Author Topic: Deliveroo - anyone working for them?  (Read 20483 times)

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Deliveroo - anyone working for them?
« Reply #50 on: 07 November, 2018, 09:21:27 am »
I'll see how it compares with deliveroo (The job, not the bag). 
I saw a Stuart bag the other day, it's dark blue and looks squashier than the Deliveroo bags.  :D Good luck with Stuarting to both of you.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Deliveroo - anyone working for them?
« Reply #51 on: 07 November, 2018, 11:48:45 am »
"Stuart"'s not an autocorrect then?  *googles*

Have the silly names run out?   ???

(I suppose the rot set in when they called a TV channel 'Dave')

Re: Deliveroo - anyone working for them?
« Reply #52 on: 07 November, 2018, 11:30:22 pm »
I'm also waiting on a Stuart bag

They've run out of Stuart bags in this corner of the world, so I'm waiting for a non-squishy Just Eat cube. The foldable Stuart bags do look more appealing, but it'd be good to hear from someone with hands-on experience.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Deliveroo - anyone working for them?
« Reply #53 on: 08 November, 2018, 11:04:26 am »
So will you be riding for Stuart or Just Eat? Or are they the same thing?
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Re: Deliveroo - anyone working for them?
« Reply #54 on: 08 November, 2018, 12:55:55 pm »
If I understand correctly, Stuart here is currently providing the delivery service for some of the outlets that come under the Just Eat umbrellawhateveritis. There's a lot of layers going on there!

The bag has arrived. It's cunningly lined with strips of the loop side of velcro, which I'm sure will come in useful for holding any spilled chicken katsu curry in place
:-S


Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Deliveroo - anyone working for them?
« Reply #55 on: 08 November, 2018, 01:28:19 pm »
I see. Perhaps. Hope it goes well, anyway.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Re: Deliveroo - anyone working for them?
« Reply #56 on: 08 November, 2018, 11:07:00 pm »
Just applied to ride for Deliveroo in Edinburgh. No vacancies at the moment but I'll keep my fingers crossed I get a shout soon. I figured that with the expanding waistline and longer and longer waits between design jobs that it might be quite nice having a bit of motivation to get out there in my down time and earn some beer money in the process.

Re: Deliveroo - anyone working for them?
« Reply #57 on: 09 November, 2018, 07:51:45 am »

I'm also waiting on a Stuart bag, I'll see how it compares with deliveroo (The job, not the bag).  I've been delivering today and was talking to a Stuart rider, he'd started an hour after me, done about a third less orders and we were coming out with around the same money.  I didn't mind the extra orders, I'd rather be moving than standing around, but at least he knew the minimum he'd earn tonight when I had no idea.  As it turned out it was really busy for the first three hours, all simple jobs, no waiting and the collections reasonably close the the previous drop, then it went dead and I had three jobs in the last two hours... All in all I'm quite enjoying it, though I'm hoping not to have to rely on it as a primary source of income for too long.

I looked at Stuart in Northampton. Stuart hasn't got to Milton Keynes where I live.
I wasn't sure if Stuart paid your mileage from collection to drop off or from wherever you are to collection, to drop off. The former made it seem no better than Deliveroo and not really worth being busy doing a lot of orders per hour because you wouldn't get much more than the minimum guarantee. But what you say looks like it's the latter and around one and a half time what you could earn with Deliveroo.
For me, I would have to travel to and from Northampton, which would be about 2-2.5 hours riding and instead of riding to and from Northampton, I could earn around £20-30 doing Deliveroo in that time so I'd be £20-30 better off before I even started doing Stuart in Northampton. In fact, that alone, every day of a 5 day working week would be enough for me to live on, just.
If it does come to Milton Keynes I probably will join Stuart because if there are no orders I can get paid to just be at home.

Re: Deliveroo - anyone working for them?
« Reply #58 on: 12 November, 2018, 06:24:30 pm »
I see. Perhaps. Hope it goes well, anyway.

