• hark@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    This must be that innovation which is making the world a better place that these tech parasites keep gushing about.

  • snooggums@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Food delivery only made sense as an operating cost of the business, so third party delivery would have only made sense as something that the businesses subsidized. It also only makes sense if it is structured around the busy times of day as well.

    I worked in a few businesses in the late 90s that offered delivery. In every case the delivery drivers were basically kitchen staff who went on deliveries OR the business itself was primarily delivery based in the first place and they still had the drivers do some other work around the place during downtime between meals. Both approaches spread the cost of the employees over more than the literal time delivering, because otherwise the cost per hour would be ridiculous. They also delivered food that held up to delivery times, so the food waiting 10-15 minutes before being delivered wasn’t an issue.

    There was a reason that pizza places and Chinese restaurants frequently had delivery even in smaller towns while things like McDonald’s did not. The food held up to delivery and was frequently of a volume that made the restaurant subsidizing the cost of delivery feasible.

    • Squizzy@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      That isnt the point. Also is the US famously lacking in social safety nets and appropriate methods of bettering yourself are generally paywalled? So an unemployed person with no in come hs very little choice in getting work and have to take what they can.

      Boot licker.

    • snooggums@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      I’ve never used the third party delivery apps because it was clear their business model was going to screw over the drivers from the beginning.

      • dan1101@lemm.ee
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        1 month ago

        And be very expensive for the customer at the same time. Food is expensive enough already without adding more fees and overhead.

    • SayCyberOnceMore@feddit.uk
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      1 month ago

      Well, I’m definitely not using any delivery service - we live ~25 mins drive from the nearest town, so it’s just not an option.

      I’ve lived most of my life in the countryside and just think that getting someone else to go get my food is a weird concept anyway… I’d go as far as saying that I’m no-one special, so why ask someone else to get my food - just get it myself (lazy, etc.)

      Plus, I like driving, so I’m happy to get out of the house for a while (and drive like a delivery driver to get the food home whilst it’s still hot)

    • prole@sh.itjust.works
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      1 month ago

      I use it, I just tip way more than anyone else in my area tips. Mostly out of guilt, partially out of solidarity for the working person. I like to think my order at bumps that avg hourly rate up at bit.

      • LainTrain@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 month ago

        This just makes your house a target for robbery because the criminals who deliver on the side will think you have lots of money

        • BrattiAtti@reddthat.com
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          1 month ago

          As a former driver for both UE and GH, I disagree. The rich fucks who tip nothing could be a target. My best tips came from the blue collar and lower-middle-class houses. Solidarity. (Also why I won’t use the services myself; I can’t tip enough to justify wasting an hour of their time and missed opportunities.)

          As a driver, I started losing money once pandemic pay became a thing. It seemed like nearly all the furloughed teachers and daycare workers got in on the gig. I was lucky if I got one run per hour, and my area had no guaranteed minimum pay, even on scheduled blocks.

          I haven’t found a greener pasture yet, but at least I didn’t totally ruin my car with the excess miles. Silver linings, I guess.

      • Allero@lemmy.today
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        1 month ago

        I feel like it’s a double-edged sword.

        For as long as there are people willing to tip more, the company can get away spending less and shifting it onto customers.

        As a result, workers get highly unpredictable and generaly low income and customers feel guilty for leaving low tips. Everybody but the company loses.

        • BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          This is why I only tip if the staff performed some actual service, not just calling my name for me to pick up my own order from the counter. Tipping in those situations (all situations actually) will allow the employer to pay shit wages longer and avoid a union to get them the benefits they deserve.

  • Jimmycakes@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I feel like you gotta go out of your way to make so little money doing this. If they actually did it correctly there would be no article to write. Not saying they would get rich but there’s no way they did this honestly.

      • Jimmycakes@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        I delivered pizza from high school through college. And now I own 2 business that we use third party delivery at. I can assure you literally no one makes this little on these apps even the people who are illegals and doing profit sharing with people with legal accounts make more.

  • jordanlund@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I think the trick is you’ll never make it just driving for one service, you have to do Uber Eats, DoorDash, Grubhub, maybe even Instacart as well if you want to do it for a living.

    Just like the people who drive for both Uber and Lyft.

  • LovableSidekick@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    So how many lemmy users are going to stop using food delivery to avoid being complicit? Especially asking if you refused to vote for Kamala Harris because of Gaza - or you can rant about how it’s “not the same thing” lol.

    • Eugene V. Debs' Ghost@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 month ago

      This is… a weird gotcha. “You claim to be aginast murder, but sometimes you like to order Taco Bell! Checkmate, progressives!”

