Singaporean actor-comedian Hossan Leong took to Facebook on Sunday (16 May) to share predicaments faced by a food delivery rider on a daily basis, which recently went viral on social media.
In the post, Mr Leong shared a narrative of a food delivery rider named Jerry Toh, who disclosed how restaurant staff and customers generally treat riders in a rude manner.
“Sometimes, life feels like sh*t. It feels even sh*ttier when you are a food delivery rider and being rude at.
“Many atimes, when we reach the restaurant & ask if our order is ready, we get replied rudely by restaurant staff, especially so during peak hours,” he wrote.
Mr Toh explained that a lot of restaurants are understaffed during this period, which is why they cannot cope with both orders coming in for delivery as well as their walk-in customers.
He also stated that when delivery riders ask if their orders are ready during peak hours, they are often shouted at and be told to cancel the order if they can’t wait.
“The common replies we often get shouted at during peak hours? “You can, you wait. If you cannot wait, Cancel!” Yes. We do have the option to cancel the order but at the very least, restaurant staff should let us know how many orders there are in front of us before we can decide right?
“Nope, some choose to shout at us yet greet their walk-in customers with a big smile and serve them first before proceeding with our orders. And when we checked our orders again? They would simply reply ‘Preparing! Preparing!'”, Mr Toh explained.
He went on to say that riders will often encourage each other to patiently wait until their orders are ready, adding that peak hours is the only time riders get the highest volume of orders so it is important for them to take in as many orders that they can.
Mr Toh also shared that sometimes restaurants that are not ready for operation will start taking in online orders, resulting in riders having to wait for a long time for the food to be ready.
As such, he questioned why would restaurants do such a thing as food delivery riders are the ones who end up being shouted at by customers for the delay.
“So, who gets the blame when your orders are delayed or you waited too long for ur orders? Us. Riders. Here’s the thing. No rider in the right state of mind would want to delay your orders. Get this clear,” Mr Toh lamented.
“Everyone wants to clear their current order ASAP and receive the next order. Some are rushing for their daily targets, some are rushing for their incentives,” he added.
If this is not bad enough, Mr Toh shared that once a customer gave him a 1-star rating after the customer complained that the plastic bag which the food was stored in was wet. It was a rainy day and the food package was too big to be kept inside his thermal bag, resulting in the plastic outside of the box being wet.
Despite the horrible treatment delivery riders generally receive, he also noted that not every customer treat them badly.
“Often I will receive texts asking me to ride safely, take ur time etc etc. Its just a minority out there that spoils our day/ mood,” Mr Toh wrote.
He went on to advise the public to have some patience when they order their food as “delivery guys are human too”.
Mr Toh also encouraged people to tip the riders for their service, to which Mr Leong agreed.
The local actor-comedian said that everyone should be “kind and thoughtful”, while encouraging the public to either order an extra drink for the delivery rider or tip them in their future orders.
“This was we can show a little kindness and encouragement,” he concluded.
At the time of writing, Mr Leong’s Facebook post has 3,300 likes and 2,300 shares.
