Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Deliveroo and Just Eat and the like make UK cities creepy and miserable

254 replies

Pavementworrier · 01/12/2025 00:32

Guys in balaclavas with no traceable identity (and often no right to work in the UK) racing around on electric bikes in the dark bringing shit cold food to fat lazy punters while cafes, bars and restaurants erode and hospitals fill up with diabetic foot merchants.

I wouldn't ban them but I'd make them treat every single takeaway bandit as a full employee with id checks, criminal responsibility, tax and employment rights.

And people who use them kind of make me sick.

OP posts:
user1471453601 · 01/12/2025 01:00

People you don't know because they have no tracable identity often have no right to work, the people who order good are fat, lazy and diabetic. Though, of course you cannot possibly know who or what they are. But you've decided the customers fill up hospitals.

is there no other stereotype you could have fitted into your diatribe?

the Daily Mail would be ashamed of you.

Needmorelego · 01/12/2025 01:01

@Pavementworrier is the "junk food" or the allegedly illegal workers that annoys you more.
I ordered some bread, toilet roll and sanitary towels once via either Uber Eats or Just Eat as I was stuck indoors.
Really useful service.

JudgeBread · 01/12/2025 01:03

What backwater did you go to in Europe where you can't order deliveroo or Uber eats lmao everywhere I've been has got it or some sort of equivalent service.

Just make a post saying you hate fat people, disabled people and immigrants next time mate, it'd be easier.

Ghostmartin · 01/12/2025 01:04

JudgeBread · 01/12/2025 01:03

What backwater did you go to in Europe where you can't order deliveroo or Uber eats lmao everywhere I've been has got it or some sort of equivalent service.

Just make a post saying you hate fat people, disabled people and immigrants next time mate, it'd be easier.

Edited

Exactly.

I think OP is worried that they make the place look "common" 😆

Ghostmartin · 01/12/2025 01:07

And balaclavas in winter!
Imagine people wanting to keep warm in a strenuous outdoor job!

Kirbert2 · 01/12/2025 01:08

They were an absolute lifesaver when my child was in hospital and it meant I only had to leave him very briefly to go and grab it.

SpiceGhoul · 01/12/2025 01:12

FYI for anyone who is unaware Deliveroo now do 50% off on weekends! I have MS so struggle a lot with cooking at the moment, although I still do try my best to do it in stages throughout the day. But I thoroughly enjoyed my Indian I received via Deliveroo tonight. Not that it makes any difference at all, but my delivery driver was white British and balaclava free and extremely friendly 🙂. Not creepy or miserable at all and I'm glad I make you sick, the feeling is mutual 🙂

EmeraldRoulette · 01/12/2025 01:16

@Pavementworrier "I wouldn't ban them but I'd make them treat every single takeaway bandit as a full employee with id checks, criminal responsibility, tax and employment rights"

honestly, I could rant about this for hours

I agree with this bit of what you said, but another problem seems to be that they are allowed to subcontract out their work

The whole set up is completely wrong.

People have mentioned being housebound, ill, etc - this type of thing was mostly covered by cabbies and restaurants themselves before the likes of Uber arrived.

I genuinely think that a lot of people who are using them don't realise how problematic they are.

I particularly hate that it's now being used as a political football but they are appealing to a type of person who really finds the delivered coffee so important that they would rather overlook the other stuff

I am hoping that as things change, they will get less popular.

I could actually go on about this for hours, but I should go to bed. And anyway, everyone will just think I'm nuts.

Ghostmartin · 01/12/2025 01:17

I'm just gonna make a wild guess that the OP is comfortably off not to have to do this job to make ends meet

Edited to add: and this poster ⬆

EmeraldRoulette · 01/12/2025 01:21

Ghostmartin · 01/12/2025 01:17

I'm just gonna make a wild guess that the OP is comfortably off not to have to do this job to make ends meet

Edited to add: and this poster ⬆

Edited

But what's that got to do with doing proper employee ID checks? And not letting people subtract the work?

