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

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

#161

Post by reaperman »

itslennysfault wrote: post #144
runnerup wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do follow LPL, love the channel. I’ve never been worried about bike thieves picking locks, I’ve never seen or heard of them doing that. I’ve only seen/heard of them them using destructive methods, typically bolt cutters. If the average bike thief gets as good at picking locks at LPL, we’re very screwed!

I haven't heard of this being common (sorta surprisingly), but you can get a battery angle grinder for $40 these days and it'll go through literally any bike lock that exists in seconds. Maybe it's not common because it is VERY loud and sparkly.

I feel like it would be pretty tricky on an 18-22mm thick chain without clamping them in some kind of vice. These are nearly impractically heavy (30-40 lbs for a 6' chain), but I have carried them around on my bike sometimes, and will often keep one at the rack at work and one on the rack at home, and haven't seen anyone try to get into them.

I think if a chain that thick wobbles it would just break the angle grinder blade?

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

#162

Post by ahtihn »

hiatus wrote: post #135
behringer wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

So then find parking? Even if they need to walk a mile or 2? How is that the customer's problem?

If delivery is not possible it's up to the service provider to refuse service. If they accept the order they agreed to deliver it.

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

#163

Post by saberience »

sevenf0ur wrote: post #36

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.

Yeah may as well walk 3 miles to the restaurant in 105 degree heat, sounds like a great time.

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

#164

Post by eddtests »

bombcar wrote: post #50
eddtests wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

The elderly/handicapped is an interesting situation, because (in the USA) companies are required by the ADA to make "reasonable accommodations" for the disabled. Which includes things like offering full-service gas fill-ups even at stations that are self-serve only. So you could see delivery apps requiring "door delivery" for ADA purposes, and then people abusing that (because charging more for ADA compliance is usua…

Personally I think it should just default to front-of-building but have a no-charge button to have delivery to the door which drivers can see in advance. Then if they don't want to bother they can skip it, and if people need a delivery to the door they can get that too without having to message and explain. Also gives people the option to add additional information on door codes/where to locate the door inside the apartment etc. Sure some people might abuse the system but I think most people, most of the time, are happy to go and get it from the front of the building.

If you really want you can have the tip automatically set to 15% instead of 10% for door deliveries but allow the user to reduce that if they want, should get around the ADA stuff I assume (but not sure).

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

#165

Post by bobsmooth »

soulofmischief wrote: post #59
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…

I live with chronic sciatica. Some days, I'm feeling well enough for a walk in the park. Other days, I can barely limp to my kitchen or bathroom. Modern food delivery has been amazing for those kinds of days. Whenever drivers don't actually dash to my door as requested, it turns a simple meal into an agonizing journey.

What did you do before doordash?

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

#166

Post by bena »

Another data point to show why places like McDonalds never offered delivery in the first place. It's just not worth it.

Something these "disruptors" just don't get. They either have to charge too much, pay too little, or often the combo platter of both.

They've increased the number of unique parties involved to four and have removed the possibility of real accountability from all of them. Of course it's a shitshow. Everyone has different incentives and they are often at odds with the incentives of the other parties.

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

#167

Post by soulofmischief »

FrankoDelMar wrote: post #133
soulofmischief wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> within the 4 hours did you consider simultaneously using another delivery service?

Why yes, I did!

> Not to necessarily lay the blame on you because I probably don't fully comprehend the details of the situation

Yes, you are, and no, you don't.

> I would have many other contingency plans for events like these

This was a medical emergency, it was 2am and the only delivery app which featured a store that had the items I need was on Instacart. I checked all of them.

> how could I be expected to get help for myself or someone else close to me

Call an ambulance? An ambulance isn't going to help me take care of a seizing animal, and an Uber driver wouldn't either because it makes them potentially liable. I was also very low on cash. The $50 was quite a lot for me, but it was the life of another animal at stake, and I value the time of a person who has agreed to complete a critical, time-dependent task for me.

Before you berate me further for having an animal without being rich, this was a friend's animal who was out of state and left the animal in my care. The animal was developing diabetes and the timing was completely unfortunate.

Does this satisfy you?

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

#168

Post by robertlagrant »

Justsignedup wrote: post #25
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 wor…

> 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.

I think that's an equivalent economic outcome, but not an equivalent ethical outcome.

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

#170

Post by WeylandYutani »

rendall wrote: post #86
nlh wrote: 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…

According to the article, the deliverers are expected by the terms of the app to bring the order only to the street level door. Some consumers leverage their power to give a good or bad rating to compel the deliverers to bring the order upstairs.

Interesting. I'm frequently amazed just how much of an asshole some people are.
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