It's ridiculous to say people shouldn't order meals from ubereats, doordash, etc during bad weather, amirite?

I delivered pizza for a while in college and I liked it when it would rain because it got busy and people usually tipped a lot better. I agree that you don't need to white knight or whatever for delivery drivers. If they feel conditions on the road are too dangerous, they can sign off. Now, it is stupid from a consumer's point of view. The last time I though about using Doordash it was like $85 or something for two pizzas when you figured in fees and tips. Nope. You can just have some Stouffer's in the freezer for when it's terrible outside or you're feeling lazy.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

The last time I though about using Doordash it was like $85 or something for two pizzas when you figured in fees and tips. Nope. You can just have some Stouffer's in the freezer for when it's terrible outside or you're feeling lazy. That sounds like some expensive ass pizza, I pay a similar amount if I get like 4 Indian dishes + garlic naan delivered. And honestly, I'd rather pay more for good food than eat Stouffers...

by Anonymous 1 week ago

You rather pay 8x more.... "It's impossible to buy a home now" 🙄

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I own a home, so I don't think ordering Doordash a couple times a year is really much of an issue. And honestly, I'd rather not eat than eat Stouffers, and not eating is free, so...

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Lol true about rather not eating than eat Stouffers Ya none of what I'm saying applies to you tbh

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Yeah the extra 50-80 dollars i save once every 4 months by not eating out helped me buy a cheap house for 800,000 with 60,000 down.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Your first home doesn't need to be 800k. And for most people, it isn't every 4 months. It's several times a week. I bought my first place for 147k... 3 years ago. Sold it for 210k recently... which means someone bought it for 210k in 2024. That person needed an 11k down payment... So yeah, that 50-80$ twice a week IS the difference after a couple years. For you it's every 4 months, that's great. For most, it's not.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

OP.... I agree. I won't order through them at ANY time. It's a waste of money and I am a tight wad.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

This is entirely reasonable

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Lol

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I just get sick of when people complain about having no money but they regularly piss away money by using delivery apps

by Anonymous 1 week ago

"My spouse and I always eat out or order for food because groceries are to expensive." ...bruh!

by LeatherShake 1 week ago

The real takeaway here.

by Primary-Sweet 1 week ago

No - it's definitely delivery, not take away.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

that's why I'm not poor and complain about having no money while pissing away money using delivery apps

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Thats true but has no relevance to the argument here

by Reichelbuddy 1 week ago

This right here. My sister and her husband ordered from a place that was 3 miles away. Laziest thing I've ever seen, plus spending more money.

by Rude_Insurance_6321 1 week ago

Honestly my unpopular opinion is that these apps should not exist. The only people I know who use them are terrible with money.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Cool, thanks for sharing your anecdotal experience. Personally, everyone who I know that uses these apps are extremely financially comfortable— like, own million dollar homes level of comfortable. Your bias against the apps and your personal sociodemographic bracket are almost certainly the reason you don't know fiscally-secure individuals who order delivery. It's legitimately funny that you think that the apps shouldn't exist simply because you know people who are financially irresponsible.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I don't disagree. But I am sympathetic to the argument "you're putting someone in a position where they can fired if they don't accept a delivery. Personally, I don't completely agree with this POV, but I understand it. In the case of "gig workers' the argument falls apart completely.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I delivered pizza when I was in high school and college. Snowy roads made for bigger tips. If you're going to order delivery in bad weather, just be patient if it takes a little longer than usual.

by Jakubowskiwilfr 1 week ago

I've legitimately never tipped below $5, and that was on a $15 order. It's basically a lazy tax.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

You are appreciated.

by FondantFancy 1 week ago

During the winter storm I worked doing Instacart and I made a lot. Nice tips nice orders. It is our choice to go out and work or not. I went home though when the conditions were too bad to work

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Yep - this is a good example. I'd rather you had the opportunity to take the job if I'm willing to order. Full disclosure - I don't use meal delivery services very often, but I use instacart frequently. And - since I absolutely hate shopping, I feel 100% fine tipping 20-25% on every order. Even when that works out to be $40-50. I left out instacart because to me it's a different animal. You did everything an ubereats driver did, but you also walked around a supermarket for 30 minutes. That deserves extra.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Let's add Shipt to that. You would not believe the number of people who order 98 items from Meijer, with half of them being obscure specialty products, complain about literally everything, and do not tip. 2 hours of my time, and the pay is $8 and Karen whining that it took too long.

by FondantFancy 1 week ago

But what if my delivery driver rolls his car into an orphanage at 23km/h on our snowy residential street? How will I live with myself?

by Anonymous 1 week ago

The app will refund me, no harm done. (Yes, I'm kidding)

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Context is everything: On one hand, it's foolish for a customer to order food for delivery as it winds up costing more. On the other hand, if you are unable to go get your food, it's a convenient way to eat out. On one hand, a delivery driver should get a very good tip for bringing your food to you. On the other hand, the delivery driver should bring you your food in a timely manner while it's actually still warm, bring it to your door, and not be a complete troll and eat your food.

by Admirable_Still 1 week ago

The weather may be bad, but your door dash driver still needs to pay the rent.

