While the nation labelled them as heroes, and the businesses they worked for thanked them for the selfless effort to support so many people during the COVID-19 pandemic, Britain’s delivery drivers and riders were more fussed by two key issues in 2020 – getting paid properly and attempting to survive frustrating customers.
Drivers have dealt with incorrect addresses, no one at home to accept delivery, customers living on the top floor of a high rise with an out-of-service elevator, and more.
The first issue appears to be on its way to a better solution – JustEat announced its intention to end the use of “gig workers”, instead opting to balance its driver force with a mix of full-time, part-time and zero-hour workers. This guarantees drivers a minimum pay per hour (which was previously non-guaranteed, and remains so with competitors like UberEats or Deliveroo) and entitles them to benefits such as holiday pay and pension contributions.
Insurance is an issue too – consumer research company NimbleFins reports that the UK’s top insurers refuse to cover delivery driving and many won’t accept Deliveroo, UberEats or JustEat’s preferred partner Zego’s “top-up” solution as valid either – potentially leaving thousands of drivers on the road uninsured, despite paying for coverage and believing themselves to be safe.
The issue of bizarre customer experiences, however, probably isn’t going anywhere. We scoured online forums to find some of the funniest delivery driver stories of the last 12 months. Here’s what we found.
This customer’s UberEats driver couldn’t find his address, so he came up with a unique solution…
A customer in Australia didn’t have a doorbell, but luckily let his driver know the best way to get his attention…
We’ve all felt the shame of this customer…
Sometimes deliveries can feel like something straight out of Shakespeare…
This customer appears to be preparing for an exciting party for one; either that or a parent is buying two critical ingredients for getting through a child’s birthday party…
It wasn’t all bad, though, and some customers truly appreciated the work delivery drivers were doing during difficult times…
NimbleFins is committed to helping the UK’s delivery drivers make informed decisions on insurance and pay, supporting them by creating unique data-driven research and content on topics such as their earnings potential with each of the UK’s leading delivery businesses and the insurances they need to protect themselves and their income. You can read more here.