An X user named Radhika Bajaj recently took to social media to share an unpleasant encounter involving a Zomato delivery agent. Bajaj alleged that her office staff was verbally abused by the delivery agent after a 10-minute delay in collecting the order. Tagging Zomato and its CEO, Deepinder Goyal, in her post, she expressed frustration with the incident, saying, "No one has the right to abuse anyone like this. Everyone deserves respect, whether they are a delivery person or the CEO of a company!"
Bajaj explained that while tracking the order, arrangements had been made for someone to pick it up. However, the delivery agent arrived earlier than expected, and when there was a 10-minute delay in collecting the food, he began hurling insults. "Zomato, why don't you focus on improving the behaviour of your delivery personnel?" she questioned in her post, which garnered significant attention, with Bajaj having over 10,000 followers on X.
Zomato’s customer care team quickly responded with an apology. They stated that the behaviour of the delivery partner was unacceptable and assured her that the company was investigating the matter and would provide an update soon.
While many users on social media sympathised with Bajaj, a number of them voiced concerns about the impact of delays on delivery agents. They highlighted the time-sensitive nature of deliveries, noting that agents often struggle to manage multiple orders. One user commented, "But 10 minutes is quite a bit… He can't wait an extra 10 minutes just for 30 bucks, especially considering he has already spent over 40 minutes collecting and bringing the order to you for that amount."
In response to the criticism, Bajaj clarified that the delivery agent had arrived earlier than the expected delivery time provided by Zomato, and the delay occurred while arranging for someone else to collect the order.
Some users suggested introducing a feature that would penalise customers for taking extra time to collect their orders. One user proposed, "Give 5 minutes for the customer to collect the order. If they haven't come in to collect the order in 5 minutes, start charging them an amount so the delivery partner will not suffer."
Others recommended waiting charges, similar to ride-sharing platforms like Ola and Uber, which could help prevent delivery agents from losing time and income due to delays. "Some people are not sincere or punctual and make others wait, thinking a delivery boy's time is not worth it!" wrote one user, while another added, "For a delivery boy who has little margin, losing 10 minutes in every order might prevent him from completing the required deliveries to make ends meet."