• roscoe@startrek.website
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    10 months ago

    All the bullshit with tipping on food delivery apps made me stop using them years ago.

    First I hear the apps are stealing tips. Then they’re not stealing tips anymore. Then maybe they’re stealing some of the tips.

    To try and avoid all that I tried to use cash. The drivers don’t get their base rate reduced and they get the entire, non-reportable cash tip. Then my food started taking twice as long and arriving cold because the drivers thought I was stiffing them.

    My theory is the apps do this (pre-tipping) on purpose to discourage cash and after-tipping so they can lower what they pay the driver and they’ll still accept the order because they see the higher after tip amount. So now the apps might not be technically stealing tips, but they’re using up front tips to allow them to reduce their shitty base rate for everyone.

    Now if want delivery it’s pizza, Chinese, or one of the few other places with their own drivers. I’ve had this policy for years now and I don’t see myself ever going back unless it’s an emergency.

    Bonus to me: all my takeout/delivery is now 20-30% cheaper. Everyone should really take a look at the inflated prices they’re paying and decide if it’s really worth saving a short drive.

    • COASTER1921@lemmy.ml
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      10 months ago

      Ya I used to always tip cash but stopped all food delivery entirely ~5yr ago. By turning food delivery into a live auction everybody loses except the company running the service. Drivers compete against eachother accepting the absolute lowest fees while customers need to play the game of choosing an appropriate tip for a prompt delivery while also ideally not shorting the employee who ultimately accepts the order. But since to accept the order they need to compete with other drivers it’s naturally going to lead to them accepting lower prices, allowing the delivery company to pocket the difference. Not a good system.