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> This writer, previously an avid Uber Eats user, now avoids it in almost all cases and instead, orders directly from restaurants, which have mostly built an on

> This writer, previously an avid Uber Eats user, now avoids it in almost all cases and instead, orders directly from restaurants, which have mostly built an online ordering systems. Going direct means your food isn’t ruined I don't know if this is confirmation bias, or just a lie to add weight to the thesis, but it's obviously absurd, as anyone who has ever worked for, or even ordered directly from a local restaurant knows. Your local pizzeria does not have the driver go back to the restaurant for every order and deliver it directly to you. They certainly don't have a fleet of people ready to pickup your order. They pickup every order that's available, it's completely unoptimized in every way, and you get your order on the luck of the draw. Maybe the driver had no other orders, and is a block away from you. Or maybe your fifth in line. The key difference is they don't have an app that records every step in the process, the precise times involved, and show you the delivery driver's location on a map. Hard to even keep reading after this.

mech422 4y ago
The key difference for me, is actual pizzeria drivers usually have hot bags.. Whereas, 75% of the time 'app' drivers dont. Doesn't matter if I'm first or last in line, if the food is cold either way. Its gotten so bad, we're actually surprised when we order straight from say..dominos, and get hot food, instead of cold.
- jlmorton 4y ago
  Yeah I agree with that. Uber Eats is really hurting their business by requiring drivers to buy the hot bags, assuming they're still doing that.
  - mech422 4y ago
    Yeah - it seems like such a basic thing...
sen 4y ago
I actually agree completely with this part of the post, and even came here to quote that part. I've gone completely off Uber since about a year ago due to their ridiculous price increases (per item fee + delivery fee + service fee), and I order direct from my half dozen favourite local places now, who absolutely do deliver personally and directly and usually for free if it's over a certain order size. They usually rock up on an e-bike or e-scooter just with my order. It's faster, way cheaper, and always fresher. I'm not sure if it's just certain parts of Australia that I and the OP have in common, or what the reason is for the different experiences, but our happiness with the experience of ordering food has gone higher than it's been in many years. I won't miss Uber at all.
dragonwriter 4y ago
> Your local pizzeria does not have the driver go back to the restaurant for every order and deliver it directly to you. They certainly don't have a fleet of people ready to pickup your order. They pickup every order that's available, it's completely unoptimized in every way, and you get your order on the luck of the draw. So, I worked as a delivery driver, and when it wasn't particularly busy, most deliveries were one at a time, and when it was busy, there was both am assigned limit on deliveries taken at once and incentive to optimize by proximity, because not being time inefficient was money out of the driver's pocket (since the bulk of pay was tips + fixed per delivery payment). (And these days, more of the pizzerias with in-house delivery do have apps with location & status information on deliveries.)
nitwit005 4y ago
A lot of businesses have driver tracking and route optimization apps now. Dominoes previously said they were using AI for heavier optimization. Uber also has a basic disadvantage, which that their delivery drivers are rarely at the source building already, but that's often true for a pizzeria.
pessimizer 4y ago
My information is 25 years out of date, but when I did food deliveries for a restaurant the job was entirely focused on optimization. The resource were the residents and workers within the delivery area, and the goal was to make sure that they got their food quickly, at an ideal temperature, well-packed, without mistakes, and with the right condiments/sauces. This in very small restaurants or when things were slow was handled by the actual drivers/bikers/walkers for their own deliveries, and in large restaurants or during rush was handled by a person who didn't leave the restaurant. The metrics were repeat business and tips. First orders were given priority, business meeting lunch orders were given priority, drivers would give big tippers priority. The methods were timing when orders were given to the kitchen, keeping on top of orders that were not coming out of the kitchen fast enough, and grouping orders that could go out with the same person. Orders that had problems leaving the restaurant would result in calls to the customer. Things stayed on the line too long without being delivered and got "trashed" (which probably meant somebody took them home after shift.) Everything needed to be flawless, because mistakes got expensive quickly. The cheapest mistake would be to forget a condiment/sauce, where you might be able to satisfy the customer by offering them a discount, or you might be able to give the sauce to somebody going out immediately. This cheapest mistake probably obliterated all of the profit from an order. If you have to replace an entree due to a mistake? That's better to consider a new delivery order that you're not getting paid for, in addition to not charging for part of the one you already sent out, and if it was a really stupid mistake you had better send some free desert along with it, and if you fuck up again you're going to lose the customer. Worst case, you get everything wrong, you have to remake and redeliver it again, they get it all for free, and you offer them a credit to beg them to come back. Instead of 1 sale, you've had -4 sales. The process was actually so choreographed and practiced that I'm realizing that it's a lot to remember. I think the assumption that people would do something for 6-12 hours a day and not optimize for least effort and maximum income is weird. You get that by not doing everything randomly, by not getting complaints, and by getting your big tippers to love you. It's not like a tech business where you can just pivot to a different customer - you are locked in a geographic area, and your available customers are your available customers. The key difference? Now restaurants can just blame the delivery app/driver. edit: the big takeaway I would put out there is that delivery orders got a lot more attention and processing than inside orders.

