Food Delivery Services: Rated From Worst to Best

We get it. You're super busy. Too busy, in fact, to hit the grocery store or cook for yourself. But you've got to eat - right? Food delivery services are the answer to one of modern life's biggest problems. For some consumers, these apps deliver an occasional tasty treat. For others, they represent the fourth emergency service, helping hungry people avoid visiting the supermarket or turning the oven on. 

According to consumer trends, food delivery complaints spike around the holiday and picnic seasons. When things go wrong, hungry and disappointed consumers will often tell the consumer experts at PissedConsumer all about it. 

So, what is the best app to order food on? We surveyed 882 PissedConsumer users who had reached customer service and asked them to tell us about their experiences. Don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comments. 

Key Insights

• Consumers rarely complain about food quality. We discovered unexpected costs and problems securing refunds were the most complained about consumer issues relating to food delivery apps.
• Even the best-rated food delivery services struggled to resolve customers' issues when they arose, resulting in 12.86% of complaints being about customer service.
• Services are universally praised for their ease of use and convenience when ordering. However, they are all criticized for providing poor access to customer services when problems occur.

Most Common Issues with Food Delivery Services

When you are hungry and looking forward to a delicious meal, it's important to consider which food delivery is better than the competition. A poor customer experience can leave a bad taste in your mouth.

Across more than 116,000 food delivery reviews on PissedConsumer, consumer issues relating to costs topped the list of complaints, with 22.04% complaining about refunds and 19.46% about unexpected fees and charges. 

Poor customer service issues were next on the menu, with 15.68% of consumers highlighting issues with order cancellation and 12.86% about the quality of customer service.

Interestingly, only a small percentage of people were concerned about the food delivery problems, with 9.53% highlighting consumer issues with late or wrong address deliveries, 4.85% about cold food, and 3.15% about wrong orders. This suggests that the problem consumers face with the most popular delivery services is customer service quality rather than food quality.

Food Delivery Services Ranked

We ranked the various food delivery services based on consumer replies to our survey. The rating reflects a combination of the highest issue resolution and customer satisfaction rates following the consumer's interaction with customer support and, ultimately, their likelihood of recommending the company to family, friends, and colleagues, as measured by the Net Promoter Score (NPS).

Here's how PissedConsumer rates* food delivery services from worst to best:

UberEats: Long Delivery Times, Missing Orders

UberEats, which was spun out of the Uber ride-sharing app, is a big name in food delivery. It operates in over 11,000 cities across 45 countries to connect users with a wide range of local restaurants and grocery stores.

Uber has its membership program—Uber One. It provides subscribers with benefits across Uber's services. For $9.99 per month or $96 annually, members enjoy $0 delivery fees on eligible food and grocery orders, up to 10% off eligible deliveries and pickups, and 6% Uber Cash back on qualifying rides.

With more than 55,000 UberEats reviews on PissedConsumer, it’s fair to say that this company is one of the most popular delivery services. While many reviewers praised this business for its convenience and attractive deals, others reported frustrations with the inability to reach UberEats' customer service team, along with problems such as long delivery times and missing orders.

A recent review #6424206 on PissedConsumer highlighted why some orders go missing. A user shared that they ordered food for their daughter, however, the delivery never made it to an actual recipient:

...the Uber driver went to the wrong door took a picture of it picked it up and walked away with it…

This kind of experience is reflected in UberEats receiving a 1.6-star rating out of a possible five on PissedConsumer. With 82% of rating distribution as negative, and only 15.77% of those surveyed saying they would recommend the service to a friend or colleague, UberEats has an overall PissedConsumer score of 797. 

Postmates: Good Deals, Incorrect Orders

Postmates is an on-demand delivery service that allows users to order food, groceries, and everyday essentials from local stores and restaurants. In December 2020, Uber acquired Postmates. However, despite the integration of services, the Postmates app remained independent. 

Same as UberEats, Postmates offers its membership program at $9.99 per month with one-month free trial. Postmates Unlimited offers subscribers $0 delivery fees and a 5% discount on restaurant orders over $15 and grocery orders over $30. 

Second from the bottom of our list of the best and worst food delivery services, Postmates actually has a lower star rating than UberEats, with just 1.4 stars out of a possible five. Based on more than 13,200 Postmates reviews on PissedConsumer, customers said they appreciated the company for its convenience, competitive deals, and fast delivery. However, many also reported issues with reaching customer service and receiving incorrect orders.

This recent review (#6341885) also highlights an issue with Postmates' cancellation fees, which the reviewer felt was unfair.

I canceled my order in less than two minutes of purchasing and I demand a refund. If I had known that I was gonna be charged $40 I wouldnt have canceled the order. 

While many reviews highlight issues with Postmates’ customer service, the company did have the highest percentage of issue resolution on the survey, with 44% of customers stating their problems were resolved. This result saves Postmates from being ranked as the worst food delivery service, according to consumers. Despite this, only 7.14% of those surveyed said they would recommend the service, giving Postmates an overall score of 871.

Instacart: Speedy Delivery, Problems with Overcharging

Sitting mid-table in our ranking of the best and worst food delivery services, Instacart is another popular delivery service. However, it mostly focuses on groceries, connecting users with personal shoppers who pick up items from stores like Costco, Safeway, Aldi, and Kroger. After registration, users can get 3 free deliveries, and with Instacart Express—$0 delivery fees on orders over $35, and the ability to order from multiple retailers in a single delivery without extra charges. 

