Random question: Doordash, Ubereats, Grubhub, etc....

[Martinjmpr]

This really isn't here nor there but I'm curious about something and I thought I'd throw it out here to the group since there are a wide variety of people on the board.

I've seen a few Facebook discussions about the various food delivery services like Uber Eats, grubhub, etc. I've never used them (nor ever wanted to) but as I understand it, this is a "gig based" thing like Uber or Lyft where people sign up and then if someone puts in an order, the order goes out to whoever happens to be logged on as "working" and who then agree to accept the delivery, deliver to the customer, etc.

So, being as how the drivers are independent contractors, they're not OBLIGATED to pick up anybody's order. They can pick up or refuse if they like.

Apparently, some (or maybe all?) of these apps also allow the purchaser to put a tip for the driver into their original order.

Now, I've never done this but I assume that an order goes something like this: Customer gets hungry and wants some Taco Bell but doesn't want to go get it. So he puts in an order for one of the apps. Let's say the total cost of the food itself is $10.00 (do they have a minimum? I would think so but I don't know.) IOW, if they drove to Taco Bell themselves, they'd pay $10.00 for the food ordered.

Since they're ordering from the app, there is also a delivery charge. I have no idea what that delivery charge is. Maybe another $10.00? So the person ordering sends a payment of $20.00 to the app. The App then sends the order to the nearest Taco Bell (or do you specify which one?) and pays them the $10.00 for the food. The driver gets maybe $4.00 and the rest goes to the app as the cost of running their business.

In addition to the delivery fee, the customer can also choose to tip the driver ahead of time, so, let's say, the driver can add a $3.00 tip for the driver so the driver now gets $7.00 instead of the contracted $4.00 that he gets from the app. And the driver can SEE this tip when the order comes in.

So, now, as I understand it, the tip is out there for "whoever" picks up the order. Which incentivizes drivers to pick up the order. IOW, I'm driving around, doing GrubHub, let's say, and an order comes in for a $10.00 Taco Bell order with a nice $20 tip. Everyone who is in the area that night gets it so I would imagine that a driver would be quick to "accept" that order so they could get that nice tip.

Have I got that right?

Because, if what I'm reading on Facebook and Next Door is right, the opposite also applies: Often times, Someone puts in an order and leaves NO tip on the order. Either because "I'm paying enough for this already" or "I'll wait to tip until AFTER service is rendered, not before." Either way the order is sitting out there in internet-land, waiting for a driver to "accept" the order which he then is contractually obligated to pick up and deliver to the customer.

And what I'm hearing is that drivers are going "Meh, not worth it to me to pick up and deliver an order for a measly $4" and they don't accept the order. The food sits there, presumably getting cold. I would guess if it sits there long enough, eventually it's going to get thrown away, especially if it is closing time for the restaurant.

Now, HERE is where my question comes in: What happens when the customer starts complaining to UberEats or GrubHub or whoever, and says "where's my food I paid for?"

Do the apps have some kind of "incentive" system where the longer an order has been pending without being accepted, the higher the payment to the driver so as to incentivize someone to go pick it up?

Or does it sit there with nobody picking it up? And then if the customer gets angry because he never got the food he paid for and demands a refund, I'm guessing that the app has to absorb that, correct? After all, it wouldn't be right to expect the restaurant to refund the money - they made the meal and put it where it was supposed to be. They did everything they were contractually obligated to do, right?

And since drivers have no specific obligation to accept any order, until and unless they do, they aren't responsible either.

Also what happens if it takes an hour and a half for someone to finally get around to picking up the food and it's cold and nasty by the time it gets to the customer? Can the customer get a refund from the delivery service? Or is there some kind of disclaimer with their service that they're not responsible for late deliveries?

And no, I'm not thinking about signing up to be an UberEats driver - with the cost of gas it would be a waste in my pickup. I'm just curious about how these sorts of things work, is all.