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Comment by silicon2401 | Hacker News Reader

The beauty of the food world is that if you're willing to choose a restaurant that doesn't use a delivery app, or if you're willing to do takeout, you save money and get a way better experience. The first time I tried using a delivery app I saw that the service fee was something like 20%, whereupon I laughed and never went back. I'd rather pick up the food myself and pay nothing more than the cost of food itself, or get delivery from a local place where I can ensure the only extra cost, i.e. my tip to the driver, goes directly to the driver, cash in hand.

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My family orders take-out once a week. I used to go pick it up almost every time. DoorDash reduced my personal stress level by so much that the 20% service fee is an absolute bargain.

DoorDash itself is predatory and harmful to local restaurants and worldwide labor practices.

If you are a developer and a product manager asks you to implement a dark pattern, you should raise objections at every step of the process, implement it slowly and with defects, and talk about it publicly to shame the company. We're holding the shovel. Make dark patterns expensive.

> My family orders take-out once a week. I used to go pick it up almost every time. DoorDash reduced my personal stress level by so much that the 20% service fee is an absolute bargain.

In your case I'm glad you have an option that works for you. At the end of the day it's a case by case value analysis. I'm so viscerally against things like tips and service charges I'd rather just buy a frozen pizza from the grocery store and snack on that or do takeout than support something like doordash. I think a lot of people need things like doordash less than they think they do, so I like sharing examples of how that can be done.

> DoorDash itself is predatory and harmful to local restaurants and worldwide labor practices.

And why would they change when people who know this still use their service?

All these Silicon Valley companies get away with this stuff because people value the convenience over the small businesses getting screwed over.

>If you are a developer and a product manager asks you to implement a dark pattern, you should raise objections at every step of the process

In what way would this benefit the organization?

Its great sentiment and I would agree, though i fear the reality is "The squeaky wheel gets replaced"

>In what way would this benefit the organization?

Who cares. Benefit the customers. Improve the world you live in.

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