Frustrated GrubHub users annoyed they can’t get free lunch after demand crashed the app
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/05/18/00/57942585-10826879-image-a-7_1652829736426.jpg)
Furious GrubHub customers have slammed the company after a promotion for a free $15 lunch crashed the system in New York City.
Hundreds of frustrated New Yorkers took to Twitter on Tuesday to slam the delivery platform, arguing it was nearly impossible to get their promised free food.
GrubHub had previously announced the entire city would receive a meal of up to $15 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
But as demand crashed the app, hungry office workers were left wasting the scarce moments of their breaks arguing with customer service for orders that never arrived.
Poor strategy and a lack of delivery staff also left restaurants with dozens of orders that went cold on their counters as angry customers incessantly rang managers to inquire about the state of their food.
‘We didn’t know. We didn’t have a heads-up about this promotion,’ a manager at Veselka, an Ukrainian restaurant in the East Village, told DailyMail.com Tuesday.
‘We could have tried to plan accordingly. We could have talked to our delivery people so [they would have been prepared.]’
‘The drivers could not get here. We had the orders ready to go but there were not enough delivery drivers. [Customers] called very frustrated, understandably so, and at some point, we stopped taking GrubHub orders,’ the manager added.
Other restaurant workers in the city echoed the sentiment and accused GrubHub of blindsiding establishments that could ultimately pay the price for the delivery chaos by receiving bad reviews and potentially losing customers.
‘I am the General Manager of a popular lunch spot in Manhattan. GrubHub did not have enough drivers on the road today to handle the volume of orders,’ a woman claimed on Twitter.
‘We had to turn off our GH ordering because no one was coming to take the deliveries to the customers.’
In a statement to DailyMail.com, GrubHub acknowledged that ‘redemptions were six times higher than a similar promotion launched in 2021, and at times we were averaging six thousand orders per minute,’ but said the promotion ‘ultimately [helped] to drive increased business for the thousands of restaurants still struggling from the pandemic.’
VESELKA, EAST VILLAGE: A manager at Veselka told DailyMail.com they had to stop taking GrubHub orders because they were not notified of the promotion and did not have enough delivery drivers
![VESELKA, EAST VILLAGE: Poor strategy and a lack of delivery staff also left restaurants with dozens of orders that went cold on their counters as angry customers incessantly rang managers to inquire about the state of their food](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/05/18/00/57942599-10826879-image-a-8_1652829742776.jpg)
VESELKA, EAST VILLAGE: Poor strategy and a lack of delivery staff also left restaurants with dozens of orders that went cold on their counters as angry customers incessantly rang managers to inquire about the state of their food
![CHOPT, ASTOR PLACE: GrubHub had previously announced that the entire city would receive a free lunch of up to $15 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., but as demand crashed the app, hangry office workers were left wasting the scarce moments of their lunch breaks arguing with customer service for orders that - in many cases - never arrived](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/05/18/00/57942613-10826879-image-a-9_1652829747338.jpg)
CHOPT, ASTOR PLACE: GrubHub had previously announced that the entire city would receive a free lunch of up to $15 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., but as demand crashed the app, hangry office workers were left wasting the scarce moments of their lunch breaks arguing with customer service for orders that – in many cases – never arrived
![SWEET GREEN, ASTOR PLACE: Historic amount of orders at the Sweet Green near Astor Place in New York City after Grub Hub offers free $15 lunch to the whole city](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/05/18/01/57942581-10826879-Historic_amount_of_orders_at_the_Sweet_Green_near_Astor_Place_in-m-7_1652835008661.jpg)
SWEET GREEN, ASTOR PLACE: Historic amount of orders at the Sweet Green near Astor Place in New York City after Grub Hub offers free $15 lunch to the whole city
As orders increased by the minute during the short time frame that GrubHub allocated for customers to receive their free lunch, the delivery app addressed customers’ concerns about delays on Twitter.
‘New Yorkers went as hard for free lunch as the Rangers did in game 7. Our restaurants and drivers are still working hard fulfilling your orders. Make sure to show them love today (and every day),’ the app wrote.
But furious New Yorkers reacted badly to the tweet and accused the company of making light of a situation that was still not sorted.
‘Two people who need to be fired today – the marketer whose idea this was, and the social media manager who decided on this cheerful a** message knowing the total chaos it caused to the restaurants and the customers,’ Alyson Cadena tweeted.
Another user wrote: ‘… so gross, some multi-million dollar corporation trying to be ‘relatable’ to NYC’ers mentioning the Rangers, as they ignore thousands of complaints about their janky app and bs promo today lol.’
Among the angriest complaints were Manhattan office workers who claimed their whole office missed lunch after placing group orders.
‘[Bull]sh**. I ordered over an hour ago. Still not here and the restaurant is closed now. Been on the phone and chatting for over an hour. Y’all scamming,’ one tweeter user accused the app.
‘My workplace placed an order for us to be delivered at 12:30. We didn’t know there was a promo in place. It is now 3:45 & I am hungry AF. I work in the Navy Yard- walking to go get lunch would take up my entire break.’
