"Heartless customer 'steps over' Deliveroo driver after he collapses bringing them food", 24 February 2023

A heartless customer "stepped over" a Deliveroo driver who had collapsed on the street trying to bring their food...

James Farrar, the general secretary of the App Drivers and Couriers Union, happened to be walking by as Mohamed collapsed...

"People came down to enquire about their food and he had the app open on his phone.

"Another delivery driver came by and he took the app and it was just pinging for this delivery.

"He swiped it was delivered for Mohamed and gave the people their food.

"And they wanted to have a conversation about what might have been missing and I said 'are you joking? do you have no humanity?'

"And they were like 'oh ok' and stepped over him and went upstairs with their food."...

He also said that when he tried to contact Deliveroo himself he was given a chatbot to speak to and then sent a feedback survey.

A Deliveroo spokesperson said they had been in contact with the rider to offer support.

Speaking today, Mr Farrar said...

"The reflection I have was it was just a brutal reality of exploitation of these fast delivery services.

"This technology works lovely but the worker has become dehumanised...

"They don't see them as employees because they are not psychologically set up to accept them as human and they have a responsibility for them."...

Mr Farrar said while Mohamed was barely conscious the app on his phone kept pinging before another delivery driver marked the order as delivered in the app...

...Mr Farrar said last night exposed three things: the pressure of public services in how long it took for the ambulance to come, the lack of safety features in the Deliveroo app because it couldn't register a motionless driver as something to flag, and having all this happen outside luxury building and still being asked to be let in...

"The delivery system is rotten, we have to hold these systems accountable because they are run by incredibly wealthy people that have a responsibility...

A Deliveroo spokesperson said they have a rider support system that is always available and they offer the safety app 'Flare' for free for all riders.