Delivery Driver App Review: UberEats

I used to not be too big a fan of UberEats back when DoorDash was a better platform to use for drivers. But that's starting to change. The only downside to UberEats is that they offer more relatively low payout amounts compared to the other two major driver apps.  But not all the time.

The thing I like about using UberEats is their app is pretty straight forward and for the most part - pretty stable. You also can jump in/out whenever you want to (Unlike 'DoorDash where you have to 'Pause' and only for 35 minutes if you want to keep the same 'Dash').  You can also basically, work anywhere in the country without having to jump through hoops.

Another major flaw that I've heard is their driver support services.  I'm not going to ding them on it though because I haven't had any need for it yet.  Perhaps that's a good thing? But based on feedback from others who have used it, I'm told it's the worst. Driver support is mainly done through texting, and it appears to be bot oriented.  Which sucks!

The maps like DoorDash and GrubHub show hotspots and indicate any peak pay amounts that arise.  It's easy to navigate and it connects with 3rd party navigation systems like 'Apple CarPlay' fairly easy.  

I really don't have too many issues with UberEats actually.  I just think that of all the major delivery platforms they send drivers the most low ball orders (Though DoorDash is starting to catch up to them). However, to their credit, when it's good -it's good.  Sometimes the orders are fairly decent and there were many times when UberEats came through for me when the other driver platforms couldn't.

A lot of drivers complain that UberEats has a lack of tip transparency but such is not the case at all.  They just payout tips a bit differently.  For example, when you order food from UberEats, customers are allowed to change the tip amount (Up to an hour) after the order has been delivered.  And to be honest with you, this is smart.  If a customer is satisfied with your service, you get the full payout amount (Which is showed when the order comes in), if they are beyond satisfied they can increase the tip amount, if they are unsatisfied, they can lower the tip amount or eliminate it altogether.  

So when an order comes in it shows the full payout amount (With tip) provided the tip amount remains unchanged.  However, drivers will only see the payout amount (Minus the tip) after completion of the order because they are still giving the customer time to decide on the final tip amount and this can be startling to drivers.  So it takes one hour after the completion of an order for the final tip amount to be credited to the driver (And the driver can thank the customer through the app, which I think is cool).  

The only downside to this method of tipping is that customers who have no intention of tipping at all, can pull a bait and switch on the driver just to get them to deliver the order.  In other words, they can promise a good tip initially, but take it all away after the order has been completed. These people are scumbags who do this and should be banned from the platform.  Food delivery is a luxury service not an entitlement!  UberEats should look into a way to prevent this from happening if it's possible.

Overall, I give high marks for UberEats.  Not just their app but their overall operation in their relations to drivers.  Of course no app platform is perfect and UberEats has it's flaws, but it seems to be continuously improving as time progresses and overall I find it to be driver friendly.