![EAST VILLAGE: Restaurants struggled to deliver orders during the promotion on Tuesday](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/05/18/01/57942609-10826879-Restaurants_struggled_to_deliver_orders_during_the_promotion_on_-m-8_1652835027453.jpg)
EAST VILLAGE: Restaurants struggled to deliver orders during the promotion on Tuesday
![CHOPT, EAST VILLAGE: GrubHub launched the offer after conducting a survey that found that 81percent of 'full-time employees in New York value lunch more than they did pre-pandemic,' but find it difficult to take a break in the middle of the day](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/05/18/00/57942595-10826879-image-a-10_1652829754315.jpg)
CHOPT, EAST VILLAGE: GrubHub launched the offer after conducting a survey that found that 81percent of ‘full-time employees in New York value lunch more than they did pre-pandemic,’ but find it difficult to take a break in the middle of the day
![CHOPT, ASTOR PLACE: According to the survey, based on a sampling of 1,000 New Yorkers, those who answered said they often don't take breaks because they are busy during traditional lunchtimes. It also found that 60percent of those surveyed thought taking a lunch break helped them reset during a hectic workday](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/05/18/00/57942607-10826879-image-a-11_1652829759815.jpg)
CHOPT, ASTOR PLACE: According to the survey, based on a sampling of 1,000 New Yorkers, those who answered said they often don’t take breaks because they are busy during traditional lunchtimes. It also found that 60percent of those surveyed thought taking a lunch break helped them reset during a hectic workday
![SWEET GREEN, BOWERY: But GrubHub's promotion in a city of more than 8 million proved to be beyond overwhelming for restaurants and delivery drivers](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/05/18/01/57942593-10826879-But_GrubHub_s_promotion_in_a_city_of_more_than_8_million_proved_-m-9_1652835105726.jpg)
SWEET GREEN, BOWERY: But GrubHub’s promotion in a city of more than 8 million proved to be beyond overwhelming for restaurants and delivery drivers
Another annoyed customer tweeted: ‘Y’all cannot handle this load lol don’t do this again. I ordered at 12:40, food was supposed to be here between 1:20 – 1:30. It’s 2:50 and I’ve been hung up on (twice) by customer service and the chat is unresponsive. I didn’t even know this was a thing today…’
GrubHub launched the offer after conducting a survey that found that 81percent of ‘full-time employees in New York value lunch more than they did pre-pandemic,’ but find it difficult to take a break in the middle of the day.
According to the survey, based on a sampling of 1,000 New Yorkers, those who answered said they often don’t take breaks because they are busy during traditional lunchtimes.
It also found that 60percent of those surveyed thought taking a lunch break helped them reset during a hectic workday.
But GrubHub’s promotion in a city of more than 8 million proved to be beyond overwhelming for restaurants and delivery drivers.
‘All of these restaurants should drop you after today. I ordered at 11:30, called the restaurant at 2:05. Was told they had 20 orders ready but no drivers. They apologized and said they’d refund my tip&charges. You left them out to dry. How are you making this right?’ a Twitter user demanded Tuesday.
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/05/18/01/57943311-10826879-Among_the_angriest_complaints_were_Manhattan_office_workers_who_-a-1_1652834548712.jpg)
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/05/18/00/57943431-10826879-image-a-17_1652829849840.jpg)
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/05/18/00/57943391-10826879-image-a-18_1652829854412.jpg)
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/05/18/00/57943493-10826879-image-a-20_1652829865539.jpg)
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/05/18/00/57943027-10826879-image-a-13_1652829777691.jpg)
User Debby Thornberry wrote: ‘Please refund people what money they paid. It’s impossible to contact the restaurants because they’re swamped. I have been in the queue to chat for 30 minutes and have been 3,695th in line for that 30 minutes.’
Twitter users demanded GrubHub take accountability for the lack of planning and reimburse restaurants for potential losses.
‘You better do right by all of the restaurants you blindsided with crazy orders and zero delivery people. They will get the bad reviews since theres no way on the app to blame the problem on grubhub, only restaurants,’ user @paaannic wrote.
Others suggested that the delivery giant should have offered all New Yorkers a code for a free lunch to use whenever.
According to GrubHub’s initial offer, those who missed the offer Tuesday will obtain a $5 off promo code available on their website.
In a statement to DailyMail.com, the company said: ‘While we knew 72% of New York workers call lunch the most important meal of the day, our free lunch promotion exceeded all expectations.
‘In fact, redemptions were six times higher than a similar promotion we launched in 2021, and at times we were averaging six thousand orders per minute.
‘The initial demand temporarily overwhelmed our app, causing some diners to experience an error message when they used their promo code.
‘However, this was quickly rectified, and along with our restaurant and driver partners, we were able to successfully fulfill more than 400,000 lunch orders connected to the promotion.
‘This surge in lunch time orders is a huge win, ultimately helping to drive increased business for the thousands of restaurants still struggling from the pandemic.’
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/05/18/01/57943277-10826879-But_furious_New_Yorkers_reacted_badly_to_the_tweet_and_accused_t-a-6_1652834548765.jpg)
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/05/18/01/57943241-10826879-Among_the_angriest_complaints_were_Manhattan_office_workers_who_-a-3_1652834548714.jpg)
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/05/18/00/57943453-10826879-image-a-19_1652829862096.jpg)
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/05/18/01/57943177-10826879-Others_suggested_that_the_delivery_giant_should_have_offered_all-a-4_1652834548763.jpg)