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

restofworld.org

131–140 of 246 posts

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

#131
post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> because you have the money I think the issue is that maybe the customer doesn’t have the money to make the laborer do what they want. At a much higher wage, the delivery person would be happy to risk their bicycle / other capital.

Maybe the money doesn't have to come from the customer but from the capital then

By “their bicycle / other capital” I meant like a car or tools/bags/accessories.

But I think I maybe understand what you’re saying?

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

#132
post #89

One of my principles is that you shouldn't screw with the people who deliver your packages. And this goes double if they're delivering food. If the man calls and says come down to get your food, your options at that point are a) come down to get your food, or b) refuse delivery. Anything else is out of scope here, _including_ the notion that the delivery person was supposed to deliver upstairs and is refusing. While…

So how are people with mobility issues or medical quarantine situations supposed to get their food if there isn’t a way to reliably arrange for delivery people to bring it to (at least outside) their door? And yes, both of these circumstances have happened to me at times within the last few years, though fortunately not so far in a permanent way. Other people do have such limitations permanently.

There are services and residences that accomodate those needs, and they pay the workers that satisfy them commensurately and they cost more.

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

#133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is tough, but there is an easy solution: delivery apps provide a way to communicate with the delivery worker, explain your situation, potentially offer a better tip for the service. They will come to your door.

Sure, easy solution! Door dash provides such a mechanism wherein I can let the driver know how I would like to receive my order. In fact, for several years now I have used this feature, signaling that I would like the order to be delivered to my door. Fingers crossed for when the majority of delivery drivers actually start reading it! > explain your situation, potentially offer a better tip for the service At some po…

I agree that these gig-businesses cannot be relied on for emergencies, but within the 4 hours did you consider simultaneously using another delivery service? I would imagine that if you had access to Instacart, you would have access to other services like Uber delivery, Postmates, etc. Not to necessarily lay the blame on you because I probably don't fully comprehend the details of the situation, but I feel like if I relied on third parties so heavily to augment my own disability and had the price elasticity to pay an extra $50 tip, I would have many other contingency plans for events like these. If I can't get any help within 4 hours for a pet, how could I be expected to get help for myself or someone else close to me?

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

#134
I've lived in several cities in the US over the past decade and noticed that delivery drivers in different regions have distinctly different norms regarding this.

I lived on the 36th floor of a building in Chicago with a doorman, and I would consistently get the driver coming to up to my door. I don't think I ever once had to meet them in the lobby.

When I lived in Seattle very very few drivers would come in from the sidewalk even when I lived in a first floor unit maybe 50' from the street. I'd buzz them in and they'd wait in the threshold with the door open. Beyond that, maybe 20% of drivers would only call me, never buzz, and expect me to come out to their car to grab my food.

I lived in Chicago again more recently in a 4th floor walk up, and I'd usually try to go down and meet them (habit from Seattle, and also it was a lot of stairs and I felt bad), but they'd consistently come hustling up the stairs before I got the chance to come down and meet them.

Other places I lived fell somewhere between Seattle and Chicago on this spectrum.

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

#135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, but it is insane that people that live in areas with no parking can request doorstep delivery in the United States. People that live on the 10th story of a luxury high rise in the downtown of a major city with a 5 minute security process will request doorstep delivery, forcing drivers to occupy driving lanes for minutes with their hazards thrown as they navigate the byzantine favela that the villager has reque…

Where does the mail truck park for deliveries. Other delivery persons can just do that. If the building has no lanes at all, then that's nobody's fault but the building owner. You can wait behind the delivery vehicle a couple minutes.

Mail trucks are a bit different though as they are federal vehicles. Private delivery services like FedEx get tickets all the time and pay them as the cost of doing business, but I doubt food delivery services do the same for their drivers.

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

#136

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.

Good for you not having children.

I have children and don't do delivery apps either. Its way more expensive per meal, generates way more trash, and in the end sitting hot and steamy in the packaging for 10+ minutes makes the food worse than if I had cooked it myself or we went out to eat it.

If anything, having kids is a reason to not do delivery apps. Having kids is expensive enough I don't need to spend an extra $10 a meal just to have someone bring it to me.

If we're talking convenience, its pretty much the same level of effort as throwing frozen foods in the air fryer or in the steaming tray of the rice cooker and coming back in like 10 minutes. Or reheat a meal-prepped food. Or cook one of the several quick recipes of things we usually have on hand. Or having fun slicing soft fruits and vegetables with plastic knives with the kids.

Most of the time that we do order takeout its because one or both of us are already out and about and will just swing by some restaurant on the way home. Or we'll pick up food to go and stop by the park on the way home and have a picnic.

So many options that are all massively better than ordering delivery foods from an app.

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

#137
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I did read the article. I was responding to a point someone made, which I took to be about America(rightly or wrongly), not to the article itself. I suspect OP doesn't actually know much about Brazil.

While we're talking about missed reading, perhaps you should check out the commenting guidelines.

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

#138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is tough, but there is an easy solution: delivery apps provide a way to communicate with the delivery worker, explain your situation, potentially offer a better tip for the service. They will come to your door.

Sure, easy solution! Door dash provides such a mechanism wherein I can let the driver know how I would like to receive my order. In fact, for several years now I have used this feature, signaling that I would like the order to be delivered to my door. Fingers crossed for when the majority of delivery drivers actually start reading it! > explain your situation, potentially offer a better tip for the service At some po…

Sorry to hear that story. My partner gets frustrated by Instacart mistakes and I try to remind her that many of the people doing that job probably have low comprehension and planning skills or they would be doing something else. (Certainly not all though, we've had amazing drivers too). They also probably grew up with different food habits and don't see why a certain substitution doesn't make sense. Sometimes the results is humorous, but it is still annoying when you _already spoke on the phone about it_ or asked to refund instead of replace. Or as it relates to the article, when they knock at the door and wait instead of just dropping it on the stoop as requested.

The problem is that one often relies on Instacart when sick or disabled and the tolerance for mistakes and bad interactions is lowest. Perhaps there is an opportunity for something like vocational nursing companies to offer more skilled shoppers at a premium price...

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

#139

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…

I love how when the consumer class talks about the service class, they always allude to the needs of the elderly and disabled population, and the immediately go into a story about their needs that are supposed to sound elderly or disabled-adjacent, but its a scenario that is certainly not the tear jerker you were expecting like someone stuck in a meeting that doesn't have access to a kitchen and wants chicken rice and broccoli. What you have deliberately neglected to mention is that there is a desk at the first floor of the building where the food can be left for you to come downstairs and get after your meeting. It is a luxury service that you desire, not an essential service that satisfies the needs of the disabled and the senior, you are just piggybacking on their tears to make yourself feel better.

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

#140
post #42

US perspective (eg theft of bikes / crime is not AS serious a problem as Brazil, although it can be bad): 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…

Ehhh no ethical consumption and all that but I’m gonna have to go ahead and disagree with that last sentence. If I become aware of a business treating workers poorly I’m inclined to find an alternative.

Better prepare yourself for the long list of things you depend on provided by companies that treat their employees like shit. Is your argument that we should try to remain ignorant of these things?
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