Singapore – A member of the public urged food delivery customers to be more understanding towards riders and refrain from giving them a poor rating for arriving late because it’s not always their fault.
On Thursday (May 7), Alvin Koj took to Facebook to encourage people to “exercise more generosity and understanding” towards food delivery riders. “Did you know that a good percentage of customers has given delivery personnel a bad rating because their food arrived late during this period?” said Mr Kok in his post. He came to know of the news based on a recent conversation with a GrabFood rider fulfilling a Burger King order. “Aren’t they aware of what actually happened at the restaurants?” asked the concerned citizen. “Please stop doing this!” he urged.
Members from the online community noted that food delivery riders nowadays had to go through extra lengths just to fulfill an order due to circuit breaker measures. “Checks at shopping malls and certain exits and entrances are closed,” commented Ng Boone Sing who added that riders had to walk farther before reaching some food establishments.
Another rider, Jimmy Tay, commented that he had to wait 45 minutes to get his order from Burger King because the restaurant only starts preparing the food when the rider arrives, unlike others who pack orders in advance. He included a photo of one Burger King outlet with numerous food delivery riders from different operators waiting for their pickup.
A netizen who appears to be a food delivery rider took the time to explain the process and how they could not rush a merchant nor pacify impatient customers asking for an update after 30 minutes has passed. Even Robin Tan, who personally visited Burger King, had to wait 40 minutes for a burger despite the absence of a long queue.
Jacqueline Tan reminded everyone how food and beverage companies are operating understaffed. “If you really want to eat at a particular restaurant, either order earlier or be patient for your order to come through. Please don’t make the life of other people unbearable as it is already with our circuit breaker,” said Ms Tan. Others suggested for those who give low ratings to try and collect an order themselves to experience the process.
Perhaps more customers could be like Liza LuvGen who received her food an hour late and felt a bit irritated because her lunch break was almost over. “But there’s no reason to give a low rating to the delivery people. They did their best.”
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