      I personally voted for Harris despite being in California, but I can’t afford doordash for going out. It’s often:

      • Meal Price (often but not always extra charges because fuck you, they can)
      • Service fees
      • Driver fees
      • Tip to get someone to deliver in my rural area

      Meanwhile I can often walk to there and put in my order in the same amount of time. It’s often even cheaper to take the bus someplace, then take the bus back. Doordash makes more sense in an urban area, but I don’t live in one. And when I am in one, I’m often with a friend who knows how to drive.

    • dx1@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      I didn’t vote for Harris because she’s one of them. I also don’t use food delivery. Enjoying your feeling of superiority from pointing out the hypocrisy of random group intersections?

      • LovableSidekick@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Reading comprehension dude - I specifically addressed the Harris question to people who are in both categories.

    • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
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      1 month ago

      Not sure how many but when I suggest boycotting these parasites a while back, I was down voted and told to get fucked lol

      Fuck kamala and loser DNC komissars who shill owner class agenda against pedons

        • sunzu2@thebrainbin.org
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          1 month ago

          Life will be shitter just the same way it gets shitter with each new presidential term. The trend is set, you have to be naive to think that regime white kamala would reverse the trend.

          Two party system is to maintain power of the owner class.

    • TheLowestStone@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      I live in California where we attempted to pass a law that would force these companies to hire their drivers as employees. Every gig worker i know bought the corpo propaganda and voted against it. That was when I realized exactly how much of an education and media literacy problem we have in this country.

      • Eugene V. Debs' Ghost@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 month ago

        That law still pisses me off. I heard that it got a court check because of a clause in the amendment required a 7/8ths majorty vote in both the Senate and Assembly, but I don’t recall if the judge ruled to keep it or abolish it.

        California can be such a great state, but sometimes we vote for the dumbest shit because companies lobbied for ads that make no sense but to the dumbest voter. The most recent set of props come to mind.

      • Raiderkev@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        My buddy who was a driver at the time would try to convince the Uber drivers in the lot at the airport and they all believed the propaganda from TV and radio that was clearly paid for by Lyft and Uber. The majority of the American public are just not intelligent.

      • LovableSidekick@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        The education and media literacy problem has been brewing for decades. Our culture is so entertainment addicted, lots of people can’t even take a shit without watching something on their phones. I had high hopes in a progressive victory and a slow turnaround, but Trump winning after everything that’s happened tells me we’ve gone over the event horizon into Idiocracy and collapse. Not looking forward to it.

        • TheLowestStone@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          That argument is just a regurgitation of the propaganda that these people bought into. You can’t possibly know what would have happened because the law was voted down. I think that if those companies severely restricted the number of drivers they allowed, quality of service would decline and they would end up losing market share. In the end, there probably are somewhat fewer drivers, but those drivers are guaranteed to be making at least minimum wage plus mileage and access to health insurance.

      • dx1@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Doesn’t really seem to help when it still shows their username…

        • otp@sh.itjust.works
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          1 month ago

          This is why I’m never in favour of unrestricted, uncensored speech in public forums…lol

    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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      1 month ago

      I don’t buy through food delivery apps, I only order delivery if the store itself provides the service.

      And I didn’t vote for Kamala Harris, not because of Gaza, but because she sucks in a lot of areas. I also didn’t vote for Trump because he also sucks in a lot of ways. My state is heavily partisan, so me voting for one or the other feels like more of a wasted vote than voting third party, because everyone knows which party will win my state before the primaries even start, so I might as well juice the third party numbers a bit.

      • HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works
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        1 month ago

        Last time I tried ordering food I spent an hour trying to find a restaurant that still had delivery drivers on staff.

        Fucking capitalism is killing everything.

        • Jamablaya@lemmy.today
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          1 month ago

          Are you for fucking real? Capitalism is killing your ability to lay on your ass and order food brought to you? Have you no sense of irony, history or context?

    • otp@sh.itjust.works
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      1 month ago

      So how many lemmy users are going to stop using food delivery to avoid being complicit?

      I generally avoid food delivery apps because of the extra cost either way…but if you have a problem with the wages, just tip more. Tip cash if you have it – there’s no way for the app to get its hands on that money!

      • Tregetour@lemdro.id
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        1 month ago

        but if you have a problem with the wages, just tip more.

        enabler | noun

        en·​abler i-ˈnā-b(ə-)lər

        : one that enables another to achieve an end especially : one who enables another to persist in self-destructive behavior (such as substance abuse) by providing excuses or by making it possible to avoid the consequences of such behavior

        https://psychcentral.com/health/are-you-an-enabler

        • otp@sh.itjust.works
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          1 month ago

          Someone using the service is already an en·abler (i-ˈnā-b(ə-)lər).

          Tipping well enables the drivers to pay their bills, at least.

