on my phone or my daughter’s either. I brought in the package and was disappointed to find the packaging was pretty superficial. Aside from a small gel pack, there was nothing to insulate the ice cream from the heat. Unsurprisingly, the ice cream had gone soft.

I asked my daughter to complain to the delivery company. Given that the order was ice cream, why didn’t the deliveryman try harder to contact us? How was GrabFood going to make up for this sub-par service? Initially, we heard nothing from GrabFood, so my daughter escalated the issue to Baskin Robbins. Another day passed before she finally had a response. 

In situations like this, it’s frustrating to figure out who’s at fault. Is it the deliveryman who didn’t make an effort to hand over the order properly, or the vendor for inadequate packaging? Either way, it’s a headache for the customer. But at least, my daughter managed to get her money back.