Uber Eats Changes to Delivery Fees and Trial of "Service Fee"

jimbobaus on 26/03/2021 - 08:41
Last edited 26/03/2021 - 08:42

Jumped on Uber Eats last night to order some food and saw that my account was taking part in a new fee structure trial.
My friend who lives around the corner has had no changes, so not sure if it affects everyone but essentially it is like this:

Delivery Fees have been reduced (Reduced yes… but not by much)
Introduction of a service fee of 10% of your order (before any discounts or vouchers are applied)
Service fee is Minimum of $1 maximum of $4

https://imgur.com/a/wz3OZnK

So looking at an order we did a while ago for some Thai food when we had a few people around

Food $46.75
Delivery $4.99
Total $51.74

Same order if we did it under new system would be
Food : $46.75
Delivery $3.99 (reduced by $1)
Service Fee: $4 (10% capped at $4)
Total $ 54.74

Noticed in a LOT of instances the delivery fee had not been reduced at all and Uber states that peak time surge pricing will still apply regardless

Not sure of the reasoning behind this change but it states its a trial, we ended up using Deliveryroo who have $1 delivery at the moment.

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Comments

  • Quantumcat on 26/03/2021 - 08:53
    -5

    I wonder if the service fee goes 100% to the driver?

    • RM on 26/03/2021 - 08:57
      +12

      ha ha ha….you think??

      • Quantumcat on 26/03/2021 - 09:07

        Well I wouldn't be surprised at it sounding like a good thing for the driver but actually not

        • RM on 26/03/2021 - 09:09
          +6

          show me one company that changes a process for the (financial) benefit of its contractors or employees…

          • Baysew on 26/03/2021 - 11:35

            @RM: …or consumers or suppliers…(Service fee probably generated overseas to avoid ATO as well)

  • Seraphin7 on 26/03/2021 - 09:11
    +12

    All these services are getting more and more expensive, while at the same time reducing the level of customer service.

    Looks like my trend of using them increasingly infrequently will continue.

    • Starlight8 on 26/03/2021 - 12:28
      +3

      i agree with you. I was shocked to pay $7.99 for delivery when the restaurant was only a suburb away from me.

      Also food tends to be delivered much colder to lukewarm these day :(

      Its like they tag a few deliveries.

  • Bomba on 26/03/2021 - 09:37
    +10

    Isn't the delivery fee the SERVICE fee??? This is an excuse to charge more money.

    • xev on 26/03/2021 - 15:59
      +3

      It's an enforced tip. But they know that Australians would tell them to <profanity> right off with that bullshit if they call it a tip.

      So instead they are trying to sneak it through as a 'service fee'.

      And I ordered through Deliveroo instead.

  • valleyrain on 26/03/2021 - 09:40

    DoorDash also charges a service fee, which you don't realise until you get to the checkout. It looks like more companies are looking to follow the same model.

    • render on 26/03/2021 - 18:11

      True. DoorDash’s is 2% but I think uncapped.

    • Jimothy Wongingtons on 27/03/2021 - 08:27

      After having two major stuff ups with doordash I will gladly pay the extra to use uber eats or even menulog.

      old mates at doordash CS got the worst attitude and sound like they're talking in the middle of a desert sandstorm, 200km away from nearest cell tower.

  • stratbargain on 26/03/2021 - 10:10
    +7

    I noticed this last night as well. Ended up just driving to the place and ordering in person

    Not only did we save a few dollars per item, after the service fee and delivery fee the difference was $27 vs $38. You forget how much extra Uber can add up to.

    • macfudd on 26/03/2021 - 22:17

      Haven't used it in well over a year now. I spend less and the local business still pockets more. Win/Win.

      Plus I don't have a delivery driver ringing the doorbell and waking the baby up despite notes in the order and a sign on the door.

  • sevendollarsfifty on 26/03/2021 - 10:18
    +20

    Can people please stop using these services. (Unless you have a serious need to get in home delivery like in the case of a disability of course)

    It's so inefficient that nobody is winning. The drivers get paid terribly. The stores lose money. The customers pay a fortune. The food is often cold.

    • Quantumcat on 26/03/2021 - 12:12
      +4

      You can also just get delivery direct through most places and it will be cheaper and the stores will make more money

      • orangetrain on 26/03/2021 - 13:14

        Most places will offer same as menulog, etc and have jacked up takeaway prices and give less portions, than dining in. Kicker: some of them say delivery is free.

        So, we save $2 if not using a delivery service, sometimes.

  • bobbified on 26/03/2021 - 10:30
    +5

    From the image:

    Service Fee: Equal to 10% of your order before promotions and discounts, witth a minimum of $1, but never more than $4".

    So really, they doubly screw you because the fee is calc'd based on the higher price. So any 10%, 15%, 30% vouchers codes become less valuable..

  • Topdog on 26/03/2021 - 10:42
    +1

    hahaha funny. Uber eats and menu log etc, where good for a while. Too many incorrect orders for me to continue to use them. I know it could be the places fault as well. But when you go in yourself, it appears they take more care with your order, and also if something is a miss you are just there

    • render on 26/03/2021 - 18:17

      Also have had too many incorrect orders from delivery apps.
      If you complain too much (even with photo evidence) they’ll start to reject every claim before even looking at them.

