Food delivery rip off

[Outdated]

Domino's Pizza has a surcharge on Sundays and public holidays.
I think it is 10%.

That's another one that's way over priced. A lot of restaurants are now charging extra on weekends and public holidays because of the recent changes to our industrial relations laws, it's a knee jerk reaction to something they don't like. They're being forced to pay real wages, even to casuals, and that means time and a half on Sundays and double time on public holidays.

I can't see that situation sticking around for a long time though, weekends and public holidays are traditionally their busiest times, if customers start avoiding them due to extra charges they'll lose money.

 

[Judge]

Tipping is uncommon here too, you pay what it costs and the employees get a salary. But an American who was used to tipping pointed out to me that for example pizza delivery drivers in the US often had to pay for their own gas and use their own car. If they did that here, I would be mighty generous with the tipping. If employees had to cover work expenses out of their own pocket.

It's in a state of flux at the moment, given those states who have adopted increases in minimum wages. That for many working in the fast food industry, even with tipping they aren't making sufficient wages to truly "make a living" in our society. Of course in those venues, you have to expect the cost of fast food to rise dramatically in the process.

Presently paying around $8 for a burger with a quarter to half a pound of beef with lots of condiments just for the burger is par for the course here. Add another $3 for medium fries...and still more for that soft drink. Ordering a "combo" of all three gives one a cost around $12 to $13 US dollars for a single big meal.

No tips involved for fast food over-the-counter or a drive-thru, unless it's an actual restaurant, where most people are accustomed to paying 20% of the cost minus taxes. And taxes are above 8% here.

Another reason why those chain-restaurants like "Applebees" and "Chilis" are struggling in the post-pandemic environment. Even with discounted hamburger meals, by the time you add in that tip you are still over what a fast-food joint would likely charge. Plus you wait much longer for your meal.

 

[Princess Viola]

I do tip my delivery drivers but I don't like how you're expected to tip beforehand. I've never had this happen, thankfully, but what if you get an awful delivery driver who takes forever to get from the restaurant to your house and then your food is all cold? I'm more than certain you can go and adjust the tip afterwards but how many people are going to go to the effort? Especially so because some of these delivery platforms make you contact customer support to do it.

I also dislike how some places are now trying to make tipping for pickup a thing. Like no? The whole point of tipping is for the service you get at a restaurant, someone bringing your food to the table, your drinks, asking how everything is, etc. None of that applies when you're just picking up food to take home at eat.

 

[Outdated]

IPresently paying around $8 for a burger with a quarter to half a pound of beef with lots of condiments just for the burger is par for the course here. Add another $3 for medium fries...and still more for that soft drink. Ordering a "combo" of all three gives one a cost around $12 to $13 US dollars for a single big meal.

When considering the exchange rate, roughly 2:3, that's fairly level with what we pay in Australia. There's a couple of franchises from Sydney that, like @Jonn mentioned, charge $27 for a burger but Ive never seen anyone inside those shops. Who'd pay that? Even in a proper restaurant I'm not going to pay $27 street food.

If anyone's curious about cost of living comparisons they should completely ignore any information on Australia that comes out of Sydney. It's not just the most expensive city in Australia, it's one of the most expensive cities to live in in the world. Whatever people pay in Sydney is more than double that of the rest of the country.

No tips involved for fast food over-the-counter or a drive-thru, unless it's an actual restaurant, where most people are accustomed to paying 20% of the cost minus taxes. And taxes are above 8% here.

That's another issue we settled here more than 30 years ago. Different tax rates in different states and some very confusing tables of different taxes was crippling interstate trade. We no longer have sales tax, instead we have a Goods and Services Tax that is set by the federal government, one flat rate that applies to every product and service across the country - 10%. The federal government collects that tax and redistributes it between the states in a more equitable manner so that the poorer states get a better share.

 

[Spoonboy]

Johnny Depp goes through $100,000 in wine in a month.

 

[Mary Terry]

My current pet peeve is restaurants and stores that impose a 3 percent surcharge if you pay with a credit card. I like to use a credit card for most purchases because I get cash back awards, but I'm not going to pay a vendor 3 percent of my total purchase amount just because I chose to use a credit card. I'll take my business elsewhere, thank you very much.

