Updated: 07/04/2021

I’m always curious about the experiences of other couriers, especially their challenges. I ask about their experience when I run into them at the same pick-up locations. This is one way I learn about the courier experience in my local market, Portland. But until I go into other markets like I did with Seattle, the only way for me to find out more is by browsing the Internet. One website I’ve found helpful is Glassdoor.com. This site is where employees submit reviews about culture, salaries, and hiring processes of companies, even startups.

The people who work for these companies, both employees and independent contractors have left complaints on Glassdoor. I checked out the reviews and here are the top 5 complaints about Postmates and Caviar.

Complaints against Postmates

Postmates has a rating of 2.7 out of 5 on Glassdoor among people with employment status of a) part-time, b) freelance and c) contractor. These are likely to be couriers who provided their feedback. I filtered out full-time employee ratings so that it’s more representative of couriers and does not include any corporate employees.

Here are some of the top complaints about Postmates:

1. Most couriers make less than the minimum wage.
2. Wear and tear on your vehicle.
3. Most customers don’t tip.
4. Poor customer support.
5. Poor job support.

Complaints against Caviar

Caviar’s rating was 3.4 out of 5 among the same three categories of people. Here are the top complaints about Caviar:

1. There is no guarantee what couriers will earn. Earnings can fluctuate significantly.
2. Downtime is frequent.
3. Over-staffing is a major issue as it reduces the potential earnings of the couriers.
4. Parking is a major nuisance.
5. A lot of money wasted on fuel. Couriers have to pay for their fuel and transportation.

These are two similar services in the on-demand economy. You’d assume the problems couriers have would be similar (like gas and wear and tear on cars) but if you look closely into the complaints, you can see how Caviar and Postmates differ. More specifically you can see how the two companies operate also.

What does it mean?

Notice how downtime and over staffing, which can result in lower earnings for couriers, isn’t a major issue with Postmates, yet there are complaints related to earning. If over staffing isn’t a major problem with Postmates, then couriers should have more opportunity to make money. So why are people complaining about slave wages? Because Postmates commission is much lower than Caviar. I quickly learned this when I started driving for these two platforms. Thus, couriers become dependent on customer tips to make a good income. But did you notice complaint #3? Most customers don’t tip.

Why is Postmates sucking when it comes to courier support? I think it is because Postmates’ a free for all. For a courier on-duty, it literally feels like jobs are raining down from the sky and they get to pick which one they want to accept or reject. There is no dispatcher or software assigning jobs to couriers who they deem is in the best position to perform the job. Couriers aren’t monitored closely by dispatch as they work a job like they are on Caviar. If something goes wrong, communicating the problem to HQ, though possible, can take some time. As a result, courier support complaints will arise (#4 & #5).

What about Caviar? Let’s look at each complaint.

While Postmates couriers complaints are consistently about low wages, Caviar couriers complaints are about fluctuating wages. Why? It’s because Caviar partners exclusively with local restaurants (not brands or franchises like Chipotle, Starbucks, Taco Bell, etc.) that don’t have their own delivery fleet. Not everyone is going to order large, expensive dishes from restaurants for lunch and dinner every day of the week. This lifestyle gets expensive in urban settings (the only settings that on-demand companies currently operate in). As a result, couriers will see their earning fluctuates. Caviar orders pay a larger commission, but the frequency of these orders are hard to predict.

These are issues that are plaguing Caviar and Postmates according to reviews. Their platforms are excellent and innovative for food delivery logistics. However, it seems that these companies are unable to make all their couriers happy. Additionally, the issue of being an independent contractor instead of a full-fledged employee appears to be a source of concern for many. Are there good reviews on Glassdoor about these two companies? Certainly. I don’t doubt it. But I get skeptical because it’s common practice for companies to have their PR or HR team write fake reviews. 

Takeaways

The biggest takeaway from these Glassdoor reviews may be that couriers need more support and resources to make the experience more valuable to them financially. That and maybe couriers should lower their earning expectations. Seriously because when the job requirement is “own smartphone, can drive” no one should expect to be making bank.

I think it’s safe to say that the experiences of couriers in other areas of the country are pretty much the same as mine. There are things that you have no control over. Wear and tear on your vehicle are part of the job. You can’t control the demand for food. But there are things that couriers can have control over if they are strategic. For example, there are things you can do to earn more tips. There are ways to avoid paying for parking. And there are ways to make more money per hour, like stacking. You must learn to hack the courier gig.

Related Topic:

• Do Postmates Female Drivers Make Good Money?