      • Mooncakes on 26/03/2021 - 21:38
        +1

        My uber eats account got banned for too many refunds on incorrect orders.. am I suppose to just take the loss off items and just go oh well maybe next time! you bet your ass im going to refund everything you miss like deserts or sides. Almost always don't add the extra things you pay for like extra veggies, yet you still pay for it.

        • Topdog on 27/03/2021 - 15:02

          Yes and seems some places block you, as there is apparently no delivery drivers available in the area. But the two places right next to it are ready to take your order.

  • burningrage on 26/03/2021 - 11:56

    Ooh… Is that the reason why I got 2x $15 UberEats voucher dropped into my mailbox yesterday. Perfect timing.

  • render on 26/03/2021 - 18:07
    +4

    Delivery apps are already often 20-30% more expensive than restaurant pricing and now UberEats want to charge another 10% and still charge higher delivery fees? I don’t see a single reason to keep the app installed.

  • Benno007 on 27/03/2021 - 08:24
    -1

    Isn’t it all because of the new driver contract and business model? Uber eats isn’t the company the drivers deal with anymore, it’s portier pacific (I think). If so, it’s all because the unions wants to treat riders as employees rather than contractors which Uber is against, which is just typical union bullying of a successful company IMO. I’m sure all these riders would rather have work than not if Uber had never existed. All Uber does is provide a platform for people to make money by selling their food or time

    The new business model also seems to make it simpler for restaurants, who now don’t have to do the accounting for the delivery fee or something… which is good for small businesses who get lots of deliveries.

    I saw a place last night on my app that said 99c delivery fee and 10% service charge
    I normally spend $19 so that would have made my delivery cheaper than the $4.99 I used to pay :)

    • Techie4066 on 27/03/2021 - 17:46
      +1

      All Uber does is provide a platform for people to make money by selling their food or time

      And rip off everyone else in the process, except for themselves (obviously), in the name of their own brand and profits.

      • Benno007 on 02/04/2021 - 08:27

        Uber eats has yet to make a profit… so I don't think you can use that excuse. Taxi drivers before uber were 10x the rip off merchants Uber is.

  • OzHunterNSW on 27/03/2021 - 10:42

    Or, you could learn to cook your own meals and be an example of what can be achieved in the eyes of your children.

    • jimbobaus on 27/03/2021 - 14:03

      Thankfully I don’t have kids.

      DINK over here… I’m happy to pay someone to cook for me :)

  • worrierwan on 01/04/2021 - 10:19

    Just went to order something today on Ubereats to see this service charge. What a rip off! Doordash's one is only 2% which is annoying but negligible. Might need to use only Menulog as they dont have one yet

  • PAOK11 on 09/04/2021 - 18:30
    +3

    They have got rid of that annoying Tip thing. Its like I live in Australia and i'm ordering food, don't give me that TIP BS and make me feel guilty

  • jace88 on 12/05/2021 - 09:42

    Back to Deliveroo with $1 delivery we go.

    • jimbobaus on 12/05/2021 - 09:49

      I have deleted Uber Eats now.
      I find Menulog and deliveroo have better delivery rates and offers

      • jace88 on 12/05/2021 - 10:05

        The only thing I do find interesting is that in the past, Deliveroo used to always be cheaper than Uber Eats in terms of menu pricing… but now, Uber Eats is sometimes cheaper.

        Really does require you to compare the pair before ordering… and that's before you factor in discounted gift cards!

  • rickb on 12/05/2021 - 12:11

    When Uber first came on the scene it was a no-brainer to use them instead of a taxi. The booking app and the lower cost made that choice easy.

    Their cost has now risen to the equivalent of a previous taxi fare. Not sure what has happened with taxi fares over that time but Uber is now costly. My use has dropped off considerably.

    • kimlo on 01/08/2021 - 17:21

      100% this. Uber used to be cheap so there was no reason to use a taxi. it's risen so much I think it costs as much as taxis, bait and switch. I'll go back to using taxi wherever possible because Uber are a shady company. At least when you book a taxi profits are local.

  • jdee on 12/08/2021 - 17:19

    I just saw this same Uber Eats service fee message the other day…. sorry, but for me, I'm removing Uber Eats app.

  • Freezies on 13/08/2021 - 01:04
    +1

    I got a $10 off $20+ spend coupon and decided to order something because I was feeling lazy. My order was $25 but with the coupon it was $15 but after the $4.99 delivery and $2.50 service fee it was $22.49.

    The $10 off coupon was now only worth $2.50 to me and I stopped feeling lazy and made a sandwich instead.

  • jsjslim on 27/08/2021 - 22:23

    They appear to have raised the minimum service fee.

    Used to be $1-$4. Now it's $2-$4. That's before a $5.99 delivery fee, and restaurant markup of 15-30%. And another $0.99 if you don't want cold food.

    The silver lining is, this was the last straw for me. Uninstalled. Saving money now instead.

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