Better Business Bureau Tip: Choosing A Meal Delivery Service

  Meal delivery services give consumers a more convenient way to make home-cooked dinners by delivering fresh, premeasured ingredients and easy-to-follow recipes to your doorstep. But just like any other service, each company is different. Pricing, ingredients and preparation requirements vary greatly between services.

  You’ll need to do some homework to pick the one that best meets your family’s needs. If the appeal of a meal delivery subscription is learning new recipes and experimenting with ingredients, you might choose one company. But if your main interest is speed and simplicity, another may be a better fit.

  The following tips will help select an ideal meal delivery service for your household:

• Research the delivery service. Ask friends and family, read reviews and check BBB.org to learn about past customers’ experiences.
• Set a budget and check the fine print. Pricing can vary from one company to the next. Make certain the service aligns with your budget. In addition, not all meal delivery services include shipping fees in their pricing – read the fine print.
• Know your skill level. Before committing to a plan, research what kind of cooking techniques you’ll need to know. If a company’s recipes require searing, roasting and braising, do you know how? If not, make sure you have the time to learn new techniques.
• Consider ingredient quality. Not all companies offer organic, non-GMO or free-range meal ingredients. If these are must-haves for your family, make sure the company offers them.
• Determine how much prep work you want. Some companies do more chopping and sauce-making than others. This seemingly small difference can make a big difference in how long each meal takes to make.
• Contact customer service. If there ever is a problem – a missing recipe card or ingredient, for example – you want to know you can count on customer service. Make sure there are clear, easy ways to contact the company, even late in the evening. Read the company’s reviews and keep an eye out for any indication that customer service is lacking.
• Check the cancellation policy. Before making a decision to subscribe to meal delivery, understand the cancellation policy. Each company is different and some might have very strict policies.
• Be careful with personal information. Most food delivery services process payments online. Make sure the company is legitimate before offering up personal information, such as financial information and address.
• Review Better Business Bureau (BBB) tips for shopping online. Since meal delivery services don’t usually have brick-and-mortar storefronts, consider the tips in BBB’s tips for smart shopping online.

  For more information. See BBB’s tips for safe delivery of your online purchases – https://www.bbb.org/article/news-releases/14276-bbb-safe-delivery-tips-for-holiday-shipping

  Always look for businesses that follow BBB Accreditation Standards and BBB Standards for Trust. For more tips and news from BBB, visit BBB.org/news.