S11.E06: Food Delivery Apps

[Lantern7]

Good show this week, even with John giving time to Trump and Truth Social. Great fakeout with John pretending to show his new Trump sneakers, only to remind us that he’d never do that.

Funny that the topic was about apps because my mother struggles with finding a way to tip delivery people on an app. As usual, there’s a lot of exploitation and nobody really winds . . . except maybe the consumer. Perhaps we should go back to menus in drawers.

[Shrek]

Some of us oldies still have menus in our kitchen drawer.

[peeayebee]

1 hour ago, Lantern7 said:

Great fakeout with John pretending to show his new Trump sneakers, only to remind us that he’d never do that.

I LOVED that! When he started to lift his leg, I was shocked that the show would buy those trash shoes, so.. WHEW! Well done.

It's just amazing that people are giving Trump money when he keeps saying he's a billionaire or multi-millionaire or whatever it is he's now saying. It's not just "owning the libs," but psychologically it makes people feel like they're bonding with him, creating this shared experience of winning and being in the right. They have no clue that he doesn't give a shit about them, only their money.

As far as food delivery apps, I used them once or twice years ago -- maybe even pre-pandemic -- and I just didn't care for them. However, I understand how important they are to many people. But it's so weird that they're not making a profit.

[DoctorAtomic]

I used to use grubhub, but 1, I only ordered on Sundays and there's just not much open, and 2, they had listings that were just erroneous. I used it for a couple of months over the summer and deleted it. I can order direct to the restaurants. 

 

[lasu]

I use the hell out of food delivery apps.  Even with jumped up prices, you can get deals that make it cheaper to order through the app than it would be to go get the food in person (coupons for 40-75% off, or $10 off of $25, are frequent).  But I do tip well, and I always leave good reviews.  

One thing that John didn't mention but I think is VERY IMPORTANT - ONLY 5 stars is considered a good rating.  I think this is bullshit, because 4 out of 5 stars is a great rating, but a driver would be terminated way before he every got a 4 star rating.  ONLY five stars is good - four stars and under is considered a terrible review that could get a driver fired.

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, peeayebee said:

It's just amazing that people are giving

Spoiler

Trump

money when he keeps saying he's a billionaire or multi-millionaire or whatever it is he's now saying. It's not just "owning the libs," but psychologically it makes people feel like they're bonding with him, creating this shared experience of winning and being in the right. They have no clue that he doesn't give a shit about them, only their money.

I listened to this on YouTube (I was working on a watercolor commission) so I missed any visual nuances in how JO presented possibly sarcastic points.
So: Did JO seem to believe that the real reason for hawking the sneakers, bibles, etc. is not to get cash, but to get votes? 
That's my rationale, but I wasn't sure if it was John Oliver's in this episode.

[Annber03]

I have never used delivery apps, so all of this was completely new to me. My family always still just calls in orders or we go out and pick up our food. I am not very used to dealing with apps in general, for a lot of things, so I just don't think to do it for food delivery, either. 

But yeah, this was a pretty eye-opening segment. The bit about restaurants being lumped onto the app even when they don't have delivery service or haven't agreed to be part of the app or things of that sort was especially shocking - yeah, if I were a restaurant owner, I'd be rather pissed about that, especially if I kept getting calls from customers who were confused as to why the restaurant doesn't deliver when the app claims they do. As if people don't have enough issues with customer service already. 

(On a side note, though, that bakery they showed clips from looked pretty good - the food in there looked rather tasty :D.)

4 hours ago, peeayebee said:

It's just amazing that people are giving Trump money when he keeps saying he's a billionaire or multi-millionaire or whatever it is he's now saying. It's not just "owning the libs," but psychologically it makes people feel like they're bonding with him, creating this shared experience of winning and being in the right. They have no clue that he doesn't give a shit about them, only their money.

These are the same people who will happily turn over every cent they have to televangelists. I truly cannot fathom basing your entire worldview around "owning the libs", to hte point where you are willing to give a rich guy all your money so you can get some super shitty, stupid product in return  while he contineus to fleece and use the money for his own personal gain. Anyone who does that has no room to complain later when they're flat broke, honestly. They brought that on themselves. 

