RATINGS
Another concern with having food spillage reported to the platform is that it may affect the rider’s rating.
A Grab delivery rider, who gave his name as Xiong, told CNA food spills could cause a rider’s rating to drop.
Even if the restaurant is at fault for improper food packaging, riders still suffer a decline in their rating, he said. “We have to double-check our food … riders got more responsibility.”
With a lower rating, a rider’s pay and incentives may be affected, he added.
Ratings also affect the number of jobs a delivery rider gets, according to some delivery riders CNA spoke to.
Delivery rider Anis said that a better rating allows the rider to get more orders.
The chances of getting delivery jobs are much higher for people with a higher rating, according to Edwin, who delivers food for foodpanda and Grab.
But he said that food spills do not necessarily impact one’s rating.
“Grab protects us … if a customer for no reason gives zero or one star, they will block out that rating,” he said.
“The orders we send, we all have photo proof … from the photo they can see whether it’s spilt or not.”
Grab told CNA that it carefully evaluates every claim by customers, merchants or riders to first determine if it is valid.
“We do this by checking the consumer’s refund history, as well as the merchant- and delivery-partner’s history, along with verifying the completeness of evidence provided, such as photos depending on the nature of the complaint.”
In response to further queries about the effect of ratings on its delivery riders, Grab said that its delivery riders are required to maintain a minimum rating of 4.5. The maximum rating on the scale is 5.
“Those who do not meet the minimum requirement will be given time to improve their ratings before being penalised.”
“Those who maintain the minimum rating and meet the trip requirements will enjoy benefits such as priority support offered under our Grab Emerald Circle programme,” the company added.
According to Grab, a rider’s rating is “calculated based on an aggregate of consumers’ ratings to ensure that it accurately reflects their overall performance”.
Meanwhile, foodpanda said in response to queries by CNA that its customers can provide feedback and rate their delivery riders after their delivery has been completed, but its delivery riders’ earnings “are not affected by these ratings”.
“These ratings are for internal tracking purposes and are used to improve the overall customer experience on our platform. The ratings have no impact on our delivery partners’ compensations,” foodpanda added.
For Deliveroo, there is no customer rating system for its riders, the company told CNA.
UNPLEASANT, DISHONEST CUSTOMERS
Offering to pay for food spills out of their own pockets helps to reduce the risk of the customer being “violent”, according to delivery rider Mr Su.
When customers lodge complaints with the platform, the way they capture photographic “evidence” of the food spill and their communication with the support team can affect how the platform deals with the rider, he added.
“You never know what kind of customers you meet. Some are nice, some will scold.”
However, Mr Su said that most of the time, when he apologises and offers to cover the cost or repurchase the food, customers are satisfied as long as the food is still edible.
Some customers also falsely claim that their food was not received or in poor condition, in an attempt to get free meals, according to Edwin.
In response to CNA’s queries, Grab said that it proactively investigates repeated refund requests to determine whether a claim is valid, adding that its system tracks refund requests from all parties, including customers.
Both foodpanda and Deliveroo also have processes and tools in place to identify any unusual or suspicious refund requests.
“As there are multiple factors which can contribute to incidents such as food spillage, each case is investigated thoroughly to ensure that fair and appropriate action is taken to resolve the issue,” foodpanda said.
Deliveroo also said it “has fraud monitoring tools in place that support in identifying any potential abuse of our operational system for customer refunds, and we will take appropriate action depending on the circumstances”.