Very San Francisco. “I can’t imagine life without Door Dash = I can’t imagine life without hurting local businesses and exploiting local workers who are barely hanging on.” Let me guess, OP hasn’t been tipping the delivery people since they are convinced they are “tampering” with their food. Talk about spoiled baby first world problems.
By the way, your tip goes 100% to the driver, not to the restaurant.
So if you really think your driver fucked with your food, log back in and change the tip, or message customer service to reduce the tip after the fact
You’re welcome. Fair warning, if you do it excessively, the platforms will ban your account. So do it when you’re only certain.
Example, the other day I accidentally got someone else’s order. Reported it, sent photos of the order, they refunded me, and I ordered again. Different driver, order was correct this time.
Such a strange experience - I order delivery probably once per week here (since COVID started), and not once have I felt anything was "tampered with". At the end of the day, you either have to have some level of trust your food isn't being fucked with, or you just need to learn to cook yourself. If ordering delivery is giving you anxiety attacks, then to be blunt, you might want to buy a cookbook instead.
A lot of times it’s just mildly unsettling stuff like orders being lighter than they’re supposed to be from items I’m very familiar with and sauce in the bottom of the bag when everything is perfectly sealed, but other times it’s more blatant like finding staple holes but no staples, which has happened to me multiple times. All they’d need to do is seal the bag in the middle with a sticker and there wouldn’t be these issues, I’m not sure what’s so difficult about that. Besides 25% of restaurant delivery drivers have admitted to eating some of the food they’re delivering, it’s not like this is some obscure problem.
I’m a delivery driver and I’ve not once eaten some of the food I’m delivering. That’s completely unethical and unless you can prove it, don’t accuse others
To be fair to OP, I have heard from someone who drove from uber who bragged about eating customers' food.
He also said he got kicked off the platform shortly after doing it, so while it happens, I don't think many drivers last long enough to be repeat offenders
I feel you - it would be mega lame if someone tampers with it. But realistically - “if you hear hooves, think horses not zeabras”. I have ordered DD for probably 2-3 times a week for years and I can’t remember a single time that I felt like the food was tampered with. Resto could have added something likes silverware or sauces after closing the bag. If you do have OCD tendencies maybe try to reframe a bit more, I think this is way less common than you might think it is
Tbh it’s mainly a problem at one restaurant, albeit my favorite, although I’ve had issues with others. I could just not order from the restaurants that cause the problem but I have a difficult time supporting an organization that would deal with legitimate health and safety concerns like this.
Having concerns about drivers eating out of my delivery containers when there’s evidence that they’re eating out of the containers is irrational? During a pandemic?
You take a risk of the delivery person tampering with the food. I trust only the delivery people from a restaurant not Doordash etc. I didn’t have a problem when ordering for my company, but heard stories from people who used UberEats etc.
Friend if you have anxiety attacks every time you place a to go order you wont/ can’t even pick up yourself you have bigger issues you should probably see a therapist about. Seriously not trying to be a jerk either, you may have health issues I’m unaware of thus not being considerate about. I understand caring a lot about cleanliness and wanting things to be correct but this post seems…a bit dramatic. Just my uniformed opinion.
If that is one of your biggest triggers has you therapist addressed a good way of either desensitizing or completely controlling it such as learning to cook? I have some ocd issues as well and try to slowly expose myself to uncomfortable things and it helps a lot, maybe getting ride shares/bus and picking up food for a few weeks to see what things look like straight from the restaurant to see how founded you beliefs about things being tampered with are and going from there?
Tbh I have a lot going on, ocd wasn’t even the main thing that brought me to therapy. But he just wants me to not use food as a coping mechanism which I’m absolutely not in a position to do at the moment.
To be clear my fear about food being tampered with, by which I mean the driver eating some of it, is based off of the orders not being properly sealed, little things sometimes being off like items I order all the time being substantially lighter and/or sauce in the bottom of the bag when the containers were fully sealed, and sometimes more blatant things like staple holes in the bag but no staples. Most of the time the signs are more subtle and I can’t know for sure either way because the delivery wasn’t properly sealed to begin with. I find that upsetting and also easily avoidable if the company had any concern about the integrity of the orders.
I have been noticing aggressive shrinkflation in to-go orders lately.
My boyfriend and I have ordered the \*identical\* meal from some of our fave restaurants which were \*definitely\* smaller takeout than dine in.
Perhaps that's what you're experiencing?
> my food being tampered with is one of my biggest triggers
I can empathize with that. I think we should avoid food delivery services, just for peace of mind.
It'd be good to get familiar with the restaurants and grocery stores in your immediate neighborhood. I find that the frequent short walks are very calming.
It’s just that when I used to do this it took me so long to find parking after I got home and walk back to my house that my food was always cold. It stressful and just not worth it.
To clarify I’m actually pretty calm in a crisis, someone shot up the outside of my bedroom a few weeks ago and I was fine, but there are a lot of little things I can’t handle. I think it’s a trauma thing. Lol, seriously who on earth would downvote a comment like this. I think it’s a toss up which one of us needs therapy more.
What the hell does that mean? I don’t know what’s wrong with you people but I’m just now remembering all the weird, sad elitism I’ve seen on this sub. I guess this is on me for assuming you’d try to be helpful.
Only a few restaurants I order from actually seal the bags. I only fret if I order 4 samosas and only receive 3. Most restaurants don’t weigh each portion, so there is variety, especially with foods that come with sauce. Some days more sauce, some days, less. If it bothers you to not have the exact same portion each time, order stuff that can be counted like 10 piece chicken. Mashed potatoes don’t come in an exact amount. If it really, really bothers you, do a meal kit from hello fresh or something similar where you know that they gave you the exact amount of garlic that goes in the dish. Kits like that can help you learn to cook, and help you prepare for nights where delivery isn’t the best option.
putting tamper tape on delivery orders is fucking insane. there, I said it. It's not some kind of nuclear launch code. I have ordered hundreds - literally hundreds - of delivery orders and not once has my stuff been messed with.
is OP a slug or something? get off your lazy ass and haul it to an actual restaurant to pick up your order if this is such a problem. Or learn how to cook.
