Although apps like UberEats and DoorDash have become a convenient way for restaurants to connect with couriers all over the city, one food stand in Toronto argues that long waits for couriers have been affecting their business.
SuLee Dosirak, located at 707 Dundas St. W., serves up Korean comfort food out of Toronto shipping container market, Market707.
The food stand’s owner, Su Jin Won, tells blogTO that as the weather has turned colder, there’s been a lack of delivery drivers in the downtown area — especially on days when it rains or snows.
Many of the business’ customers are located in the North York area, where Won says some have to wait up to one hour for their food to arrive. The business shared its concerns about long waits for delivery app orders on Instagram, noting that their rating has taken a hit as a result.
“We were best overall on UberEats for a very long time and recently since the weather has changed, especially this year, it has hit hard. I had customers giving us two and three stars which dropped us to a 4.7 rating and probably will drop more if deliver apps continue to do this,” Won explained.
“I checked on the time that they ordered and the time that it was delivered to the customers. I communicate with a lot of drivers and ask why it’s not being picked up. The responses were either low tip, too far (no one wants to pick it up.)”
Won says the experience has been frustrating, especially in scenarios where he’s the only one cooking, serving customers, and greeting people at the storefront. One of the business’ neighbours advised requesting a reduction in their radius so that only customers in specific areas can order from the restaurant.
“That’s not what we want to do right? I’ve lost a few regular customers due to this situation. I didn’t really know that our regular customers were ordering from far away. This impacted our store really seriously,” Won told blogTO.
“It’s really sad this is happening and I am sure it’s impacted a lot of restaurants as well. I really wanted to share this on our Instagram because I reply to every customer every night when I get home which gives us ratings or reviews as it’s very important to communicate and understand customers. But seeing low ratings — that’s very rare and it hurts a lot. I hope this helps and helps other restaurants that are going through the same.”
blogTO has reached out to UberEats for more information on how it’s addressing long wait times for delivery orders.
