As a driver on the on-demand food delivery platform in Australia, be it Uber Eats, DoorDash or Menulog, you are advised by the company to accept every incoming delivery request as much as possible. Even though you don’t know whether the restaurant you are going to visit is still open or not. This often happens at smaller restaurants or privately owned restaurants, which usually close early due to running out of stock. Or it could also happen because the restaurant has changed its operating hours but has not reported it to the food delivery platform.
Many drivers ask what if a delivery driver has arrived at the restaurant but finds the restaurant is closed? In a case like this, will the drivers get compensation for their effort to go to the location?
According to some drivers, reimbursement of closed restaurants depends on you as the delivery guy. If you just cancel without notifying the restaurant’s condition to the support team, then you may never get compensation for the time and energy (or fuel) you spent travelling to the restaurant. On the other hand, if you’ve reported that the restaurant has closed by attaching evidence, then you will most likely get compensation for your efforts to complete the delivery.
How to report for a closed restaurant
Each delivery platform has its own way of reporting on restaurant closures when the driver arrives at the location. For Uber Eats, you can cancel your current order and move on to the next order. In addition, you need to report this condition to the support team via the in-app help feature and don’t forget to take a picture of the closed restaurant. Just visit the Help section of the driver app then choose Trip and adjustments, Issue with pickup then use the Chat feature.
For other platforms such as Menulog, you need to contact support right away and ask to cancel the order because there is no button to cancel the running order. However, another weak point of Menulog is the long response of the in-app driver support, some drivers stated that it took them 10-30 minutes or even more just to wait for a response from one of the teams. As long as the order has not been cancelled, you have to wait at the restaurant location to be eligible for reimbursements.
Doordash has a similar procedure to Uber, when the restaurant closes once you arrived you can immediately report it to support, tell them the actual condition of the restaurant and ask their help to cancel the running order. Take a picture of the closed business just in case they asked you to provide proof. Order cancellation made by the support team will not affect the driver’s completion rate.
How much compensation will be received?
Every on-demand food delivery company in Australia has its own reimbursement rate. Some pay a fixed compensation rate for all orders and some provide compensation in accordance with the calculation of the distance and time required to pick up the order to the restaurant.
For Uber, the latest information we got in 2021, drivers will get a compensation of $3 as an appreciation to drivers who have tried to fulfil the delivery request. Many say the reimbursement amount isn’t worth it, but it’s better than nothing. To report this problem is also easy, no need to call support, just chat with them and wait for their reply, only need a couple of minutes.
Menulog also seems to have applied a fixed amount to compensate the driver for a closed restaurant. Based on the information we received, drivers will get reimbursements of around $19 which comes from Transit Pay and Other Reimbursements. However, the driver will only get the Other Reimbursements amount ($7.00) in the pay statement. Even though it is reduced, the amount is quite fair considering the driver has to wait at the restaurant before the support cancels the order.
DoorDash, in contrast to other platforms, applies a compensation of 50% of the delivery fees. As an illustration, you get a delivery request and will be paid $18 when the delivery is successful. Because the restaurant is closed when you arrive, you will still get compensation worth $9 which you can see in the Earnings section in the Dasher app.
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