HCM City residents despair at high food delivery fees
Many people in Ho Chi Minh City have decided to continue cooking after seeing high food delivery fees.
"I live alone and I rarely cook," Tinh said. "I faced lots of difficulties after the city closed restaurants. I had to search for recipes for many dishes online. Now I'm happy that I can eat food from my favourite restaurants again."
But Tinh said that she was shocked when seeing the delivery fees which are higher than even the prices of some dishes.
“Yesterday I intended to order pho but I didn't after seeing the delivery fee," Tinh said. "The noodles only cost VND45,000 but the delivery fee was VND 27,000. A mango smoothie cost only VND 25,000 but the delivery fee was even higher, at VND 30,000. The shipping fees were too expensive as the restaurants are only a kilometre from my home."
Pham Tat Giang in Thu Duc City also said that he would still cook to save money during social distancing.
"I ordered two roast ducks on September 9 from a restaurant near my home and saw that both the duck prices and the delivery fees had sharply increased," he said. "The restaurant used to offer free delivery before the pandemic but now I had to book shipping online on my own and it cost VND200,000 (USD8.60)."
The man said that his family of six members would only order food for special occasions.
"Our income has been badly affected by the pandemic so cooking at home is helping us save some money," he said. "Now we’re also staying home all day during the social distancing period so cooking isn’t a problem."
On some apps specialising in delivery services, many companies have also explained the high fees during this social distancing time in Ho Chi Minh City.
A representative of Loship said that the main reason for the increase was the lack of staff.
"At present, demand is huge in the city while the number of delivery drivers with permits is limited," he said. "Besides the rising fees, we’ve also had to refuse many orders due to personnel shortages."
A delivery driver in HCM City
Nguyen Thi Tinh in Binh Thanh District said that she was very happy when hearing that the city had allowed restaurants to provide take-away services since September 8.
"I live alone and I rarely cook," Tinh said. "I faced lots of difficulties after the city closed restaurants. I had to search for recipes for many dishes online. Now I'm happy that I can eat food from my favourite restaurants again."
But Tinh said that she was shocked when seeing the delivery fees which are higher than even the prices of some dishes.
“Yesterday I intended to order pho but I didn't after seeing the delivery fee," Tinh said. "The noodles only cost VND45,000 but the delivery fee was VND 27,000. A mango smoothie cost only VND 25,000 but the delivery fee was even higher, at VND 30,000. The shipping fees were too expensive as the restaurants are only a kilometre from my home."
Pham Tat Giang in Thu Duc City also said that he would still cook to save money during social distancing.
"I ordered two roast ducks on September 9 from a restaurant near my home and saw that both the duck prices and the delivery fees had sharply increased," he said. "The restaurant used to offer free delivery before the pandemic but now I had to book shipping online on my own and it cost VND200,000 (USD8.60)."
The man said that his family of six members would only order food for special occasions.
"Our income has been badly affected by the pandemic so cooking at home is helping us save some money," he said. "Now we’re also staying home all day during the social distancing period so cooking isn’t a problem."
On some apps specialising in delivery services, many companies have also explained the high fees during this social distancing time in Ho Chi Minh City.
A representative of Loship said that the main reason for the increase was the lack of staff.
"At present, demand is huge in the city while the number of delivery drivers with permits is limited," he said. "Besides the rising fees, we’ve also had to refuse many orders due to personnel shortages."
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