to think that Deliveroo etc should be banned!

[Coastalwalks]

Hi all,

I live in London and was recently nearly knocked off my bike by a deliveroo driver on a moped (he was completely in the wrong, though will not be drawing a road diagram to illustrate lol). When I shouted at him he just made fun of my voice and it enraged me soooo much. These are my chief issues with deliveroo etc:

• There are now so many dangerous drivers either on mopeds or bikes with batteries illegally fitted to them - flagrantly going the wrong way up one-way streets, running reds etc. Very dangerous and a friend of mine recently had someone break into her secure underground parking area to steal her electric bike. There was so much damage to the property and she basically thinks that her bike was nicked to order.
• I looked into it and deliveroo actually acknowledge that deliveroo drivers 'rent out' their accounts to others, many of whom are undocumented migrants - but they put the responsibility on the original driver to check that the person renting the account has the right to work etc! Complete dereliction of duty, and basically facilitates the exploitation / trafficking of illegal immigrants who then have no legal protection, don't pay tax etc...
• On a slightly pious level I think it's terrible and lazy that so many people now think it's normal to be able to just order food in so rapidly - like it is genuinely quite aristocratic to expect to press a button and have a shawarma wrap at your door in <20 minutes. People should learn to cook or at least have to walk round the block to the chippy. It's lazy!
• Meeting the deliveroo orders in small restaurants means it takes twice as long to get your actual food, and it ruins the ambiance when there are loads of deliveroo drivers outside or at the door (though acknowledge this is not the case at Naice restaurants)
• Everyone I know who works in FS has to basically eat a deliveroo at their desk at 8pm every night - maybe without deliveroo everyone could go home a bit earlier ! ! ! !

YABU - let me have my massaman curry you calvinistic treat-hater
YANBU - deliveroo is a scourge

Fully sympathise regarding the ease and convenience that these apps offer to disabled people, but let's be honest... the bulk of orders are from McKinsey consultants chained to their desks, and people who wrongly think that food from a great restaurant is as pleasurable on the sofa as in the restaurant - incorrect! !

Many things which are very useful to disabled people wouldn't be remotely economically viable to provide unless they were also attractive to large numbers of the apparently less morally deserving. Smartphones, for example — some disabled people rely on them for functions that just aren't plausible with any previous technology, and they can open up the world in new ways. But they would've been prohibitively expensive to develop for a relatively small number of people, and would've probably never got off the ground — even if invented, they'd have stayed shockingly expensive, developed slowly, and just been generally shit, just like most disability-related technology still is if there's no broader appeal. Same with supermarket delivery and food delivery. A lot of things that are vital for modern disabled people's lifestyles just wouldn't be feasible if only disabled people wanted/were allowed them.

I’m with you OP. The driving is insane - we’re in London and get mopeds on pavements, going the wrong way down our one way street, swerving dangerously, driving down the pedestrian area etc. the mopeds are so loud and the pollution they generate is awful. Take out and delivery are fine once in a while but it’s become a way of life for many.

Delivery drivers in my town are preventing me from taking my kids out on their bikes, beyond our immediate vicinity. It’s just too risky.

I rode into town recently (alone thank god) and was nearly knocked off by a delivery moped that decided to act as a push bike and ride in the cycle lane at 30mph. Fucking scary. This morphing between moped / bike happens all the time- up and down pavements/ in cycle lanes/ in the middle of the road. They’re so unpredictable.

I will not risk my children’s lives. Have cycled all my life in this town and never known it so unsafe.

Oh, and also: "Everyone I know who works in FS has to basically eat a deliveroo at their desk at 8pm every night - maybe without deliveroo everyone could go home a bit earlier ! ! ! !

I bet you their company has a corporate account that gives users credit for deliveries after a certain time. At my old company I had that, so I'd stay at the office and order food from Deliveroo. I didn't have to, but it was free and I had £15 to spend.

I think it should be controlled to stop people like my Autistic agoraphobic nephew who is 30 spending £23 on one burger king meal several times a week.

OP you are putting the blame in the wrong place.

delivery drivers should be better paid and better regulated. I would be happy to pay more for deliveries as long as the driver gets it rather than the CEOs. the tories underfunded the police so that most crimes in this country go unsolved, roadway offences are pretty low down on the police's priority list. asylum seekers should be allowed to legally work just like in many other European nations.

if you try to take my freshly delivered shwarma wrap away from me, it will have to be from my cold, dead hands.

