Chefs Xp

[IADR]

Sorot

I did complain (without using any profanities) to your operator who told me that they would 'report' the problem (i doubt they did!) To be honest, I had no idea that I could e-mail and complain. I tend not to write and complain due to the fact, in the past and as a general rule, I find very little changes and I very rarely get a reply. I feared that this would be the same with your company.

I will use ChefsXP again as I prefer the prices/restaurants and I am hopeful that what I order will be in stock and there will be no problems. If there are, I will be sure to let you know.

Iain

[whistleblower]

"For the original post, yes it's possible that restaurants are out of stock and haven't told us. It's also possible that you've had a few bad experiences with my company (as with any other company). Albeit, it's clear to see that you have no intention of letting THE COMPANY know about your dissatisfaction before posting such remarks. I have cc all emails to ChefsXP and have not seen a single email from you."

Lets just be clear here, I havent posted anything saying ive had bad experiences with your company, in fact i said i find you considerably cheaper than the others.

I was merely commenting on other peoples posts.

As I said before, Food by Phone will not allow a restaurant to be entered on its books until it has been operating for at least 6 months, it does this to safeguard against the restaurant folding in that time and also uses that time to monitor the restaurants performance.

Chef XP SEEMS to accept restaurants much quicker after they open, this gives you less time to assess their operation, thus if the RESTAURANT is experiencing difficulties (staff problems, items not on the menu etc) this is then passed on to Chef XP and ultimately it is XP not the restaurant that has to deal with the customer.

This seems to be the complaint that people are posting about on this thread.

It is NOT XP's fault that a restaurant does not have items on the menu that it states it has. It is, however, XP's resonsibility i feel to monitor the restaurants that constantly do this and act accordingly (maybe ban the restaurant for a month?) Which would not only be in the customers interest but ultimately XP's

[TheyCallmeScooter]

Hi Khun Sorot,

I think it's great that you are passionate enough to field concerns from your customers personally, and in public.

I am the laziest person in Bangkok, and have ordered from ChefsXP many times but I find myself keeping on leaning towards FbP as - and I hope you don't mind me saying so - there does seem to be a substantial disparity in hassles (? - not sure that's the right word) over a consistently long period of time between the two wonderful delivery services. And they are both wonderful, in reality. It feels almost nit-picking to criticise, but lazy people like me (a delivery service's target market, perhaps - I like to think so, doing my bit etc with my laziness 555) are allergic to hassles. I break out in exasperation, and one time my voice did go up a couple octaves back in late 2008 I think. I'm sure you appreciate this is a medical condition, the side-effects of our allergies to complications.

Granted, your prices are substantially cheaper, and also you have Subway which is god, so after I recover from the trauma of mild exasperation, I find myself returning tentatively, fingers crossed etc. And yet....I dunno, I hope you'll forgive me for saying so, but there does less to be a consistently higher amount of "no can do" types of issues. I don't know if this is due to an obsessive "can do" attitude at FbP for the much higher prices, or if there are complications that are just part of the process and built into the lower prices. And if the explanation has already been given, please forgive my aforementioned laziness in speed-reading past it.

One thing that has always baffled the rusty inner workings of my puzzle-solving mind, however, is the website. I can't possibly know the realities, of course - and I'm sure there are complexities I can't fathom. But it's always seemed a bit peculiar to me that ChefsXP doesn't appear to be that focused on improving the aesthetics and functionality (and there are loads of improvements that could be made - in my opinion). Heck, I'd just gratuitously draw 'inspiration' from my competitors but I'm a lazy rogue like that. I really like pictures when ordering dishes. And it seems the CC issue is still present where CC payments are done manually over the phone instead of a secure page?

I just ordered for the first time in awhile (checking to see if the CC issue was fixed was an afterthought so apologies if clicking Confirm here takes the customer to a secure page).

