Should Food Delivery Drivers Bring Orders to Your Apartment Door?

Here in New Bedford, we have a lot of apartments. Whether it's a multi-story high-rise like Melville or Tripp Towers, or a triple-decker in the South End or Near North End, there are a lot of doors, and a lot of stairs, between us and delivery drivers.

As food delivery apps such as DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats have become a regular part of modern life, they have made that life much easier, while simultaneously becoming a new source of frustration to those who live in apartments.

Which begs the question: is it reasonable to expect those deliveries to be dropped off right at your apartment door?

Personally, I resisted using food delivery apps for years, until I had to have major surgery in 2024. While recovering from having a kidney removed due to cancer, I spent weeks recuperating at home, all alone, unable to drive.

My apartment is in the back of my building, with a separate entrance, and in the days after surgery even a walk to the front door was a time-consuming (and risky) task, so I put a note in the delivery app that said “Can’t leave the apartment due to surgery, please leave outside my apartment door.” If I got 10 deliveries during that period, maybe four of them actually were left where I wanted (and tipped extra for); the others required me to shuffle down two flights of steps and out to the front of the building, and then back again.

First world problems, I know.

As time has gone on, food deliveries are now more a matter of convenience for me. Parking on side streets in certain parts of New Bedford is notoriously difficult, and when I need to grab dinner somewhere because I forgot to go food shopping again, I have to weigh the likelihood I will be able to find a parking spot once I return. In that case, a delivery is a life saver, and because of that, I will often go to the street to meet the driver so they don’t even have to get out of their own vehicle.

When Delivery Drivers Used to Knock on Your Door

In the old days, when mostly only pizzerias or Chinese restaurants offered delivery, you could count on that driver knocking on your door. The reason was purely financial: in the days before the food delivery apps or online ordering, you had to pay in cash. However, ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, “contactless delivery” has become everyone’s favorite option, because who wants to deal with someone knocking on your door if you can avoid it?

Why Apartment Deliveries Can Be Difficult for Drivers

These days, there are lots of reasons why a delivery driver won’t bring the food right to an apartment door. First, it can be difficult to find a parking spot, even for a quick dropoff. Another reason is safety, whether it be actually being able to access your apartment, or the driver’s reluctance to even make an attempt. That $5 tip likely isn’t enough to entice the driver to walk down a long, dark driveway at 9 p.m. with no floodlight.

Other buildings have locked front doors that require someone to be buzzed in, or for someone to come to the door to let them in. Both of those waste time, and are more likely to result in a drop-and-dash by the driver.

The Growing Debate Between Drivers and Customers

Online message boards are full of those who argue both sides of the debate. Those who think the delivery should come right to your door cite the added fees and expected tip. Those who think a front-door drop-off is good enough say that the two or three minutes it takes you to walk downstairs could turn into 10-15 minutes of the driver’s time if you don’t. Time is money in that job. Plus, since they likely had to illegally double-park, they run the risk of getting a ticket while they’re searching down a strange hallway for your apartment.

What Do You Expect From Food Delivery?

Should food delivery drivers be required to drop off your delivery right at your apartment door? Or should you be willing to do a little walking yourself? Let us know in the comments under this story on our Facebook page, or you can send us an App Chat message or leave us a voicemail on our app.