this post was submitted on 04 Dec 2023
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For those that continually use services like Uber Eats, Grubhub, DoorDash, etc., how does justify using the cost?

With fees and tip added, it's almost double the cost, the food arrives cold and wait time is longer than you picking it up yourself.

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[–] [email protected] 72 points 11 months ago (4 children)

Because I'm under the influence and shouldn't be driving.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

The first step to sobriety is recognizing and admitting that you have a problem.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Hey, I got the joke and I thought it was funny. I'll give you the one upvote I can give you :)

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago (2 children)

There is no joke. Please sit down. You know we all love you very much, and these people have gathered because they have a few things they want to say to you:

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

Thanks! You're the best!

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[–] [email protected] 56 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I'm lazy and I have the money.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

This is pretty much the only answer needed 😅

[–] [email protected] 46 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (13 children)

Save money with this one simple trick: Don’t Tip

This message was brought to you from britain, where tipping is rare, and definitely not to delivery drivers

Tipping is charity to employees because employers are underpaying

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago (3 children)

That doesn’t work here in the U.S., as tipping is built into the business model of gig delivery services like DoorDash. The base payment to the delivery driver doesn’t even cover their costs, and it’s the tip that provides the incentive to make a delivery through the app. With no tip, it’s likely that nobody will pick up your order and deliver it.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Then people should stop working for these companies until the business model changes.

A bad business model shouldn’t be supported by customer charity to employees

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

Agreed, but all that I can do is refuse to participate. I can't change the fact that the U.S. is a late-stage capitalist hellscape that makes this kind of exploitation palatable to many people.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago

Ironically, doordash had "you don't need to tip, we charge the fee to pay a living wage!" as it's original way to differentiate itself from you having The Pizza guy deliver.

Back in beta there was no tip option.

I stopped using them when they started to have separate tips for the in house staff and the driver, plus a 20% fee. Turns out your can pick up your own hot food faster for much less money.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (2 children)

It would be wonderful to change tipping culture but they make no money otherwise thanks to laws over here.

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 11 months ago

Because I don't want to go outside.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I can't drive; epilepsy ain't great for that. Some places I can reliably get the bus there and back in a reasonable time to eat it warm, but other further places are a gamble.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 11 months ago

I recently started using Doordash.

My mother in law doesn't see that well. She lives in an apartment about 30 miles/48 km away. She is able to get around her apartment, and do things like take showers and use the bathroom, but she doesn't see well enough to cook, and wasn't ever any good at cooking anyway. She is supposed to have another family member living with her and making sure she gets fed, but said family member is too interested in doing drugs and chasing men.

So I've been sending doordash to her apartment for lunch when Im at work, along with leaving simple food she can prepare by herself. The wife and I are working on getting her into an assisted living facility. She doesn't need a nursing home, she needs people to talk to and a place where she can eat.

It's really handy for people who need food, but for some reason aren't able to go get it. Thankfully this situation is temporary for me.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 11 months ago

Value is subjective, and some people value convenience more than the cost of delivery.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Living in Germany, so tips aren't an issue here and fees as re usually miniscule, so my justification is that I'm a lazy motherfucker with an income that is high enough to allow this kind of stupid spending (not high enough to compensate for the cost though, but that's not what we're talking about right now:P)

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

Denmark checking in. No tips, delivery is mostly fair priced, I’m actually waiting for food at the moment, delivery was free.

So absolutely justified … I’m more concerned about the choices I make on food.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 11 months ago (4 children)

In french WE Say "je suis une faignasse" , but most of thé Time i don't wanna go outside or sée people.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 11 months ago

To go pick it up myself, I have to: get warm clothes on my children, load them into their car seats, brush snow off the car, drive all the way there, get my children out of the car and into the restaurant, carry the food and corral my children back to the car, get them back into their car seats, drive all the way back, remove all the children from their seats, and then get their winter clothes off and put away. I'll pay $15 to not do that.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Double the cost?! Jesus, if it were that high here I wouldn't. I basically order from two restaurants when I do, for one of them that uses one of these delivery apps it's around 20% more since they list higher prices per dish than on their menu and have a 1.50€ delivery fee on top, but the restaurant I usually order at where you can order delivery directly has a flat 1.50€ delivery fee with same prices as the menu so that's around 7% more than going in person (usually I order for around 20€).

It doesn't arrive cold since they put it in one of these isolation boxes. Especially in the winter I think that's better than me getting it myself which is a 10 minute bike ride, without an isolation box. I'm gonna have to try that next summer though. Never hurts getting a bit of exercise and I actually never checked until now and assumed it would be more like 30 minutes lol

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I have literally never used any of those, because I can't justify the cost.

All the anecdotes about the poor service simply reinforce my decision.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

Why did you answer this post then

[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago

I don't live in America. Costs are reasonable. Dilevery is often free (probably hidden in the price of food, but food is only slightly more expensive, like 10% tops). Service fees are manageable, like 2-3 euros. Perhaps were still living the golden age of food delivery here and the increases will eventually come.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago

I have covid

[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Lately? I don’t. Uber, DoorDash, all of ‘em can’t bother to pay people what they’re worth, meanwhile customers are overcharged for literally everything.