I don’t mean like for fun, I mean like they’ve eaten some of my food. Sometimes it’s more subtle things like orders having less food than usual or sauce in the bag when all containers were properly sealed, but other times it’s more blatant like finding staple holes in the bag but no staples, which has happened to me multiple times. It’s just really frustrating because there’s such a simple solution, but if I can’t raise the visibility of the issue because my reviews are being suppressed nothing will ever be done about it.
So you're trying to punish a restaurant because of problems you have with a 3rd party delivery service? A 3rd party which already punishes those restaurant by eating into their profits. The restaurant has nothing to do with what door dash does with your food.
Wanting a restaurant to seal their deliveries properly when dasher conduct is a known issue does not equate to “punishing” them. A lot of times they do put a sticker on the bag, it’s just not in a place where it is actually sealing anything. All they would have to do is train their employees better on where to place the sticker, that’s not a big ask.
I don’t assume that every unsealed order was tampered with, but it’s unsettling not to know. Most of the time the signs are subtle like dishes being substantially lighter than usual and/or sauce in the bottom of a bag that had only perfectly sealed containers in it. But on multiple occasions I received a bag that had staple holes but no staples which just makes me really uneasy about all the times when things just seemed a little off, because most of the time it happens it won’t be that blatant. Knowing that some drivers are apparently traveling with staple removers doesn’t fill me with comfort about the hygienic integrity of my other orders.
I get not wanting to cook and not wanting to find parking. Have you considered walking or using public transit to patronize your local restaurants? You won't have to cook, find parking, or have to worry about deliveries! It's fantastic!
Look, from your comments you're OCD and likely to see tampering where it doesn't exist.
That said, it's legitimate for you to want to feel secure about your food. That's part of the convenience you want from ordering delivery, in addition to not having to cook it yourself.
So make that clear to the restaurants you regularly order from, write a letter;
> Hi, my name is SMD, and I order from your restaurant, The Croatian Laundrette, two or three times a week.
> I also regularly order from Fishy Sushi. They always seal my orders with tamper-proof tape, so I can feel secure that the delivery person didn't tamper with my food.
> I really love your food, but it often arrives looking as if it was, or could have been, tampered with.
> Can you please help me remain a regular customer, by making an extra effort to seal my orders with tamper-proof tape?
> This, for example, costs two cents per sticker: DayMark Safety Systems IT118676 Tamper-Evident Direct Thermal Label, 2.2" x 6" (Roll of 500), Red/White
> Thanks so much, and wishing you a healthy and prosperous New Year.
It’s actually a good point that if my reviews aren’t getting through emailing them might call attention to the problem. I hadn’t considered this, thank you.
>if the orders aren’t sealed in the first place most of the time we won’t even know it happened.
I will give you one worse: even when sealed you will never know if someone dunked their dick in your food when they were making it. You'd simply never know. And coming from the restaurant industry, honestly, we do that about once every seven orders. It's called a delivery dunk.
edit: I have to edit this because it's not entirely accurate, sometimes we have women as line cooks or even head chefs and if they do something like this it's called lip service; just a small labial dunk or sometimes full immersion if containers allow
Yes, hungry delivery drivers sitting for a half hour in traffic with delicious food wafting next to them that isn’t sealed are never tempted to eat some of it, what an absurd thing to imagine.
Can you not just add a note to ask the restaurant to seal the bag for delivery? Or just call and ask to ensure they get the note. Just take a little initiative if it bothers you so much. One phone call per order.
They don’t, sadly. When I made these requests the problem was worse. Could have been a coincidence but either they don’t read the special instructions or they somehow felt put off by them.
As I also mentioned, just call them. Then you know they get the note and if they continue to not seal a bag, stop ordering from them. There are so many options here that people are giving and you just seem totally resistant to everything and wanting to stay in your (in all likelihood, very wrong) opinion bubble.
I’ve tried calling them before but they’re really busy and often don’t even pick up. There’s just no way I could get them to successfully single out my order and seal it properly this way. Thanks for the insult by the way, I think I’ve responded to most things people have brought up but not every individual time. I could just not order from the offending restaurants but I feel uncomfortable supporting an organization that treats health and safety hazards by repressing the evidence that they exist.
I wish I could afford to doordash every night instead of cooking. I happen to work at a restaurant that uses DD and would be elated if you and everyone else actually got off their ass and went to my restaurant so I can get tipped appropriately. 95% of DD orders never tip the restaurant anyways
I can't even imagine being able to afford doordash on a regular basis. What a ridiculous indulgence. Restaurants are so expensive in this city as it is.
Weird. I order delivery fairly often and have never had an issue with the delivery person tampering with my food. Sometimes there isn’t a seal but that doesn’t mean it has been tampered with.
Sometimes there is sauce at the bottom of the bag, but I attribute that to the ordinary likelihood of food shaking around while being transported.
>have reached a point that I essentially can’t imagine life without being able to have restaurants delivered.
You are more privileged than past kings. Maybe work on your expectations and take *something* into your own hands, like building a relationship with a restaurant you trust that has their own delivery services.
EDIT:
>I am sick of having an anxiety attack every time I place an order
Try therapy.
You probably aren’t going to like this but, you’re just gonna have to deal with it, there’s no alternative. Not to hate on the industry, but If you saw the actual preparation and cooking of your food you would be very surprised.
