The dark side of food ordering apps

We look at the role aggregators play in food ordering, and hotel bookings, before revealing the simple way to save money and help your community.
Our thanks to Douglas Rushkoff for speaking to us.
#deliveroo #justeat #ubereats #bookingdotcom #aggregator #delivery #hotels #ireland #london #uk #netherlands #localism #restaurants #fooddelivery #canada #australia #ireland #newyork #grubhub #discount

[@cshiels14]

Great video, so nice to see well produced Irish content

[@TheCovehustler]

One of very few channels where problem not only pointed out, but also a solution is proposed. Awesome job! Thank you!

[@krombopulos_michael]

Thought this would be an April Fools video at first but then it was just pretty good advice

[@nickdelehanty]

Another thought provoking video - I just wish the choices on deliveroo were a lot healthier !!

[@Aldrahill]

Yeah I can only agree with this, especially as someone with food allergies in their family - the apps simply do not care or ensure your safety, whereas genuine local restaurants (even chain ones) have the advantage of being able to SPEAK to them and actually get what you need.

[@DJKONNECTDUB]

Brilliant video as usual lads ❤

[@joshuafitzgeraldeypie9557]

Another fantastic video, well done!

[@Andy-jb8me]

Got a just eat ad before and after watching this video 😂

[@polysee]

You’ll know for next time 😀

[@ShapeyFiend]

If I ring up my local takeaways and pick up my order its half the price so it's never been a tough decision for me. I only live a mile out of town so I can be in 20 different places in 5mins.

[@eIIemenopee]

Another thought provoking viddy

[@Yogington]

Solid video, although I wish you'd touched on the criminal payment practices these aggregator apps use with their gig workers . Can't call em employees, or the practices would be illegal.

[@nologeo]

❤

[@talideon]

I mean, who wouldn't like extra naan!

[@schlaumayer3754]

And yet another downside of capitalism: I think the "solution" offered here is a bit lacking. I'm sure it wasn't meant as an absolute solution and yeah, it might help a little. But a further exploration of more institutional solution would've been great

[@polysee]

What do you have in mind when you say institutional?

[@schlaumayer3754]

@@polysee There are probably multiple options when it comes to this specific issue. However a more general solution, which I'm in favour of, is market socialism or (for those who are scared of "evil socialism") economic democracy. Which would decrease the need for infinite growth and profit which shareholder capitalism demands, while keeping companies independent. By handing over governance of a company to those who work there or who otherwise financially depend on it (like restaurants). Then they could work out an ideal solution in a fair and democratic way, which would benefit both of them (perhaps by compromising on a specific rate so deliverers earn enough while not crippling the restaurants or maybe adjusting rates depending on how much money a restaurant has, however that should be for them to decide). It might also be worth considering also giving voting rights to customers, so prices remain attainable for them as well. You don't have to agree with me on this take, I might be missing something crucial, who knows. Take it as an example for what I meant by "institutional", perhaps you have your own ideas of what to do to improve these kinds of problems. But I think trying to appeal to consumer choices is a bit hopeless.

[@polysee]

​@@schlaumayer3754 certainly not against such ideas. I tried to form a platform co-operative in Dublin a couple of years ago called Proper Order, an idea that was espoused by academics such as Prof. Trebor Scholz, but I quickly learned that the economics of it don't work so I had to shut it down. Tough to beat these giants. I think taxis in Dublin tried a taxi app co-operative a few years ago but, similarly, they don't have the capital or expertise to compete with the digital giants. And there's the collective action problem of who's going to do all this work to benefit others. The rationale for this episode's ending is that (I think) appealing to consumers' self interest (i.e. discounts) is more likely to succeed than asking them to use a co-operative for philanthropic or social reasons. But if some group can make a co-operative work, I salute them!

[@abhchow]

The whole time that I was watching the video, the thought going through my head was that industries with monopolistic or oligopolistic tendencies are best run by the government. In many places, we run utilities entirely through the government, or have a government run company that competes directly with other companies in the oligopoly. In this case, it means that they are not incentivised to have massive returns, or may even be ok making a loss sometimes. Any profits go back towards the taxpayers (which could actually be used to subsidise or incentivise more restaurants), and the competition forces the rest of the oligopoly to drop their prices too. I think this really applies well to any oligopoly, including the food aggregator market.

[@davidleahy933]

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