Deliveroo

[ian]

It's all the same  – if you're paid by delivery then you'll do as many as possible (even on an hourly rate, I imagine it's competitive). You don't get paid to wait at lights or take the scenic route.

On the plus side, they're not driving skip lorries.

I don't do takeaways, but I'm always tempted to order one just to see the poor sod try and cycle up the hill, though I suspect they do it by car round here.

[Martin]

None of my takeaways have been delivered by Deliveroo but I LIKE my takeaways delivered here.
I can sit in peace, free of predatory or emollient waiting staff, control my portion sizes and retain leftovers for future use without having to ask for a doggie bag.
I am disabled and we are car-free.
I get rather good Meals on Wheels...

OK I can't personally see the attraction of the service over regular deliveries where the restaurant delivers it direct; fully appreciate why some folk are unwilling to go for sit down meals; but £13-ish is a lot to pay for a takeaway pizza, then pay Deliveroo on top (unless you pay less than the sit down rate)

predatory staff? none of that in Pizza Express you've more chance of getting served in spoons!

[hellymedic]

None of my takeaways have been delivered by Deliveroo but I LIKE my takeaways delivered here.
I can sit in peace, free of predatory or emollient waiting staff, control my portion sizes and retain leftovers for future use without having to ask for a doggie bag.
I am disabled and we are car-free.
I get rather good Meals on Wheels...

OK I can't personally see the attraction of the service over regular deliveries where the restaurant delivers it direct; fully appreciate why some folk are unwilling to go for sit down meals; but £13-ish is a lot to pay for a takeaway pizza, then pay Deliveroo on top (unless you pay less than the sit down rate)

predatory staff? none of that in Pizza Express you've more chance of getting served in spoons!

I presume some places use Deliveroo so they don't need vehicles or delivery staff of  their own.

A local Chinese buffet place certainly had staff who would swoop on your plate within half a minute of putting down a fork, making a meal most   uncomfortable.

[Martin]

well I think it's a whole new concept, turn any restaurant into a take-away at zero cost to the restaurant

I noticed at Wagamama recently that Deliveroos seemed to be taking up more of the kitchen's time than preparing meals for those sitting down in the place....

edit, it wasn't a problem at the time but I know some people use these places for fast sit down service

[dim]

funny; Deliveroo seems to have replaced the Kamizaze bike messengers of the 80s (not sure if any real despatch riders still exist in these days of email and DocuSign)

riders apart; I can't see the attraction of the service; if I want a take away I'll ride to the place myself, or preferably pay a bit more for drinks and sit down to a hot meal in the restaurant rather than having it stone cold at home but ETHO

the problem in a conjested city like Cambridge, is that if dont cycle and if you decide to drive your car to the city to get a take away, it can take you 30-40 minutes to travel 3 miles, plus you have to pay a high fee for parking .... then drive another 30 minutes home.... an order from deliveroo .... and you have your food still piping hot in rapid time (i.e. if I get the order to deliver) 

Cambridge is seriously considering introducing Congestion charges to travel to the CBD (it's only a matter of time before this is introduced)

[Feanor]

None of my takeaways have been delivered by Deliveroo but I LIKE my takeaways delivered here.
I can sit in peace, free of predatory or emollient waiting staff, control my portion sizes and retain leftovers for future use without having to ask for a doggie bag.
I am disabled and we are car-free.
I get rather good Meals on Wheels...

OK I can't personally see the attraction of the service over regular deliveries where the restaurant delivers it direct; fully appreciate why some folk are unwilling to go for sit down meals; but £13-ish is a lot to pay for a takeaway pizza, then pay Deliveroo on top (unless you pay less than the sit down rate)

predatory staff? none of that in Pizza Express you've more chance of getting served in spoons!

I presume some places use Deliveroo so they don't need vehicles or delivery staff of  their own.

A local Chinese buffet place certainly had staff who would swoop on your plate within half a minute of putting down a fork, making a meal most   uncomfortable.

Using deliveroo is simply out-sourcing the delivery option as far as the restaurant is concerned.
Another thing they don't have to deal with.

And yes, all-u-can-eat buffets always do that.
It's not in their interests to make you feel at home and wander back up for more.