It'd make sense to check the insurance and driving license status of all delivery drivers. There might be some very hungry people sat at home waiting though.

There was someone on QT once who muttered "Who'll serve me my pret?"

You have a point about the responsibility of the account renting / behaviour of delivery drivers etc, but I was very much in the YABU category until “Calvinistic treat-hater”, which completely won me over. Excellent turn of phrase!

I’m actually waiting until everything is delivered instantly so I don’t have to mix amongst the peasants at all, hopefully a better company will come along and offer this service though.

I know I'm going to miss the point with this but the foods always cold and overpriced and that's why I deleted the app. Prefer to order directly from places now.

Why should he not be able to do that? And how would they assess to whom they should restrict their service?

@NonPlayerCharacter exploitation of the vulnerable springs to mind

It's a food delivery service. They're not forcing anyone to use it. Several people have said these services are a godsend for those who can't easily leave the house. Are they actually an exploitation?

Agree that gig economy work is pure exploitation and try to avoid using all of these services as much as possible.

Not Deliveroo, but I recently caught a DPD van driver coming out of my shed with some of my stuff in his hand. I guess he thought no-one was in so he could help himself.

I'd certainly like to see a crackdown on illegal unregistered electric vehicles - we have a lot of people in our area using electric bikes that are clearly not within legal requirements (eg pedal assist, speed limits) - and they are routinely using them on cycle paths including off road ones that are shared with pedestrians and entirely unsuitable for these vehicles. They do seem to be used excessively for delivery services.

On a slightly pious level I think it's terrible and lazy that so many people now think it's normal to be able to just order food in so rapidly - like it is genuinely quite aristocratic to expect to press a button and have a shawarma wrap at your door in <20 minutes. People should learn to cook or at least have to walk round the block to the chippy. It's lazy!

I'm an excellent cook and make pretty much everything from scratch, but I still like a takeaway. Get off your high horse.

The drivers are not rushing to provide customers a quick service, if they are speeding it's because the pay is so low most are working on multiple apps and taking more than one order at a time from nearby restaurants. If anything, in my experience the service to customers has got worse recently.

I do use the apps because I don't have a car. Sure, my nearest take away is a 10 minute walk away but that's not usually the food I want to get. It would take an hour to walk to some of the places I order from but the delivery by car only takes 10-15 minutes.

And while the restaurants pay higher fees to be on the apps, they also get business they wouldn't get otherwise and not all are in a position to hire their own drivers.

I agree with OP about the reckless driving especially more centrally in big cities. In my area most deliver in a car, not an e-bike or similar.

people who wrongly think that food from a great restaurant is as pleasurable on the sofa as in the restaurant - incorrect! !

In your opinion. Honestly you just sound like a snob.

They are lethal in central Bristol at night. Dark clothing is de rigeur and lights are optional. So are traffic lights, footpaths and one way systems.

I was delighted to see one pulled over by a police car the other day. I doubt he got more than a talking to though.

OP did you just time travel from the 1950s straight into the 21st century. You think that plebs should not be able to get their food delivered to them fast?

And you think that it’s Deliveroo’s fault that the ready air ant makes their diner wait? Nothing to do the restaurant not paying to have enough staff to meet demand.

Sometimes you wonder how people’s minds function when they struggle with obvious things.

like it is genuinely quite aristocratic to expect to press a button and have a shawarma wrap at your door in <20 minutes

😂

I agree about the lack of care on the roads. I live near a road that’s a rat run for Deliveroo/Just Eat drivers and they completely disregard traffic lights. They swoop up and down over and across pavements and they’re a danger to themselves, pedestrians, other cyclists, and drivers. Also agree about the longer queues in restaurants. We’ve had to stop using our local McDonalds (probably no bad thing I guess) because it’s full of men with dodgy cars/bikes sitting around on half the seats while they wait to pick up food.

@NonPlayerCharacter I’d say £23 for Burger King is absolute exploitation of some poor kid with mental health issues, yes. Convince me otherwise.

We don’t have Deliveroo in our rural Scottish area, but I can see why it would be a useful service for anyone stuck at home - through choice or disability.

However, my MIL lived in an area where Deliveroo did grocery deliveries. She used it once, then was scammed £££ by someone using her Deliveroo a/c. Bank said it is extremely common due to some lack of security at Deliveroo’s payment process. Deliveries on her a/c were allegedly going to London, Devon, Bristol. She lived in Scotland.