176509user · 01/12/2025 01:22

UserFront242 · 01/12/2025 00:36

I agree with your point about them needing to be properly employed.
But your point about the disgust at people who use them is off. Some people are housebound and are allowed to enjoy a takeaway. Some people are unable to prepare food themselves, and rely on these services to be able to eat.

It’s a very British phenomenon of lazy people who won’t even walk to the nearby chippie , as pp said. How do these people even afford a daily takeaway as a sole means of eating if they can’t prepare a meal ? That’s aside from the very poor nutritional value and high sugar/ salt content. What’s the cost all this to our stretched nhs in terms of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes ? And people probably actually feed this junk food to their kids too, instead of preparing a meal !
Regarding the sinister looking, hooded cyclists who speed around in our cities with no lights on at night, there should be a clamp down to ensure they are properly and legally employed with a right to work in the uk.
What’s the insurance situation if they are hit by a car or they hit a pedestrian? ( more often than not, they’re on the pavement and sometimes on the wrong side of the road)

UserFront242 · 01/12/2025 01:24

176509user · 01/12/2025 01:22

It’s a very British phenomenon of lazy people who won’t even walk to the nearby chippie , as pp said. How do these people even afford a daily takeaway as a sole means of eating if they can’t prepare a meal ? That’s aside from the very poor nutritional value and high sugar/ salt content. What’s the cost all this to our stretched nhs in terms of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes ? And people probably actually feed this junk food to their kids too, instead of preparing a meal !
Regarding the sinister looking, hooded cyclists who speed around in our cities with no lights on at night, there should be a clamp down to ensure they are properly and legally employed with a right to work in the uk.
What’s the insurance situation if they are hit by a car or they hit a pedestrian? ( more often than not, they’re on the pavement and sometimes on the wrong side of the road)

Edited
Show quote history

Well, I have a friend who is stuck at home after recovering from an op. He used Just Eat for a takeaway. Is that allowed?

Bones101 · 01/12/2025 01:24

Jaysus. How judgemental.

Im an ED doc and use them all the time. Only ever had cold food once and got a full refund.

They are people doing a job. Don't look down on them so much.

I worked in McDonald's as a kid for a few months now I'm an ED consultant. Snobbery gets you nowhere.

littleblackdress26 · 01/12/2025 01:25

Pavementworrier · 01/12/2025 00:32

Guys in balaclavas with no traceable identity (and often no right to work in the UK) racing around on electric bikes in the dark bringing shit cold food to fat lazy punters while cafes, bars and restaurants erode and hospitals fill up with diabetic foot merchants.

I wouldn't ban them but I'd make them treat every single takeaway bandit as a full employee with id checks, criminal responsibility, tax and employment rights.

And people who use them kind of make me sick.

How do you know the punters are fat and lazy ? And the food is cold ?

Ghostmartin · 01/12/2025 01:25

Well you missed the point @176509user
How embarrassing for you

Ghostmartin · 01/12/2025 01:28

EmeraldRoulette · 01/12/2025 01:21

But what's that got to do with doing proper employee ID checks? And not letting people subtract the work?

Show quote history

Nothing. Im sure you've lobbied your MP with your concerns

176509user · 01/12/2025 01:33

UserFront242 · 01/12/2025 01:24

Well, I have a friend who is stuck at home after recovering from an op. He used Just Eat for a takeaway. Is that allowed?

Show quote history

Absolutely!
Most of what I said refers to poster saying that takeaways are a sole means of eating. From this I assume a daily occurrence.
I’m also 3 days post op and made sure I have plenty of fresh nutritional food in the house to aid wound healing. It doesn’t have to be complicated cooking.

WearyAuldWumman · 01/12/2025 01:36

UserFront242 · 01/12/2025 00:36

I agree with your point about them needing to be properly employed.
But your point about the disgust at people who use them is off. Some people are housebound and are allowed to enjoy a takeaway. Some people are unable to prepare food themselves, and rely on these services to be able to eat.

I became a recluse when my husband died during lockdown. Once I began to eat again, I couldn't bear to leave the house and made use of Just Eat.