I beg you to please take these suggestions in the supportive tone they were intended in. I want a healthy competitive rivalry purely for selfish price-war / aversion to effort / lazy reasons

[TheyCallmeScooter]

oh oh before I forget, had I not so regretfully ruined my chances of bluffing non-laziness, I would attempt now to bluff my intent to set up a 24hr delivery service! And within a few days, surely capture 83.3 % of market share. I have run the maths twice!

Surely the demand is there for a skeleton staff? If you see fit to recognise the genius in this suggestion, I solemnly swear to deliver 100% of my VIP laziness (regardless of hassle) for one calendar year to ChefsXP. So help me god.

A no-brainer idea from a brainless drunkard. It's got Winner stamped all over it. I await your inevitable concurrence.

[appropriate]

I have to say I've always been delighted with the company and the service.

Only time I had one problem was when sunrise tacos forgot the cheese on a nachos grande supreme and they organized it to get another full one sent out FoC.

[SorotXP]

Dear IADR/ Khun Lain,

Thank you very much for your last comment;

'I didn't know I could email...'

I (as the sole owner of ChefsXP) care about all our customers, provided they do not use profanity with our staff. If you are one of the 99.99% of our customer that do use our service and understand our policy- please let me know whenever you are displeased. (I am sure I will make it up to you- no matter whose fault)

As it happens with these forums- it brings out the best of us and also the 'less' best of us!!

I gain a lot from gauging forums such as these, I see the people who are obviously not a fan of NO MARKUP.

That's okay, that's fine... Provided that they do not defame us with false accusation, or highlight our competitor with false claims. Everything in this world is governed by the free market (unless you are the privelege few!!)

Once again, I thank ThaiVisa for moderating this topic, I thank those who have contributed in a constructive way, and I particularly pity those who do not realize that NO MARKUP is totally fine and good in business sense (cos I believe in the free market and freedom of speech- as long as they are within reality)

I DO NOT BELIEVE IN USING THIS SITE TO PROMOTE OR DEMOTE ANYONE OR ANY COMPANY. This is the reason why I stand my ground.

Last, but not least, I believe that everyone should have the right to know what's fact and what's fiction.

(please do not take my word for it- try to gather the real facts from restaurant owners themselves)

(anyone reading this topic will find that I always defend my company against false accusations, and all those against- well, we know what it's all about)

[SorotXP]

'TheyCallMeScooter':

Thank you for your elaborate and fine demeanor!

All's good and I duly note your comment.

I shall make sure I fix (your anguish) and gain your 'VIP 1 year attention' soon!

(as a matter of fact, am doing so right now)

Please do not hesitate to use our site 'as is' cos any https or secure connection is as good as my company's reputation. Your CC info is safe and our company have no aspiration of gaining from the aforementioned unscrupulous deeds.

Thank you for your delightful post!

[SorotXP]

TheyCallMeScooter:

Yes, I see a lot of 'genius' stamped all over your post!!

[bkkjames]

Obviously WhistleBlower, you wouldn't back your claim cos of possible vested interest.

My name is Sorot Chamlongsupalak and I AM the MD and sole owner of ChefsXP. I obviously care about my company and what people say about it.

For the original post, yes it's possible that restaurants are out of stock and haven't told us. It's also possible that you've had a few bad experiences with my company (as with any other company). Albeit, it's clear to see that you have no intention of letting THE COMPANY know about your dissatisfaction before posting such remarks. I have cc all emails to ChefsXP and have not seen a single email from you.

As I have already mentioned, we try to be accommodating to all our customers except those that use profanity- we do so with a service mind. Customers that chose to use profanity are banned and ChefsXP chose such actions.

For all those who are reading this topic, thank you for contributing and thank you 'soundman' for trying to keep order.

ChefsXP is and will always be positioned as THE NO MARKUP restaurant delivery company and I believe we service more satisfied customers than not.

Thais, in general, will always be polite and 'sabai sabai' rather than not.

It goes without saying that there are exceptions to every rule but I also believe that I am in a position to know that every food delivery company gets a discount from every restaurant. This website is all about informing expats about the topics they post and contribute- I feel it's my duty (if not obligation) to refute any mis-leading facts (about my company)

What's true is true, so let's all enjoy!

