Postmates is a great company to deliver for, but just like all of the other similar type apps out there, there are areas that can use some major improvement. The subject of this post is probably the thing that I dislike about Postmates more than anything, and that subject is Postmates not paying drivers anything when the restaurant is closed. I hate to compare, but Postmates really needs to look and learn from their competitors when it comes to this matter. Uber Eats pays their drivers $3 when the merchant is closed, and Doordash pays a similar amount.
Postmates does not pay drivers when the restaurant is closed?
My inspiration for writing about this topic tonight came about because of a closed merchant call for Postmates that happened to me yesterday. There is nothing more annoying than accepting a call, arriving at the restaurant and then the merchant being closed. It has happened to me in the past, but it happened to me today and my brain is fresh with annoyance over it so I thought that I would share. It was a 7pm call to Del Taco. After driving four miles to the merchant and arriving, I noticed a bunch of construction looking worker's trucks in the parking lot. As soon as I got out my car they all let me know what I already knew. They were part of the large plumbing crew that would be working on this facility for the next couple of days, and of course Del Taco was closed.
It was not Postmates fault that the restaurant was closed. The situation was what is was, so now it was time to end this call. The first thing that you will have to do in a situation like this is go to the Postmates support button on the app. When you hit this button, you are given a bunch of other options to choose from. Of course there is no support to talk to like all of the other major apps. I will talk about this in another post. From these other options that you will have to choose from, there is no way to avoid eventually having to cancel the order. No matter what you choose, it will end with a button to cancel the customer's order.
Once a Postmates driver cancels the order, the order is done and off of the drivers app. The driver may now accept any new calls that come in. There is no compensation to the merchant. This I think is very unfair of Postmates. The order will be recorded on your log of orders even though Postmates did not pay you for the closed restaurant order. It will of course show as a canceled order.
Why doesn't Postmates pay when the merchant is closed?
I'm guessing just because they don't have to. I don't believe that there is anywhere on the contractor agreement that they have to pay a delivery partner for closed merchants. If anybody knows any different, please share.
The lack of live customer service also makes it kind of difficult for delivery partners to argue the case. Yes, I'm going to compare again. With Doordash, when a merchant is closed, a dasher can always get a live chat from an agent and receive acknowledgment that they are going to be paid. With Uber Eats, a delivery partner can call and talk to a live Uber Eats rep who will also acknowledge the show up pay. With Postmates, there is nobody to communicate with!
What to do when a Postmates restaurant is closed
While in route to a merchant, there is no way that a Postmates driver can know that a restaurant will be closed. Once the Postmates driver arrives and finds out that the merchant is closed, there really are not many options. The gas that was used to drive there will be a loss. Any time spent there will be a loss. The best thing to do is to cancel the order as fast as possible so that you can possibly get new orders. It is really as simple as that as there is not much that can be done.
If a driver really wanted to push the issue with Postmates and get paid something for arriving at the merchant, there is a telephone number that can be used to call Postmates. This phone number is not disclosed by Postmates, but has been circulating around veteran Postmates drivers for years. You call this number and a Postmates representative will call you back in 10 minutes. I have used this number in the past for other reasons, and a live rep really does call you back.
The worst part about canceling a Postmates order due to the restaurant being closed is that there is no difference between a cancelation like this and any other cancelation. If you are forced to cancel an order because the restaurant is closed, your cancelation looks exactly the same as a Postmates driver that accepted an order, then decided that he just didn't want to do it after all.
It is no intention of mine to bash Postmates for the way that they handle closed merchants. I just wanted to share information with others that want information on how Postmates handles the closed merchant situation. It is truly the worst in the industry. With that said, I would definitely not ever say that overall Postmates is the worst on-demand food delivery app. That trophy goes to another company. Of course that is my opinion. Postmates is a decent app where drivers can make a decent amount of money, and if good customer service is practiced the tips can be great.
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