I know you're probably on a delivery, so here's the basics. You can come back after shift and read the whole page. If we all get on board, tips should go back to what they were during that golden age of delivery lol.
If you're a doordasher customers now know they can bump the tip after delivery for great service. So what's great service?
ALWAYS use a hot bag, and include it in the proof of delivery picture so the customer knows you used one
Treat the order with care, no more destroyed wet burritos or nachos. Secure it, and don't drive like a maniac. Those hard turns is when things get messy.
Avoid add on orders and multiple delivery's when possible. This has a full discussion because of course it's a matter of profit Vs. service.
Check the order as best you can, don't be afraid to call out staff if a sealed bag just doesn't feel right
Step up your navigation game, incorrect drop offs have to stop. Ya I know customers lie about it sometimes. But it catches up to them when they have a legitimate issue. And are told by support they can no longer receive credits or refunds. If you're not sure its the right house, call them. Customers would rather be bugged by a phone call from you, than never receive their order.
Those are the basics for now, go be great
THE FULL DISCUSSION
Scammers try to get us, that sections at the bottom
Everybody always talks about bigger tips, but not so much about what we can do to deserve them. Yes the company's pay us crap, so a SMALL tip is compensating for that lack of pay. But the big tips, well you gotta earn them sucka. You can't give crappy service and expect a big tip. And many drivers don't even know they are giving bad service, it's Ok we can fix it.
I'm a driver out of the Northern California area, and the app platforms leads drivers a little of course sometimes. Some of the things apps encourage us to do don't line up with what customers would want. Mainly when they have us take those double, or triples that make no logistical sense. They know Sonic is going to be super late, why send that to a driver as an add on order?
Or when they send an order to the furthest possible away Starbucks, instead of the one right next to the customer lol.
There's also pages here for the merchants, and the customers. Where I explain how things really work, and how to make the process better for everybody involved.
DRIVERS
This is what you need to be doing
ALWAYS USE HOT BAGS
It's no longer optional, customers are receiving cold food and it has to stop. But since the apps block customer complaint comments (doordash, Instacart) You just never know about it. Ask support if negative comments are blocked, their script should read "it's done for the privacy of the customer" Just like doordash support "out of privacy" has to ask the customer if it's Ok for them to give the driver their address. You know when the app freezes and you can't access the customers address lol. Secure the orders better in your hot bag, and quit driving like maniacs. The two biggest problems I hear from merchants about drivers? They destroyed the food in transit, or it was cold on arrival. See customers also leave those complaints in the restaurants review section, but those issues are usually caused by the driver.
AVOID ADD ON ORDERS
Doordash in particular doesn't adjust delivery times for any merchant delays if you accept an add on delivery. This can get you a low rating from the first drop off, because the app says you should of been there 10 minutes ago. It's hit and miss with this, but since those bad dash ratings stick around forever it seems. In the end you have to strike your own balance to keep your service, ratings, and profit in line.
Touchy subject I know, you gotta make your money. Customers that have sent you here, were instructed to read about how things work. If they didn't tip at all they shouldn't of even sent you here lol. They know if they don't tip then we have to do doubles or triples in order to make money. So they need to take their expectations down a notch if they are a non tipper. Good chance the order will take longer to arrive, they know that now. If a customer tipped you decently, you should give them the respect of focusing on their order alone. I know the apps ding your acceptance rate if you decline. But all of the apps have a way to pause yourself after accepting the first delivery. Explore the app and figure it out, or ask drivers until one of them knows. At the end of the day you're an independent contractor who's allowed to do multiple delivery's if you choose. But think about how many times your second restaurant pick up has been late making the order. That first customer is sick of it taking so long, and to boot it's cold on arrival. Some customers have left the platforms over it, of course there are other reasons also. But take a moment to look at it from your customers perspective.
YOUR GPS GAME
It's 2023 there's too much technology for you to be dropping orders off at the wrong house. Be diligent and find the physical marker on the house, mail box, or driveway. Use a back up app like Google My Maps where you can pin the address, for some reason the my maps version seems to be more accurate than the regular Google. I also have an apartment unit locator app coming out soon. Where drivers can build their area up, and update it. I've built my own zone fully and it's a life saver, I'm never lost in apartment complexes.
A DROP OFF FLIER, ESSENTIAL
I leave little quarter page fliers on my customers bag explaining what I did to make their delivery great. I also give them the time details of their order. What time the app offered me their order. What time the merchant had the order ready, and if it was on time. My final adjusted deliver by time given by the app. And the time I actually dropped off the order. I print them on brightly colored paper, and attach them with a little smiley face sticker. I used to give the same great service I do now, but would see those occasional 1 star ratings like WTF? But after I started handing out my little fliers, I haven't seen a 1 star since. Almost three years in now and currently I have only one 4 star rating on my rolling hundred total. Can't please everybody ya know.
PRE TYPED MESSAGES
Make a short, goofy, but informative introduction text message to introduce yourself to your customer. Android calls them text shortcuts, not sure what Apple calls them. But you type a long message and then save it as like BVC, or whatever. Now whenever you type BVC in a text message box it will pop up that whole long message. And you can insert it as the text message, saves a lot of time. Most customers will never see it, but the 20% who do will appreciate it. And that alone may induce a tip bump if your message is good enough. Sell yourself, and then deliver on what you promised.
The Scammers
People try to steal our weekly pay
They always be wanting your account info lol, don't trust the Nigerian Prince lol. Drivers, your app platform will NEVER EVER call you first asking for your account details. And they will especially NEVER NEVER NEVER ask you to do anything that reveals your account password to them, no matter who initiated the call. Most drivers are hip to this scam so most of the scammers gave up. But you may receive a call from "support" telling you the order you're currently assigned to paid for the order with a stolen credit card. And to fix it you have to log onto some website with your account name and password, come on driver it's a scam. Their going to steal whatever money you have on the platforms account. If you're a doordasher this call used to happen on Sundays, because that's when the most money would be on your account.
