'Order Hero' is helping our food delivery riders with canceled orders

As everyone is encouraged to stay at home, we are relying more and more on food delivery riders for meals.

However, there are instances when customers would refuse to claim their food, leaving riders at a loss what to do with the food they already bought.

In a bid to support riders from GrabFood, Lalamove, Food Panda, and Angkas, a Facebook group titled "Order Hero" has emerged.

^{Photo: Order Hero}

A rider only needs to post about their canceled orders, and any member can snatch it up and pay for it.

Already, a handful of orders shared by riders have been "saved."

People are fed, food is saved, and riders need not be distressed — it's a win-win!

Speaking to GMA News Online, GrabFood rider Mark Vera said that canceled orders have quite the impact on them, especially because of the time spent getting the order.

"Malaking oras po ang ginugugol namin sa pagpila pa lang po sa mga merchants o food stores, pangalawa po e 'yung pagpunta sa location ng customer at matagal kaming maghihintay," he said. "May protocol ho kasi kaming sinusunod na dapat antayin ang customer ng 15 minutes. After that dun lang po maco-consider na no-show 'yung eater."

"Pangatlo po e 'yung pera na ginastos po namin sa food ng customer. Kung hindi po maibebenta 'yun sa iba, kami na din po ang kumakain noon at 'yung pera na sana nailaan pa namin sa ibang bagay e napunta na sa wala," he added.

Cancelled orders have always been a pain, but it's even worse now that Luzon is under enhanced community quarantine due to the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Mark said that though there have been less bookings from users, the time spent on each order is longer because of restaurant policies amid the quarantine.

"Mas humirap po dahil mas mahaba ang oras ang ginugugol namin sa pagpila sa mga merchants. Kung noon po ay 10 to 15 minutes lang ang waiting time, ngayon halos doble na po," he said.

Because of this, his previous eight-hour duty has been stretched out to 10 hours just so he can earn enough income to take home to his family.

Shortly after hearing about Order Hero, GrabFood released a statement on Facebook, assuring that there is a penalty for no-shows.

"The GrabFood system automatically disables the cancel option once our rider-partners have placed the order at the restaurant. But in cases of unclaimed orders or no-shows, rest assured that we have quick and easy guidelines in place for our riders," it said. "We also implement strict penalties for customers who play with our GrabFood riders' hearts."

Let's not give these frontliners a harder time in this time of crisis!

—JCB, GMA News