Please- no posers!

well said K. Sorot: Funny how other threads on TV one is not allowed to name and shame but this one it's apparently ok.

I have no vested interest in your company or the competition, have used both over the years. Have had a couple of small issues but can say I did get a fair response from both at the time.

(ps, a major chicken place screwed up my order fantastically recently - funny thing was, just before my wife was going to call them to raise the issue, they called to check if our order was ok because they shipped it from a new location - and I guess they new there would be issues yet still sent me the order screwed up).

Edited February 1, 2011 by bkkjames

[johnnok]

Long thread! Just want to say that I love ChefXP, great service.

Cheers!

[ChristopherWilliamsBKK]

Dear K. Sorot.

I had a conversation with you at the Bangkok Trader party on Soi 11 a month or so ago. You informed me that ChefsXP was toying with the idea of producing a monthly publication to be distributed through your network that would be a sort of foodie review. I thought that the idea of all your restaurants running different monthly special and promotions was a great idea. Do you have any plans to go ahead with this at the present?

[JohnnyFeelIt]

The chefsxp website is offline, any idea when it will be fixed? I'm hungry..

[JohnnyFeelIt]

I'd also like to add that our staff do not react well to customers using foul language as part of every sentences.

Thais, in general, are polite and welcoming. It's our culture and it's 'sabai sabai'

(I have yet to meet anyone who enjoys being treated as an idiot and inferior)

99.99% of the time that I have candidly eavesdrop on my staff taking calls, they are polite and accommodating. They love the 99.99% of the customers that treat them as humans.

As for the 00.01% of the calls (and customers), I truly feel sorry for because not even I care to take the call..

Would anyone like to speak to someone using profanity as a way of communication??

I lost my temper on one occasion with your staff although I didn't use foul language I probably should have done. In my opinion I lost my temper for very good reason.

I received a totally wrong order from the restraunt I ordered from, it took 10 minutes from delivery to the point that your telepohne staff admited that I had been sent the wrong food.

They never really made an apology and just said they would call the restraunt. I had to hang around for another 25 minutes, while your staff made no fewer than 6 seperate calls to the delivery guy to speak to me.

The end result was that they offered to send the correct food again and that delivery would take another 1hr. This would have mean't a total delivery time from my initial order of +2hrs 30mins. I refused and went to heat a microwave meal up.

What made me lose my temper was after refusing for them to send the correct order, your staff told me that I had to pay for the food that I had not even received and that they would send it for free the next time. Totally unprofessional, so I said goodbye to the delivery guy and closed the door.

[TheyCallmeScooter]

I shall make sure I fix (your anguish) and gain your 'VIP 1 year attention' soon!

(as a matter of fact, am doing so right now)

TheyCallMeScooter:

Yes, I see a lot of 'genius' stamped all over your post!!

I'm going to pretend I didn't notice those cheeky very-applicable single apostrophes. For the sake of our friendship.

It's not that I'm a moron, I'm a moreoff. More off than on. (Algren was god)

[eMzyme]

I'd also like to add that our staff do not react well to customers using foul language as part of every sentences.

Thais, in general, are polite and welcoming. It's our culture and it's 'sabai sabai'

(I have yet to meet anyone who enjoys being treated as an idiot and inferior)

99.99% of the time that I have candidly eavesdrop on my staff taking calls, they are polite and accommodating. They love the 99.99% of the customers that treat them as humans.

As for the 00.01% of the calls (and customers), I truly feel sorry for because not even I care to take the call..

Would anyone like to speak to someone using profanity as a way of communication??

I lost my temper on one occasion with your staff although I didn't use foul language I probably should have done. In my opinion I lost my temper for very good reason.

I received a totally wrong order from the restraunt I ordered from, it took 10 minutes from delivery to the point that your telepohne staff admited that I had been sent the wrong food.

