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by forgotmylogin2 2224 days ago
So what? Then the restaurant doesn't have to pay a fee.

If the problem is that the delivery services are charging high fees to restaurants, then terminating the relationship with the delivery service solves that problem. If the delivery service wants to make orders like a normal customer without any discounts, that's good for the restaurants.
2 comments
ryanwaggoner 2224 days ago
No, because by doing so, the delivery services are effectively injecting themselves into the middle of the relationship between the customer and the restaurant. Over time, most customers will launch the app when they're hungry in general or for a type of food, and if they don't see a specific restaurant there anymore but they do see competitors that have decent ratings, they'll just order from them.
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forgotmylogin2 2224 days ago
That's a lot of businesses. The local liquor store "injects themselves" between you and Budweiser when they sell you beer. It's not inherently evil or unethical to act as a middleman, especially when you provide additional value that the original business does not.
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battery_cowboy 2224 days ago
Yes, the unethical part is stealing the Google search results, taking the tips from the drivers instead of distributing them, etc. All the stuff you heard about over the past years. If they had an ethical business, we wouldn't be reading this article.
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MVorlm 2224 days ago
There's no "stealing" or theft here. Based on this article, and the comments on this thread, advertising is part of the package/contract. Restaurants can simply not partner with these services.
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battery_cowboy 2224 days ago
The restaurant owners aren't knowledgeable enough in this area to understand the harm from the contracts, they're not dumb, but they don't realize the power they give to the company. That's an unethical practice, to take advantage of someone like that.
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m-ee 2224 days ago
Restaurants don't always have the capacity to make delivery orders and may not want to deal with the logistics of impatient drivers coming in and demanding their food in the middle of a dinner rush. In some cases they've set up fake websites and taken orders for restaurants that don't even offer takeout.

Whatever their reasons for not wanting the business the OP's point was 'they can always opt out' which just isn't true.

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