As a frequent supporter of countless local businesses, I feel it makes such good business sense to keep as many dollars within our community as possible, whenever possible. Naturally, there are exceptions, but when choosing between GrubHub or Ithaca to Go, I want to support the latter more than the former. I also know that it's a competitive market, so I'd think that Ithaca to Go would be putting its best foot forward as much as possible in terms of customer relations, best practices, and customer satisfaction. In the past, I had a problem with a menu item from Aladdin's not being the same offering or pricing structure as on the Ithaca to Go website (e.g., the website included only pasta choices that cost money instead of pasta choices that were included with the main dish )...it took two attempts to troubleshoot this and finally - after several attempts, messages, and phone calls, a generous credit was placed on my account with their thanks. I wondered, later, too, if this was accidental or intentional - for instance, how many customers read the restaurant's menu, compare prices, and realize that Ithaca to Go was only offering the up-sell and not the pasta that was included with the regular price? But, let me not be a pessimist or alarmist. I went back, business as usual, to ordering from them, particularly since this is often a lifesaver for busy parents who want to serve any wide variety of nutritious offerings but may not have time to cook. However, it doesn't work if we're cheated out of money. For instance, last month, I ordered special desserts for my daughter and myself, for a very special occasion. The desserts arrived with missing ingredients. I texted the driver but he said he couldn't troubleshoot the matter. I wrote them in two places last month - their "chat" window and FB messenger. Still no response to an issue from mid-October. Today, on the telephone, I was told that "the owner" would determine the matter and "get back to me about what she might do." What she *might* do? I reminded the person that it's actually the law to make good on a customer not receiving what a customer has ordered. Clearly, this business must figure itself out in terms of best practices. The customer cannot pay for items that they don't receive, nor should I be waiting to hear back on what "might" happen. I have been cheated out of my money, my queries not responded to, and to this moment, there has been no call back from "the owner." Let's be clear, too, owners and top managers must empower their people to be able to troubleshoot problems without contacting them. I'm sure the person on the line is presumably tired of fielding customers' upsets when they do not receive the correct orders. Sorry to say this, but Ithaca to Go is going to be just that - something "gone" and not enduring, because customers today have many, many choices and gone are the days in which they just pick a local brand because they find it endearing. Money talks, b.s. walks. I won't be guilted into buying local for the sake of buying local. I will buy from the company that values my time, doesn't need me to chase them down for refunds, empowers their employees to make decisions without contacting owners, and refunds my money quickly when there are errors, without undue bureaucratic woo-woo, excuses, and lagtime. read more