by ashtynschuster 1 week ago

I used to deliver pizza years ago and I loved rain days because I always got tipped extra

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Anyone who has ever done gig work, knows that a rainy day is hands down, the best time to deliver food. in my experience, Sunday night is the best time to do deliveries. in my market, there is literally no other day of the week that's even worth door dashing at all. If it's sunday night and raining, you've basically hit a jackpot.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Most people are unfortunately unwilling to pay a fair tip for the weather which is why you get this sort of blanket advice

by Illustrious-Ebb6843 1 week ago

Cope

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I mean - 50%. It should be *at least* $20 the only part i disagree with is this. Tips should not feel forced or preassured. ever. you are not entitled to a tip. a tip should only come from a place of appreciation for a service. As a former card dealer who's income was mainly on tips i have always felt this sentiment.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Interesting, never seen it at a grocery store before. I get those prompts that are like "do you want to donate to cancer" or something

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I don't fundamentally disagree, but during a storm that's bad enough to be considered "dangerous" - I over tip.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

If you don't think delivering through a storm deserves appreciation...

by minniedaugherty 1 week ago

they arn't forced to take the job. if it was forced it would be a different situation

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Also, the driver has the choice to decline the order if they feel the tips are too low. Unlike in a restaurants where the server has little to no power to decline to serve you if you are causing too much troubles. Which is another reason why the tips should not be forced.

by Fuzzy-Blood4204 1 week ago

Agreed! my main issue with the system is that it forces you to tip before you even receive the food, you don't even know if your driver is going to be crap or not.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I always set my tip at $3 and wait to see how service is. Last time I tipped $10 on my $15 order. The person didn't call me 100 times telling me they weren't going to follow instructions, they paid attention to where they were driving and didn't take any wrong turns because of it. The only time I left it at $3 was when the guy stole my ice cream.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

It's the only time I use it

by No-Chemist 1 week ago

Yup 100% it's amazing for that too

by No-Chemist 1 week ago

Drivers should be able to list their price and raise that price during bad weather if they want to. I've never used a food delivery service including pizza delivery since college.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

It's not THAT far away from what you're describing. They know what they're being paid when they accept it, and it goes up when there are more orders than drivers. So - a driver knows what they're making FROM UBER before they take the order. It's the tip that's not entirely certain.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Isn't most of their income from tips?

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Yeah. And, as I understand it, that's a mystery to the drivers.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

It doesn't you can see offers for like $4 pickups on a Friday night

by Interesting_Pin8841 1 week ago

It surges like once a night for 20 min and not necessarily because of rain

by Interesting_Pin8841 1 week ago

Ah - so… very much unpredictable. That sucks

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I'm explicitly referencing a blizzard and saying "I think it's ridiculous to make that decision for other people". It's not a JOB - they won't lose long term income. It's a single task. And if they need the money, they need the money. I'm not making that decision for them.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Eh...I'd agree with that if we had something like UBI where people are assured to be able to eat. Without any safety net, people can't make proper decisions. Anything is better than starving to death for lack of money. It's not a fair choice. This is why people stay in abusive workplaces.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I don't disagree. But I can't fix that sitting inside in the snow. But I don't believe it's in the best interest of drivers for me to decide this for them. Not ordering *because I want to protect them* only takes away their choice.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

The way the algorithm works denying orders can really kill you long term But also like, OSHA doesn't say "this is what you should do if you feel like it". They make the decision for you if a harness or a fire extinguisher is needed

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Oh - I just mean they don't have to log into the app at all. If you're an employee, your boss says go - you either go, or you defy them. Sometimes you have to do that, but it's better to avoid it and it's a hell of a lot more comfortable telling your boss "no" when your a difficult to replace employee. Delivery drives usually aren't difficult to replace. An ubereats driver can just log out of the app when they're uncomfortable with the weather. Yeah, I suppose there may be a situation where you order during clear weather and 5 minutes later... TORNADOS... but those aren't exactly common situations.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

You are making the same argument people make in favor of sweatshops. "If Nike didn't pay those Malaysian kids $1/hour to make shoes, they wouldn't have anything to eat! They want those jobs!"

by sylvia21 1 week ago

Objectively- no. Those are jobs - they're employees. They can't refuse individual projects. And there's a profound difference between a single drive to pick up soup and working in a sweatshop. Your analogy is the people who won't give money to the homeless because it "only encourages them". That being said - I am deeply sorry about your taco shortage, whether literal or figurative.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

It's coercive. If you need the money or you'll get evicted, you're going to be willing to put yourself at risk. We shouldn't be rewarding companies for putting their employees in the position that if they miss one day of particularly bad weather they'll lose their house or starve. Your issue is really with the companies who are grossly underpaying you, not individuals who rightly identify that nobody should die for a fast food order.

by Large_Assistant6795 1 week ago

You're not wrong.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Bad weather is the only time i would get food deliverd. Never heard anything about this. But here where i live, every deliverer has a company car.

by Mhuel 1 week ago

I literally delivered pizza, Chinese, and Mexican during a tornado warning two days ago. Tornado touched down just a couple miles from the people who ordered.

