Postmates has come to the Coachella Valley and now you have the option of having Chipotle, Starbucks, pizza, Mexican food, aspirin, and so much more brought right to your door, office, dungeon, etc. So how does it work?
Well, I took one for the team by ordering in last night (I know, the sacrifices I make for you). The wife and I bypassed the Chipotle free delivery fee deal (probably use it this weekend) and opted for Native Foods (as I have been going meatless during the week, I know right?). Anyhoo, here is how it works.
I put together my order on the Postmates app (you can also do it online) which was really easy.
Looking through options was simple but, at check out, things were not quite as fun.
After finishing with my ordering (the wife had me add a gyro thing) I went to check out and saw the fees.
Postmates adds a 9% service fee ($3.04) plus a flat fee which is $5 and up. In my case, that was “and up”. As Postmates currently only features Palm Springs options, my Palm Desert address pushed the delivery charge to $20! Luckily, I had a coupon code that knocked the $20 charge off (you can get $10 off your delivery with code tnys1 – by the way).
Now, I do not want to get stuck on the fees, because the service actually worked great. You can track every aspect of your order – everything from prep time to who is delivering to you (I took Nicole’s photo off of the screenshot below, but when you order, you can see their headshot). In fact, the app will even show you exactly where your delivery person is on a map.
Nicole had my food to me in about an hour from my ordering time – which is not bad at all. She was also very nice. Once you receive your order, you get a notification asking if you would like to tip. I did.
The food arrived warm and tasty. I got some nachos and the chips were not at all soggy.
The sandwich was still warm and very good:
And since I am posting food porn, here is the wife’s gyro thingee:
The Native chicken wings:
And some fries (still warm and crispy when the arrrived):
All in all, it was a very good experience…but $20 plus 9% is just a bit too high in my humble opinion. If Postmates adds some additional choices throughout the Valley, $5 and 9% does not sound bad at all – especially for anyone busy with kids, tired after a long day, or hungry, tipsy, and looking to avoid a DUI.
If you happen to give Postmates a shot, let me know how it works for you and what your fees in your neighborhood was in the comments below.