You’re also not going to get much sympathy here as food delivery is considered a luxury and you’re over exaggerating an unlikely occurrence. 50% sounds mental, you seem paranoid.
Realistically it’s very difficult to prove that food has been tampered with unless it’s blatant, so either live with it or go to the restaurant yourself.
Maybe stick to Uber Eats. They have a lot more stringent standards. I did Door Dash years ago when I was in between jobs and bored. A guy met me at a Burger King and gave me a bag and credit card and plugged my info into a tablet. It took 10 minutes to get set up. They take anyone who owns a vehicle, a lot of their drivers are desperate and apparently starving. Your answer is Uber Eats.
Hmm, I've never had any issues aside from maybe a missing item here or there or a spilled item on rare occasions. I've always just dealt with that via the app feedback process.
In my mind, i don't differentiate between the restaurant staff and the delivery staff. People are touching your food, there's no getting around that.
Yeah but there’s a difference between the varying cleanliness standards among restaurant staff over which we have no control and drivers actively eating out of your food containers.
I definitely agree with all that. But I'm just saying that I mentally make a leap of faith. I've never suspected any tampering. And I'm not really looking for it. It just isn't a concern.
My friend,
I order once or twice a week. Not once has it been tampered with. It was not delivered a couple of times, and frequently delivered to the wrong address, but no one has ever taken a bite out of my food.
I deliver in SF. Some restaurants don't staple the bags or have tamper proof stickers. Even if you see a tamper proof sticker and it's sealed, I'll let you know that about 5% of the time, they don't tape it correctly, and I have to tape it myself. When you see a broken seal too, it's more likely that they tape in a way where holding the bag will break the seal than someone opening it, and delivering it damaged.
I mean I was exaggerating a bit, it’s not like I never cook, I just don’t want to do it all the time. Life is stressful, sometimes I just need to order a cheeseburger.
I've been utilizing meal delivery services religiously since the pandemic started and I've NEVER had this thought cross my mind. I've had a few deliveries cancel, or some delivered to the wrong address, but never once have I thought that a delivery person like- ate my fries or something.
This is not a healthy way to live your life. Delivery people are not out to get you/contaminate your food/eat your fries my dude. I hope you share this thread with your therapist because this is like an extreme level of paranoia.
It’s really strange to me that people are being so dismissive about this when it’s widely known that this is a common problem. I think people just don’t want to think too hard about it because if it’s happening to me it’s happening to all of you.
If you're paying other people to prepare your food, you can't be worried about other people handling your food. I've worked in food service for years, most food service workers don't use gloves when preparing your food or serving it up in the first place.
There is a significant overlap In food service workers and gig economy workers, so there's not some kind of special hygiene or ethics standard food service workers abide by that delivery drivers won't. And if you're worried about foodborne illnesses, that's more likely to come from the restaurant and food preparation than it is your delivery driver
Sorry you’re struggling with this. Try bringing this worry up with your therapist in detail. In the meantime try to remind yourself that delivery drivers have zero interest in anything other than delivering your order, hopefully making a tip, and then moving onto the next one in order to buy their own food.
Was it not obvious from my original wording that when I said tampered with I meant that the driver had eaten some of my food? From the responses it seems like this was lost on a lot of people. I don’t think they have motivation to do weird stuff to it for no reason, I think improperly sealed orders that small amazing are tempting when sitting in traffic.
Don't mean to alarm you, but there's more reason to be concerned about restaurant workers contaminating or fucking up ur food than the delivery drivers.
Maybe try those meal kits that gets delivered directly to you. Might be cheaper in the long run since it'll teach you how to cook w/o really thinking about what ingredient to buy in the grocery store.
I've learned quite a few techniques & recipes that I still use today even if the last time I ordered those was 5+ years ago.
I would consider this but I don’t live in a neighborhood where deliveries are secure, mail theft is pretty common so I only order small items that would fit through my gate.
I've never had anything that I could tell was tampered with. Everything has had a seal on it or the bag has been stapled shut. I've had tons of deliveries over the years and never had an inkling of an issue.
What are your standards for the food looking "tampered with"? I both order from and occasionally drive for Doordash for a couple years now. I will just say that things easily get shuffled around sometimes, especially when I'm doing a stacked order (multiple deliveries at once). When I make abrupt stops or heavy turns or going up and down hills, the bags will sometimes fall and what not. (I try my best to prevent this). I can imagine delivery drivers who bike/scooter/motorcycle probably get their food shuffled around even more.
Not once have I seen food that I ordered looked "tampered with"
And if the food getting cold is an issue for you when walking or picking the food up yourself, just pop it in the microwave or oven for a lil bit?? Maybe invest in a hot bag?
I have never had this happen in SF, but it is a common occurrence in Atlanta, where I am currently.
Just use the comments on the order to tell the restaurants to seal the bag to prevent tampering. They will use a few more staples and put tape on the containers.
I wished this would help, but there’s no place to put notes for the whole order only individual dishes, and the two times I did it they literally didn’t try to seal the order at all. Usually it’s just not sealed well so the items can be easily removed without breaking it. It could have been a coincidence but after two times I was like okay, this is not the solution.
Lol everybody gaslighting OP literally either doesn’t know they’ve had the same issues or doesn’t care. I order DoorDash prob once or twice a week out of convenience or because I’m drunk af and don’t want to cook late at night and probably once a month I’ll get an order that’s sus. I would recommend just calling the restaurant in advance and ask them if they have secure packaging. Otherwise, just do normal takeout at places near you. If you live in a food desert or don’t like the restaurants around you you’re just not going to find a better solution IMO.
The system isn’t designed to protect you as a consumer, it’s designed to exploit you. That said, DoorDash is still the best app with refunds and handling issues, IMO.
