Grab Express

 

We provide delivery options for our cakes. But at $21.40, we readily admit that our delivery charge is not cheap.  So we have no objection if customers want to arrange for third-party couriers (Grab, Deliveroo etc.) to pick up their cakes on their behalf.  We typically get 2 to 3 of such pickups a day.  And we have encountered some rather interesting situations with third-party couriers:

•           Many a time we get couriers who come to the shop with  zero collection details and expect us to know exactly which cake to give to them. When pressed for their customer’s name/contact number (for verification purpose to avoid giving the wrong cake), the reply is always “You should know which cake”. No, we do not know which cake until we can ascertain the collection details. Because we do not have just one cake order waiting to be picked up every day. 
•       Some couriers will just barge into the shop and ignoring the queue of people waiting in line outside. When asked to join the queue, they will claim that they are Grab Express (or the likes), which probably mean that they are on the clock with their customers (ergo “Express”).  But this is strictly between the courier and his customer. There is no “Express” lane at our shop. Everyone queues for his/her turn in the name of fairness.
•       We also get couriers who come in motorbikes and when realized that they are collecting cake, start making a big fuss about the difficulty in handling such delicate item while riding. Some even want to disclaim responsibility if the cake ends up damaged on arrival at the final destination. Again, this is something strictly between the courier and his customer. But if you are arranging for a courier pickup, it may be wise to double-check on the mode of transportation. Else you may end up with pieces rather than a whole cake. 
•       Sometimes we get 2 different couriers coming to collect the same order. We even had 3 different couriers coming for the same cake one time! And the one that did not get to collect will usually end up disgruntled. While we empathize with the aggrieved party, there is little that we can do. We often wonder how the courier system works - is this a case of “the fastest courier to arrive gets the order” or just plain Kiasu-ism (i.e. arranging more than one courier for pick up, in case someone cancels on the job) at play here? 

-       We have no idea how much saving is derived from using third-party courier service (because we do not engage them directly). Or what the rate of mishap is. We can only assume that it still makes sense for some customers to do so, given the regularity of such pickups seen at our shop. But for a better piece of mind and to ensure that the cake arrives at your doorsteps in optimal condition (our refrigerated trucks operate at proper cake storage temperature), perhaps it is worth spending that $21.40.