mech422 4y ago

The key difference for me, is actual pizzeria drivers usually have hot bags.. Whereas, 75% of the time 'app' drivers dont. Doesn't matter if I'm first or last in line, if the food is cold either way. Its gotten so bad, we're actually surprised when we order straight from say..dominos, and get hot food, instead of cold.

jlmorton 4y ago
Yeah I agree with that. Uber Eats is really hurting their business by requiring drivers to buy the hot bags, assuming they're still doing that.
- mech422 4y ago
  Yeah - it seems like such a basic thing...

sen 4y ago

I actually agree completely with this part of the post, and even came here to quote that part. I've gone completely off Uber since about a year ago due to their ridiculous price increases (per item fee + delivery fee + service fee), and I order direct from my half dozen favourite local places now, who absolutely do deliver personally and directly and usually for free if it's over a certain order size. They usually rock up on an e-bike or e-scooter just with my order. It's faster, way cheaper, and always fresher. I'm not sure if it's just certain parts of Australia that I and the OP have in common, or what the reason is for the different experiences, but our happiness with the experience of ordering food has gone higher than it's been in many years. I won't miss Uber at all.

dragonwriter 4y ago

> Your local pizzeria does not have the driver go back to the restaurant for every order and deliver it directly to you. They certainly don't have a fleet of people ready to pickup your order. They pickup every order that's available, it's completely unoptimized in every way, and you get your order on the luck of the draw. So, I worked as a delivery driver, and when it wasn't particularly busy, most deliveries were one at a time, and when it was busy, there was both am assigned limit on deliveries taken at once and incentive to optimize by proximity, because not being time inefficient was money out of the driver's pocket (since the bulk of pay was tips + fixed per delivery payment). (And these days, more of the pizzerias with in-house delivery do have apps with location & status information on deliveries.)

nitwit005 4y ago

A lot of businesses have driver tracking and route optimization apps now. Dominoes previously said they were using AI for heavier optimization. Uber also has a basic disadvantage, which that their delivery drivers are rarely at the source building already, but that's often true for a pizzeria.

pessimizer 4y ago

My information is 25 years out of date, but when I did food deliveries for a restaurant the job was entirely focused on optimization. The resource were the residents and workers within the delivery area, and the goal was to make sure that they got their food quickly, at an ideal temperature, well-packed, without mistakes, and with the right condiments/sauces. This in very small restaurants or when things were slow was handled by the actual drivers/bikers/walkers for their own deliveries, and in large restaurants or during rush was handled by a person who didn't leave the restaurant. The metrics were repeat business and tips. First orders were given priority, business meeting lunch orders were given priority, drivers would give big tippers priority. The methods were timing when orders were given to the kitchen, keeping on top of orders that were not coming out of the kitchen fast enough, and grouping orders that could go out with the same person. Orders that had problems leaving the restaurant would result in calls to the customer. Things stayed on the line too long without being delivered and got "trashed" (which probably meant somebody took them home after shift.) Everything needed to be flawless, because mistakes got expensive quickly. The cheapest mistake would be to forget a condiment/sauce, where you might be able to satisfy the customer by offering them a discount, or you might be able to give the sauce to somebody going out immediately. This cheapest mistake probably obliterated all of the profit from an order. If you have to replace an entree due to a mistake? That's better to consider a new delivery order that you're not getting paid for, in addition to not charging for part of the one you already sent out, and if it was a really stupid mistake you had better send some free desert along with it, and if you fuck up again you're going to lose the customer. Worst case, you get everything wrong, you have to remake and redeliver it again, they get it all for free, and you offer them a credit to beg them to come back. Instead of 1 sale, you've had -4 sales. The process was actually so choreographed and practiced that I'm realizing that it's a lot to remember. I think the assumption that people would do something for 6-12 hours a day and not optimize for least effort and maximum income is weird. You get that by not doing everything randomly, by not getting complaints, and by getting your big tippers to love you. It's not like a tech business where you can just pivot to a different customer - you are locked in a geographic area, and your available customers are your available customers. The key difference? Now restaurants can just blame the delivery app/driver. edit: the big takeaway I would put out there is that delivery orders got a lot more attention and processing than inside orders.