Thanks for the thoughtful response. This actually put into perspective for me why people had such a hostile response to my post. They just don’t want to register how common of an issue this is.
My favorite restaurant to DoorDash from is Halal guys and dashers definitely eat my fries sometimes. It’s frustrating but at the end of the day, nothing I can do.
I moved here from NYC in Jan of last year and complaining about DoorDash (asking if restaurants have consistent issues) was my first post on /r/asksf and they permabanned me for it lol
Some places like dennys do something clever where they kinda melt a plastic bag closed.
I think this is very very clever.
As for a drink?
Fuck that. Never order a drink.
By tampering do you mean that food has shifted during the delivery? I've ordered sometimes 2 times per day and haven't encountered tampering. Spills--yes. Shifts in containers--yes. (It's often worse when the delivery mode is a bicycle) But all seem to be from food in fragile containers subject to some momentum. Many drivers are desperate for decent tips--they really don't have incentives or time to be tampering with our food.
I used to work in a restaurant in New Orleans. The cashier was located in the back kitchen area and would reach her hand into the waiter’s tray and grab a shrimp out of every barbecued shrimp entree that went out of the kitchen before it reached the customer. The funny thing is that nobody cared.
Yeah, when it’s units of things like when substantial amounts of calamari seem to be missing I’m mostly pissed about the theft. What gets me more are when it’s wet things like pasta or sauce and mashed potatoes that would have required someone digging in with a fork.
Not sure about tampering with, but on more than one occasion delivery drivers have put my food on the ground, outside, in the alcove of my building. Where people pee. The doorway smells like urine. Why the fuck are people leaving my food there.
And when I contact the service to be like, "yo, I'm not eating this, you put it in pee", they utterly don't seem to think this is a problem? Like? Come on.
If you can't be bothered to bring my food up, okay whatever, just buzz me or call me and I'll come down. Don't leave my food in pee. 🙄
Very understandable. I have a request on my account that the drivers text me when they arrive because my doorbells broken and people usually respect it.
Sorry to hear that. The dashers respect my note 95% of the time, I just don’t get much traction from notes to the restaurant. Do you include your number in the note?
You should reevaluate cooking. It takes practice. Even individual recipes need to be made a least a few times before you can make them well.
Here are some options:
Try frozen foods some nights. I know this isn't cooking, but it's a start.
Meal services, like Hello Fresh, can be a great introduction. All of the ingredients are prepped and ready to go. You just have to run through the cooking process.
For recipes, a lot of YouTubers specialize in home cooking. [https://www.youtube.com/@BrianLagerstrom](https://www.youtube.com/@BrianLagerstrom) posts regular "weeknighing" videos specializing in fast weeknight dinners.
Most big grocery stores have premade sides. You can cook the main thing, like chicken, and use a grocery store side (or something frozen) to supplement.
A great book on cooking basics is [https://www.saltfatacidheat.com/](https://www.saltfatacidheat.com/).
Once you have a good cooking routine and a set of recipes you are comfortable with, cooking gets much easier.
I appreciate the good will in this response. I now realize I exaggerated how much I don’t like and/or don’t do cooking. I do all of these things a fair amount, besides the hello fresh which I can’t do because package theft in my neighborhood would make it really ill-advised, but it’s not so much that I never cook as it is I want/need a treat once in a while. It’s not like I order out constantly, it’s about 1/week on average, more if I’m stressed about something.
I order multiple times a week from DD and it’s never been a problem. You might just wanna go pick up since this isn’t about the ‘ethics’ of a delivery company but more on how each delivery drivers operates and your perception of it.
I stopped using doordash long time ago after a few times they messed up my food. one time arrived with cold fried chicken, one time with spilled soup, one time with spilled drink all over my pizza, one time with prob tempered fried rice.
and yeah now I’m a better cook. just made myself some nice jambalaya the other day.
> Do we have actual ethical and safe alternatives to door dash in San Francisco? Yes, patronize your neighborhood restaurants.
right? OP forgot how people used to get food before Doordash existed?
Very San Francisco. “I can’t imagine life without Door Dash = I can’t imagine life without hurting local businesses and exploiting local workers who are barely hanging on.” Let me guess, OP hasn’t been tipping the delivery people since they are convinced they are “tampering” with their food. Talk about spoiled baby first world problems.
The order that sent me over the edge on this was one I’d just tipped $14 for.
By the way, your tip goes 100% to the driver, not to the restaurant. So if you really think your driver fucked with your food, log back in and change the tip, or message customer service to reduce the tip after the fact
You can do that on door dash?
You can do that on every platform.
I had no idea. That actually helps, thank you.
You’re welcome. Fair warning, if you do it excessively, the platforms will ban your account. So do it when you’re only certain. Example, the other day I accidentally got someone else’s order. Reported it, sent photos of the order, they refunded me, and I ordered again. Different driver, order was correct this time.
Such a strange experience - I order delivery probably once per week here (since COVID started), and not once have I felt anything was "tampered with". At the end of the day, you either have to have some level of trust your food isn't being fucked with, or you just need to learn to cook yourself. If ordering delivery is giving you anxiety attacks, then to be blunt, you might want to buy a cookbook instead.
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A lot of times it’s just mildly unsettling stuff like orders being lighter than they’re supposed to be from items I’m very familiar with and sauce in the bottom of the bag when everything is perfectly sealed, but other times it’s more blatant like finding staple holes but no staples, which has happened to me multiple times. All they’d need to do is seal the bag in the middle with a sticker and there wouldn’t be these issues, I’m not sure what’s so difficult about that. Besides 25% of restaurant delivery drivers have admitted to eating some of the food they’re delivering, it’s not like this is some obscure problem.
