Uber Eats Is Waiving Delivery Fees To Help Support Local Businesses
With government and health officials recommending social distancing as a way to help slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, more people are turning to food delivery services as more restaurants switch to to-go models. On Monday, March 16, Uber Eats announced it would be waiving delivery fees for a number of the restaurants on its app and instituting new policies to protect the health and safety of delivery people and customers for the near future. Here's how to get free Uber Eats delivery in March 2020.
As of Tuesday, March 17, Uber Eats is offering free delivery to more than 100,000 independent restaurants in the United States and Canada, helping support small businesses as well as those who are most at risk of contracting the virus. To find out which restaurants apply to the deal, you can tap on a prompt that comes up when you open the app. It reads, "Let's support our local community. Eat local." There is no promo code needed for the deal, and there is currently no end date. When you tap in, you'll find listings from local eateries near you, so even though many locations have suspending dining in, you can still support them with an order.
To help protect customers and delivery people, the company has instituted "no contact" deliveries where you can request that your order be left by your door. In addition, they've also asked all restaurants to seal orders in tamper-evident packaging and delivered sanitization products to their drivers to help keep their vehicles clean. You'll want to also discard of all outside materials and packaging (and then wash your hands) before you eat.
Despite these precautions, keep in mind that your delivery people are putting themselves at risk to deliver your food, so you'll want to order during non-peak hours and, if possible, order double or triple the amount of food you normally would (so they don't have to make multiple trips) and freeze it. While Uber Eats might be waiving its delivery fees, you'll still want to generously tip your delivery person for his or her services.
In addition to its new delivery fee policy, Uber Eats is also planning to put aside 300,000 free meals to first responders and healthcare workers stateside and in Canada who are working to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 while the rest of the population quarantines themselves and practices social distancing. To take advantage of this, interested individuals or organizations can email social-impact-support@uber.com.
We are shining a spotlight on some of the millions of small businesses now challenged by COVID-19. This is part of an ongoing commitment our parent company, Bustle Digital Group, is making to support small businesses throughout the entire month of May. Tell us about your favorite small business on social media using #SmallBusinessSalutes.
If you think you’re showing symptoms of coronavirus, which include fever, shortness of breath, and cough, call your doctor before going to get tested. If you’re anxious about the virus’s spread in your community, visit the CDC for up-to-date information and resources, or seek out mental health support. You can find all Elite Daily's coverage of coronavirus here.
