Ask HN: Thoughts on Food Deliveries

I tend not to order food, as the times you want it (i.e. weekends and other occasions where you have time off) are the very times restaurants are pretty much overloaded.

That, and the fact they just can't estimate the time well enough.

It also seems that ordering a day ahead can't be trusted. You'd think this could be something they could actively encourage to ease their planning, but no.

The above holds also (or mainly) for non-app orders.

Main complaint I have with app food delivery is that my food is usually delivered to the wrong apartment. I try to be empathetic towards the drivers but this problem has been so consistent for me that I lost my patience and completely avoid apps now. I only order delivery from places where the restaurant actually does the delivery themselves.

The apartment number is obvious, so I can only assume that the drivers' payment structure forces them to be in too much of a hurry to look around a little bit.

Another thing that annoys me is that I believe the food is worse when I order through an app.

Not only is there a delivery fee, there is also a mark up on the food AND you're expected to tip the driver on top of that since they're not paying enough to the drivers.

Which brings me to the last issue I had and that was the driver was obviously driving for multiple delivery apps (presumably to make it worth while) and they did three other deliveries before mine (in a non-optimal path no less) getting my food to me late and cold.

We do use delivery for groceries sometimes, but they're managed directly by the retailer with their own staff. We're always home to receive the order so it's never left outside.