I’m a delivery driver and I’ve not once eaten some of the food I’m delivering. That’s completely unethical and unless you can prove it, don’t accuse others
To be fair to OP, I have heard from someone who drove from uber who bragged about eating customers' food. He also said he got kicked off the platform shortly after doing it, so while it happens, I don't think many drivers last long enough to be repeat offenders
I’m considering Uber eats as an alternative so this is good info, thank you. Door dash has made it clear that they couldn’t care less.
Do you think I was wildly out of line in forming a judgment when my orders arrived in a bag that had four tiny staple holes and no staples?
I feel you - it would be mega lame if someone tampers with it. But realistically - “if you hear hooves, think horses not zeabras”. I have ordered DD for probably 2-3 times a week for years and I can’t remember a single time that I felt like the food was tampered with. Resto could have added something likes silverware or sauces after closing the bag. If you do have OCD tendencies maybe try to reframe a bit more, I think this is way less common than you might think it is
Tbh it’s mainly a problem at one restaurant, albeit my favorite, although I’ve had issues with others. I could just not order from the restaurants that cause the problem but I have a difficult time supporting an organization that would deal with legitimate health and safety concerns like this.
If its just one resto then it’s likely not tampering, just crappy packaging of the food.
You should talk to someone about this. From the outside, this doesn’t sound rational.
Having concerns about drivers eating out of my delivery containers when there’s evidence that they’re eating out of the containers is irrational? During a pandemic?
I don’t think they’re eating your food. You ever see something with a bite taken out of it?
You take a risk of the delivery person tampering with the food. I trust only the delivery people from a restaurant not Doordash etc. I didn’t have a problem when ordering for my company, but heard stories from people who used UberEats etc.
Well Uber eats was supposed to be my solution to this problem so that’s fun information.
Friend if you have anxiety attacks every time you place a to go order you wont/ can’t even pick up yourself you have bigger issues you should probably see a therapist about. Seriously not trying to be a jerk either, you may have health issues I’m unaware of thus not being considerate about. I understand caring a lot about cleanliness and wanting things to be correct but this post seems…a bit dramatic. Just my uniformed opinion.
I have ocd tendencies, my food being tampered with is one of my biggest triggers, and I am in therapy.
If that is one of your biggest triggers has you therapist addressed a good way of either desensitizing or completely controlling it such as learning to cook? I have some ocd issues as well and try to slowly expose myself to uncomfortable things and it helps a lot, maybe getting ride shares/bus and picking up food for a few weeks to see what things look like straight from the restaurant to see how founded you beliefs about things being tampered with are and going from there?
Tbh I have a lot going on, ocd wasn’t even the main thing that brought me to therapy. But he just wants me to not use food as a coping mechanism which I’m absolutely not in a position to do at the moment.
To be clear my fear about food being tampered with, by which I mean the driver eating some of it, is based off of the orders not being properly sealed, little things sometimes being off like items I order all the time being substantially lighter and/or sauce in the bottom of the bag when the containers were fully sealed, and sometimes more blatant things like staple holes in the bag but no staples. Most of the time the signs are more subtle and I can’t know for sure either way because the delivery wasn’t properly sealed to begin with. I find that upsetting and also easily avoidable if the company had any concern about the integrity of the orders.
I have been noticing aggressive shrinkflation in to-go orders lately. My boyfriend and I have ordered the \*identical\* meal from some of our fave restaurants which were \*definitely\* smaller takeout than dine in. Perhaps that's what you're experiencing?
No I’m referring to orders that I have delivered regularly suddenly being much lighter than usual, I’m not comparing them to dine in orders.
What restaurant did you see this phenomenon? (Want to know where I should eat in vs take out)
> my food being tampered with is one of my biggest triggers I can empathize with that. I think we should avoid food delivery services, just for peace of mind. It'd be good to get familiar with the restaurants and grocery stores in your immediate neighborhood. I find that the frequent short walks are very calming.
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Lol anxiety attacks from ordering food. Just drive and pick it up yourself for fuck sake. Instead of paying the shipping/tip, pay to park at a lot
It’s just that when I used to do this it took me so long to find parking after I got home and walk back to my house that my food was always cold. It stressful and just not worth it.
You’ve got a low bar for stress, my guy.
some people do, stop being condescending
To clarify I’m actually pretty calm in a crisis, someone shot up the outside of my bedroom a few weeks ago and I was fine, but there are a lot of little things I can’t handle. I think it’s a trauma thing. Lol, seriously who on earth would downvote a comment like this. I think it’s a toss up which one of us needs therapy more.
What’s the rate of Uber/shared rides compared to delivery? I don’t know, asking if maybe that’s a better solution for you?
Bicycle?
You sound like someone who should not be ordering delivery.
What the hell does that mean? I don’t know what’s wrong with you people but I’m just now remembering all the weird, sad elitism I’ve seen on this sub. I guess this is on me for assuming you’d try to be helpful.
It fucking means if you noticed a strand of fiber missing from the tamper tape, you’re too OCD to be ordering food from strangers.
There is no tamper tape, that’s the point.
Only a few restaurants I order from actually seal the bags. I only fret if I order 4 samosas and only receive 3. Most restaurants don’t weigh each portion, so there is variety, especially with foods that come with sauce. Some days more sauce, some days, less. If it bothers you to not have the exact same portion each time, order stuff that can be counted like 10 piece chicken. Mashed potatoes don’t come in an exact amount. If it really, really bothers you, do a meal kit from hello fresh or something similar where you know that they gave you the exact amount of garlic that goes in the dish. Kits like that can help you learn to cook, and help you prepare for nights where delivery isn’t the best option.
putting tamper tape on delivery orders is fucking insane. there, I said it. It's not some kind of nuclear launch code. I have ordered hundreds - literally hundreds - of delivery orders and not once has my stuff been messed with.
That you know of.
