Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Come downstairs or we’ll eat your order, delivery workers tell customers

restofworld.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 246 posts

Re: Come downstairs or we’ll eat your order, delivery workers tell customers

#21

Post by malux85 »

basisword wrote: post #2

Imagine getting paid to deliver something and complaining about actually having to deliver it. I can see the problems they face, but delivering an item...most of the way...isn't the solution.

Imagine being in a world where you can wave your finger over some little glass shard, and a hot meal of your choosing is delivered to you.

Then imagine complaining that you had to go outside your house to get it. I think the act of getting off the couch and going downstairs before consuming your food is probably a good thing for your health; and the primary reason for all of this is the delivery driver, who is likely living a harder life than you, doesn’t want to lose their livelihood.

Re: Come downstairs or we’ll eat your order, delivery workers tell customers

#22

Post by passwordoops »

runnerup wrote: post #13
pringk02 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like the primary worry is having their bike or other gear stolen, which is reasonable I think. If you can't earn without those things, then you won't want to risk them. The solution seems to be either to get customers to come down, or to eliminate crime. I'd take a guess that having customers come down is a quicker and cheaper solution to implement.

Another solution is having a proper bicycle lock. Yes, they’re heavy but I bike around with Kryptonites largest and thickest U-lock, as well as sometimes with a 25-lb 18mm motorcycle chain for the bicycle. I do think the food delivery model should only work for customers willing to pay delivery people $25+/hr, especially considering you’re not just paying what should be a living wage for labor but also renting the ca…

If you're paid per delivery, then you don't want to faff about wasting time locking and unlocking a bike every single time

Re: Come downstairs or we’ll eat your order, delivery workers tell customers

#24

Post by toyg »

pringk02 wrote: post #5
basisword wrote: post #2

Imagine getting paid to deliver something and complaining about actually having to deliver it. I can see the problems they face, but delivering an item...most of the way...isn't the solution.

Sounds like the primary worry is having their bike or other gear stolen, which is reasonable I think. If you can't earn without those things, then you won't want to risk them. The solution seems to be either to get customers to come down, or to eliminate crime. I'd take a guess that having customers come down is a quicker and cheaper solution to implement.

They already have to deal with crime at the other end - it's not uncommon, where I live, to see videos of people stealing scooters and bikes as the rider steps into a restaurant.

The least customers could do is to take care of their end.

Re: Come downstairs or we’ll eat your order, delivery workers tell customers

#25

Post by Justsignedup »

basisword wrote: post #2

Imagine getting paid to deliver something and complaining about actually having to deliver it. I can see the problems they face, but delivering an item...most of the way...isn't the solution.

They are between a rock and a hard place: I think the game StarCitizen had a perfect visualization of their problem.

When you try to trade resources, you make say 4% income on the trade. So if you trade say 2-million you can win about 200k or 400k, depending on server state. However the risk is your ship blows up, which could be because of a buggy crash or a server crash. The risk was "is the value I get from the work worth it if a single crash can undo days worth of effort".

Same is happening here. They are risking a month of income in order to do a single delivery. However if they leave it by the door "I never got the order" and thus they get penalized. So basically damned if you do, damned if you don't. So they basically said "well if I get penalized ANYWAYS... might as well eat it, because it is equivalent to me"

I see zero ethical issues with what is happening.

Now if the motorbike was provided by the company, and it gets stolen? Cool, the employee doesn't care, and I assure you, the company would change its policy in a day "nope, you come downstairs!"

Edit: The root of the gig economy is that all the risk is shifted to the employee, but none of the benefits. A friend of mine is an HVAC tech, and he gets a company car. If he is about to be late to an appointment because of parking issues... "well, leave the car, we'll pay for the ticket, just get to the job" and he doesn't care. Why? Because the company assumes the risk as they should. He's not a gig worker.

Re: Come downstairs or we’ll eat your order, delivery workers tell customers

#26

Post by willcipriano »

ohgodplsno wrote: post #9

The absolute entitlement to believe that delivery workers should be coming up to your door at the 9th floor, while complaining about "ethics". You're using a delivery service like Uber Eats, Deliveroo or Doordash that are well known to underpay, overwork and unjustly punish workers that do not maximize their deliveries per hour, and you have the gall to complain that they're not taking pride in their jobs from your i…

At what point do consumers become responsible for the choices made by businesses that they patronize?

I expect the working conditions and pay of your delivery driver exceeds that of the person who made your pants. Don't you also owe those workers a fair shake?

Re: Come downstairs or we’ll eat your order, delivery workers tell customers

#27

Post by ballenf »

basisword wrote: post #2

Imagine getting paid to deliver something and complaining about actually having to deliver it. I can see the problems they face, but delivering an item...most of the way...isn't the solution.

The service that the customer paid for, according to the apps and detailed in the article, is street-level delivery only.

So imagine paying for one thing and then extorting an additional service out of the driver because the service gives you more power than the driver.

Seems to me the legislation should be focused on the delivery app companies -- force them to pay workers extra if an order requires the extra time and risk of inside delivery. And maybe even cover the cost of anything stolen while they're workers are on the job. They'd very quickly figure out a solution.

Re: Come downstairs or we’ll eat your order, delivery workers tell customers

#28

Post by temp51723 »

2023throwawayy wrote: post #16
ohgodplsno wrote: post #9

The absolute entitlement to believe that delivery workers should be coming up to your door at the 9th floor, while complaining about "ethics". You're using a delivery service like Uber Eats, Deliveroo or Doordash that are well known to underpay, overwork and unjustly punish workers that do not maximize their deliveries per hour, and you have the gall to complain that they're not taking pride in their jobs from your i…

.

So they're supposed to let themselves into your house, walk to your bedroom and hand it to you there?

Re: Come downstairs or we’ll eat your order, delivery workers tell customers

#29

Post by ballenf »

sshine wrote: post #19

The market decides. Food delivery most places mean to the door of the apartment, not the apartment complex entrance. This is terrible for food delivery agents, since it slashes the efficiency of most deliveries. I always run downstairs, since I am humbled that anyone would cook and bring me food. But as long as this is not the norm, food delivery agents are at the bottom of the food chain. In the past, this was a job…

The article explains that, at least in Brazil, customers are only paying for street-level entrance delivery as per the app terms of service.

Re: Come downstairs or we’ll eat your order, delivery workers tell customers

#30

Post by rootusrootus »

oh_sigh wrote: post #11
userbinator wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine a world in which doing the job right (and taking pride in doing so, regardless of how trivial a job it is) is actually the norm. In some parts of some countries, it still is.

Perhaps the problem is America is economically biased. If your pride in your trivial job brings you respect in your community, then maybe it's worth it, even if you're struggling to make ends meet. If your pride buys you not a modicum of social standing, and barely let's you provide basic essentials for yourself, and you're treated with contempt or as an invisible person by your community, why put pride into the job?

> Perhaps the problem is America is economically biased.

I think in this situation the problem is not reading the article.

Post reply on HN