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The failure of the Domino's 30-minute delivery guarantee

thehustle.co

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Re: The failure of the Domino's 30-minute delivery guarantee

#71
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no idea what "4.9 level" means. When I used to use uber (before it stopped working reliably in the UK about 5 years ago) they would ask me "how many stars" on a range of 1-5. There was no indication of what this meant or how to judge it. Presumably the idea is that the star ratings are relative and follow a normal distribution, so most are in the middle (say about 70% between 2 /could be better and 4 /really g…

Most of the general population have no idea what a normal distribution is. You have to put yourself into a common mindset to figure out the meaning of things designed for the general population. It doesn't need to be explained because half the population is too dumb to understand a written explaination anyway. 5 means they did good, anything less means you have complaints that you think are serious enough to warrant…

So stupid system with no instructions on how to calibrate.

How do you say someone did a better than expected job if the "baseline" is 5?

If they expect the normal to be 5, why give 1-4 as options. Why not "good" and "bad"

Not to mention the cultural differences between countries. While America loves being over-the-top with fake "oh you are so awesome", other countries (say Japan and the UK) are far more reserved.

Re: The failure of the Domino's 30-minute delivery guarantee

#72
post #61
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The insane thing is people trying to make a livable wage, maybe? Those drivers don't have the possibility (for whatever reason) to do something else, so gig it is - otherwise they'd be collecting food stamps or robbing at gunpoint. And if there were no such drivers, we'd get no warm pizza at all, how about that?

I used to deliver pizza for an independent company as a student back in 2000 in the UK (North West). I didn't get paid a lot, but it was easy work sitting in a car listening to the radio all evening. Inflation adjusted I was paid £4.57 an hour and 27p per mile. Used to get another £3 an hour in tips from people who didn't want change (this was of course back when everyone paid cash and ordered over the phone), did th…

> The problem comes when people think this type of work is suitable for a full time career, not just a way to "top up" an income

People don't think this work is a full time career, but they often enough don't have another choice. When you have barely (or none at all) language skills, or you're an immigrant whose certifications from their home country aren't recognized, or you're without legal immigration status, there aren't many ways left to make a living - it's either "tech gig work" (deliveries, taxis), construction/trades/restaurant helper or agriculture. The latter options are physically demanding, dangerous options or they don't exist around urban areas, and you often run into issues getting paid or dealing with dangerous/abusive employment - "gig work" options at least pay out reliably and carry less workplace abuse.

Want to fix gig work issues? Offer a decent social safety net so that no one is forced to accept this kind of work just to survive, and the market will (have to) improve on its own.

Re: The failure of the Domino's 30-minute delivery guarantee

#73
post #68
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The insane thing is people trying to make a livable wage, maybe? Those drivers don't have the possibility (for whatever reason) to do something else, so gig it is - otherwise they'd be collecting food stamps or robbing at gunpoint. And if there were no such drivers, we'd get no warm pizza at all, how about that?

> And if there were no such drivers, we'd get no warm pizza at all, how about that? First of all, the horror, second of all, there used to be a thing known as "going outside", and before that there used to be a thing known as "cooking".

Yeah, and there used to be "subsistence farming" and "living in the forest" and "making everything out of sticks and stones because we don't know any better".

How far back do you want to go to find the optimal configuration of society? Or does it just coincidentally match the configuration that you personally grew up with?

Re: The failure of the Domino's 30-minute delivery guarantee

#74
post #22

Similar is the case with apps like Uber Eats and Getir. I only know that in Getir they use different algorithms with artificial intelligence to find the shortest and fastest route. I'm sure other vehicles also use it, but I haven't heard such rumors about them.

You don't use "artificial intelligence" for routing. You've just fallen to marketing speak.

Pathfinding algorithms are absolutely artificial intelligence. A* and so on were invented in just that sort of research.

It may not be AGI, but that was never claimed.

Re: The failure of the Domino's 30-minute delivery guarantee

#75
Will take this as an opportunity to complain about how sub-par dominos ordering is in Canada compared to Belgium. In Belgium, they have a modern website with a real-time tracker for when the food will arrive. In Canada, they have a progress bar that just says “out for delivery” without any indication of how long it will take.

Their website and ordering experience in Canada is so frustrating that I mostly stopped getting Dominos, except for exceedingly rare occasions

Re: The failure of the Domino's 30-minute delivery guarantee

#76
post #61
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The insane thing is people trying to make a livable wage, maybe? Those drivers don't have the possibility (for whatever reason) to do something else, so gig it is - otherwise they'd be collecting food stamps or robbing at gunpoint. And if there were no such drivers, we'd get no warm pizza at all, how about that?

I used to deliver pizza for an independent company as a student back in 2000 in the UK (North West). I didn't get paid a lot, but it was easy work sitting in a car listening to the radio all evening. Inflation adjusted I was paid £4.57 an hour and 27p per mile. Used to get another £3 an hour in tips from people who didn't want change (this was of course back when everyone paid cash and ordered over the phone), did th…

You probably missed the "don't have the possibility" part of my message. Not everybody has the easy life, with their own car and the parents for safety net, but other commenter already described it much better.

Re: The failure of the Domino's 30-minute delivery guarantee

#77
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to deliver pizza for an independent company as a student back in 2000 in the UK (North West). I didn't get paid a lot, but it was easy work sitting in a car listening to the radio all evening. Inflation adjusted I was paid £4.57 an hour and 27p per mile. Used to get another £3 an hour in tips from people who didn't want change (this was of course back when everyone paid cash and ordered over the phone), did th…

> The problem comes when people think this type of work is suitable for a full time career, not just a way to "top up" an income People don't think this work is a full time career, but they often enough don't have another choice . When you have barely (or none at all) language skills, or you're an immigrant whose certifications from their home country aren't recognized, or you're without legal immigration status, the…

It seems you and the GP agree, though, that gig work shouldn't be treated full-time employment, which was the topic at hand.

Re: The failure of the Domino's 30-minute delivery guarantee

#78

Will take this as an opportunity to complain about how sub-par dominos ordering is in Canada compared to Belgium. In Belgium, they have a modern website with a real-time tracker for when the food will arrive. In Canada, they have a progress bar that just says “out for delivery” without any indication of how long it will take. Their website and ordering experience in Canada is so frustrating that I mostly stopped gett…

They have real-time tracking in India too + an app (though its likely a wrapper over their website)

Re: The failure of the Domino's 30-minute delivery guarantee

#79
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The problem comes when people think this type of work is suitable for a full time career, not just a way to "top up" an income People don't think this work is a full time career, but they often enough don't have another choice . When you have barely (or none at all) language skills, or you're an immigrant whose certifications from their home country aren't recognized, or you're without legal immigration status, the…

It seems you and the GP agree, though, that gig work shouldn't be treated full-time employment, which was the topic at hand.

However one say "just eat cake instead" while the other underlines the struggle.

Re: The failure of the Domino's 30-minute delivery guarantee

#80
post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ratings actually mean: 5 stars = OK, 1-4 stars = bad. Yes, it's a bad system.

Which isn't explained on various systems. Feels to me that if you want that rating system applied consistently you need to only ask one question -- "Was the service acceptable Yes/No". If more than 50% of your replies are "this service was above average", then you have a meaningless system.

It's a bad system, but pretty much every other online rating system is uncalibrated too (they just have different social expectations than the "always give 5 stars" that most people use for taxis and deliveries).

There are plenty of things that could be done, like using the algorithm that was developed for Netflix's prize contest, but nobody seems to be doing them.

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