They never really made an apology and just said they would call the restraunt. I had to hang around for another 25 minutes, while your staff made no fewer than 6 seperate calls to the delivery guy to speak to me.

The end result was that they offered to send the correct food again and that delivery would take another 1hr. This would have mean't a total delivery time from my initial order of +2hrs 30mins. I refused and went to heat a microwave meal up.

What made me lose my temper was after refusing for them to send the correct order, your staff told me that I had to pay for the food that I had not even received and that they would send it for free the next time. Totally unprofessional, so I said goodbye to the delivery guy and closed the door.

That was pretty much the norm for me!

Also I noted that if you ordered late just before the cut off time and the order arrived wrong you were pretty much screwed.

I often found that speaking to customer service rep on the instant messenger i would usually get the same response 'your complaint has been noted and we will get back to you tomorrow' very rarely ever did.

Actually I'm now glad I got banned as its saved me around 10k per month.

If I ever order now I just use…….

http://www.snpfood.c...ndpdelivery.php

[dantilley]

Ha ha, good to hear from one of the profanity users! So your foul mouth means you're now reduced to using S&P instead?! Enjoy!!!

[eMzyme]

Ha ha, good to hear from one of the profanity users! So your foul mouth means you're now reduced to using S&P instead?! Enjoy!!!

and when have i used profanity? go back and read the entire thread.

as i said i dont use delivery companies that often anymore hence the saving of 10k per month.

but now and again i will use snp the pizza is very good

[dantilley]

K. Sorot said this:

Customers that chose to use profanity are banned and ChefsXP chose such actions.

You said this:

Actually I'm now glad I got banned

Stands to reason that you must have used profanity to get yourself banned.

[eMzyme]

K. Sorot said this:

Customers that chose to use profanity are banned and ChefsXP chose such actions.

You said this:

Actually I'm now glad I got banned

Stands to reason that you must have used profanity to get yourself banned.

how does that stand to reason?

i'm glad i got banned as i now spend less per month.

I can only assume i got banned for complaing as i never used profanity.

again read the entire thread

[dantilley]

OK, well it's your word against his I suppose.

[whistleblower]

Ha ha, good to hear from one of the profanity users! So your foul mouth means you're now reduced to using S&P instead?! Enjoy!!!

Foul mouth? just what constitutes a foul mouth these days? would be interesting to hear your views. I guess you never use a swear word in every day speach?

Swearing is (unfortunately) a part of everyday speach in the west these days. (e.g its f***ing freezing outside, ouch that f***ing hurt, or one everyone here maybe familiar with, The f***ing taxi driver tried to rip me off)

The F word has crept into every day speach these days and is not always used to insult someone. Thus, "Ive been waiting 2 f***ing hours for this order!" is no where near as bad as "Ive been waiting 2 hours for this order you f***ing stupid idiot"

Using swear words to directly attack an individual is definately wrong, using it to express yourself, not so much so in my opinion. And when, as ive said in my #53 post, the person will not admit they're wrong exasperation takes over and maybe profanities creep in.

The main thing that annoys me when a food order goes wrong (any food order, not directing this at XP) is the person at the other end doesnt appreciate the time factor. You get home from work shower etc, order some food so you can sit down after a hard day at work and watch the 8pm movie on HBO whilst eating your favourite burger etc, only to find out that your still arguing on the phone at 9.15 pm and you've missed the movie.

[eMzyme]

OK, well it's your word against his I suppose.

to be honest he never accused me profanity, he just declined his services to me and he has every right to do so.

i just find it strange that an owner would do this to a customer who spent a lot of money, and ordered from his company every other day.

on a side note when i looked through my orders they never made a mistake when i ordered just for myself. its only when i ordered food for the wife and kids did the mistakes begin maybe there's a flaw within the company with dealing with large orders, or that the restaurants are more prone to mistakes.

[SorotXP]

Ha ha, good to hear from one of the profanity users! So your foul mouth means you're now reduced to using S&P instead?! Enjoy!!!

Foul mouth? just what constitutes a foul mouth these days? would be interesting to hear your views. I guess you never use a swear word in every day speach?