[Cudzoziemiec]

There are also what might be called the "internet aggregator" services which act as a portal to all sorts of takeaway food; they'll use Deliveroo or something similar. Most places using Deliveroo won't have their own delivery staff. Still plenty of pizza mopeds around though.

[Feanor]

I should confess an interest: Junior is a deliverooist in Edinburgh.
( I did furnish him with decent lights, as well as the bike! )

I'd have done the same when I were a PSO back in the day.

[dim]

well I think it's a whole new concept, turn any restaurant into a take-away at zero cost to the restaurant

I noticed at Wagamama recently that Deliveroos seemed to be taking up more of the kitchen's time than preparing meals for those sitting down in the place....

I read an article recently where a woman complained about poor service in a restaurant .... she was waiting a long time for her food and the restaurant was empty.... the waitress said that the kitchen was extremely busy, and deliveroo staff were popping in to get the take aways, and she was being ignored

I also read an article from a restaurant owner who refused to sign up to deliveroo because he stated that deliveroo fees is 30% of the price of the order .... I'm not sure if this is true, and merely quoting what he wrote

[hellymedic]

None of my takeaways have been delivered by Deliveroo but I LIKE my takeaways delivered here.
I can sit in peace, free of predatory or emollient waiting staff, control my portion sizes and retain leftovers for future use without having to ask for a doggie bag.
I am disabled and we are car-free.
I get rather good Meals on Wheels...

OK I can't personally see the attraction of the service over regular deliveries where the restaurant delivers it direct; fully appreciate why some folk are unwilling to go for sit down meals; but £13-ish is a lot to pay for a takeaway pizza, then pay Deliveroo on top (unless you pay less than the sit down rate)

predatory staff? none of that in Pizza Express you've more chance of getting served in spoons!

I presume some places use Deliveroo so they don't need vehicles or delivery staff of  their own.

A local Chinese buffet place certainly had staff who would swoop on your plate within half a minute of putting down a fork, making a meal most   uncomfortable.

Using deliveroo is simply out-sourcing the delivery option as far as the restaurant is concerned.
Another thing they don't have to deal with.

And yes, all-u-can-eat buffets always do that.
It's not in their interests to make you feel at home and wander back up for more.

Which is why I have stopped going to them...
...which is not in their interest either.

[ian]

A chap I know who owns and run an Indian restaurant recently switched to Deliveroo. It's less hassle in principle but they have some issues with the food turning up upside down, which is even less great if it's curry. They have to seal it all up pretty tight to avoid a big mess apparently. It's not cheap, but he said he could get far more orders out than the couple of drivers they used to have.

[Feanor]

Not sure I agree.

It gives small local restaurants a longer arm that they would otherwise have.
Yes, there is a cost to them.
But it's a variable cost, according to the value of the orders going out via that channel; versus the fixed cost of having their own delivery drivers, which would be prohibitively un-economical for a small place who don't really specialise in delivery.
It provides a new channel for their business, but at a percentage cost to them.

I still enjoy visiting actual restaurants, and have never had a deliveroo myself!

[dim]

Not sure I agree.

It gives small local restaurants a longer arm that they would otherwise have.
Yes, there is a cost to them.
But it's a variable cost, according to the value of the orders going out via that channel; versus the fixed cost of having their own delivery drivers, which would be prohibitively un-economical for a small place who don't really specialise in delivery.
It provides a new channel for their business, but at a percentage cost to them.

I still enjoy visiting actual restaurants, and have never had a deliveroo myself!

the majority of my deliveries in Cambridge has been to students, especially Asian students at colleges/universities... I don't do night deliveries (yet), which might be to homes close to the CBD

guys in London say that they deliver lots of food to companies during the day .... you sit in your office ....it's  too far to walk to get a meal of your choice .... so order through deliveroo... order 1/2 an hour before your lunch time and you should get it when it's your official lunch time

[Kim]

Friend of mine appreciates Deliveroo for enabling takeaway service on a couple of establishments that otherwise wouldn't bother.  They're happy to pay a hefty premium for $restrictive_diet compatible food.

Hardly seems worth it for a pizza or traditional BRITISH curry.

[ian]

Well, we stopped with takeaway because all we seemed to get delivered was boxes and cartons of lukewarm disappointment (we used to have a good curry place, the chap mentioned upthread) but around here it's the usual. Frankly, it's no better than a supermarket curry these days if I'm feeling that lazy. As for pizza, threads passim.

