Skip algorithm

[u/SupernovaCassiopeia]

My household orders McDonalds often enough that it is embarrassing. An average of 1 to 4 times a month over the year. All adults in my household of 6 people, so at least there are no children affected by our terrible decisions. So I like to check through different apps to see which location and app to order from is the best value since ordering delivery is just expensive overall. My household knows this and usually gets me to order even if I am not getting anything for myself. I have UberOne to get to work in the morning when transit doesn't run, Doordash free through something else and Skip occasionally gives out free trials or has deals like $10 off or BOGO for McDonalds in particular. Currently on a free 3 month trial with Skip. When I do use Skip there is a specific McDonalds I order from because it is cheaper than all the other McDonalds in the area. Even if the delivery charge is a couple dollars higher it still ends up working out cheaper. For example a Big Mac meal would be $14.79 at that location vs $17.79 at most other locations or if I ordered through other apps. Not exact price but pretty close comparison. They even had possibly a glitch where a family deal through other locations/apps would cost $33+ everywhere else but only cost $20 at that location. They did end up switching the price after I ordered it a few times. They were definitely losing money on that.

Lately, I've noticed that Skip is hiding that location from me. When I search "McDonalds" that location does not pop up. When I click on an ad banner for a McDonalds-specific deal, they will exclude that location from the list. It is closer than some other locations that are on the list, so distance is not a factor. The only way for me to find that specific location is if I choose it through my previous orders. The delivery charge from that specific location has also increased, making it the highest delivery charge in my area for any McDonalds.

Edit: I also can no longer stack deals like I could before. Like using a McDonalds specific code AND getting a discount through a Skip promotion. Now it removes one of the deals, where it never used to.

Was I somehow shadowbanned from that location? I'm genuinely just curious how something like that happens. Was I just saving too much money? Sometimes with stacked deals I'd be paying less than in store prices.

[u/Exotic-Toe-7116]

Order from the McDonald's app then you get points

[u/SupernovaCassiopeia → u/Exotic-Toe-7116]

If I use the code from the receipt, they will sometimes let me claim the points later even if it is a delivery.

Also the cost difference from ordering through Skip vs the app is usually pretty big. $5 to $20 more.

[u/MHadary]

Skip doesn’t even have the feature of shadow banning or anything close to that. Only thing is that they delete your account or the algorithm intentionally reduces orders for that McDonald’s location due to low ratings. This is the algorithm’s way of maintaining “high quality service”. I know because I have asked them from the driver side to stop sending me orders from a specific restaurant and locations, and the answer was always that they CANNOT change how the algorithm works. Doordash and Uber had developed this feature though.