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ezCater Order on SkipCart Almost Cost Me BIG! Here's What Happened...
So recently, I conducted an ezCater Order on Skipcart and it would have cost me big if I didn’t know how to stand my ground on the subject.
While I don’t hold any grudge or animosity towards this restaurant or manager and I think he handled things with as much grace as he could, I think there are elements to this event that do deserve discussion especially as the gig economy continues to expand.
So in this video, We are talking about:
How this ezCater order on SkipCart almost cost me big
What they tell you vs How it ACTUALLY is
Everything in between!
Disclaimer: The content of this video does not contain and is never intended to be legal, business, financial, tax, or health advice of any kind. This video is for entertainment, educational, and informational purposes only. It is advised that you conduct your own research and consult with qualified professionals before applying anything you find online.
I also want to be clear that everything we are going to go over is very market dependent, and what applies to me and my market may not apply to you.
The Order Itself
For those who don't know, SkipCart is one of the platforms that currently picks up ezCater orders. So on these orders I'm dealing with two middlemen, ezCater and SkipCart, and I'm held to their policies, not the restaurant's.
So recently I had a catering pick-up on SkipCart for a pretty well known restaurant. I am going to keep their restaurant name to myself because of the total nature of the situation but I will get to that in a moment.
Honestly for the most part, this order was unremarkable because everything was going so well. Everything was ready on time, packing was simple, the restaurant manager was going through it all with me as we were going, so I was under the impression that out of the two orders they had, I was getting the one I was there for. After all, I asked them for the order number and that is what they shown me, so this is the one I should pick up. So I pack it up and leave for the drop-off. Took the highway, got off the exit and nearing the drop off.
Now I am literally within 0.1 miles from the drop off and that is when I get a call from the manager of that restaurant. Crazy that he even had my number (I'm assuming he got it through ezCater, maybe SkipCart, I couldn't tell you), but whatever. He asks me if I got the right order and I am confused because he went through it with me, so he knew it was right, right?
Nope, he flip-flopped the two orders they had and he wants me to drive back… umm, no.
Let me put this into perspective. The restaurant was about 7 miles from the drop-off, and I was basically a block away. Going back to swap the orders and coming back again would have been an extra 14 miles and roughly another hour of driving, on my dime. On top of that, catering orders are time sensitive. Showing up an hour late would have put the violation on me, not the restaurant.
So I was not about to drive all the way back to take responsibility for THEIR mistake, and I made it clear: "Nope, this is the order you gave me."
His answer, while I can respect it and where it was coming from, was unusual for the restaurant industry: “Let’s come up with a better solution.”
His response is respectful and I was used to restaurants using their positions to try to make it sound like we were at fault for their mistake, his focus was simply on figuring out the best way to serve his customer.
Now this didn’t change my position, and while circumstances would be different if he was directly contracted with me and not under the same standards and policies set by SkipCart and ezCater, I had to make it clear that this had to be the solution because otherwise I would have been risking violations and deactivation from the platform.
And let's be real about that. As independent contractors, we are pretty much at the mercy of these platforms. Some companies have a three-strike system, and that's great, but at the end of the day the platform decides what counts as a violation and whether you get to stay on. SkipCart in particular already has a reputation for taking advantage of drivers, so getting deactivated for pushing back isn't exactly unheard of.
Be that as it may, I wasn't going to leave them hanging either. I gave them the address of the customer and told the manager I'd deliver what I had and cover for them. When I got to the drop-off, I let the customer know the restaurant had a mix-up, apologized on their behalf, and told them the rest of the order was on the way. I kept it vague on purpose so the restaurant could give their own explanation when they got there. Then I went on with my day.
Standing Your Ground with Respect
One of the soft skills I think gets overlooked a lot, especially as you start to truly transition from the world of being an employee who works for a company vs independent contractor who works for themselves, is the ability to stand your ground with respect.
I think what happens is that so many employees either just skate by doing the bare minimum so nothing is expected of them or they actually work and have a hard time standing up for themselves and because of that they end up being taken advantage of.
Then if you stand up for yourself to any capacity, you are either not truly respected or you are considered acting out and they find a reason to get rid of you because their frail little egos can’t handle you standing on business.
Eventually that turns into corporate mind games and nonsense to where you are on the wrong end of a smear campaign to where you either quit or they fabricate a reason to fire you because you just simply existing is a reason to call you into HR.
I am obviously oversimplifying to make a point, but the one thing that isn’t taught as an employee (at least something that they wouldn’t want you to learn anyway) is how to stand up for yourself respectfully.
Managers want to hire their staff to do a job and then expand their scope as much as possible without proper methods of defending. In fact, the less you know how to properly defend the better for their bottom line.
