A lot of people unhappy about Skip-the-Dishes, Uber Eats and other 3rd party delivery services. They take a large percentage from the restaurant for their service, and also charge a delivery fee. More and more people are trying to frequent restaurants who do their own delivery.

Here a lot of the restaurants we like (not necessarily upmarket, but stand-alone places where they really care about their food, even if it’s cheap) don’t use 3rd party delivery because they take a percentage of the price but more importantly, the 3rd party schedulers give the deliverers a bunch of deliveries to do in a kind of “route”, which means that they don’t always arrive at the restaurant when the food is ready or deliver it in a timely fashion. Then the customer complains to the restaurant that the food is cold/otherwise not as good as it should be, and the restaurant loses reputation, customers and money if they refund the customer.

Those places either do their own deliveries or have personal pick up only.

A lot depends on where you live and how much competition there is, as well as how well the locals are trained, etc. A friend had hurt his back and didn't have wifi in his bedroom, so I was ordering him dinner daily. I'm used to ordering in for several people, which makes the fees better. With fees and tips, for one guy with a limited appetite, and ignoring time, gas and wear and tear as an additional expense on fetching food oneself, it was about double the cost of the meal. And I have the annual delivery fee for one service because several times per month the old folks like an "out" meal in. The thing is, my friend was cool with it. He does usually bring in his dinner, since he lives alone. Since he has simple taste, he often was tipping 50%, because it's rude to tip less than $5, especially in these times.

There are apps that are organized by the restaurants themselves. They're okay. They don't work as well as apps as the true third party apps. In general, however, we haven't seen the item price inflation mentioned. There are service fees instead, which makes it more transparent. The fees seem reasonable to me, for the ones I've used.

Some restaurants have their own contracts with the delivery companies, so your order on the restaurant's website and they contact the delivery company for pickup. Some restaurants, who always did deliver, still deliver their own. Others have their own guy signed up as a driver with the delivery service, so he or she is on site or on the way back when the order comes in, which makes for very prompt deliveries.

We've had terrible luck with fine dining delivery. That may be better now that they've had all this time on deliver or die.

I do believe that there are still services that are jacking up prices, but if you shop around (if you have a choice where you live) you can find ones whose fees are reasonable and whose service is good. You should expect to spend at least $5-10 on fees, depending on the amount of food, plus a reasonable tip. I figure if they're willing to do this service for me, so I can stay safe at home, I should make it worth their while and show my gratitude.

They piggy-back deliveries to save mileage and time...cold food. Inflate prices.

Same with Amazon. If you have a product you order often, check the suppliers website. Ordering directly will put those extra charges in their pockets. Smaller companies need Amazon for exposure so it is worth it to them. After that discovery, seek out their small company directly.

I've not had restaurant delivery in any methods provided. But we never did take-out before covid. Not In this area. Many times when we lived in the city. (order, wait, and take home very hot).

High end city restaurants are successfully making 'kits' that are easy to heat up and plate at home. Usually a 4-6 person family meal. (free delivery) no hidden fees. Momofuku is making their BoSaam with day ahead reservations and very successful. Serves 6-8 and huge so leftovers are inevitable for amazing lunches next day.

I was a bit saddened by insta-cart employees being treated so horribly. They put up with it needing their jobs. I used the service twice. The last was two months ago. We initially decided to support them doing a good service for the community. As plllog said, show support. So many need local shopping services. Support those taking a risk.

My first experience was great. She sent a pic text about substitutions, etc. A few times. (I used the service for staples, not produce). Unfortunately I had a few mistakes that I hesitated to report since it affects their job performance. I received a half empty container of hand sanitizer, ick. Obviously was used on the shelf by many. (16 oz squirt bottle). A bag of oranges and a bag of apples I did not order. A missing bag of onions I did need. DH put everything away as I was on a 'sweaty ear' conversation with my father, 😂...two hours is usual.

I wish she came back to correct the problem. I did not know the mix-up for a couple days. I've heard if you report mix-ups, the shoppers are docked or might loose their job. A bit stressful if we speak up and report problems. And then the time on-line to report. Navigating the site.

The second delivery was around 90$. With healthy tip and extra fees, 140$. They charged a fee for 'heavy load'. 6 one gallon water bottles. (our filters were back ordered). I get it if we lived in a 4th floor walk-up. But I have an easy pull in driveway with a table set up for deliveries two feet in front of the delivery car. Not sure if the extra fees were provided before check-out. Very cautious from now on. ( I could have picked up water from 'bottle king' curb-side) 5 min away. They love it. Tips were never in their wheel house before covid.

I've had really good luck with food temperature. Of course, it's not cold weather here. Often, the food comes blow on it hot. The hipster pizza place- no app—way underestimates the time, and delivers cold. Great nouvelle pizza, but we're done with them. I can make pizza at home and deliver it myself from my German food box, and it would still be pretty warm. :( A lot of this varies by driver, restaurant, app, location, demand, etc.

With Instacart, which went through growing pains, but has improved, I do report mistakes. They need to keep up their training, and I don't want to pay for something I can't use, though they won't charge, though I wish they would, for something I can. Here, the drivers haven't been the in-store pickers for years.