(To say nothing of the sheer irony of giving a billionaire money while claiming htat he totally cares about the working-class folks. The cognitive dissonance is....just mind-boggling.)

But yes, I'm with John in how incredibly maddening it is that Trump always, ALWAYS somehow manages to skirt having to get hit with the full force of consequences for his actions, instead leaving other people on the hook to take responsibility for his shit. What in the hell is it going to take to make him actually have to face legitmiate, serious, real, long-lasting consequences for any of the things he's said and done? Sure, he's tied iup in court cases, but he still always finds some way to delay things or to not have to pay as much as he's ordered or whatever - he always still finds some kind of loophole. I don't GET it. 

On a much lighter note, so many moments that cracked me up this episode - that ad for people who are bottoms (and John's "Veggie Tales" comment afterward), Johns analysis of the "Devil Went Down to Georgia" song (the "Happy Easter" bit following that especially got me XD), or his take on the guy who apparently wants to start an oprhanage, or whatever the hell it was he said. That was hysterical. 

[iMonrey]

I've never used a food app, ever. I've had pizzas delivered like everyone else in the world but that's it. While I can appreciate the usefulness of the service especially during the pandemic lockdowns, I just wouldn't ever trust a third party to bring my food to me. I'd rather go get it myself. And I'm pretty stingy anyway and consider takeout a luxury I'd rather not pay for. 99% of what I eat I make at home myself. So the popularity of these apps sort of baffles me, I consider using them pretty wasteful of money.

17 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

So: Did JO seem to believe that the real reason for hawking the sneakers, bibles, etc. is not to get cash, but to get votes? 
That's my rationale, but I wasn't sure if it was John Oliver's in this episode.

No, he just needs money for his legal bills.

[shapeshifter]

36 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

No, he just needs money for his legal bills.

Yeah, but even at $60 a pop, it'd be drops in the bucket — especially if we factor in all the costs delineated in this episode with regards to Delivery services, which would apply to his mail-order crap. 
So I'm still sticking with my PR/vote-getting theory. 
But I think you're also right: John Oliver did not say anything about the shoes and bibles being a PR stunt masquerading as a cry for help with legal bills.
But on the third hand, the 2 rationales are not mutually exclusive. People who are hoodwinked into buying crap will want to sing the praises of their purchases rather than admitting they've been fooled.

 

I used Food Delivery once in the height of the pre-vaccine pandemic. It was a traumatic experience that filled me with guilt for the welfare of the incompetent shoppers (who delivered the most important parts of my order to someone else).
I've never used it again, but as I become more and more less able to carry even moderately heavy items without pain killers, eventually I suppose I will have to rely on paying for the kindness of strangers.
I think John Oliver did have a line that excused the use of Food Delivery in those situations?

[lasu]

5 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I think John Oliver did have a line that excused the use of Food Delivery in those situations?

I don't think there's anything wrong with using these apps, you just want to make sure A) the restaurant is a willing participant, and B) you tip and rate you driver well.  In addition to often being able to get delivery cheaper than I could get it myself, I also am night-blind so I can't drive after dark.  Uber/Lyft & delivery apps make a HUGE difference in my life, especially in winter.

 

6 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I've had pizzas delivered like everyone else in the world but that's it. While I can appreciate the usefulness of the service especially during the pandemic lockdowns, I just wouldn't ever trust a third party to bring my food to me.

It's safer these days that pizza delivery used to be, because everything comes in sealed packaging.

 

6 hours ago, iMonrey said:

And I'm pretty stingy anyway and consider takeout a luxury I'd rather not pay for. 99% of what I eat I make at home myself. So the popularity of these apps sort of baffles me, I consider using them pretty wasteful of money.

If you're not into eating out, these would seem baffling.  However, as I've mentioned, I usually get food delivered cheaper than I could go get it myself, and I do enjoy eating out (I hate cooking and love good food & live in a city FULL of good food, so I'll save my money elsewhere) so it's not at all a waste of money from that point of view.