If you get a call like this just hang up, don't let them know you know whats going on. Immediately call support yourself, explain the situation and they should cancel the order. Many times it's obvious by looking at the order itself. The order is for one cookie from Wendy's, nothing else lol.
There are other variations of these scams, just remember. These app platforms support sort of sucks right. You think they have the time to initiate calls with us lol. While it can happen, it's rare. If your phone rings and they say it's support, be skeptical. Ask if you can hang up and call support to verify who you are talking to. Protect your account information at all costs, it's you who will be out of your weekly pay......not the app. And the apps will not replace the funds, one in a million they might. But expect to hear that you're basically out of luck.
So for food delivery drivers this is the most common scam
Hello it's your awesome delivery driver, I'm on my way zip zapping to pick up your order. I use my electrically heated insulated bags to keep your food temperature controlled when appropriate. I was wondering when I drop off your order, would you like a knock or ring before I leave. To let you know your food has arrived, sometimes the apps glitch. Thank You kindly for the tipping it's really appreciated, drivers probably don't thank our customers enough for it. And oh ya, I do my best to only take on one delivery at a time. That way you get the best delivery time possible. The way the apps are set up though, sometimes we don't really have a choice.
If they respond to my intro with their knocking preference well great. Now I also know I have a semi attentive customer in case something comes up. If no response, well nothing lost.
Now the super important part. I attach a little quarter page flier to all my orders. With a similar, but shorter version of that intro message. I also include some time information for the customer. The time their order was offered to me by the app. The time the merchant had it ready, and if it was on time. The final adjusted delivery time given to me by the app. And the time I actually delivered it, with a check box for if i was on time or not. Drivers be honest on this slip if you use one. Most of the information is verifiable by the customer if they look hard enough. NEVER lie to a customer, the trust between customer and driver is essential. This will save you from some of those vicious out of the blue doordash ratings. If the customer sees you weren't even offered the order until 2:20, but they ordered at 1:55. Well the customer will usually cut you some slack, and see it was doordashs fault and not yours.
Everybody has had pizza delivered at some point
When did the pizza driver EVER show up without a hot bag
That's right NEVER
Driver, you are your own business
And our main tool is HOT BAGS
That one bag provided by the company
WILL NOT BE ENOUGH
You will HAVE to make a minor investment
$25 on Amazon can get you a bag to handle most orders
Maybe get a little creative and make a heated bag like I did
The plans are on the website, simple and cheap
I know it impacts your acceptance rate if you decline them
And it also lowers your profit margin declining them
But what would your customer want?
You know all the apps have a way to turn yourself off
So they won't bombard you with those add on orders for $2 LOL
Ask drivers how to do it, one will know and tell you
Sometimes the add ons offered are just stupid
Sometimes it's in the opposite direction as your original order
Or the second order is at one of those notoriously late merchants
You're a independent contractor so handle things your way
But long delivery times make for unhappy customers
And that impacts all of us in the long run
Because they simply stop ordering
Getting a failure to deliver because you got the address wrong has to suck
I wouldn't know as it's never happened to me LOL
I've come close a couple times but caught it last second
Drivers, google isn't always correct
You have to be diligent once google tells you you're there
You have to find that physical address marker to be sure
Sometimes it's hard I know
Taking your delivery pics with a separate camera app helps
I use one called Spotlens, it's free and awesome
The ads are minimal and non annoying LOL
At the door it watermarks your pictures with the address
If the GPS matches the address your suppose to be at bam, great
Sometimes it will pop up with the obviously wrong address
So in those cases not much help
But it's about having a back up, for your back up, for the other back up
You simply have to have a few tools in your belt
Because some of the delivery apps have CRAPPY navigation
I like Uber's the best, wish they had more orders in my area
Nothing like the original Google GPS that is installed on your phone
But it does that screen rotate thing upon arrival
Always throws me off LOL
So I run google my maps when I drive
At night it's a necessity for me
It allows you to pin the address easily
And zoom in close, helps me a great deal
You know for those houses with no marker
Or areas where houses are cluttered together
You can even put notes about an address
But my maps isn't good for sharing with people
Because others can accidentally move the location pins around
For apartments I run my personal GPS app that I made
Shows me where any unit number is in the apartment complex
I'll be sharing this tool soon, for a small fee of course
Yes it happens
Listen to me closely
Never, Ever, Ever, Never Ever
Contact a customer using their real phone number
They will leave their number in the delivery instructions
Then be like "call me if you have any problems"
Don't do it, that gives them your actual phone number
And it's a can of worms you don't want to open
Remember, the app companies will NEVER call you
Asking for account information, it's a scam
Let's be real here drivers
You know how hard it is to get a hold of driver support
You think they have time to be calling us, come on LOL
Most merchants are pretty cool
But from time to time you will run into problems
Still be nice
They get crazy busy sometimes
Things get out of wack
Be patient
If you have routine problems at a merchant
Remember, you don't have to accept their orders
I have a couple I avoid unless the pay is too good to pass up
I even have one merchant I just flat out refuse to accept orders from
Management at most merchants are usually pretty helpful
But know this, there's a lot even they don't know about how this all works
Build a rapport with staff, it will go a long way
The employees can be jerks sometimes though
They may treat you like you're not a priority
But it's like hey, I represent many customers bud
Not just one
Fortunately this doesn't happen often
Some doors open outwards
Mainly those metal screen doors
Be mindful of which way the door opens
If you set a drink touching the door
How are they suppose to open it
It's OK to set the food a little ways away from the door