#ULOG 07: My Experience with Honestbee.ph

Unexpected Delivery

I am not really a fan of ordering food online. Not because I am afraid it might not arrive but because I just can’t afford it. (Must makes sense, haha) But this time I just didn’t imagine it might actually happen.

This happened on July 23. I was not in great shape, and I felt very sick and weak because of my periods. I was talking my boyfriend Prateek about how painful it was and mentioned to him that how fortunate they are to not experience any of this pain and how unlucky I am as a woman. I told him I have no choice though as we are all wonderfully and fearfully created by God so we should at least cherish it.

That being said, Prateek just asked me about the foods I would love to eat since I didn’t have the strength to get my food or go buy it. I told him that I would love fries and maybe a pizza or burger or something I could try on but I was not sure if someone would actually deliver it. Thats when he told me about an app called Honestbee. Honestbee is a Singapore based startup delivering in Singapore, Philippines and few other countries. I had no idea about that app or how it works. He just told me he will order my food there and check if they will accept international payment and will deliver straight to where I am staying in Cebu. My place in Punta Princesa is a bit far from malls and we both were skeptical that they would deliver to an area far from the main city.

After 15 mins he told me he ordered it and the time of delivery is between 14:00-15:00. I was preparing myself for class and as I was moving out of our room, honestbee just called me and told that my food delivery was already outside (before that happened he ask me for directions and the landmark of the place). It did arrive! Prateek had ordered me a vegetarian mushroom pizza, vegetable salad and Mexican burrito from Mooncafe restaurant. The driver was really kind, he was smiled when he delivered and I thanked him for the delivery. I got the food to our room and went to school for quiz.

After the quiz, me and my friends went to our room. The first thing we did is we had the mushroom pizza, salad and the burrito. The food was okay 'cause I realised I was not a fan of Mexican food. It was my first time trying it and my experience wasn’t that amazing. The pizza was okay, nothing special about it, the salad was good and the burrito it just didn’t agree to its taste. My friends said they too really don’t like it some said they are okay.

The second order he made was of fruits, chocolates and chips, which arrived later that night. It was made from the grocery store of the Honestbee app from the Robinsons store. At first I was puzzled whether to let him order it because I know it wasn’t cheap at all. He insisted to order and so it happened again. The payment transaction was again smooth, the driver called me he arrived and I received the items. He bought fruits like banana, mangoes, kiwi, apples, and other foods like the kitkat chocolate, and pringles. The fruits where all okay except the banana because some of them already started to spoil.

Then another transaction happened on July 28 again from the grocery store, which was paid by my boyfriends international visa card. This time the order was in a box. He ordered me lots of things like fruits, groceries and some essentials. That afternoon honestbee texted me like the last time about landmark and this time, the person who was the one getting the grocery texted me about the fruit and products that wasn’t available and what to do with them. She called and we talked with the lady (who seemed really kind) and told her to cancel or add the payment to the dragon fruit which got pricy because of its weight. The box arrived right in front of my door, exactly according to the time slot selected by my boyfriend at the checkout. The helper brought them to me upstairs. Honestbee did not call me this time when they arrived.

Pros:

1. Easy transaction
2. Will inform you when there are changes
3. Accepts international payment
4. Arrives on time (even ahead)
5. They have P500 peso less on your transaction if the order reached P2,500.
6. Many choices for stores you want to

Cons:

1. Delivery fee & Concierge fee of P150 per transaction (only for grocery stores).
2. Can’t choose the fruits in case they are damaged or spoiled ones
3. Customer care doesn’t respond, especially the Philippines division.

Overall my experience was okay (not too great, not too bad) with Honestbee. The fruits are good except for the bananas and apples. Lot of apples that were delivered the second order were spoilt. I wasn’t really happy with that, knowing they aren’t as cheap since it is from Robinsons and the added concierge fee which makes sure you get the right stuff didn’t make sense. When it comes to quality of delivering groceries and foods it was all great.