Online Food Ordering Service Review: Runnr
Recently the Indian government ordered the demonetization of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. By 10th night I was out of cash. Searched all the ATMs around but only encountered NO CASH scenario. So out of no choice I thought of trying online food ordering apps. I download the Runnr app from Google Play. Using the app seems to be pretty simple. You would need to sign-up using your name, email address and phone number. Following this you will receive a verification email in the provided email address. You should also be able to verify using a call / OTP option from the app.
Now you will be directed to the restaurants or food outlets screen. Here you can select a restaurant from the Top Picks or recommended section or scroll down to look through a large list. Also, if you know the restaurant name, you can use the search box to lookup directly.
I selected Danny Lamba’s Punjabi Dhaba located at BDA complex, Indiranagar. The time quoted was 30 mins and I was fine with that. Delivery is free for order value of over Rs 200. Rs 20 will be charged for order of less than Rs 200. It is simple to make payment. They have four options:
- Card
- Cash
- Net Banking
- Wallet (my wallet powered by Citrus, Paytm, Mobikwik and FreeCharge)
Looks like they save your card details after the transaction for future ease of use. If you are not comfortable, you can delete your card details from their server. Besides the card number, click on settings on the right hand side and click on Delete. Soon I received an email on the order confirmation which included the order ID and delivery time. Few minutes later received a SMS stating the restaurant has started preparing your order and a runnr will be assigned shortly. I was also delighted to find that it is possible to live track the delivery person. Also, it is possible to call the delivery person directly from the app. Then again received a SMS stating a delivery person (name and phone number given) has picked up the order and you will be receiving it soon.
At 1.05 PM the delivery person landed at my lane and handed over the order. On my first order, they were able to meet the delivery time they quoted. I think Runnr is not associated with the packaging of the food, they just deliver. Today afternoon again I ordered from the same restaurant but they took 1 hour to deliver against their quoted time of 30 mins. I received a call from them stating one of the item I ordered is not available and offered to replace with another item. That is ok. However, I think Danny Lamba’s Punjabi Dhaba should have intimated me earlier once they have received the order. On the website I see there is a merchant login option, so I think the restaurants get intimated when the order is placed. If it does not work this way then Runnr should make some way to intimate the restaurants about the order the moment it is placed. I was told by the delivery person that one item was not available and he had callback for this. The app allows you to rate your experience on the order and I did justice to it.
Overall, I am happy with the service. Online food ordering platform like Runnr opens new roads of revenue for restaurants and convenience for users. It is because of them I am able to have lunch for the last two days sitting right in the convenience of my home. This kind of services will go a long way to take our country to a cashless society. Roadrunnr acquired TinyOwl and rebranded as Runnr.