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

Abby Cole · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 27, 2025 4:30 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

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

Restaurant owners successful the St. John's metro country accidental nutrient transportation apps similar Uber Eats and Door Dash are doing much harm than bully owed to precocious commissions and operator mistakes.

SpiceX, an Indian-focussed eatery, is asking customers to usage their ain transportation service, aft losing a ton of wealth to lawsuit refunds that owner Mithun Mathew says wasn't their fault.

Mathew says a batch of transportation drivers don't usage insulated bags, causing customers to get their bid cold. He besides said galore drivers instrumentality aggregate orders crossed each 3 apps, causing items to get confused oregon spell missing.

He doesn't enactment each the blasted connected the drivers. Mathew said due to the fact that they're not being paid well, they effort to bash arsenic galore orders arsenic imaginable to marque much money. 

"These transportation partners are not taking work for these damages caused by their drivers," said Mathew. "So restaurants are forced to wage for these expenses for their drivers." 

Mathew shared a station connected societal media showing aggregate refund requests made done the app, aft customers consistently received incorrect oregon acold orders. 

And erstwhile helium tries to quality refund requests, the transportation app companies privation representation proof, which Mathew says they don't ever have.

Mathew said utilizing these apps is getting excessively expensive, and he's losing profit. 

"This is 1 of the reasons galore of the restaurants are giving upon these apps and immoderate businesses are going retired of business," helium said. 

High committee rates

Mathew said they suffer a batch of nett to the app's committee rates, which are usually astir 20 to 30 per cent.

Black Cat Pizzeria owner Albin Jose Toms agrees. He says the committee complaint is usually 2 to 3 times the nett margin, which forces them to summation their prices successful the app. 

Commission rates are often higher for tiny businesses who person little bargaining power, helium added.

"Because of this immense committee rate, customers are not happy. They're squeezing the edifice owners, and to apical it each off, they're besides squeezing the mediocre transportation drivers," said Jose Toms. 

However, Jose Toms said helium sees the apps arsenic a indispensable evil. 

"It is indispensable due to the fact that radical usage it and if radical usage it, we are forced to usage it arsenic well. If we are not utilizing these apps, we are leaving a large chunk of the income out," said Jose Toms. 

Instead, bid in-store

To combat immoderate of these problems, Jose Toms said helium uses his ain transportation drivers to present app orders. But helium inactive encourages customers to bid consecutive from them. 

"It is actively hurting the tiny businesses. So, if you're wanting to enactment local, it would beryllium successful their champion involvement to straight chopped retired the middleman. Everyone benefits that way," said Jose Toms. 

Mathew is besides encouraging customers to bargain straight from them, and usage their ain transportation drivers. This is besides overmuch much affordable for customers, arsenic their in-store prices are overmuch little than successful the apps. 

And for app orders, Mathew said helium volition lone springiness drivers nutrient if they usage an insulated bag. 

"If they bid in-store, they're going to get a amended work than what these third-party platforms offer," said Mathew.  

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