With more than 5,300 Instacard reviews on PissedConsumer, this company is actually rated higher than any other service on this survey. However, with just two stars out of a possible five and the rating distribution is 75% negative, this does highlight the significant issues consumers face across the entire industry.

Convenience and delivery speed are again highlighted as positive reasons to use the Instacart service. However, consumers also highlight issues relating to Instacart’s customer service, refunds, and overcharging.

This recent review highlighted one customer's problems after an Instacart personal shopper accidentally switched orders. 

...I received a completely different order, none of which I ordered. I took pictures and a screenshot of messages that I sent to the shopper 3 minutes after delivery. I provided both to support, in which they said they'd do a redelivery, just for me to receive an email an hour later saying I'm not eligible for a redelivery or credits.

With a customer service satisfaction rate of 40.74%, just 18.75 of users surveyed would recommend Instacart to their friends, giving the service an NPS of 966. 

DoorDash: Highest Percentage of Customer Recommendations

DoorDash is one of the most popular on-demand delivery services in the United States, holding 67% of the market share. But it doesn't quite hit the top spot when it comes to the best food delivery service, according to PissedConsumer users. Despite coming in second place on the PissedConsumer survey, DoorDash still only scores 1.8 stars out of five across more than 27,000 online reviews. 

In common with the other food delivery service reviews featured in this survey, DoorDash offers a $9.99 subscription. Members can enjoy $0 delivery fees and reduced service fees on orders over $12 from eligible restaurants, special offers and access to member-exclusive menu items.

The company is praised for its levels of convenience and speed. However, it does again have problems with access to customer service and missing orders. Consumers on PissedConsumer also believe the service is expensive compared to the competition. 

This recent review (#6472479) on PissedConsumer highlighted a customer's issue with a poor delivery experience and missing items:

I ordered food from Door Dash and they dropped my meal off on my porch, did not knock, just left it. It was missing three-quarters of my order to the tune of over $45.00!!

Despite suffering from many of the same issues faced by its competition, DoorDash does have a solid customer service satisfaction rate (scoring just under 60%) and, at 32%, the highest percentage of people saying they would recommend its services to friends or colleagues. This gives DoorDash an overall score of 1,287, placing it only 9 points behind the highest-ranking service.

Grubhub: Good Food Options, Reasonable Prices

Founded in 2004, Grubhub was one of the first platforms to introduce digitized menus to restaurants, allowing users to order food online. Now this food delivery has over 24.6 million active customers, and partners with a wide range of restaurants across hundreds of cities in the United States. With such a wide range of options, Grubhub has rightfully become the best food delivery app according to consumers.

As many other services, Grubhub has its membership program. Grubhub+ offers $0 delivery fees on orders over $12 from participating restaurants, along with exclusive offers and a 5% credit back on pickup orders. Priced at $9.99 per month, Grubhub+ is also included for free with Amazon Prime memberships

With over 4,600 Grubhub reviews on PissedConsumer, this app is praised for being easy to use, offering many different food options, and having reasonable prices. However, just because Grubhub is ranked by reviewers on PissedConsumer as a top food delivery service, it doesn’t mean that the company doesn’t struggle with some of the same issues impacting the worst food delivery services. These challenges include poor access to customer services, lengthy delivery times, and limited resolution options. 

These challenges are reflected in reviews like this (#6128034), where a customer did not receive their order and was declined a refund.

Customer service was rude and very robotic not personal at all did not rectify the matter. My son placed an order from college through GrubHub did not receive it and was still charged. I was told there's nothing they can do to help me very very poor customer service.

Perhaps due to reviews like this, Grubhub only scores 1.8 stars out of a possible five. However, Grubhub does have the highest percentage rate of customer satisfaction at 64.86%. This gives the food delivery service an overall score of 1295.

Practical Tips for a Seamless Food Delivery Experience

Food delivery apps have made ordering groceries and delicious takeout more convenient than ever. But we discovered when compiling this report that things can go wrong with even the best delivery services. Here are a few tips to help you avoid common pitfalls when ordering food and ensure a smoother experience.

• Double-check your order: We get it - you're hungry. But taking just a few seconds to check your order before completing it might be the best thing you can do today to avoid any consumer issues.

• Check your delivery address: Don’t make the mistake of sending food to your workplace or a friend’s house when you’re sitting at home waiting to be fed.

• Read the policies before making an order. To avoid unexpected issues with order cancellation or refund, pay attention to the terms and conditions of the service you use.

• Rate your experience: Whether your experience is good or bad, leaving feedback helps improve future service levels for you and others looking for good food tips.

• Seek for efficient contact options. If you are faced with any delivery issue, you should contact a company immediately. While many companies do not provide a direct email or phone number, you can check PissedConsumer website for more information.

Food Delivery Apps: Rate Your Experience

Do you use food delivery apps? Have they always delivered on their promises and put food on the table, or have they supplied a lukewarm or less-than-fresh service? Share your experience with the best and worst customer service in the food delivery app industry and write a review on PissedConsumer.com. 

Our Methodology

PissedConsumer.com conducted an online survey among 882 US visitors from March 2024 to March 2025, focusing on their experiences with food delivery services. The goal was to understand how food delivery services ranked amongst our users. The report highlights responses to three key questions: issue resolution, satisfaction with the customer service representative, and likelihood of recommendation (NPS score).