I see. Perhaps. Hope it goes well, anyway.
Thanks!
[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.