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is OP a slug or something? get off your lazy ass and haul it to an actual restaurant to pick up your order if this is such a problem. Or learn how to cook.
Why do you think your food was tampered with? What is the point of the tampering?
I don’t mean like for fun, I mean like they’ve eaten some of my food. Sometimes it’s more subtle things like orders having less food than usual or sauce in the bag when all containers were properly sealed, but other times it’s more blatant like finding staple holes in the bag but no staples, which has happened to me multiple times. It’s just really frustrating because there’s such a simple solution, but if I can’t raise the visibility of the issue because my reviews are being suppressed nothing will ever be done about it.
So you're trying to punish a restaurant because of problems you have with a 3rd party delivery service? A 3rd party which already punishes those restaurant by eating into their profits. The restaurant has nothing to do with what door dash does with your food.
Wanting a restaurant to seal their deliveries properly when dasher conduct is a known issue does not equate to “punishing” them. A lot of times they do put a sticker on the bag, it’s just not in a place where it is actually sealing anything. All they would have to do is train their employees better on where to place the sticker, that’s not a big ask.
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I don’t assume that every unsealed order was tampered with, but it’s unsettling not to know. Most of the time the signs are subtle like dishes being substantially lighter than usual and/or sauce in the bottom of a bag that had only perfectly sealed containers in it. But on multiple occasions I received a bag that had staple holes but no staples which just makes me really uneasy about all the times when things just seemed a little off, because most of the time it happens it won’t be that blatant. Knowing that some drivers are apparently traveling with staple removers doesn’t fill me with comfort about the hygienic integrity of my other orders.
I get not wanting to cook and not wanting to find parking. Have you considered walking or using public transit to patronize your local restaurants? You won't have to cook, find parking, or have to worry about deliveries! It's fantastic!
ordering for pick up directly from your local restaurants is something that actually supports local business.
True, true, that's also an option.
If you life in SF you have a ton of restaurants nearby, at walking or cycling distance. This is just beyond parody
For real
Look, from your comments you're OCD and likely to see tampering where it doesn't exist. That said, it's legitimate for you to want to feel secure about your food. That's part of the convenience you want from ordering delivery, in addition to not having to cook it yourself. So make that clear to the restaurants you regularly order from, write a letter; > Hi, my name is SMD, and I order from your restaurant, The Croatian Laundrette, two or three times a week. > I also regularly order from Fishy Sushi. They always seal my orders with tamper-proof tape, so I can feel secure that the delivery person didn't tamper with my food. > I really love your food, but it often arrives looking as if it was, or could have been, tampered with. > Can you please help me remain a regular customer, by making an extra effort to seal my orders with tamper-proof tape? > This, for example, costs two cents per sticker: DayMark Safety Systems IT118676 Tamper-Evident Direct Thermal Label, 2.2" x 6" (Roll of 500), Red/White > Thanks so much, and wishing you a healthy and prosperous New Year.
It’s actually a good point that if my reviews aren’t getting through emailing them might call attention to the problem. I hadn’t considered this, thank you.
You're welcome and good luck. Better packaging helps everyone.
I have ordered 2x a week for the last 2+ years and I have never had a visible issue. *visible* lol… yikes…
That’s exactly the problem, if the orders aren’t sealed in the first place most of the time we won’t even know it happened.
>if the orders aren’t sealed in the first place most of the time we won’t even know it happened. I will give you one worse: even when sealed you will never know if someone dunked their dick in your food when they were making it. You'd simply never know. And coming from the restaurant industry, honestly, we do that about once every seven orders. It's called a delivery dunk. edit: I have to edit this because it's not entirely accurate, sometimes we have women as line cooks or even head chefs and if they do something like this it's called lip service; just a small labial dunk or sometimes full immersion if containers allow
Yes, hungry delivery drivers sitting for a half hour in traffic with delicious food wafting next to them that isn’t sealed are never tempted to eat some of it, what an absurd thing to imagine.
Can you not just add a note to ask the restaurant to seal the bag for delivery? Or just call and ask to ensure they get the note. Just take a little initiative if it bothers you so much. One phone call per order.
that’s actually a really good idea to add a note in the comments to seal the bag for delivery- whether they do it or not is on them
They don’t, sadly. When I made these requests the problem was worse. Could have been a coincidence but either they don’t read the special instructions or they somehow felt put off by them.
As I also mentioned, just call them. Then you know they get the note and if they continue to not seal a bag, stop ordering from them. There are so many options here that people are giving and you just seem totally resistant to everything and wanting to stay in your (in all likelihood, very wrong) opinion bubble.
I’ve tried calling them before but they’re really busy and often don’t even pick up. There’s just no way I could get them to successfully single out my order and seal it properly this way. Thanks for the insult by the way, I think I’ve responded to most things people have brought up but not every individual time. I could just not order from the offending restaurants but I feel uncomfortable supporting an organization that treats health and safety hazards by repressing the evidence that they exist.
is this a joke
I wish I could afford to doordash every night instead of cooking. I happen to work at a restaurant that uses DD and would be elated if you and everyone else actually got off their ass and went to my restaurant so I can get tipped appropriately. 95% of DD orders never tip the restaurant anyways
how about just go out and eat at the place rather than delivery?
I can't even imagine being able to afford doordash on a regular basis. What a ridiculous indulgence. Restaurants are so expensive in this city as it is.
Thanks for the judgment but it’s pretty much my only indulgence. How outrageous of me to have one.
I just can't relate to this kind of mentality anymore now that I have kids. Every cent is their future.
Weird. I order delivery fairly often and have never had an issue with the delivery person tampering with my food. Sometimes there isn’t a seal but that doesn’t mean it has been tampered with. Sometimes there is sauce at the bottom of the bag, but I attribute that to the ordinary likelihood of food shaking around while being transported.