 

[Outdated]

My current pet peeve is restaurants and stores that impose a 3 percent surcharge if you pay with a credit card.

We have a few companies do that here too, but they charge 10%. It's only US based companies that do this though, the fast food chains and a couple of the delivery services. The ACCC is currently looking in to the legality of that and I'm pretty confident that it will be outlawed soon. At the same time these companies are also being investigated for tax evasion fraud and nearly every one of them has recently lost court cases over the underpayment of staff.

 

[Jonn]

At the same time these companies are also being investigated for tax evasion fraud

Do you think cash payments facilitate this evasion?

 

[Outdated]

Do you think cash payments facilitate this evasion?

The cash question is a complex one. I personally knew business owners many years ago who preferred to run cash businesses for that specific reason, it was easier to practice creative accounting. Card payments leave an easy to follow trail.

Our economy also relies very heavily on card payments these days, especially so with e-commerce, and that's why the ACCC is involved. I personally haven't used cash at all in about 4 years, I keep a few hundred in my wallet just in case it's ever needed but that'll likely get moth eaten before it's used.

That's all well and good in the cities and bigger towns but once you get out in to the bush it's a very different story. 85% of our land mass has no phone service, which means no eftpos. And in the towns that do have a phone service the service is so unreliable that all of the businesses have signs made and ready to put up saying "EFTPOS is down, Cash only.".

So a cashless society is a lot like socialism, looks great on paper but it doesn't work.

 

[Jonn]

I personally knew business owners many years ago who preferred to run cash businesses for that specific reason, it was easier to practice creative accounting. Card payments leave an easy to follow trail.

I have noticed that when I pay in cash, I get more cheese on my pizza and a greater amount in my takeaway food container.
Maybe it is just because they like me. lol

 

[Outdated]

I have noticed that when I pay in cash, I get more cheese on my pizza and a greater amount in my takeaway food container.
Maybe it is just because they like me. lol

There's still a lot of places where you can haggle price with businesses too, by asking "How much for cash?". If you pull an actual wad of notes out of your pocket and they can see that you mean real cash it'll often get you a 10% discount.

 

[thejuice]

There's still a lot of places where you can haggle price with businesses too, by asking "How much for cash?". If you pull an actual wad of notes out of your pocket and they can see that you mean real cash it'll often get you a 10% discount.

In England were allergic to haggling. I volunteer at charity shop and people come in and make reasonable offers for stuff that is overpriced but the manager would rather not sell it then get slightly less than full price

 

[thejuice]

I once managed to get a place to reopen up 5 minutes after close by waving cash by the door lol

 

[Outdated]

In England were allergic to haggling. I volunteer at charity shop and people come in and make reasonable offers for stuff that is overpriced but the manager would rather not sell it then get slightly less than full price

In that sort of situation most Aussies don't haggle either, we find it embarrassing. It's different with larger and more expensive necessities though, such as needing the roof of your house retiled or needing a new rainwater tank.

 

[thejuice]

I actually get embarrassed if I win with haggling too much. That's when I realised it's better both people feel good after a deal.

 

[Outdated]

I'm giving up on deliveries altogether now. It's not just the feeling of being ripped off, they can never find my address so some go door knocking and annoying other people that live here and some just give up and don't bother delivering. I live in a large complex of units so my address covers 3 streets.

They all phone, which I hate anyway, but many of them struggle with English and trying to give them directions is almost impossible. If they used google maps they'd have no trouble, it shows exactly where my unit is, but GPS sends them a couple of streets away.

Money doesn't really matter to me all that much, except on principal, but the annoyance and associated stress makes it not worthwhile for me. Today I'm going to have Vietnamese for lunch, I feel like something nice and a bike ride in the weak winter sunshine won't do me any harm.

I wish I hadn't looked at the menu though, normally I know what I want but now I'm having trouble deciding.
*prices are in Australian dollars:

https://saigonmeatrolls.com.au/order-now