Thanks!  :thumbsup:
[tl;dr: it didn't]  :(

Having received a comedically large bag (which was to prompt a few different passers-by to tell me how heavy it must be), I drove over to Stourbridge where Stuart have just got started with a new zone. An extra £2 on each drop and it was nice and sunny, so I thought I'd make a day of it.

Phone screeched as soon as I logged on, so I made my way from where I had parked the car to the first collection point, narrowly avoiding getting stuck in a hedge in the process...  ::-)

Turns out this first drop was just a test that didn't get cancelled, so I had to faff around with online chat rider support to get them to cancel it so I could move on.

I'd planned the day so I could do a non-commital hour or two to get the measure of things, then sign up for a slot (all the commitment, but also gets you a guaranteed minimum £7.50 per hour) or two as mojo/weather allowed. Car was parked up in the zone, so I could use that as a base if needed.

No other drops by the time the first slot came along, so I signed up for the 1:30-4pm slot so I'd at least get the £7.50 p/h before evening orders started coming in. Sitting on a bench by the ring road was fine whilst the sun was out, but then it got a bit chilly so I pootled back to the car and a book. I checked my phone at intervals, but it seems that, after lulling me into a false sense of security, the app then logged me out without any warning. I'm currently being ignored by rider support, but it's probably safe to assume I won't get paid for that slot. I *did* get paid something for the non-cancelled cancelled order, so I might just have broken even on the petrol  >:(

First impressions of the Stuart platform is that it's pretty shonky: the support docs are all over the place and sometimes contradictory; the live chat system is really awkward to get to; changing your bank details requires the magic numbers to be relayed through at least two different people, starting with the online chat; I'm getting notifications flash up in the top tray area of my phone screen, but the full messages are nowhere to be found to be able to read the whole thing; and I have Strong Opinions about silent failure modes.

You won't be surprised to hear I didn't stick around for the evening shift...


Minor highlight of the day: a yoof wheelie-ing along the Lye bypass.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Deliveroo - anyone working for them?
« Reply #59 on: 12 November, 2018, 07:06:18 pm »
That's a shame. Are you going to give them another try when you've got a few rider support things sorted out?

FWIW my experiences of what would now be called "rider support" from motorbike couriering way back in the early 90s: I worked for one company that used two-way radios, which was fine except they didn't give us earphones or mikes. The radio was clipped to our jackets and we had to stop, de-helmet and just talk into it (you could talk through your helmet but it got a bit garbled), so in practice it was rather cumbersome. Later I worked for another firm that used pagers. When the pager bleeped, you stopped and found a phone box or used a client's phone (most were fine about this) to call base. This sounds crap but actually worked better than radios. This was all before mobiles and way before smartphones or even the internet. Big difference though was that I was working for companies with identifiable people in charge, who I saw and spoke to everyday. Money was crap even then but I had fun doing it!
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Re: Deliveroo - anyone working for them?
« Reply #60 on: 12 November, 2018, 09:54:32 pm »
Are you going to give them another try when you've got a few rider support things sorted out?

Yeah, but the app's a liability until I can figure out why it logged itself out. Think I'll be staying away from booked slots for now.

Torslanda

  • Professional Gobshite
  • Just a tart for retro kit . . .
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Re: Deliveroo - anyone working for them?
« Reply #61 on: 13 November, 2018, 01:50:57 pm »
Stuart are having tech problems at the moment. It may not just be you. My pal tells me that quite a few of the Leeds riders lost shift payments this weekend.
VELOMANCER

Well that's the more blunt way of putting it but as usual he's dead right.

Re: Deliveroo - anyone working for them?
« Reply #62 on: 14 November, 2018, 08:51:05 am »
Getting logged out is a hazard with Deliveroo too. I had that once or twice. Not sure if I did it by accident or not. It's OK when you're in the zone for logging in but if you're outside that zone, you have to go back there before you can log in (with Uber Eats you just log on or off at will regardless of where you are)
The Deliveroo app did have a problem a few weeks ago and wasn't taking any orders but Deliveroo paid everyone for 3 orders per hour (average fee) for the time they had the problem, which was a bonus for me because I wasn't getting very much at the time anyway.

