I started off with a promo code -- $100 free. Used it a couple of times and it was convenient. And I enjoyed watching the little car on my screen navigate streets to arrive at my house.
My first red flag was a delivery guy without mask or gloves. That lowered his tip considerably. I’ve since learned that some restaurants now won’t use Postmates for the very same reason. Public safety is paramount.
But how can Postmates monitor that? It’s all freelancers working on their own time. Okay, so there’s a quality control issue. There’s been enough flak from this that the company is supposedly really putting their foot down and insisting their drivers wear gloves and masks. Good luck enforcing that.
For Mother’s Day I placed a rather sizeable order at a restaurant I like to support. I looked at the bill before clicking CONFIRM and it was shockingly higher than I was expecting. Even with “free delivery” and some “$5.00 off offer” the bill seemed way too high. I checked and saw a service charge of $35.00. What the fuck was that?
I called the restaurant. They said, that was all Postmates. If I picked up the order myself that $35.00 would be gone. According to them, Postmates charges the customer a service fee, the restaurant a fee, and takes a percentage of the driver’s tip. And talking to a friend who used to be a driver for Postmates, I was told they jack up the service fee at peak hours (as does Uber – try getting an Uber from JFK into NYC at 5:00 pm and see what you pay).
I want to know what “free delivery” means when I’m charged $35.00? Also, assuming the driver is wearing gloves and a mask, I tip at least 20% and sometimes more because those people are working their asses off for very little, providing a great service during the pandemic. So if I have a bill of say $200 and have to pay a service charge and tip, that’s an additional $75.00. That's INSANE!
My takeaway: They better send me a lot of those $100 promo cards or say goodbye to Postmates.
from By Ken Levine
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