Restaurants Still Annoyed About Postmates, And Not Being Able To Opt Out

It makes perfect sense that some restaurants would never offer delivery of their food because their food doesn't travel well, and they know this. But in the era of Postmates and Caviar, restaurants now end up having their food delivered all over even though they don't offer delivery themselves, and even if they'd prefer this wasn't happening at all. The issue was explored back in February after the Chronicle talked to several local restaurants complained about how Postmates delivery people didn't always handle their food properly, and therefore didn't represent them well in delivering a product the restaurant was still proud of. Now Eater delves further into the topic, speaking to restaurant owners in several cities who are complaining about the fact that they have to take criticism from customers over delivery and quality issues that aren't even in their control.

Sure it's terrific that in major cities we can now all be as lazy as we care to be, and at least until the bubble pops/market corrects itself, there are seemingly hundreds of ways to get every product and service delivered to our doors via an app.

But shouldn't restaurants, especially, have the option to opt out of a service like Postmates, especially when they don't have the takeout capacity on some nights to serve all those lazy people? An employee at Marina pizza spot Delarosa, which is owned by the same team as Beretta and Starbelly, complained to Eater that Postmates delivery people end up clogging up their front entrance area on weekend nights making the wait seem longer than it is for in-person customers who want to sit down.

By contrast, Eat 24, BiteSquad, Seamless, Caviar, and GrubHub all operate through partnerships with restaurants, but Postmates only does that when a restaurant becomes popular on the app and opts to join Postmates' Merchant Program — which Chipotle and 4505 Burgers & BBQ, for instance, have joined.

And of course there's the issue of temperature and quality of the food if the delivery person has many orders to fill, and ends up delivering you a soggy pizza an hour later, or a chewy, lukewarm steak. Granted, customers ought to know better than to expect anything different, but customers are far to entitled and empowered these days, and there's nothing stopping them from Yelping their dissatisfaction loudly and proudly, even if the restaurant isn't the one to blame.

The moral of the story is, until Postmates lets businesses opt out, you need to keep your complaints to yourself or complain to Postmates.

Related: How Food Delivery Services Are Taking A Bite Out of Restaurant Profits

Source: Restaurants Still Annoyed About Postmates, And Not Being Able To Opt Out