Swearing is (unfortunately) a part of everyday speach in the west these days. (e.g its f***ing freezing outside, ouch that f***ing hurt, or one everyone here maybe familiar with, The f***ing taxi driver tried to rip me off)

The F word has crept into every day speach these days and is not always used to insult someone. Thus, "Ive been waiting 2 f***ing hours for this order!" is no where near as bad as "Ive been waiting 2 hours for this order you f***ing stupid idiot"

Using swear words to directly attack an individual is definately wrong, using it to express yourself, not so much so in my opinion. And when, as ive said in my #53 post, the person will not admit they're wrong exasperation takes over and maybe profanities creep in.

The main thing that annoys me when a food order goes wrong (any food order, not directing this at XP) is the person at the other end doesnt appreciate the time factor. You get home from work shower etc, order some food so you can sit down after a hard day at work and watch the 8pm movie on HBO whilst eating your favourite burger etc, only to find out that your still arguing on the phone at 9.15 pm and you've missed the movie.

I think you are correct (swearing in everyday life) !!

"It's f***ing cold outside" can probably be used in many places without offending anyone. Many comedians around the world resort to using such words, expressions and gestures to provoke laughs. That's fine and mature enough.

Likewise, I would not recommend to my staff to address a customers problem " . . . I am terribly sorry you have to wait 2 f***ing hours for your order, Sir . . ." "But the f***ing traffic is so bad today" . . . surely that would not calm anyone's temper!!

In my particular context, I refer to the use of profanity when it is directed at a person and often intended to demean or humiliate them.

From Wikipedia:

In the United Kingdom, swearing in the workplace can be an act of gross misconduct under certain circumstances. In particular, this is the case when swearing accompanies insubordination against a superior or humiliation of an inferior employee. However, in other cases it may not be grounds for instant dismissal.^[8] According to a UK site on work etiquette, the "fact that swearing is a part of everyday life means that we need to navigate a way through a day in the office without offending anyone, while still appreciating that people do swear. Of course, there are different types of swearing and, without spelling it out, you really ought to avoid the 'worst words' regardless of who you're talking to".^[9] With respect to swearing between colleagues, the site explains that "[a]lthough it may sound strange, the appropriateness [of] swearing [...] is influenced largely by the industry you are in and the individuals you work with". The site continues to explain that, even in a workplace in which swearing is the norm, there is no need to participate in it.^[9] The site stresses that swearing is, in generally, more problematic in asymmetric situations, such as in the presence of senior management or clients, but it also mentions that a "holier than thou" attitude towards clients may be problematic.^[9]

The Guardian reported that "36% of the 308 UK senior managers and directors having responded to a survey accepted swearing as part of workplace culture", but warned about specific inappropriate uses of swearing such as when it is discriminatory or part of bullying behaviour. The article ends with a quotation from Ben Wilmott (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development): "Employers can ensure professional language in the workplace by having a well drafted policy on bullying and harassment that emphasises how bad language has potential to amount to harassment orbullying."^[10]

[TheyCallmeScooter]

Purely to present a Devil's Advocate position (I am a veritable diplomat, of course - but my memory may be selective), whilst one should always be conscious of the way their behaviour might be perceived, it's worth noting that - sometimes, usually, 60% of the time, every time - the language which causes offence is a reaction to a perceived provocation.

As a guest in a pretty cool country, I try always to be conscious of how behaviour that is very much generic for my culture...might be perceived to be brash or rude or confronting. The biggest challenge for me is my decibel level when I'm excited or interested or...when I have been unfairly disadvantaged or worse.

As I very much desire to remain a welcomed guest, I almost exclusively ignore the fact that the (rapidly decreasing) occasions where my raised voice does cause offence, the offended party deserved far, far worse than mere louder words. And I almost exclusively ignore the fact that I'm rarely, if ever, the antagonist - rather I am merely reacting to an unacceptable (or worse) offence.

