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Since then, the honeymoon has ended, Bhuya says.

“We have noticed in the last year or two, the service from account managers has pretty much disappeared,” he says. “We used to have a dedicated account manager, but now we just get to a general help line or hotline.

“The money comes to us on a weekly or biweekly basis with fees deducted. For us to argue is such a hassle and a waste of time. Two weeks later, we don’t remember what we got dinged for,” he says.

Even more frustrating, Bhuya says he has difficulties in reaching a delivery service rep in real time when there’s a problem with an order.

“The biggest frustration is some form of liaison between customer and restaurant when we need it the most, which is when the food is being made,” Bhuya says.

“That’s the bottom line that has made the situation so frustrating. We’re usually the ones trying to put out fires, while trying to make food, while trying to service customers in-house, while trying to clean up.

“Really, our only job is to make food, as the restaurant — that’s kind of what you get sold,” Bhuya says. “(But) they don’t take care of the rest.

“I feel like the people who provide the most value, which is the restaurants, are treated like the last priority now. We are called restaurant partners — that makes it extremely hard to stomach these days.”

Migdal’s response to the frustrations of Bhuya and other restaurateurs is that, simply put, SkipTheDishes is trying.

“We try to provide multiple ways restaurants can get in touch with us by either hitting a button on their tablet and getting a call right away or calling into our customer service agents.” SkipTheDishes, he says, has more than 2,000 employees at its Winnipeg call centre to help restaurants, customers and couriers.