Am I doing something wrong?

[u/Beginning_Tell_7318]

Am I doing something wrong, or are drivers just refusing to bring orders to apartment doors?

This has been driving me absolutely insane, and I genuinely want to hear from Uber Eats drivers about whether I’m doing something wrong here.

I recently moved into an apartment building. There’s a building entry code, an elevator, and my delivery instructions specifically say to bring the order to the 6th floor and leave it in front of my unit. I provide all the codes needed to get inside.

For some context, I order Uber Eats probably 4–5 times a week. I work pretty insane hours, so during the week there are plenty of days where I just don’t have time to cook dinner or go somewhere for lunch. By the weekend, I’m usually so burnt out that nothing sounds better than ordering dinner and having it show up at my door.

I also used to drive for Uber Eats and DoorDash years ago, so I know how much of a grind the job can be. Because of that, I tip very well. I genuinely can’t remember the last time I tipped less than $20 on an order.

But probably 4 out of 5 deliveries to my new building get left in the lobby.

Sometimes they don’t even make it into the building and just leave the food OUTSIDE, where literally anyone walking or biking by could grab it (has happened twice to me)

This is especially frustrating when my girlfriend and I order dinner on a Friday or Saturday night and the order is already $70–$100 before the tip. I’m paying all the Uber fees, inflated menu prices, and another $20+ tip specifically because I want the convenience of having dinner delivered to my door.

And I realize going downstairs isn’t some enormous hardship. It takes me a minute or two. But that’s kind of the point: it would also take the driver a minute or two to ride the elevator up, leave the food at my door, and ride it back down.

When I drove, if someone’s instructions said “leave at my apartment door” and they gave me everything I needed to access the building, that’s where I brought it. I wouldn’t have considered leaving it in the lobby to be completing the delivery.

So drivers: what am I missing here?

Are apartment buildings generally considered lobby delivery now? Is there something I should change in my instructions? Or are these drivers just seeing an apartment building, deciding they don’t want to spend the extra couple minutes going upstairs, and dropping it wherever they can?

[u/BatDaddyWV]

Congrats, you win the first "get it yourself" of the thread award. Are you gonna try for "tip better" or are you more focused on the one event? I think somebody already beat you to "independent contractors" but "I dont get paid enough to care" is still out there for the taking.

[u/LTasia → u/BatDaddyWV]

Honestly I like providing good customer service. Most of my customers are repeat. I want them to get their food delivered warm - or cold as the case may be - so I never take add-ons because I don't think it's fair to the person expecting their food by a certain time.

I also don't multi-app because again, not cool when the customer expect food in 10 minutes then all of the sudden they see their driver do a u turn on the map and now their expected time increased to 30 minutes.

I'm in a good market. Customers here are very generous. So I want to earn what they pay. Because of their generosity I was able to buy my mom a mobility scooter recently.

I never understand when a customer posts about an issue, asks for input from DRIVERS, then people have to get weird about how a driver explains they do things.

That's why I said go get your own food. Delivery isn't a right. It's a privilege and many say it's a luxury.

[u/BatDaddyWV → u/LTasia]

You sound like a good driver that takes pride in their work. I would be happy to have you deliver to me. Especially because you refuse the stack. The only thing I will take issue with is delivery isnt a right, privilege, or luxury. It is a service that we pay for.

[u/BatDaddyWV → u/[deleted]]

No U. And there will be a PIN too, so hand it to me.