6 ms·

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

by sshine 3y ago

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 for unions. Postal workers of Denmark had passed by law that mailboxes must be at street level. So all apartment complexes nationwide had to install extra mailboxes at the ground floor if they hadn't already. It can be quite bad for your knees to walk thousands of stairs every day.

ballenf 3y ago
The article explains that, at least in Brazil, customers are only paying for street-level entrance delivery as per the app terms of service.
- bombcar 3y ago
  It also depends on locality - around where I live, the delivery guys will go right up to your door, because there are so few apartments that it's not a major issue to ride 'vator for the few deliveries there (which are often seniors, anyway). But in New York? You might spend most your life in elevators.
- ebalit 3y ago
  Yes that was an interesting part. 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.
soulofmischief 3y ago
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.
- pedrosorio 3y ago
  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.
  - soulofmischief 3y ago
    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 point, it's my business and I would rather not have to explain my disability to strangers every single time I want a meal. You have to understand something here, before moving to shift responsibility off of the delivery workers: There are kind and unkind people. The kind people are no problem. They deliver the order according to instructions, and get a tip. The unkind people, who are more likely to not follow door dash protocol to begin with, are also more likely not to read my driver notes, are more likely to be rude even when I am forced to explain my disability. In some cases, these people will even harass you before and after delivering your order. I once had a small animal seizing in my lap who needed emergency items, but I was unable to leave my home and the closest exotic vet was hours away and didn't open till the next morning. An Instacart delivery driver accepted the order, which included a tip of $50, harassed me for 4 hours and literally just lied about ever visiting the store, because they had a bad day. They sat in their car as this animal continued to seize, with zero feeling. They sent me photos, cursed at me, taunted me, all sorts of things. After speaking with support, they agreed the behavior was unacceptable and allowed me to reorder... I got the same driver again. After wasting 4 hours with this person, support finally figured out how to assign a different driver. This driver immediately went to the store, called me to discuss which items were best to get, and delivered my order with zero fuss. They were happy to receive a large tip, and they assured me I wasn't in the wrong. The animal ultimately died, that 4 hours was crucial. Should I rely on Instacart for emergency services? Of course not, but that is the nature of an emergency. I would have gladly paid that $50 toward an app specifically geared for that kind of thing.
jghn 3y ago
Where I live I saw a big shift in delivery people in the late aughts. I live in a city in the northeast (not NYC). These days even most of the apps like DoorDash are still using a restaurant's own delivery drivers. I lived in a high-rise with elevators. From about 2000 until the late aughts it was like clockwork. They'd ring my buzzer, I'd buzz them in, and they'd stop at my door. In the late aughts it started to shift. More and more drivers would call me from downstairs and tell me I could pick up my food. I can only imagine what it's like these days in a building like that. I live in a single family house now and 9 times out of 10 they won't even walk the 5 feet to my door from their car.
- onlyrealcuzzo 3y ago
  I mean - after expenses, they're getting paid like $8 per hour. It sucks, sure. But what level of service do you expect for non-livable wages?
  - jghn 3y ago
    Sure, but that was true 20+ years ago too and they came to your door. I don't disagree with the larger point per se, I just find it interesting that it changed.
    - morkalork 3y ago
      Is it the proliferation of giant condo buildings? Cities like Toronto went from having cloisters of 10-15 story concrete appartement blocks to having tons of much taller condo buildings all over in the last 20ish years. More than a few have questionable elevator situations too. There's even viral tiktok videos about residents waiting 20-30 minutes for elevators. Would you want to deliver to the door in a building like that?
    - onlyrealcuzzo 3y ago
      > Sure, but that was true 20+ years ago too and they came to your door. Not really. Minimum wage adjusted for inflation - and especially rent - is down in most places. You can't pay people $2 for something and that $2 goes less and less far and expect your quality of service to not get worse.

by sshine 3y ago

ballenf 3y ago

The article explains that, at least in Brazil, customers are only paying for street-level entrance delivery as per the app terms of service.

bombcar 3y ago
It also depends on locality - around where I live, the delivery guys will go right up to your door, because there are so few apartments that it's not a major issue to ride 'vator for the few deliveries there (which are often seniors, anyway). But in New York? You might spend most your life in elevators.
ebalit 3y ago
Yes that was an interesting part. 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.

soulofmischief 3y ago

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.

pedrosorio 3y ago
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.
- soulofmischief 3y ago
  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 point, it's my business and I would rather not have to explain my disability to strangers every single time I want a meal. You have to understand something here, before moving to shift responsibility off of the delivery workers: There are kind and unkind people. The kind people are no problem. They deliver the order according to instructions, and get a tip. The unkind people, who are more likely to not follow door dash protocol to begin with, are also more likely not to read my driver notes, are more likely to be rude even when I am forced to explain my disability. In some cases, these people will even harass you before and after delivering your order. I once had a small animal seizing in my lap who needed emergency items, but I was unable to leave my home and the closest exotic vet was hours away and didn't open till the next morning. An Instacart delivery driver accepted the order, which included a tip of $50, harassed me for 4 hours and literally just lied about ever visiting the store, because they had a bad day. They sat in their car as this animal continued to seize, with zero feeling. They sent me photos, cursed at me, taunted me, all sorts of things. After speaking with support, they agreed the behavior was unacceptable and allowed me to reorder... I got the same driver again. After wasting 4 hours with this person, support finally figured out how to assign a different driver. This driver immediately went to the store, called me to discuss which items were best to get, and delivered my order with zero fuss. They were happy to receive a large tip, and they assured me I wasn't in the wrong. The animal ultimately died, that 4 hours was crucial. Should I rely on Instacart for emergency services? Of course not, but that is the nature of an emergency. I would have gladly paid that $50 toward an app specifically geared for that kind of thing.

jghn 3y ago

Where I live I saw a big shift in delivery people in the late aughts. I live in a city in the northeast (not NYC). These days even most of the apps like DoorDash are still using a restaurant's own delivery drivers. I lived in a high-rise with elevators. From about 2000 until the late aughts it was like clockwork. They'd ring my buzzer, I'd buzz them in, and they'd stop at my door. In the late aughts it started to shift. More and more drivers would call me from downstairs and tell me I could pick up my food. I can only imagine what it's like these days in a building like that. I live in a single family house now and 9 times out of 10 they won't even walk the 5 feet to my door from their car.

onlyrealcuzzo 3y ago
I mean - after expenses, they're getting paid like $8 per hour. It sucks, sure. But what level of service do you expect for non-livable wages?
- jghn 3y ago
  Sure, but that was true 20+ years ago too and they came to your door. I don't disagree with the larger point per se, I just find it interesting that it changed.
  - morkalork 3y ago
    Is it the proliferation of giant condo buildings? Cities like Toronto went from having cloisters of 10-15 story concrete appartement blocks to having tons of much taller condo buildings all over in the last 20ish years. More than a few have questionable elevator situations too. There's even viral tiktok videos about residents waiting 20-30 minutes for elevators. Would you want to deliver to the door in a building like that?
  - onlyrealcuzzo 3y ago
    > Sure, but that was true 20+ years ago too and they came to your door. Not really. Minimum wage adjusted for inflation - and especially rent - is down in most places. You can't pay people $2 for something and that $2 goes less and less far and expect your quality of service to not get worse.