Pros
To start, I have been working with Postmates for about half a year, my view of Postmates has changed from when I started to now. It was very productive during the summer months when I didn't have classes, but now that I am back in college, it has been tough to balance work load from school and getting out on the road to drive. - Good pay for the delivering food, payouts range from $4-$30, dependent on how far you're delivering and what you're delivering - Flexible hours, as you can log on seamlessly through the courier app - Competitive scheduling allows for the ability get a slight advantage over other postmates who aren't on the schedule - Develop relationships with restaurants/stores around where you work: The more often you work, the more recognizable you'll be to employees at the restaurants you deliver from; it's always nice to get a complimentary drink from nice restaurant workers - Incentives are nice. At times, Postmates will provide a delivery goal for a day, a weekend, etc. and individuals who reach delivery goals get cash bonuses in addition to the pay that they received from deliveries made
Cons
This is where Postmates gets a little frustrating to me: - Pay is often determined by tips; however, tips are not a guarantee. Now with Postmates recently partnering with ChowNow, tips are non-existent at some popular restaurants that may have been good payouts before - Flexible hours is nice, but a lot of those hours are spent on the road and there is no reimbursement on fuel or any wear-and-tear your car/vehicle may receive - Traveling is cool as you get to see new places and meet new people, but you may deliver somewhere that you are completely unfamiliar with and are stuck with trying to figure out what are your next steps - You will encounter restaurants in which the staff/workers will not enjoy your presence. This isn't a big deal to me, but if you are the type of person that hates dealing with very "emotional" people then this job may not be for you. - Customers are unreasonable at times and may try to get you to do things that aren't allowed for delivery drivers working for postmates, which leads to a very awkward conversation with them and then a very lengthy duration of time spent trying to get in contact with support. - My next point has to deal with support. Support is hit or miss, as there are times I wish couriers can deal with situations without waiting for support and there's the other instance in which you want support to deal with a situation, but they are being very slow in terms of responding to you. - Parking is an issue at pickup and delivery locations. I have a problem with finding parking (thankfully i haven't gotten a ticket yet - *knock on wood*) which is expected in LA; however, when you ask customers to meet you curbside, they tend not to cooperate with you