I guess the point I'm trying to make in my verbose, awkward, roundabout way is that the culture here is delightfully adept at getting offended to the disproportionately mild reaction to their provoking offence. When I say 'delightful', I'm not being sarcastic - I genuinely adore the rather brilliant nature of the cultural shenanigans. Now that I understand them all, of course - initially, I found the whole thing a great deal more frustrating than fascinating.

Whether or not any of this is even relevant to this particular discussion, I cannot say. I have worked in a bar many years ago (I was born with my dashing good looks, but I had to circumvent my laziness the hard way), and I certainly know that people are capable of being just...well...pigs, or worse. But there might be a situation here where there is misunderstanding on both sides; no doubt some angry words have been delivered in response to a perceived apathy or failure to care / unapologetic staff who failed to meet (reasonable or unreasonable) expectations.

Westerners must learn that what they believe is warranted back home (in terms of a response to being let down) has a very different level of impact here. And Thais must learn that, in the West, when you let someone down...you're liable to cop a spray when angry customers react to perceived nonchalance / apathy on behalf of the perceived first offender.

I hope this is all coherent. I had a couple 3 drinks _{in the last hour.}

[gavinzac]

Just want to thank Khun Sorot since he's here in person, we've ordered quite a few times and always received the best.

There was an occasion when I was called back to say that the restaurant I had ordered from suddenly had had a large party walk in and were now too busy - this sounds pretty reasonable to me! I view ChefsXP as being, without the negative connotations, "go fors". They go and get the order for me, rather than offering a guarantee of X dish any time I like. If I had gone to the restaurant myself, I too would have been turned away as they were full. I simply took another look through the menu and ordered from a different place.

A question though: On the website, it shows a ticking clock and says your order will arrive in exactly one hour. Since we ordered at 7:49 myself and my girlfriend (whose name the account is under) were joking that it would arrive at 8:49. Then, at 8:49, we received a phone call to say the food was downstairs. Can you confirm or deny that the delivery guys waited a couple of minutes until the correct time to call?

[SorotXP]

Just want to thank Khun Sorot since he's here in person, we've ordered quite a few times and always received the best.

There was an occasion when I was called back to say that the restaurant I had ordered from suddenly had had a large party walk in and were now too busy - this sounds pretty reasonable to me! I view ChefsXP as being, without the negative connotations, "go fors". They go and get the order for me, rather than offering a guarantee of X dish any time I like. If I had gone to the restaurant myself, I too would have been turned away as they were full. I simply took another look through the menu and ordered from a different place.

A question though: On the website, it shows a ticking clock and says your order will arrive in exactly one hour. Since we ordered at 7:49 myself and my girlfriend (whose name the account is under) were joking that it would arrive at 8:49. Then, at 8:49, we received a phone call to say the food was downstairs. Can you confirm or deny that the delivery guys waited a couple of minutes until the correct time to call?

Thank you Gavinzac for your question: "Can you confirm or deny that the delivery guys waited a couple of minutes until the correct time to call?"

I can deny 100% that our riders do not wait for the minutes to be exactly on time!!

In fact, our riders never wish to waste time because they work for salary as well as commissions per order - the more orders they deliver in a day, the more money they make.

The ticking clock you see on our website is an estimated time of arrival for the average order to reach the average customer on an average Bangkok traffic day. By average, I mean upwards of 95% of all our orders.

In some cases, we adjust the ETA by 10-25 minutes to reflect any foreseeable delays such as a storm (where NO riders should be on the roads - hence they all hide under bypass or bridge)

There are both controllable and uncontrollable factors that determine the time of arrival:

- Time of day the order is placed (lunch and dinner times are busier for us and the restaurant - of course)

- The day the order is placed (Fridays-Sunday is busiest)

- The traffic - somedays its just regular (bad) traffic and somedays it's crazy (bad) traffic

- The number of items ordered (a sandwich takes less time to make than a dinner for 8 persons)

- How quickly the order is processed

- How quickly the rider leaves for the order & how fast he drives

- Is the restaurant busy at that particular time (like you mentioned above)

- The distance from the restaurant to the customer (we deliver for the entire Bangkok area - customers living in Bang-na can not expect to have their food in 45-60 minutes because they live further - thus do not represent the average distance travelled for an average order)

- The weather - many times it's just hot, sometimes it just drizzles, sometimes there might be a storm . .