If we lived somewhere exciting maybe, but I think the denizens of Surrey actually like their disappointment lukewarm. At least it encourages me to either go out to an actual restaurant or cook.

[closetleftie]

Isn't this the same reason why WVM and/or taxis seem to drive worse than other motorists? Getting somewhere fast to make poor pay less poor?

[Cudzoziemiec]

I have seen an all black Deliveroo box since my last post in this thread; but it was on a scooter. It was more like a normal motorcycle top box with a Deliveroo logo than anything else. I've also noticed scooters with what look like the standard reflective with green sides Deliveroo box (definitely a food box, different shape and so on, not a top box) with riders dressed in Deliveroo jackets.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Whatever the bad sides may be of Deliveroo, they do put some colour into cities. Today I saw a Deliveroo rider dressed in a military jacket (redcoat, Sergeat Pepper style) over a Welsh dragon t-shirt with stars and stripes trousers. The left leg was stripes, the right leg was stars. Probably worth a bit in tips!

[Kim]

Normal for Stokes Croft...

[Cudzoziemiec]

He was on Quay Street actually, where the Deliveroo riders hang out in front of Roll for the Soul. A bit too colourful and clean for Stokes Croft!

[Cudzoziemiec]

Going way ot here, but through one of those rips in the space-time continuum (aka coincidence) here's an article about a woman who draws people she sees passing Roll for the Soul: https://www.bristol247.com/culture/art/drawing-passers-by/
And this guy
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSS1c4LgPnb/
is Stokes Croft style. That is, he does hang out at The Canteen on Stokes Croft. I know him; his son is friends with mine and he used to be our postman!

Back on the original topic, Deliveroo riders and road safety, I think the single biggest thing the firm could do for its riders safety would be to buy each of them a mount to put their phones on their handlebars. At the moment you see them riding along, fishing their phones out their pockets to follow the directions to the drop address.

[dim]

Going way ot here, but through one of those rips in the space-time continuum (aka coincidence) here's an article about a woman who draws people she sees passing Roll for the Soul: https://www.bristol247.com/culture/art/drawing-passers-by/
And this guy
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSS1c4LgPnb/
is Stokes Croft style. That is, he does hang out at The Canteen on Stokes Croft. I know him; his son is friends with mine and he used to be our postman!

Back on the original topic, Deliveroo riders and road safety, I think the single biggest thing the firm could do for its riders safety would be to buy each of them a mount to put their phones on their handlebars. At the moment you see them riding along, fishing their phones out their pockets to follow the directions to the drop address.

you are given a mount for your phone, but many don't use it .... they have their phones in their pockets with an earphone plugged into their ear and listen to the voice commands of google maps

mine is on my handlebars as I like to see the map at the same time, but I do have an earphone in one ear so as to hear the prompts/directions

when you sign up, you go on a ride with an experienced Deliveroo rider who checks the way that you ride and checks if you are road savvy/safe  .... he writes a report before you are given the job .... you also have to watch videos on road safety etc and have to complete a questionarre .....

sadly, some deliveroo riders do skip red traffic lights and take chances etc but thats not the way that they were taught .... one bruised cut knee and they soon learn to respect traffic and road laws ...

it's like when you go for your car driver lesson .... you obey the rules, but many drive like dicks when there is no instructor sitting next to them and when they get their driver's licence 

[Cudzoziemiec]

Thanks for the inside info! Some though are definitely choosing to use neither ear piece nor bar mount. I can't quite imagine why they do this, but they definitely do.

[dim]

Thanks for the inside info! Some though are definitely choosing to use neither ear piece nor bar mount. I can't quite imagine why they do this, but they definitely do.

those are the experienced riders who know the area, and who know the restaurants  .....

you get a message on your phone .....accept, then it tells you where to collect (examle):  collect from Nando's in Regent street .....  you know where the restaurant is ....so ou don't need directions ....

when you collect the food and tell the app that it's been collected , it then tells you the address to deliver .... guys not using the google maps doing deliveries are like taxi drivers.... they know where to go without the aid of a satnav

I need satvav ..... I get lost in my village and I've been living here for 4 years 

[Gattopardo]

Like death wish pizza scooters and cycle despatch riders.