As an independent contractor, you would risk a violation for going back anyway. Not only are they not teaching you to defend yourself, you really aren’t taught anything. Sure there is some training via “education hubs” at times but not really anything about the real world scenarios.
So you have to learn to defend yourself, and there is no better way to learn how to defend your interests than being in business for yourself.
However, that doesn’t mean getting into a screaming match because that can get you deactivated as well. Learn to deliberate your points with as little emotion as possible while still sticking to the facts.
That said, that doesn’t mean logical thinking is going to work every time there is an issue with an order.
Gig Worker x Restaurant Dynamic
During this order, the manager was 100% respectful and took responsibility for his mistake. That is the only reason I don’t want to mention his business because I wouldn’t want his business to be painted in a bad light simply for a mistake that he took ownership of.
However, I know of a lot of restaurant owners that would 100% try to put the blame on me and force me to come back.
A lot of the time restaurant owners tend to disregard what you are saying and treat every point you make as “unimportant”.
I had a very similar issue with an order with UberEats and Aroma’s Del Peru where they handed me the wrong order and even though I asked them multiple times if the order was for my customer:
Their mistakes have “nothing to do” with why I was handed the wrong order
My expenses and account “do not matter”
And I have to go back or they will attack my earnings and account
Be that as it may though, sometimes you have to accept that restaurant managers of poor integrity will not do right by you and you just have to let them be mad.
That is another skill you have to learn is accepting that people who are only looking for their own interests do not need you to take on the accountability for them and just let it burn to shit.
Let them accept the responsibility for their business the same way you would accept the responsibility for yours. That is protecting your boundaries, expenses and scope.
What I Did (And What You Should Do Too)
Like I said, logic won't win every argument with a restaurant, but there are things you can do to protect yourself before it ever gets to that point. Here's what I did on this order, and what I'd recommend to any driver doing catering:
Verify the order number AND what's actually in the bags. I asked for the order number and they showed it to me, which is exactly why I knew I was in the right.
Take photos of the order and the labels at pickup. If someone tries to say you grabbed the wrong thing, you've got proof.
Keep communication documented whenever you can, in the app or in writing.
Check with support before agreeing to anything outside the platform's process. A phone call from a manager isn't a policy.
Stay calm and stick to the facts. The moment you start yelling, you've given them a reason to make you the problem.
None of this is complicated, but it's the difference between "the driver messed up" and "here's exactly what happened."
How Will This Work Out in the Future?
So for those who aren't aware already, Uber announced back on October 6th that it's acquiring ezCater for $2.3 billion. The deal isn't expected to close for a few months, and Uber says it plans to fold ezCater into Uber Eats and Uber for Business, so it's a bit early to say how the policies will change. There have been rumors from people claiming to have sources within these companies saying some companies might stay on.
Things may change as time goes on since nothing is truly solidified but nevertheless.
I also don’t know how this location feels about me after all of that. Again, I have no grudge against them but I’ll be honest I have been keeping my distance since then.
I just don’t want this event to carry over into my other platforms, such as Doordash, UberEats and Grubhub. I don’t think they would be that petty, the guy seemed cool and reasonable overall but I don’t want there to be any drama. When I came back to DoorDash, First Watch tried making stuff up about me, all because of a previous issue I'd had with a former manager there, even though I hadn't been there in years. So even though this manager seemed pretty charismatic, and it's a completely different restaurant, I can't say for sure that something like that wouldn't happen again, especially just a couple of weeks after all this.
I prefer not to poke the bear if I can avoid it, at least not until the paper trail is solid.
Speaking of paper trails, if you want to document your ezCater orders and make sure the tips and payouts you're receiving match what you should be getting, make sure you use our ezCater Tip Verification Form.
With Uber buying out ezCater, I'm not 100% certain how relevant this tool will be going forward, but it will stay active until something definitive is announced.
Final Thoughts
Like I said, I have no problem with this location overall but there is a reason people need to learn how to protect your scope as a gig worker. There are a lot of restaurants who mistake us for “working for them” or assuming more from our working relationship with a wider scope.
There are a bunch of people who want to take advantage of a business model with minimal training and no regard to our expenses, especially if it means taking advantage of our financial well being.
Regardless, this could have gone a lot worse. The manager could have tried to throw me under the bus, and the platform could have sided with him because they heard their side of the story alone. Not to mention the customer could have also been upset and blamed me as well, even if it would be misplaced.
And this is exactly why I keep saying it: protecting your scope is only half of it. Protecting yourself financially also means diversifying your income and having an exit strategy. If one restaurant, one manager, or one platform can put your account at risk over a mistake that wasn't even yours, you can't let that one place hold your whole income hostage. No one is going to look out for your financial safety better than you are.
If you would like to add some other perspective to how this ezCater order went down, feel free to email me: drivenwyld@gmail.com and who knows? Maybe your email or perspective and be featured in a post as well!
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