>>172795, >>172796, >>172797, >>172798, >>172799, >>172800, >>172801, >>172802, >>172803, >>172804, >>172805, >>172806, >>172807, >>172808
Chef Andrew Gruel @ChefGruel - Mark my words, 3rd party food delivery is done. Generally, I am not in favor of the government getting too involved in private business. In a functioning free market, it is the responsibility of consumers to drive change through demand. Forcing services to provide specific features or outcomes never works. If those features are truly valued, the companies that offer them will outperform those that do not, and the market will self-correct.
That said, this "food delivery" industry is already far past the point of being a free market, especially in California. Food delivery platforms are already heavily regulated. Layering new mandates on top of an already overregulated system does not fix problems. It compounds them.
With respect to this NEW set of regulations, the practical outcome will be more consumer fraud and higher costs imposed directly on restaurants. Under the current model, when a refund is issued, the restaurant almost always absorbs the loss, even when the claim itself is fraudulent (which it is at least 50% of the time). Common scams include altered photos to make food appear incorrect, false claims that orders never arrived, drivers taking the food, and even allegations of food poisoning. In nearly all cases, the restaurant pays.
Expanding refund mandates without addressing this reality will cost restaurants thousands a year. Naturally with constant losses and no meaningful recourse, more restaurants will leave these platforms. As restaurant participation declines, the platforms themselves will struggle to operate profitably in the state and will eventually exit altogether.
That isn't consumer protection, it's another example of regulatory overreach that drives business out of the market entirely. For that reason, we stopped using these apps years ago and will never go back.
Quote
Sachin Agarwal @agarwal
Whoa, this is a big deal.
https://x.com/ChefGruel/status/2006192290063073770

Chief Michael W. Banks @USBPChief - EL PASO, TX – A 25-year-old Honduran national entered the U.S. illegally, then posed as a 17-year-old minor using a relative’s birth certificate in an attempt to exploit our immigration system. Interviews and a confession confirmed he is an adult. He faces prosecution for fraud and making false statements to a federal agent. @usbpchiefept
https://x.com/USBPChief/status/2007572755462414462

Chief Nerd @TheChiefNerd - Video: ROB SCHNEIDER: “I met parents who knew that their kids were fine … actually meeting the markers or exceeding them. And then they got a series of shots that was required to go to school and then the kids were never the same again.”
https://x.com/TheChiefNerd/status/2007951518524432568