Yes, I put on weight. Yes, I've lost the weight.

EmeraldRoulette · 01/12/2025 01:37

Bones101 · 01/12/2025 01:24

Jaysus. How judgemental.

Im an ED doc and use them all the time. Only ever had cold food once and got a full refund.

They are people doing a job. Don't look down on them so much.

I worked in McDonald's as a kid for a few months now I'm an ED consultant. Snobbery gets you nowhere.

Why have you linked this up to snobbery?

These delivery jobs used to be quite good for retired people and a sideline for cabbies before these big firms took over. Nobody is looking down on delivery drivers.

@UserFront242 same comment applies in your friends case. Those of us who are old enough to have been adults in a world before the services arrived in the UK, this stuff was covered. People are talking about it like you couldn't get anything delivered before these massive companies with their horrible business model arrived. But you absolutely could get stuff when you were in a difficult situation.

I've left London now, but my block of flats was getting frequent deliveries from Starbucks, which was about 50 yards walk away!

Now it's like it's some kind of divine right to cheap labour to deliver stuff that people can't be arsed to go and collect. I don't think the bulk of the business model is people who are ill or people who are genuinely too busy. (though again, I do have to question how the latter group managed before).

I mean, Matty Healy wrote the lyric "I don't like going outside so bring me everything here" (in the song "people" which is a really good summary of so many things). So it can't just be me and the OP - well in real life I know I know a few people who don't like it either.

Bones101 · 01/12/2025 01:38

WearyAuldWumman · 01/12/2025 01:36

I became a recluse when my husband died during lockdown. Once I began to eat again, I couldn't bear to leave the house and made use of Just Eat.

Yes, I put on weight. Yes, I've lost the weight.

Show quote history

It's such a great service to have.

I was working in a paediatric hospital during Covid and JustEat etc were up daily delivering free pizza, sandwiches etc for staff and patients alike.

I am on shift tonight and will be ordering soon🤣

Bones101 · 01/12/2025 01:38

And so sorry for your loss 🩷

WearyAuldWumman · 01/12/2025 01:42

Just to add that one of the cafes that's very popular round here does provide a very good plate of mince and tatties and baked potatoes with a variety of fillings. (Also a damned good apple pie and custard.)

If you want to spend a bit more, there's a pub/restaurant that will deliver a rather nice steak. (Vegan options also available.) Both businesses are available on Just Eat. The cafe uses its own delivery personnel. I'm not sure about the pub/restaurant.

sunshinestar1986 · 01/12/2025 01:42

Pavementworrier · 01/12/2025 00:32

Guys in balaclavas with no traceable identity (and often no right to work in the UK) racing around on electric bikes in the dark bringing shit cold food to fat lazy punters while cafes, bars and restaurants erode and hospitals fill up with diabetic foot merchants.

I wouldn't ban them but I'd make them treat every single takeaway bandit as a full employee with id checks, criminal responsibility, tax and employment rights.

And people who use them kind of make me sick.

They do get ID checks?
Although I've noticed that very occasionally a different person arrives, not the one that's registered on the uber account for example.
So I guess it will be people like.you who will work for immigration for free.
Well done eh

And think.of the poor men who ride around in the wind and rain
They need to protect their face and eyes to deliver your delightful neighbours food don't you think lol.
Anyway, in this cold and wet country
I think food delivery is almost essential really
Not everyone has the time to pay taxes, go shopping and cook! 😂

WearyAuldWumman · 01/12/2025 01:42

Bones101 · 01/12/2025 01:38

And so sorry for your loss 🩷

Thank you. That's appreciated.

Ghostmartin · 01/12/2025 01:43

176509user · 01/12/2025 01:33

Absolutely!
Most of what I said refers to poster saying that takeaways are a sole means of eating. From this I assume a daily occurrence.
I’m also 3 days post op and made sure I have plenty of fresh nutritional food in the house to aid wound healing. It doesn’t have to be complicated cooking.

Show quote history

The only person who has mentioned a daily occurrence is you. And even you admit it's an assumption.