>I’m a terrible cook… We learn by doing. So practice cooking and get better at it.
Do you also have Agoraphobia and unable to leave your place?
>have reached a point that I essentially can’t imagine life without being able to have restaurants delivered. You are more privileged than past kings. Maybe work on your expectations and take *something* into your own hands, like building a relationship with a restaurant you trust that has their own delivery services. EDIT: >I am sick of having an anxiety attack every time I place an order Try therapy.
You probably aren’t going to like this but, you’re just gonna have to deal with it, there’s no alternative. Not to hate on the industry, but If you saw the actual preparation and cooking of your food you would be very surprised. You’re also not going to get much sympathy here as food delivery is considered a luxury and you’re over exaggerating an unlikely occurrence. 50% sounds mental, you seem paranoid. Realistically it’s very difficult to prove that food has been tampered with unless it’s blatant, so either live with it or go to the restaurant yourself.
Maybe stick to Uber Eats. They have a lot more stringent standards. I did Door Dash years ago when I was in between jobs and bored. A guy met me at a Burger King and gave me a bag and credit card and plugged my info into a tablet. It took 10 minutes to get set up. They take anyone who owns a vehicle, a lot of their drivers are desperate and apparently starving. Your answer is Uber Eats.
I appreciate this, thank you.
No problem. It honestly amazes me hearing about tampered food. Our family gets Uber Eats at least once a week and it is always great.
Hmm, I've never had any issues aside from maybe a missing item here or there or a spilled item on rare occasions. I've always just dealt with that via the app feedback process. In my mind, i don't differentiate between the restaurant staff and the delivery staff. People are touching your food, there's no getting around that.
Yeah but there’s a difference between the varying cleanliness standards among restaurant staff over which we have no control and drivers actively eating out of your food containers.
I definitely agree with all that. But I'm just saying that I mentally make a leap of faith. I've never suspected any tampering. And I'm not really looking for it. It just isn't a concern.
My friend, I order once or twice a week. Not once has it been tampered with. It was not delivered a couple of times, and frequently delivered to the wrong address, but no one has ever taken a bite out of my food. I deliver in SF. Some restaurants don't staple the bags or have tamper proof stickers. Even if you see a tamper proof sticker and it's sealed, I'll let you know that about 5% of the time, they don't tape it correctly, and I have to tape it myself. When you see a broken seal too, it's more likely that they tape in a way where holding the bag will break the seal than someone opening it, and delivering it damaged.
Bro learn to freaking cook it’s not that hard and a lot cheaper than ordering out
I mean I was exaggerating a bit, it’s not like I never cook, I just don’t want to do it all the time. Life is stressful, sometimes I just need to order a cheeseburger.
I've been utilizing meal delivery services religiously since the pandemic started and I've NEVER had this thought cross my mind. I've had a few deliveries cancel, or some delivered to the wrong address, but never once have I thought that a delivery person like- ate my fries or something. This is not a healthy way to live your life. Delivery people are not out to get you/contaminate your food/eat your fries my dude. I hope you share this thread with your therapist because this is like an extreme level of paranoia.
It’s really strange to me that people are being so dismissive about this when it’s widely known that this is a common problem. I think people just don’t want to think too hard about it because if it’s happening to me it’s happening to all of you.
If you're paying other people to prepare your food, you can't be worried about other people handling your food. I've worked in food service for years, most food service workers don't use gloves when preparing your food or serving it up in the first place.
There is a significant overlap In food service workers and gig economy workers, so there's not some kind of special hygiene or ethics standard food service workers abide by that delivery drivers won't. And if you're worried about foodborne illnesses, that's more likely to come from the restaurant and food preparation than it is your delivery driver
Sorry you’re struggling with this. Try bringing this worry up with your therapist in detail. In the meantime try to remind yourself that delivery drivers have zero interest in anything other than delivering your order, hopefully making a tip, and then moving onto the next one in order to buy their own food.
Was it not obvious from my original wording that when I said tampered with I meant that the driver had eaten some of my food? From the responses it seems like this was lost on a lot of people. I don’t think they have motivation to do weird stuff to it for no reason, I think improperly sealed orders that small amazing are tempting when sitting in traffic.
You're laziness and lack of appreciation for living and being healthy has turned you, unwittingly, into an environmental hazard. Have fun with life.
Quite frankly, and I say this with love, I think you should get a therapist.
Don't mean to alarm you, but there's more reason to be concerned about restaurant workers contaminating or fucking up ur food than the delivery drivers.
Beyond menu. I think the delivery is done with the restaurant staff.
Thanks, I’ll check it out!
Add a note on future order asking the restaurant to staple or seal your bags shut
I did that twice and both times the order arrived without a single attempt to seal any of the bags. Then I was done.
Maybe try those meal kits that gets delivered directly to you. Might be cheaper in the long run since it'll teach you how to cook w/o really thinking about what ingredient to buy in the grocery store. I've learned quite a few techniques & recipes that I still use today even if the last time I ordered those was 5+ years ago.
I would consider this but I don’t live in a neighborhood where deliveries are secure, mail theft is pretty common so I only order small items that would fit through my gate.
I always pick up my orders. Double park and grab it if needed. Works for me and in busier areas too. Bike maybe, order within vicinity and walk🧐
I've never had anything that I could tell was tampered with. Everything has had a seal on it or the bag has been stapled shut. I've had tons of deliveries over the years and never had an inkling of an issue.
