Delivery app drivers' constant food mistakes are hurting local restaurants, say owners

Instead of Skip the Dishes, local restaurants are asking customers to skip the apps.

Restaurant owners in the St. John's metro area say food delivery apps like Uber Eats and Door Dash are doing more harm than good due to high commissions and driver mistakes.

SpiceX, an Indian-focused eatery, is asking customers to use their own delivery service, after losing a ton of money to customer refunds that owner Mithun Mathew says wasn't their fault.

Mathew says a lot of delivery drivers don't use insulated bags, causing customers to get their order cold. He also said many drivers take multiple orders across all three apps, causing items to get confused or go missing.

He doesn't put all the blame on the drivers. Mathew said because they're not being paid well, they try to do as many orders as possible to make more money. 

"These delivery partners are not taking responsibility for these damages caused by their drivers," said Mathew. "So restaurants are forced to pay for these expenses for their drivers." 

Mathew shared a post on social media showing multiple refund requests made through the app, after customers consistently received wrong or cold orders. 

And when he tries to dispute refund requests, the delivery app companies want picture proof, which Mathew says they don't always have.

Mathew said using these apps is getting too expensive, and he's losing profit. 

"This is one of the reasons many of the restaurants are giving up on these apps and some businesses are going out of business," he said. 

High commission rates

Mathew said they lose a lot of profit to the app's commission rates, which are usually around 20 to 30 per cent.

Black Cat Pizzeria owner Albin Jose Toms agrees. He says the commission rate is usually 2 to 3 times the profit margin, which forces them to increase their prices in the app. 

Commission rates are often higher for small businesses who have less bargaining power, he added.

"Because of this huge commission rate, customers are not happy. They're squeezing the restaurant owners, and to top it all off, they're also squeezing the poor delivery drivers," said Jose Toms. 

However, Jose Toms said he sees the apps as a necessary evil. 

"It is necessary because people use it and if people use it, we are forced to use it as well. If we are not using these apps, we are leaving a big chunk of the sales out," said Jose Toms. 

Instead, order in-store

To combat some of these problems, Jose Toms said he uses his own delivery drivers to deliver app orders. But he still encourages customers to order straight from them. 

"It is actively hurting the small businesses. So, if you're wanting to support local, it would be in their best interest to directly cut out the middleman. Everyone benefits that way," said Jose Toms. 

Mathew is also encouraging customers to buy directly from them, and use their own delivery drivers. This is also much more affordable for customers, as their in-store prices are much lower than in the apps. 

And for app orders, Mathew said he will only give drivers food if they use an insulated bag. 

"If they order in-store, they're going to get a better service than what these third-party platforms offer," said Mathew.  

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