      • LovableSidekick@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        I either pick up the food myself or eat there and highly tip the server, because that’s how the system works right now - but long term it would be better if they got more wages and didn’t need to rely on generosity.

        • otp@sh.itjust.works
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          1 month ago

          Definitely. I wish we’d ban tipping in North America.

          And also put the taxes into the sticker/menu prices. No more of this price jumping at the register.

          • LovableSidekick@lemmy.world
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            I see the justification in adding the tax on afterwards because putting it on stickers and menus imposes more work on the business whenever the sales tax changes. If you’ve ever done a store inventory you’ll get it. Also if you live in a place with sales tax, which in America means almost everywhere, you get used to mentally approximating it, or at least knowing it’s going to be added on - and a sales tax amount is mandated, it isn’t something people agonize over deciding like a tip.

            • otp@sh.itjust.works
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              1 month ago

              putting it on stickers and menus imposes more work on the business whenever the sales tax changes.

              Boohoo. Other countries have figured it out. If we can’t get fast and efficient trains like other countries have, we can at least stick the tax into the sticker price.

              Keeping tax off the sticker makes the price seem artificially lower, this making people spend more money.

  • rational_lib@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Many of the food couriers I worked alongside were young international students struggling to earn an income while they make their way through school. Others were refugees or undocumented workers, navigating precarious lives.

    I honestly wonder if pretty much all of the surge in illegal immigration over the last 5 or 6 years comes down to Uber Eats.

  • rumba@lemmy.zip
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    1 month ago

    The awful part is, even without tipping the driver the food is drastically more expensive. The restaurant takes an extra cut, The delivery service takes an extra cut. This person’s delivering your food practically for free and the meal is already sit down restaurant price.

    • chuckleslord@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Just one note, restaurant prices go up because uber eats charges a percentage based fee for each menu item. So, restaurants need to up the prices on the app just to make the same amount of money. Just some good ol’ under-the-table fuckery courtesy of Silicon Valley bastards.

      • rumba@lemmy.zip
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        1 month ago

        In any case, when it cost me $20 more to get the meal through delivery, and f**** over a delivery person I’ve got a lot more incentive to drive 10 minutes to pick up food.

          • rumba@lemmy.zip
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            1 month ago

            Voice dictation censors, getting to the setting is a pain, I use dictation for work a lot so it’s better for you to be imaginative them me to screw up and get in trouble.

    • SoleInvictus@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      My wife and I ran the numbers and, in our area, Uber Eats was pulling in about 1/4 to 1/3 the cost of the meal between charges to the restaurant and the customer. We were discussing opening a non-profit delivery service in our area. Turns out it’s pretty hard to do.

      • rumba@lemmy.zip
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        Oh yeah, they’re going to want to see some serious reason why you shouldn’t be paying tax.

        It’s a lot easier to start an SCorp or an LLC in the US. Starting the corporation’s not horribly expensive either

        Since you’re not selling the product, you probably just need to pay the tax on The money they pay you to do the pickup. You need to start it more like a postmates where they ask you to go pick up the order they placed at some shop. But then I suspect you would have timing issues if you have a limited staff. You couldn’t just place the order and then wait a unlimited amount of time for it to show up.

        Then there’s that daunting problem of when the store screws up the order. Because they always screw up the order.

        But you’re still going to have to deal with labor laws, You’re going to need bonding, a CPA, advertising, presumably a web presence and software maybe across platform cell phone app. These are all things that get easier as the company gets bigger but are rather daunting it small scale.

        I guess it’s kind of a tough business to break into. Owning my own car, I could place an order, drive to McDonald’s pick up the food and come back for pennies. Obviously that 30 minutes is my time but it’s time I would spend not making money else wise. Because I’m already spending a couple hundred a month on a car, it’s not worth very much for me to pay someone to bring me food. But at a livable wage, plus someone else’s maintenance, that’s probably $7 to $10, assuming there’s a limited number of orders they can pick up at once in a small area.

  • cyrano@lemmy.dbzer0.comOP
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    1 month ago

    “Minimum wage and the idea that hard work should lead to economic security, can be — and are being — destroyed by these A.I. systems.”

    • Joe@discuss.tchncs.de
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      1 month ago

      Not A.I, just a terrible system that incentivises (and even demands for public companies) abusive behaviour.

      • Atherel@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        Yep, blaming it on A.I. is just an easy way for corporates to shift the blame to something they can’t control. A.I. is just a tool, the people using it and HOW they use it are responsible for the outcome.

        • snooggums@lemmy.world
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          Yeah, AI is making the same practices worse, but tryijg to destroy the concept of the minimum wage goes back to at least the early 80s if not before.

    • Higgs boson@dubvee.org
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      Lol. AI has so very little to do with this. That’s only mentioned because it’s the latest bogeyman.