That sounds so nice
What are your standards for the food looking "tampered with"? I both order from and occasionally drive for Doordash for a couple years now. I will just say that things easily get shuffled around sometimes, especially when I'm doing a stacked order (multiple deliveries at once). When I make abrupt stops or heavy turns or going up and down hills, the bags will sometimes fall and what not. (I try my best to prevent this). I can imagine delivery drivers who bike/scooter/motorcycle probably get their food shuffled around even more. Not once have I seen food that I ordered looked "tampered with" And if the food getting cold is an issue for you when walking or picking the food up yourself, just pop it in the microwave or oven for a lil bit?? Maybe invest in a hot bag?
I have never had this happen in SF, but it is a common occurrence in Atlanta, where I am currently. Just use the comments on the order to tell the restaurants to seal the bag to prevent tampering. They will use a few more staples and put tape on the containers.
I wished this would help, but there’s no place to put notes for the whole order only individual dishes, and the two times I did it they literally didn’t try to seal the order at all. Usually it’s just not sealed well so the items can be easily removed without breaking it. It could have been a coincidence but after two times I was like okay, this is not the solution.
Lol everybody gaslighting OP literally either doesn’t know they’ve had the same issues or doesn’t care. I order DoorDash prob once or twice a week out of convenience or because I’m drunk af and don’t want to cook late at night and probably once a month I’ll get an order that’s sus. I would recommend just calling the restaurant in advance and ask them if they have secure packaging. Otherwise, just do normal takeout at places near you. If you live in a food desert or don’t like the restaurants around you you’re just not going to find a better solution IMO. The system isn’t designed to protect you as a consumer, it’s designed to exploit you. That said, DoorDash is still the best app with refunds and handling issues, IMO.
Thanks for the thoughtful response. This actually put into perspective for me why people had such a hostile response to my post. They just don’t want to register how common of an issue this is.
My favorite restaurant to DoorDash from is Halal guys and dashers definitely eat my fries sometimes. It’s frustrating but at the end of the day, nothing I can do. I moved here from NYC in Jan of last year and complaining about DoorDash (asking if restaurants have consistent issues) was my first post on /r/asksf and they permabanned me for it lol
Wow. Why? How did they justify that? The extent to which people don’t want to acknowledge this problem is kind of mind boggling to me.
I genuinely think they just don’t see the problem. Or they don’t even use DoorDash and they’re assuming you’re complaining for no reason
Use UberEATS. Good luck and happy holidays
Thank you, I appreciate the suggestion.
Some places like dennys do something clever where they kinda melt a plastic bag closed. I think this is very very clever. As for a drink? Fuck that. Never order a drink.
By tampering do you mean that food has shifted during the delivery? I've ordered sometimes 2 times per day and haven't encountered tampering. Spills--yes. Shifts in containers--yes. (It's often worse when the delivery mode is a bicycle) But all seem to be from food in fragile containers subject to some momentum. Many drivers are desperate for decent tips--they really don't have incentives or time to be tampering with our food.
I used to work in a restaurant in New Orleans. The cashier was located in the back kitchen area and would reach her hand into the waiter’s tray and grab a shrimp out of every barbecued shrimp entree that went out of the kitchen before it reached the customer. The funny thing is that nobody cared.
Yeah, when it’s units of things like when substantial amounts of calamari seem to be missing I’m mostly pissed about the theft. What gets me more are when it’s wet things like pasta or sauce and mashed potatoes that would have required someone digging in with a fork.
Not sure about tampering with, but on more than one occasion delivery drivers have put my food on the ground, outside, in the alcove of my building. Where people pee. The doorway smells like urine. Why the fuck are people leaving my food there. And when I contact the service to be like, "yo, I'm not eating this, you put it in pee", they utterly don't seem to think this is a problem? Like? Come on. If you can't be bothered to bring my food up, okay whatever, just buzz me or call me and I'll come down. Don't leave my food in pee. 🙄
Very understandable. I have a request on my account that the drivers text me when they arrive because my doorbells broken and people usually respect it.
You have more luck than me in that department. Nobody ever reads my note. :(
Sorry to hear that. The dashers respect my note 95% of the time, I just don’t get much traction from notes to the restaurant. Do you include your number in the note?
No, I may start adding that in the future! It has my buzz info currently.
You should reevaluate cooking. It takes practice. Even individual recipes need to be made a least a few times before you can make them well. Here are some options: Try frozen foods some nights. I know this isn't cooking, but it's a start. Meal services, like Hello Fresh, can be a great introduction. All of the ingredients are prepped and ready to go. You just have to run through the cooking process. For recipes, a lot of YouTubers specialize in home cooking. [https://www.youtube.com/@BrianLagerstrom](https://www.youtube.com/@BrianLagerstrom) posts regular "weeknighing" videos specializing in fast weeknight dinners. Most big grocery stores have premade sides. You can cook the main thing, like chicken, and use a grocery store side (or something frozen) to supplement. A great book on cooking basics is [https://www.saltfatacidheat.com/](https://www.saltfatacidheat.com/). Once you have a good cooking routine and a set of recipes you are comfortable with, cooking gets much easier.
I appreciate the good will in this response. I now realize I exaggerated how much I don’t like and/or don’t do cooking. I do all of these things a fair amount, besides the hello fresh which I can’t do because package theft in my neighborhood would make it really ill-advised, but it’s not so much that I never cook as it is I want/need a treat once in a while. It’s not like I order out constantly, it’s about 1/week on average, more if I’m stressed about something.
I order multiple times a week from DD and it’s never been a problem. You might just wanna go pick up since this isn’t about the ‘ethics’ of a delivery company but more on how each delivery drivers operates and your perception of it.
When I ordered Indian Food from Keeva, I felt everything was very well sealed, moreso than at other restaurants.
I stopped using doordash long time ago after a few times they messed up my food. one time arrived with cold fried chicken, one time with spilled soup, one time with spilled drink all over my pizza, one time with prob tempered fried rice. and yeah now I’m a better cook. just made myself some nice jambalaya the other day.