I've cut back on Deliveroo for now because the orders dropped off and I have enough to pay the bills etc. It has picked up a bit on Friday and Saturday but Sunday was pretty bad, so I'll do more Uber Eats so at least if it is slow, I can log off without any ratings penalty. Plus although the Uber promotions have gone down, I still get more money from an Uber delivery, though that seems fair because it's almost always a Mc Donalds.

Re: Deliveroo - anyone working for them?
« Reply #63 on: 14 November, 2018, 08:53:34 am »
A You Tube from Joseph Kendrik doing a 24hr Uber Eats shift in London.
Joseph also cycled around the coast of Australia on fixed wheel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwCUl26SHhI

Re: Deliveroo - anyone working for them?
« Reply #64 on: 14 November, 2018, 08:54:47 am »
I see. Perhaps. Hope it goes well, anyway.

Thanks!  :thumbsup:
[tl;dr: it didn't]  :(

Sorry your first session didn't go well, my first deliveroo one was a disaster though that was down to my incompetence...

I've been carded for my Stuart bag, it's a 25 mile ride to collect it and I'm not sure I'm going to bother.  The local Stuart riders who started out enthusing about it are doing less of that now, it seems hard to earn beyond the minimum fee.  In the meantime I'm doing OK with deliveroo, around £10 @ hr averaged over the last 50, which as £1 @ hr better than the previous 50.  I've now got the stats to make priority booking so can pick and choose my hours.  There's more of a learning curve to it than I thought,  knowing which orders to accept or reject and when to do so can make a significant difference to earnings, the most experienced local riders are averaging £12 @ hr, so I've a way to go yet.  All in all I'm quite enjoying it, some of the proper jobs I've been applying for are looking less appealing.  Locally there's quite a nice community of riders and some of the restaurants are nice to deal with, I've also done well for free food, two cancelled orders and from places near closing time ;)  The rumours of dodgy breakdowns to keep the orders and pinching food seem unfounded, it'd be easier to just do an extra delivery and buy your own.

IanDG

  • The p*** artist formerly known as 'Windy'
    • the_dandg_rouleur
Re: Deliveroo - anyone working for them?
« Reply #65 on: 14 November, 2018, 10:33:49 am »
One of my lads does it in Inverness, to fit around his uni course. Can choose 'shifts' and what deliverie he does. Seems happy with his lot.

Re: Deliveroo - anyone working for them?
« Reply #66 on: 14 November, 2018, 09:31:52 pm »
Sorry your first session didn't go well, my first deliveroo one was a disaster though that was down to my incompetence...

I'm sure there'll be plenty of opportunity for that on my second session!

I've been carded for my Stuart bag, it's a 25 mile ride to collect it and I'm not sure I'm going to bother.

I got mine yesterday. Haven't ridden with it yet, but I'm pretty sure it'll be a big improvement over the rigid box.



Big pockets on the side (I assume for drinks); a little zipped pocket on the back, probably good for wallet and keys; a little loop for a rear light; and option to snug it up and make it much more compact.  :thumbsup:

Re: Deliveroo - anyone working for them?
« Reply #67 on: 15 November, 2018, 10:49:41 pm »
Got my onboarding session with Deliveroo on Wednesday. :thumbsup: I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the free kit includes the updated rolltop bag that they came out with recently and not the big rigid box. New one looks like it'll be a bit easier to mange.

Re: Deliveroo - anyone working for them?
« Reply #68 on: 15 November, 2018, 11:14:53 pm »
Just seen my first Stuart rider here in Liverpool. 
Not fast & rarely furious

tweeting occasional in(s)anities as andrewxclark

Re: Deliveroo - anyone working for them?
« Reply #69 on: 15 November, 2018, 11:20:46 pm »
Got my onboarding session with Deliveroo on Wednesday. :thumbsup: I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the free kit includes the updated rolltop bag that they came out with recently and not the big rigid box. New one looks like it'll be a bit easier to mange.
I have both, deliveroo gave me the bag and someone no longer using it gave me their box. The bag is loads better, comfier and about half the weight.