- etc. etc . . etc. .

This list goes on, but ultimately this affects the delivery time.

Some customers can wait for their food to arrive, some may be in a hurry, some may be so hungry they can not wait at all!

Hence, we try our best to accommodate the various conditions and customer types.

(I believe that 98.5% of our customers are aware of the above and understands, 1.5% refuse to believe so and may demand compensation and/or cancel the order)

But at the end of the day, it's what expected of a curve, statistics and we're fine with that!

(all companies have the same bell type graph/curve for customers and I consider my company lucky to have such a nice representation of customers)

Edited February 4, 2011 by SorotXP

[IADR]

Just want to thank Khun Sorot since he's here in person, we've ordered quite a few times and always received the best.

There was an occasion when I was called back to say that the restaurant I had ordered from suddenly had had a large party walk in and were now too busy - this sounds pretty reasonable to me! I view ChefsXP as being, without the negative connotations, "go fors". They go and get the order for me, rather than offering a guarantee of X dish any time I like. If I had gone to the restaurant myself, I too would have been turned away as they were full. I simply took another look through the menu and ordered from a different place.

A question though: On the website, it shows a ticking clock and says your order will arrive in exactly one hour. Since we ordered at 7:49 myself and my girlfriend (whose name the account is under) were joking that it would arrive at 8:49. Then, at 8:49, we received a phone call to say the food was downstairs. Can you confirm or deny that the delivery guys waited a couple of minutes until the correct time to call?

Thank you Gavinzac for your question: "Can you confirm or deny that the delivery guys waited a couple of minutes until the correct time to call?"

I can deny 100% that our riders do not wait for the minutes to be exactly on time!!

In fact, our riders never wish to waste time because they work for salary as well as commissions per order - the more orders they deliver in a day, the more money they make.

The ticking clock you see on our website is an estimated time of arrival for the average order to reach the average customer on an average Bangkok traffic day. By average, I mean upwards of 95% of all our orders.

In some cases, we adjust the ETA by 10-25 minutes to reflect any foreseeable delays such as a storm (where NO riders should be on the roads - hence they all hide under bypass or bridge)

There are both controllable and uncontrollable factors that determine the time of arrival:

- Time of day the order is placed (lunch and dinner times are busier for us and the restaurant - of course)

- The day the order is placed (Fridays-Sunday is busiest)

- The traffic - somedays its just regular (bad) traffic and somedays it's crazy (bad) traffic

- The number of items ordered (a sandwich takes less time to make than a dinner for 8 persons)

- How quickly the order is processed

- How quickly the rider leaves for the order & how fast he drives

- Is the restaurant busy at that particular time (like you mentioned above)

- The distance from the restaurant to the customer (we deliver for the entire Bangkok area - customers living in Bang-na can not expect to have their food in 45-60 minutes because they live further - thus do not represent the average distance travelled for an average order)

- The weather - many times it's just hot, sometimes it just drizzles, sometimes there might be a storm . .

- etc. etc . . etc. .

This list goes on, but ultimately this affects the delivery time.

Some customers can wait for their food to arrive, some may be in a hurry, some may be so hungry they can not wait at all!

Hence, we try our best to accommodate the various conditions and customer types.

(I believe that 98.5% of our customers are aware of the above and understands, 1.5% refuse to believe so and may demand compensation and/or cancel the order)

But at the end of the day, it's what expected of a curve, statistics and we're fine with that!

(all companies have the same bell type graph/curve for customers and I consider my company lucky to have such a nice representation of customers)

K Sorot,

Do you know, I never really thought about all the different factors that affect your ability to deliver.... I will be a wee bit more patient now I think!!!

