The fees some of these apps charge is criminal. You’re an advertising and coordination company, do you really deserve a huge percentage per order? Gross.
A restaurant typically hires twice more waiters than cooks, as equivalent (minimal) wages. Real-estate is often a third of the overall costs and most of it is the front, i.e. tables not the kitchen.
Some intermediaries are genuinely nothing but advertising and restaurants have to organise deliveries themselves. But if you include delivery costs, I’m not sure 30% isn’t cheaper than dining in.
I feel for every business that’s hurting right now, especially the small business restaurants that have been a staple in their local community. That has limits though, which fall short of barring “if someone else can package up directory services and make a buck off it, they should be able to, because that makes life better for consumers and I care about consumers more than businesses.”
Yellow pages used to charge what I considered obscene rates for ads before the internet. What did they do to deserve thousands of dollars per year from my local plumber? He’s the one who actually got in his truck, got dirty, and fixed my problem! Well, they’re the one who helped me find him...
The fake phone numbers and websites, yeah, I'll grant you those are dishonest. Anyone calling a restaurant's listed phone number is expecting to reach that restaurant.
It's all too common to see them base their entire business around a single percentage above total raw ingredient cost.
While I agree predatory is a strong word, you are missing the point. There is an ecosystem of small businesses that are being cannibalized by delivery app companies. These are the places I enjoy eating, places that are unique and amazing but not necessarily the top rungs of the business ladder.
This is happening because these delivery apps that are run by sophisticated business people haven't even worked out their business model yet.
Asking for transparency isn't asking for too much.
When I'm trying to support my favorite restaurants, the ones I do care about for their own sake, I of course go pick the food up myself. I think most people do the same.
What surprises me is that on a website with lots of top earners people would still begrudge others to make an honest living. And running a restaurant is a lot more work than writing software.
Is every purchase a moral decision to you perhaps?
It seems you are very much pitching libertarianism here. Perhaps I am not familiar with this part of the dogma.