to turn away my takeaway?

She didn't complain though. She said no and just stared at him. It is so rude. And it's hostile.

I would have explained the time slot you had booked the delivery for, asked him to come back, and explained why it wasn’t convenient for you to accept the food

This.

*FlayOtters *How rude to just say no and just stare silently at him like that. How entitled are you that you think its okay to treat someone like that. So hostile?

Accept the food and reheat. It’s annoying but it’s just food. And yes, you were rude.

OP provided further information about how she rejected it since the first post, it sounded like she just stared at him, gave him a NO and closed the door. If she’d explained that she politely said ‘sorry but we’ve ordered for a specific time and we’re unfortunately unable to take it in right now’, I wouldn’t have found it rude.

Only on MN can there be a thread about people in Afghanistan starving and having to sell their children for food and another where the (50% off) food is delivered too early and it's rejected as a result.

People also order them for a specific time because they won’t even be in until that time so what would have happened in that case? I’ve done it before, I order it on the train home from work knowing no one will be in for at least an hour. So yeah I don’t think you were BU.

Frankly I’d do what I could to make life easier for the poor bloody delivery person on minimum wage. You almost always have to zap delivered food anyway.

I'm so curious about the people saying this is very rude? Specifically what is rude? I'm sure the OP would have much fatter the food had arrived at the right time and she could have greeted the driver with smiles but the company messed off. We all have to deal with minor issues at work. I don't think it's rude when people complain to me if my workplace has messed up. It's not personal and just part of work.

Personally I wouldn't have answered the door. If the restaurant/driver called, I'd take the phone call somewhere the driver couldn't hear (ie nowhere near the front door!) and say - VERY politely - that I am incredibly sorry, but I'm not home from work yet, and wouldn't be until 7.40; hence the reason for ordering the delivery for the time I did.

99% sure they'd bring you a fresh one at the time you'd actually ordered it for - and sans extra bodily fluid - due to it being clear that you weren't physically able to accept the order and reheat it (not that you should have to) due to their error.

Even if they didn't, you'd definitely be entitled to a refund given you asked for it at a certain time and they came way earlier when you "weren't in". Which could be proven by the time of the phone call, and the time you'd ordered it for.

If they didn't call, I'd call them at perhaps 8.30 enquiring as to the whereabouts of the takeaway, and all the stuff I said above would still apply

If I buy takeaway I don't want to reheat. We don't have a microwave either. Leave it in the oven for an hour and it's ruined.

I had complained to the restaurant and cancelled - 1.5 hours upfront is not ok. 20- 30 minutes before, yes, fine.

The restaurant does have to offer a specific time or discount. Takeaway in 2026 isn't cheap and it's not unresonable to expect better.

The uber eats driver would have literally zero idea what time you’d ordered it for. He gets a pick up thing on his app, picks it up and delivers it.
Not taking it making out like it’s his fault is really strange

You may as well have reheated

I doubt they cook the curry “fresh”. They probably make in advance and reheat prior to service / delivery.

I don’t know about any bodily fluids they added to your second delivery, but imagine it must be difficult to come up with fresh in a busy restaurant

I'd say it's more a case of under-using the comma.

Dear God.... 🤦‍♀️
The kitchen cooked the order and sent it out. The driver has no control over that.

No, it didn’t go over my head. It just wasn’t even vaguely amusing.

Yes, I do under what a delivery driver’s job is. It’s to deliver at the appointed time. He failed to do this. I don’t see why any of us should be sympathising with him for that.

You're being silly. Just accept the food, if it needs a bit of reheating then so be it. Its not a bit deal.

Then lodge complaint with the restaurant/ubereats eats etc. They'd probably give you some sort of refund anyway.

"no food himself" was a joke. Sorry if that went completely over your head.

Are you clear on what a delivery driver actually does for a living?
Are you under the impression he was cooking the food himself, or are you saying he should have just waited with the food ready - and rapidly cooling dow, for 90 minutes?

Thank you Captain Grammar.

You are overusing the word “frankly”.

If a restaurant doesn’t want to offer specific delivery times, they don’t have to. Just as they don’t have to open at certain times, or allow dogs, or accept luncheon vouchers.

If you can’t provide a service, don’t offer it.

But that’s not the point. It doesn’t matter if the OP ordered it an hour before the kids went to bed, an hour after they went to bed or before she even conceived.

What matters is, she ordered a takeaway for a specific time - as per the service offered. It arrived 90 minutes early. That’s what was wrong. Whether you or I or anyone thinks she should have timed it differently is irrelevant. If you order a takeaway for 7pm and it arrives at 5.30, that’s wrong. If you order it for 8pm and it doesn’t arrive until 9, that’s also wrong. They’re different types of wrong, but it wasn’t unreasonable to order for 7 or 8.

Were they forced at gunpoint to offer that discount?

Companies offer discounts to attract customers. Nobody forces them into it. But it isn’t going to work as a customer acquisition strategy if you can’t fulfil the orders.

But none of that is relevant. It’s nothing to do with the OP if other people can’t afford takeaway. It’s nothing to do with the OP if other people are struggling financially. If half your online shop is missing, do you shrug your shoulders and say “Oh well - a lot of people can’t afford do an online shop, so I should be grateful”?

She paid for a service. She didn’t get it. That’s literally all that counts!

When we were teenagers at university a lot of the boys did food delivery for many local takeaways. I would never have food redelivered (I rarely get food delivered) as it was common practice for their colleagues often adult drivers (sometimes the shop owners or relatives of the shop owners) to spit and worse in the food for pain in the arse customers. I’d have asked for a refund or accepted it.

It put me off food deliveries as it seemed far to common. And yes my friends saw colleagues/bosses do this or wipe their hand down their trousers and then onto the food (in the case of solid food - kebab / burger etc). Fucking gross.

My mate worked for environmental health - now she’s an interesting dinner party guest and has some interesting stories.

“No food himself”? Why would he have got food? He’s not the bloody customer!

If he got a bollocking, it was because he cocked up and delivered 90 minutes early. You tend to get criticised in your job if you don’t do it well.