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joshstrange • yesterday at 1:05 PM • 10 replies • view on HN

> DoorDash to Acquire Instacart to Help Local Stores Win

> to Help Local Stores Win

Any local store will tell you DD is a necessary evil they put up with but strongly dislike overall. From the % of sales they take to the incredibly rude delivery drivers, DD is not well liked.

On multiple occasions a family member's employees (or they, themselves) have had a DD delivery driver cut to the front of the line, interrupt the cashier, and shove their phone in their face. No words, no anything, just "here is the code/screen/whatever I need to show you to pick up the order". DD doesn't let stores rate delivery drivers so there isn't any recourse.


Replies

Toynbeeidea • yesterday at 1:59 PM

I worked at a local grocery store while unemployed, and I actually PREFERRED the Doordash/Instacart customers.

Quite a few of them spoke no English, so yes, they'd just present their phone screen. I didn't take it as rude. It was a very clear and direct communication. A simple scan, and boom, nothing further needed, I could just scan their items. Thr QR code scan handled payment and everything. They almost always helped with doing thier own bagging: Time is money, after all.

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brookst • yesterday at 1:10 PM

Yeah mixed blessing at best. Increased volume, but not every 30-table restaurant is set up to do much more; kitchens are sized to expected in-person dining.

And all the stuff you mention.

The one restaurant owner I know who’s happy with DD set up an entirely separate kitchen in an industrial park. But to get to the DD revenue necessary to justify that investment, he had a couple of years of DD hell in his main restaurant.

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SoftTalker • yesterday at 2:12 PM

The supermarket where I shop has a specific checkout station for delivery drivers. I have never seen one in a normal checkout line (not that it might be very obvious, especially if they were shopping not just picking up an order).

What I don't understand is why DD gets any cut of the store's profit. They should be paying retail like anyone else, and their customer paying for the delivery costs.

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apparent • yesterday at 5:01 PM

I went to a restaurant for a nice meal with my family. We ordered and waited for our food forever, as a steady stream of delivery bags went out the door. It was an hour before our first appetizer came out. It took us a while to figure it out, but there's no doubt the restaurant was incentivized to prioritize delivery orders over customers sitting in front of them.

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tmnvix • today at 9:26 AM

Surely the recourse is to send them to the back of the queue? It's not like the driver rates the store, right?

neya • today at 3:51 AM

That's because fundamentally DD drivers are assholes for the most part. In British Columbia, they are paid a minimum wage plus the tips they make from each order. That is well more than what an average Walmart employee makes, which is just pretty much minimum wage. However, the DD drivers will expect a 30-40% tip on a $15 order or they will not even deliver it. Not to mention the theft, fake delivery issues (they take a photo of the delivery and then take the food away) and what not. On top of this, DoorDash will blatantly lie constantly "Your food is on time" (after a 2 hour delay) and keeps updating the ETA repeatedly to make it look like it's on time.

Fuck DoorDash and their drivers. The whole model is flawed and don't even get me started on the absurd tipping entitlement off late. WTF is even 30% of your food bill so normalized as a tip? The same model in Singapore is really so much streamlined in comparison - You order from Grab and it's so much nicer than this garbage, everyone gets paid fairly and restaurants will tell grab drivers to fuck off if they cut the line.

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cowlevel • yesterday at 2:58 PM

Going by other comments in this thread it seems like if you kicked out the driver they'd probably get fired from Doordash.

michaelmrose • today at 5:41 AM

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mattkenefick • yesterday at 3:40 PM

> On multiple occasions a family member's employees (or they, themselves) have had a DD delivery driver cut to the front of the line, interrupt the cashier, and shove their phone in their face. No words, no anything, just "here is the code/screen/whatever I need to show you to pick up the order". DD doesn't let stores rate delivery drivers so there isn't any recourse.

That's exactly what it's like in NYC. They just walk up with their huge backpacks straight to the front skipping everyone, turn around bumping people, show their phone, then stand RIGHT in the front as-if no one else exists. It's awful.

I'd love to contribute to a no-delivery store. Pickup or dine-in only.

Edit: Might have to re-think Pickup because that would just become a loophole for delivery. Maybe orders have to be placed in-store for to go.

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