41–50 of 246 posts
If you have to go into the street to pick up your order, I don't see the point in food delivery. You might as well walk to the restaurant at that point.
I'm a bit torn here. On the one hand, I fully empathize with the delivery drivers (particularly if the rules / policy of the app is NOT doorstep delivery) and where theft is a real issue.
However, as a (US) consumer, where the apps DO allow us to request doorstep delivery, I think there is no issue with consumers wanting to get the service they paid for. Uber Eats / Doordash charge a pretty hefty premium in terms of markup & delivery fees, and we're paying for the service of having food delivered to our door. You can call us lazy or whatever other names you want, but consumers do have the right to expect to receive a service they've paid for. And it is not our responsibility to make sure the delivery services are paying the drivers properly.
If you have to go into the street to pick up your order, I don't see the point in food delivery. You might as well walk to the restaurant at that point.
(And indeed like sibling I picked 11 for the nearby good restaurants, to which I do bike but only outside of winter).
It seems like "upstairs" delivery should be a paid option and be explicit in the ordering and delivery apps.
Heckers, the companies could use "machine learning" (read: simple SQL scripts) to determine how much time going up to your apartment "costs" and charge you based on such. Then buildings with faster elevators would be more valuable!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you're paid per delivery, then you don't want to faff about wasting time locking and unlocking a bike every single time
And if you're a thief (not all thieves are just random people walking by) you will KNOW that someone who just jumped off a bike and locked it will not be back for a certain time, and tossing the bike into a truck, lock and all, could be a moment's time. So now you need to lock it to something, causing even more time lost.
I have never used one of these services and never will. Way too many horror stories. If I'm making already poor decisions to eat fast food I might as well bike, walk, or drive to go get it and save myself another $10.
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.
Here in France it seems like the apps say the delivery should be upstairs if the customer asked for that, but drivers have the same issue with going upstairs as in Brazil.
And I can see why if they get paid the same.
My guess is, the apps know the issue, but explicit "street-level" deliveries don't sell as well.
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…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
No lock can withstand a determined thief.
I have never used one of these services and never will. Way too many horror stories. If I'm making already poor decisions to eat fast food I might as well bike, walk, or drive to go get it and save myself another $10.
Or quick groceries for the elderly? There are a lot of people using these apps beyond fast food for lazy people. For example I used to order a lot from a meal prep place that did chicken, rice, and broccoli when I was working in another state and didn't have access to a kitchen. If someone asks for lunch to be delivered because they're stuck in a meeting it doesn't help if they have to go somewhere to pick it up. Etc…
So you could see delivery apps requiring "door delivery" for ADA purposes, and then people abusing that (because charging more for ADA compliance is usually a non-starter).