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We
are constantly improving our services to achieve
a simple and convenient ordering process. The answers
and tips below will hopefully answer any questions you
might have.
Please Note - For any questions
regarding your order, the restaurant will gladly assist
you. Their number is in your confirmation email. If
you still need more assistance please call us direct
on 0845 8677069.
How can I get my favourite restaurants
to be part of your service?
Just tell us about the restaurant and we will do our
best to add it to our online service. Don't worry if
your favourite restaurant doesn't have its own delivery
service. We work with a number of specialised
delivery companies that can take care of delivery on
behalf of the restaurant. We will send you a £10
cheque if you were the first one to recommend a restaurant
which eventually joins our service. Click here
to recommend!
What about your WAP service?
We're certainly planning to bring you wireless pleasure
in the near future, but we'll wait until WAP has become
faster and easier to use. Stay tuned!
Are you on Interactive TV?
Not yet, but we intend to be. After all, what's more
convenient than ordering straight from your TV when
you're watching the football game, or the latest episode
of Friends?
Who is behind Eat-In anyway?
The original service, Urbanbite.com, was founded in December 1999 by Zsolt Kohalmi
(formerly with ABN AMRO Bank) and Reinier Evers (formerly
with AGENCY.COM). In April 2000, Urbanbite acquired
Orangepip.com, a similar service, and worked with its
founders, Ben and David Carmona, to build a state-of-the-art
food ordering site. Urbanbite went live in London in
September 2000, and was acquired by lastminute.com on July 13, 2001. This service was then re-acquired on the 13th March 2007 by its original founder Ben Carmona and the very same team who were subcontracted to manage it during its time at Lastminute.com.
How can I get my friends to order
from your service?
If your friends or family don't know who to order from
when you're not around, then let us send them an email
informing them about the Eat-In service. It's one way of
making sure you have something to choose from next time
you have lunch or dinner at their place ;-). Just go
to our Tell a friend
section and we'll send them a nice email explaining
our service on your behalf.
I own / manage a restaurant, can
I join your service?
Restaurants are what make our world go round,
so please contact us. For further information on how
you can become a part of our online service,
click here.
How do I find the restaurants that
will deliver to me in my neighbourhood?
We will only show you the menus of restaurants
that do business in your area. That is why we ask for
your postcode at the beginning of the ordering process.
We will also let you know whether the restaurants are
open for business at the time that you visit the site.
Some of them will allow you to order in advance in case
they are closed, or if you just want to plan your delivery
ahead of time.
How do I know if the restaurant
of my choice is open?
When you get the overview of restaurants that do delivery
in your area, you will know immediately
whether or not the restaurant of your choice is open.
There will be a sign displaying the words 'open' or
'closed', including the restaurant's full opening hours.
Of course, you can always place an advance order if
the restaurant is closed.
Food related instructions?
Some
restaurants can accept special food instructions with
your order. To ensure that you get exactly what you
want, simply state your preferences, such as vegetarian,
vegan, or not too salty, extra spicy. If the restaurant
of your choice offers this feature, it will be indicated
under the 'special instructions' sign on the order page.
Complicated
delivery instructions?
Let's
say you live in a hard-to-find mews house, or your doorbell
is the one with the red sticker on it conveniently hiding
your name or flat number ;-) or you are in the office
on the ninth floor, third room to the right from the
entrance; now you can let the restaurant know your delivery
address immediately in your own words. Just fill in
your delivery instructions on the order page and help
the restaurant deliver your order more efficiently.
What does 'advance orders' mean?
With advance orders, you can plan your food deliveries
at any time, any place. Simply select the type of food
you desire (whether you order from the office in the
morning to make sure you have a nice Thai meal when
you get home after a long day's work, or you need to
plan a dinner party or special event with friends),
indicate that it is an advance order by clicking on
the 'advance order' sign and we will immediately
confirm your advance order by email. Restaurants that
offer the advance order feature will always indicate
the minimum and maximum time required for advance orders.
How do I pay; cash, credit cards,
Switch?
You can choose whatever way of paying for your order
you like best. You deal directly with the restaurants,
which means that if you pay by cash you pay the delivery
person and if you choose to pay by credit card, we
will ask you for your credit or debit card details and
then (securely) passes on these details to the restaurant.
The restaurant will be responsible for verifying your
card details, and upon verification deliver your meal.
Some restaurants may ask you to show your card to the
delivery person, and sign the receipt. This way the
ordering process is safe and secure. Please note that
credit and debit cards can only be used when your order
is bigger than £10.
Do I have to pay you for
any of the services?
No, we don't charge our customers for the services.
You pay the restaurant directly for food and sometimes
for delivery (extra delivery charges will always be
clearly indicated) as you would over the phone.
How do I know all the information
on your site is up to date?
With hundreds of menus on our site, we're working hard
on keeping our site up to date, day and night. We only
work with restaurants that are committed to keeping
us fully informed on changes in their menu, prices and
any special offers and discounts they may offer through
our site. If there is a price discrepancy between what
you ordered and what the restaurant is charging, we
or the restaurant will let you know as soon as possible.
And, of course, you would always be given the opportunity
to change or cancel your order.
How do I know that I will be getting
good food?
The actual quality of the food is the responsibility
of the restaurant and, like any catered meal, the quality
can vary. Although we can not assume responsibility
for the actual delivery or the quality or quantity of
the food ordered, we strive to only represent reliable
restaurants on our site. We keep a detailed track record
on all the participating restaurants, and will not hesitate
to remove restaurants that don't uphold our standards.
We encourage you to let us know about your good and
not-so-good experiences with restaurants on our site
to be able to take swift action. Eventually, we will
move toward a rating system, including customer comments
about each participating restaurant, so you will have
even more information at your fingertips to make an
informed choice. Email us your comments and experiences
at generalfeedback@urbanbite.com
.
Is your service available
outside London and Bristol?
We're fully operational in the London and Bristol areas and
in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague,
with a steady weekly influx of new restaurants. We are
planning to expand our service to other large cities
in the UK and beyond (Manchester is next!). Our presence
on the continent benefits frequent travellers and corporate
customers who'd like to coordinate their food expenditures
across their various European offices.
Are my personal details safe on
your site? What about my privacy?
We won't store your information online, and your information
will never be passed on to third parties without your
consent (except for when you place an order and we will
let the restaurant know where to deliver) . We strictly
use your personal information to facilitate and administer
your food orders. Please click here
for more information on your privacy.
Why should I register with you?
Registering won't cost you much time, and it is completely
secure
. We will only ask you the essentials like your address,
your phone number(s) and email address. We will then
let you choose your own username and password. After
this, whenever you visit the site and log on, we can
speed up the ordering process, as you only have to confirm
your details every time you order instead of typing
them in, making it even easier for you to order in a
fast and reliable manner. But there's more: as a member
you can also store multiple addresses (which you name
for fast reference, like 'my office' or 'my girlfriend's
place'), access your favourite restaurants straight
away (every time you order from an restaurant, it will
automatically be added to your list of favourites),
or go through your order history and quickly look up
that nice Japanese dish you had a week ago, and re-order
it with one click!
Naturally you have full control over all this information:
your 'profile editor', accessible via your personal
member page, will let you add, delete and change any
personal information we hold on file for you.
You can register as a member on the Eat-In home
page, in the
Member Sign-In section.
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