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[–] 22 points 21 hours ago (14 children)

Correct me if I’m wrong but the job is basically:

You're wrong, but it's understandable. The key point you're getting wrong is: You make money from a job.

The pay for most of the assignments you get from DD or UE is usually not enough to cover fuel, let alone maintenance on your vehicle. Certainly less than minimum wage for your time. Which is legal for them to do, because you are a contractor, paid per job and not per hour. If the customer doesn't tip, you are earning less than minimum wage at best. In many cases, you're actually paying to work, but you're forced to take these unprofitable orders just to maintain your rating and keep getting assignments. (In my area, drivers call this "eating shit")

At best, you can take about 6 assignments an hour. To net minimum wage, you need at least three of them to tip well. When a restaurant doesn't bother to start preparing the order until you arrive, the time you waste waiting is 2-3 orders. If any of the remaining orders that hour don't tip, you're below minimum wage.

It is a shitty, exploitative service that nobody should be using. If you are going to use it, be aware that the service is taking everything you're paying, and completely shafting your driver.

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  • [–] 7 points 12 hours ago (3 children)

    Wow sounds like you should have found a different job than a job that doesn't make money!

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  • [–] 2 points 10 hours ago (2 children)

    I did. I'm a blacksmith. I found a niche where customers are appreciative of labor, and I fill that niche. The two seasons I relied on DD for flexible income are well in the past.

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  • [–] 2 points 9 hours ago (1 child)
  • [–] 2 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 12 minutes ago)

    Thank you.

    The reality is that every job that requires a human to perform it, if worked "full time", should fully support a human's basic needs, including housing, and medical coverage. Every full-time worker should be earning gainful wages.

    That isn't happening here.

    These services should either be paying workers adequately, or they should not exist.

    Customers should recognize that they are the beneficiaries of these exploitative conditions. Pretending that they are not complicit is simply unethical and immoral.

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  • [–] 39 points 21 hours ago (7 children)

    Client does not need to be aware of how much each worker in the chain earns. He is aware of the price he is buying the food.

    Same as delivery guy is aware of money he gets from the job. If he doesn't like the money, he should not take the job. Tips are totally optional bonus.

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  • [–] 0 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) (5 children)

    A client is the person a contractor works for. The only client involved is the service itself, as the driver is a contractor.

    The person making the purchase is a customer, not a client.

    Ideally, you would be right. The customer should not be involved in the business relationship between the driver and the service. However, this is quite obviously not an ideal situation.

    With employed waitstaff, tips are, technically, a bonus. A waitress who does not receive enough tips to put herself over minimum wage is entitled to extra pay to reach that point. Legally, this waitress is "adequately" compensated for her time, regardless of tips.

    Unlike employed waitstaff, there is no provision to ensure this driver is compensated for their labor. There is no provision to ensure they are reimbursed for their actual expenses. The driver is often asked to subsidize certain customers, by accepting compensation that is less than minimum wage, and even at less than actual cost. They are often asked to pay to work.

    Employees are protected by labor laws. When a group of employees decides to demand better pay, their collective action is explicitly protected.

    When contractors do the same, their collective action violates anti-trust laws. They are guilty of collusion and price fixing.

    The services have found a legal loophole to evade minimum wage and labor protections, and they are using it to exploit drivers.

    The customer benefits from this. The customer is complicit in the exploitation. Ignorance does not negate their complicity.

    (You should also know that if you do tip well, the services reduce their base pay further, effectively capturing part of your tip to the driver. They are exploiting you, too.)

    Again, nobody should be using these services. They are bad for everyone. The only ethical way to use them is to tip sufficiently to ensure the driver's pay exceeds minimum wage.

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  • [–] 4 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

    I'm from Europe, so please explain, if workers don't make any money, why the hell are they working in the first place?

    Seems stupid to keep working if you end up paying for the pleasure.

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  • [–] 1 point 10 hours ago

    They make money... When a customer tips. The tip is, effectively, the only money they actually make. It's not how it should be, but it is how it actually is.

    When every customer tips well, and nobody introduces delays to slow your hustle, it's a fairly lucrative job. When customers think tips are "optional" and stores don't actually start working on an order until you arrive, it's a shit job.

    It's pretty much the same for our employed waitstaff. Your tips are paid out to you on the day you earn them. Your base wages are paid out weekly or biweekly. You keep 100% of your tips, but your employer is required to withhold income taxes from your base pay. If you make enough in tips, withholding is all of your base pay. You receive a pay stub where nearly 100% of your pay has been withheld and sent to the IRS for income taxes. Tips are, effectively, the only money you actually take home.

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  • [–] 3 points 12 hours ago (1 child)

    This may be the reality, but in theory the answer is for people to say "fuck working for these asshats if we are stuck at the mercy of caprcious users tipping".

    I would argue there is no ethical way to use them.

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