Re: Deliveroo - anyone working for them?
« Reply #70 on: 16 November, 2018, 07:40:44 am »
This might be interesting (I haven't read it yet): survey of 2,500 Deliveroo riders.

https://foodscene.deliveroo.co.uk/food-trends/public-first-survery.html

Re: Deliveroo - anyone working for them?
« Reply #71 on: 16 November, 2018, 07:46:48 am »
Competent London based riders seeking work may wish to look at www.pedalme.co.uk over the coming months given the apparent success of their crowdfunding pitch!

I met Ben, the guy who runs this, the other day.  He told me that one of his aims is to create 'proper jobs'.  So it might not actually work for a lot of people who want flexibility, etc.  His riders are employed and paid above minimum wage level with a success element, and they get use of the company vehicle when they are not working.  They also get quite a bit of training. 

He particularly likes to employ bike racers (he's an ex-2nd cat racer) as they have good bike handling skills and can get around the city far quicker than the average person.  He even swaps out the handlebars so that they enable a more aero position!

They are small but growing.  On the back of the crowdfunding investment to date they have been able to order 12 more bikes on top of the 11 they already had, and are hoping for more investment so they can order a bunch more.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Deliveroo - anyone working for them?
« Reply #72 on: 13 December, 2018, 06:51:28 pm »
Quote
Bristol’s Deliveroo drivers went on strike in 2017 and succeeded in winning better conditions for trainer riders (who train up novice riders), the appointment of a health and safety rep, and the right not to wear the official uniform.

Ex-Branch Secretary Maff Tucker explains: “When we said ‘do you realise you are amongst the most exploited labour in Europe’ it really hit home with them. We went through things like methods for controlling meetings with the boss, making sure that you get your points across, and we supported them. But the riders managed to secure it for themselves.”

https://www.bristol247.com/spark/community/delivery-riders-world-unite/

(The article's actually more about the union than the riders.)
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Deliveroo - anyone working for them?
« Reply #73 on: 15 December, 2018, 01:04:25 am »
Deliveroo riders on strike in Bristol (mopedists at least, not many cyclists in this protest):
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/city-comes-standstill-deliveroo-riders-2328918
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Re: Deliveroo - anyone working for them?
« Reply #74 on: 16 December, 2018, 12:34:05 pm »
Good luck to those in Bristol campaigning for better terms, I can't see it happening for two reasons:
1) Supply and demand, locally at least, the big issue for local riders (Myself included) is getting enough booked hours.  The rates are secondary to that.
2)  The High Court ruled earlier this month that workers are self employed and not entitled to have their union recognised.
 https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/dec/05/deliveroo-riders-lose-high-court-battle-gain-union-recognition

I'm currently working both Deliveroo and Stuart, they operate in slightly different ways.  I can earn a slightly higher rate with Stuart, but getting hours is very competitive, to rely on it you need to be at their beck and call and be prepared to work at short notice.  The minimum guarantee and bonuses are there to keep workers in line, although they offer some predictability they make the role less flexible.  Deliveroo is in many ways a bit more like being self employed, hours are easier to book, though the more you do the earlier you get access.  With a simple fee per drop you're free accept or reject orders without any impact other than your earnings. It's very variable, usually due to how many riders are working, what's good for the rider is bad for the company and vice versa.   
I've spent most of my working life self employed and with all of it, if I counted all the hours it'd work out a very poor rate. Same with this really, if I do a five hour shift and it's constant orders the rate is comparable to many non skilled jobs,  if it's quiet and I don't get enough orders then I won't earn 5 X min wage, but then I wouldn't have worked 5 hours - the ideal is to find something worth doing with the down time, like go for a bike ride :D