Furthermore, my experience in Austin, TX is that drivers can’t bother to actually read delivery instructions… or can’t because they can’t read English. This is fine, but translation apps exist and 9/10 drivers just can’t be bothered.

My experience is also that, half the time, drivers can’t be bothered to actually double check whether the restaurant actually bothered to give them everything I ordered, or they’re taking shit for themselves because they aren’t getting paid enough. Whatever, that’s fine, most of the time Uber Eats would refund the stuff that was missing… right up until they stopped outright. I got tired of paying for food I straight up wasn’t getting.

Never mind that Uber seems to be going out of their way to avoid paying anyone a living wage or even call the drivers employees in the first place.

It’s just not worth it. I take less time to get the food myself anyway, and spend less doing it.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

Started during covid to avoid going outside, plus I had one of the big players in food delivery as a client, so I got a monthly 20€ voucher. That got me hooked.

I got used to it, became lazier, completely got cooking out of my routine and I the process gained 30Kg that I'm now slowly trying to get off for the past 6months or so.

In a nutshell, I got addicted to junk food and was too lazy to go get it. Also had enough money to allow me to do it, even if I shouldn't for health and economic reasons... Could be saving for something like the down-payment on a house but nope. Spending it on junkfood+delivery (luckily tipping isn't a thing here).

Trying to break that habit now.

As a bonus: I ordered a lot from BurgerKing. Until the end of 2022 they had free delivery above 12€. I'd easily get to the 12€.

Around January 2023 they changed the website to offer delivery ABOVE 15€ and that was crap because my orders usually didn't go that high. Turns out they fucked it up when coding it and if you managed to get exactly 15€ it would completely bypass this check and give you free delivery.

Someone needs to go back to basic math >= :)

Unfortunately they fixed it in early November. Good thing though as it might discourage me from ordering even further.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Where I live they have promotions and there is no tipping culture. The price is sometimes lower then going in person.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago (2 children)

The honeymoon period. Enjoy it while it lasts. Once their competitions gone, price would rise sharply.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago

I don't use delivery services but my grandfather does almost nightly. He's got the cash and my grandmother needs 24/7 care and can't leave the bed, plus it's difficult to find a caregiver who will stay late in the day around dinner time, so he typically just orders dinner to be delivered.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago

I have medical problems and it's often hard to go out, or even impossible. I still enjoy restaurant food for its variety. Also, if I'm not feeling well enough to go to a restaurant, I'm probably not feeling remotely well enough to cook. And I can afford it.

Delivery is a life changer for the disabled...if you can afford it.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Coz I get to carry on doing what I'm doing while the food turns up. It a suitable temperature, takes no time at all for me to walk to the door to thank the driver and it's totally worth the extra 20% it costs me compared to picking it up. Especially if I've been drinking

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago

I know people like delivery services but as a long term food service worker these mobile orders just fuck everything up and I hate them.

So that's why I don't use them. I don't want to help fuck up some poor workers day by being lazy

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I hate it but I'm constantly burned out from my my work so getting delivery is pay to win solution to "I'm hungry". Funny thing is I'm actually good cook but just lazy. If I were to make something it would be better than usual takeout. I try to avoid it but still find myself doing it more often than I would like. Not daily tho.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

Generally I find the wait times aren't really longer. The perceived time maybe, as I can ring ahead and then go pick it up, but for me it's just the usual calculus of what could I alternatively spend the time doing and is it worth the added cost. It's the same as do I call a tradesperson or fix something myself. Replace a washer on a tap? Sure I will do that. Install a new toilet? Nah, get a plumber.

If money is tight and I've got the time then I'm going to cook myself. If both are tight then there's always ramen.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

I used to justify it with "I've had a shit day, I deserve to be able to have something for the convenience" - not to mention, I don't have a car so realistically it was "Do I want fast food or not".

Then I started to realize that every day tends to be a bad day for me, due to a multitude of reasons. I live paycheck to paycheck (which is why I don't have a car in the first place) and the amount I was spending on takeout was way too high.

Now the only time I do so is on Fridays because my workplace lets us spend $25 on their tab just for joining the weekly staff meeting. Aside from that, I might order a takeout once, maybe even twice, during a pay period as a "congrats for making it through last month" but I'd like to even stop doing that ideally.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

I don't, ever, but if the deliverer can serve multiple orders at once, you could argue that it's a little more efficient and eco-friendly. Not nearly as eco-friendly as cooking at home, or making the trip on your bike, but better than making a round-trip yourself.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I don't justify it because I almost never do it. I may get a pizza delivered once every 6 months or so but that's it. I don't think I've ever used uber eats or similar because I think they're a complete ripoff.

I have much better ways to waste my money.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

It's faster than delivery to pick up, but still considerably faster to make the pizza myself. I'm lazy, and cheap, so I make my own pizza. Bread dough for pizza is easy to make, no need to knead, just mix, and prep time is a matter of minutes while I stretch between bouts at the computer. I have never seen the point of the delivery services.

It's not like I never tried it. At a friends house, they took an age to arrive, cost the price of a weeks food, and the order was wrong. Next week of gaming, I brought my own food and shared it. Total prep time less than that of trying to get five people to make a decision on the app, and we knew what was on the pizzas. Same goes for lots of takeaway/delivery options. Never got the hang of making noodles though. I buy those.

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