[MaryMitch]

It's funny how the result of the pandemic wasn't "everyone starts making their own meals" but was "everyone starts ordering restaurant meals delivered."

[vibeology]

57 minutes ago, MaryMitch said:

It's funny how the result of the pandemic wasn't "everyone starts making their own meals" but was "everyone starts ordering restaurant meals delivered."

I ordered food more frequently during the pandemic because it was my only source of fun or novelty. I couldn't go out anywhere. I couldn't see new movies or theatre or go to parties or explore new businesses or neighbourhoods in my city. I wasn't going to the library. I wasn't going out to the stores. I wasn't visiting family or friends. Early on, my days were monotonous, inside my condo, by myself. Getting food delivery was an easy and safe way to break up the absolute boredom and dread. And I did believe that keeping a restaurant open by spending my money was a good thing.  

[ahisma]

On 4/3/2024 at 9:46 AM, vibeology said:

And I did believe that keeping a restaurant open by spending my money was a good thing. 

Yes! I was lucky enough that I didn’t have a lot of expenses associated with the pandemic, so I used my government checks to spend a little more than usual on restaurant meals to make sure my favorite places didn’t go out of business. Sometimes I would go out and pick up and sometimes have Grubhub deliver, since I had the extra money… 

[shapeshifter]

22 hours ago, ahisma said:

Yes! I was lucky enough that I didn’t have a lot of expenses associated with the pandemic, so I used my government checks to spend a little more than usual on restaurant meals to make sure my favorite places didn’t go out of business. Sometimes I would go out and pick up and sometimes have Grubhub deliver, since I had the extra money… 

And did they survive?

[ahisma]

11 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

And did they survive?

Yes! All my mostest favorites are still open!

[andromeda331]

I use food apps all the time. My dad and I have health problems that make cooking challenging especially on bad days. We're limited on what we can cook and neither of us can drive. The grocery stores only have so much ready to eat foods. Stuff like Blue Apron, Factor, and others don't work either because of our food issues. It's been a really big help.

I was hoping the food app companies wouldn't be that bad especially to the restaurants. That's terrible. Why advertize food they don't have? That's just stupid.

Edited April 17 by andromeda331

[andromeda331]

On 4/1/2024 at 4:24 PM, Annber03 said:

These are the same people who will happily turn over every cent they have to televangelists. I truly cannot fathom basing your entire worldview around "owning the libs", to hte point where you are willing to give a rich guy all your money so you can get some super shitty, stupid product in return  while he contineus to fleece and use the money for his own personal gain. Anyone who does that has no room to complain later when they're flat broke, honestly. They brought that on themselves. 

(To say nothing of the sheer irony of giving a billionaire money while claiming htat he totally cares about the working-class folks. The cognitive dissonance is....just mind-boggling.)

I've never been able to figure out what? They are giving money to a millionaire or billionaire. Why? He's got money. Or at least the people buying his crap believe he is. I like that you brought up teleangelists who donate money to pastors and reverends who live in mansions and own airplanes. Instead of actual people who need help? There's better ways to throw your money away then rich people. 

 

Quote

But yes, I'm with John in how incredibly maddening it is that Trump always, ALWAYS somehow manages to skirt having to get hit with the full force of consequences for his actions, instead leaving other people on the hook to take responsibility for his shit. What in the hell is it going to take to make him actually have to face legitmiate, serious, real, long-lasting consequences for any of the things he's said and done? Sure, he's tied iup in court cases, but he still always finds some way to delay things or to not have to pay as much as he's ordered or whatever - he always still finds some kind of loophole. I don't GET it. 

That's what I want to know. Everyone knows he's breaking the law. Everyone knows what he's done. And yet he still hasn't paid a single consequences. No matter what happens he skates right on buy. Even the real estate court thing wasn't a victory. He hasn't paid anything and manage to get it lowered because he was having problems securing a loan. If it was anyone else they would be in jail by now. Not him. What is it going to take?