by FondantFancy 1 week ago

I don't use third party delivery services. But there are a couple restaurants we order from that employ their own drivers. We always tip well, if the weather is bad we double that. And of course if it's actually dangerous to be on the roads (here that's tornado warnings, ice storms) we'd never dream of asking for delivery or even expect anyone to be working at all at that time.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I live in a non-tipping country and will actually throw in a $5 tip when I order in bad weather. I just feel bad they are out in weather I wouldn't go out in.

by ValuableTranslator88 1 week ago

I think the general criticism is that we should probably measure social progress by eliminating work that requires people to risk their lives, not the other way around, obviously you can get someone to do anything for the right price, the question is whether that should be considered socially acceptable, especially for something as trivial as having food delivered

by Anonymous 1 week ago

This isn't nonsense - you're right. But you're also incomplete. Ignoring the fact that people are struggling *in the present* is a terrible way to make things better in the future. I know people who say all the rights things about making the world a better place and championing social progress, but if someone falls over in front of them, they won't help. They just saying something political and move on. That's not enough. Ignoring the needs of people today is every bit as unacceptable as ignoring the needs of people in the future.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Yeah, people who drive for these services are gig workers, so if nobody orders then they don't get any pay. Where I live, "bad" winter weather just means some rain, maybe some pea-sized hail, and fairly strong wind. In the summer, it can mean triple digit heat. I only use DoorDash occasionally and while I don't tip $20 (the furthest restaurant I order from is 4 miles away), I do increase my tip when it's ugly outside.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Uber rides have surge pricing when there is a low supply of drivers. Isn't Uber eats similar?

by Anonymous 1 week ago

If I order during bad weather I tip well and don't get fussed if things take longer. I wouldn't ever volunteer to drive in that weather but others are braver than I. But I don't use delivery services, I just call the company direct. The services take too much of a cut IMO. Would rather it go directly to the driver taking the risk.

by morissettedariu 1 week ago

Hmm - in general I agree. It's almost always better to call them directly. But - in awful weather, that's where it's a little bit iffy. I don't want some random employee to get written up because he felt unsafe making a delivery. I think the "gig work" part of those food delivery companies takes away that possibility. They won't get fired for refusing my order. They just won't get paid for that specific order. But - in general - yes. It absolutely makes sense to call restaurants directly whenever possible.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I don't generally order delivery anyway because I don't want to pay the inflated prices or tip, but I could make the argument that it'd be safer for me to pick up the food because I have all-wheel drive and winter tires (in the winter) which many delivery drivers may not have. You are right, however, that it is to the individual's own discretion whether or not to take an order.

by majorpurdy 1 week ago

I think the tip should be a minimum of $20 in nice weather and definitely more than what you tip a server. FFS the server walks your food to the table. The driver risks their life to get that meal to your front door.

by SheepherderBitter 1 week ago

I disagree, but if you want to tip them $20, that's not a bad thing by any means. Instacart, I tip in that range though. They have to wander around a supermarket and I don't...and then drive to me.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Lmao $20? So my $15 dollar meal is now $35? They should just decline the order

by Anonymous 1 week ago

As a delivery driver, we actually love driving in bad weather. The only time I truly got freaked out by it, I pulled the plug and went home early. Something about sliding around on an abandoned street you drive on every day but in completely different conditions is just fun. I don't even care if you tip me well or not; no one else is on the road and I'm having a blast.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I don't agree. I don't want people driving in bad weather, especially for food. I'd rather you not make as much money than to get in an accident because I want fries.

by hilllprudence 1 week ago

Your excusing the action of you not wanting to put yourself in danger, to put it on someone that NEEDS the money. Shameful.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Lol - not even remotely shameful. But, making decisions for other adult human beings - yeah, that's shameful.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I'll take you one further. People shouldn't order from uber eats at all. They are predatory and it never works out for the small guy.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I get the tip the driver part, but the other little guy is the small restaurant owner. He has 2 choices, join up and let uber take 25 percent of his money on the sale, or don't join and watch the big restaurants that can absorb the 25 percent take all the little guys delivery business. It's a lose lose situation for small businesses.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

My take is people shouldn't order from them unless it's bad weather and they have no groceries

by Chemical_Swim2798 1 week ago

If I won't go out in the bad weather I shouldn't expect food delivery drivers to do it either. Also if the weather is bad enough I don't then getting hurt and suing me.

by Loud_Current 1 week ago

I don't expect them to deliver in bad weather. I'm just not making that decision for them. And - no - they can't sue me, that's ridiculous.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

It's not if u get paid for it

by Defiant-Pen 1 week ago

John Oliver is hilarious but he makes a lot of surface-level takes that break down when you consider them further.

by weissnatdomenic 1 week ago

Agreed, though I think the "deeper analysis" stuff he reads (I know it's other people doing the research) tends to be solid. But the throw away lines aren't always so good.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

People shouldn't order from these services ever.

by Sufficient-Sample 1 week ago

Meh - there are times when it makes sense. Like - during a storm when you tip the hell out of the driver.

by Anonymous 1 week ago