7 Things You Should Never Do When Having Food or Groceries Delivered
I don’t know about you, but grocery shopping is my least favorite thing to do in the winter. Luckily, we live in a world where I don’t ever have to leave the comfort of my home in order to get them! I can stay inside all day in my soft pants with Netflix. Is this a good thing? Do we risk becoming a society of hermits? That is a question for another day.
In the meantime, I try to remember that this luxury is made possible by human beings who brave supermarket aisles and snowy streets to get your gluten-free granola or order of butter chicken to you.
Let’s show them our appreciation by never doing these things.
1. Don’t forget to keep your phone nearby.
When you place a grocery order online, it’s pretty much guaranteed that the person doing the actual shopping will have to make some substitutions. This can mean a string of texts asking if it’s ok to get the smoked, sliced turkey instead of the roasted, sliced turkey. Is that annoying? It’s easy to think of it that way until you think of the person on the other side of the text waiting for you to answer. Don’t leave them hanging. Keep your phone nearby and answer, stat, when they have a question.
2. Don’t take forever getting to the door.
Are you snuggled in your PJs waiting for dinner to arrive? That’s cozy and wonderful, but somebody is outside waiting for you to open up so they can get to their next delivery.
3. Don’t show up to the door in anything you wouldn’t mind your grandma seeing you in.
If you’re comfortable in your own skin, that’s great. But consider how your delivery person might feel if you show up in, say, a towel, or anything less than your outside clothes. It’s as easy as throwing on a robe and can save a lot of awkwardness, or even feelings of unwanted advances. Just be on the safe side here, and wear something you wouldn’t mind your grandma seeing you in. (I didn’t think this needed to be said, but apparently it does!)
4. Don’t let your pets run wild.
Do you have a runner? A barker? An ankle biter? Nobody wants to have a door open only to be barreled over by a big dog, or have someone screaming as their runaway cat darts between their legs. Corral your pets before you open the door.
5. Don’t complain to the driver that your dinner order is wrong.
It’s frustrating when you specifically asked for no onion and extra avocado on your poke bowl and it comes smothered in onions, and sans avocado. But repeat after me: the Grub Hub or Postmates driver did not make your dish. Remember the old saying, Don’t kill the messenger? They’re just bringing the food. Thank them and take up your issue with the restaurant or through the app’s customer service channels.
6. Don’t forget to give clear instructions.
If it’s anything other than totally straightforward to get to your home, whether that’s a door code, a weird dead end street, or set of stairs to use at the back of the house, give super-clear, precise instructions. If they’re out there going in circles, it’s a lose-lose for you and the driver.
7. Don’t undertip.
Tips make up a huge part of delivery workers’ pay, and a service fee or delivery fee or any other add-on the provider tacks is not a substitute for tipping. Yes, it adds up and it gets expensive to have that falafel sandwich or your week’s groceries brought to your door, but take a step back and remember: You got to stay comfy at home while somebody else does your chores. Tip them, and tip well. We cover exactly how much to tip in this article, but a good rule of thumb is no less than $5. Ever. Even if that’s more than the suggested percentage. Do it in cash, if you can, so anyone working for a company that’s using tips to subsidize low wages will actually get the money.
Got anything else to add to this list? Leave your tips in the comments below!