Thanks

Iain

[TheyCallmeScooter]

K Sorot,

Do you know, I never really thought about all the different factors that affect your ability to deliver.... I will be a wee bit more patient now I think!!!

Thanks

Iain

I wish more business owners would realise the value in standing up to eloquently defend and - if done well as K Sorot has shown - effectively market their company in the public domain.

It's genuinely impressive, and shows the level of commitment the CEO has to their company and also a clear sign that they have nothing to hide or aren't seeking to duck tough questions / criticisms.

Now if only Microsoft and Dell CEOs would front and explain why I just had to have my Bitlocker-protected HDD replaced with all data unrecoverable, that would go some way to assuaging my fury at their inexplicable....

[mads]

My 2 cents.

I used to live around Lad Prao and I used foodbyphone regularly. They offered a great service and a chance to get some different food delivered to my door. I have no complaints about FBP at all, they might be a bit expensive but service is good.

I later moved further away and I could no longer use FBP. Too bad.....

I didn't know about any alternatives at that time (I might be wrong about this. I can't remember if I already started using ChefXps on my old address). Later on I discovered ChefXps and to my surprise they did deliver to my new address. The food would however sometimes take 1 to 1 1/2 hour to arrive but I was fine with that and for a 60 Baht delivery fee it was a bargain.

I have used them for app. 2 years and maybe as often as 5-10 times a month and never had a problem. Then one day there was a problem with the delivery and it took a long time, I was used to that so no problem. I did however get a bit frustrated after waiting

for app 80 minutes. I called them (to the operators defense I was a bit hungry and frustrated). The operator told me he would contact the driver and call me back with his whereabouts. He called me back fast but informed me he could not get a hold of the driver.

Frustrated as I was I told him that I would give them 20 minutes extra and if he didn't update me I would cancel the order. 20 minutes went by and he called and he could not update me. Now I was really hungry and really frustrated. I had no problems with the waiting time,

I was aware of that but not being able to get an update on where the driver was didn't help. I tried to explain to him that I wanted to cancel but he would not accept that and he kept feeding me with the same lines over and over and he interrupted me and was not

being very understanding (I probably wasn't very understanding either) It ended in a heating argument and I hung up.

We decided to order some quick fast food because I really needed something. 5-10 minutes after we ordered fast food the ChefXps delivery guy showed up. I felt bad for the guy driving that far and I didn't have any prior problems with ChefXps so I decided to pay

even though we had already ordered food somewhere else. We enjoyed the food and the fast food arrived a little later and our dogs got a special treat that night

Later on I was checking my emails and I notice an email from the managing director (I was not aware that it was the owner of ChefXps)

The email was not very positive and I was very surprised since I had already paid but I assume he was not aware of that at the time. I swiftly replied because I felt attacked and I saw no reason for this. There is no reason writing down the content

of the emails. I replied rather late maybe around 10-11 pm and to my surprise I got a reply within a short amount of time and I noticed the email was sent from a mobile device. We discussed the incident back and forth for awhile and I later became aware that I was

talking to the owner of ChefXps. What I have to applaud is the time he took to read and reply to my mails even though it might not have been the most pleasant replies to begin with. After some emails he did see it from my perspective and he became understanding.

This resulted in ChefXps keeping a loyal customer instead of losing one and the time and effort he put into the correspondence was above expectations and I have not experienced this kind of attention before in Thailand, I will even say it's unusual in Thailand.

This is in no way an endorsement/advertisement of ChefXps. I was actually planning to write about this episode in a more negatively manner before I had the chance to talk/write with Khun Sorot.

One advice to Khun Sorot would be that he should have heard my side of the story before he sent me an email

This story aside I love that ChefXps deliver to my area which is far far out and I still only have to pay 60 Baht.

[dantilley]

RE Deliveries - FBP will deliver to places 'off the map' but you have to contact them especially to get the price (which will definitely be more than 60 Baht though). Did you try this, or are you so far out that they won't deliver to you at all, even for a higher price?