How will new Bellingham rules affect some food-delivery services and area restaurants?
Independent food-delivery services in Bellingham must have an agreement with the restaurants whose food they take to customers, under a measure that passed the City Council unanimously.
Third-party delivery services such as GrubHub, DoorDash and UberEats gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, when restaurants closed and takeout was the only dining option, said Mark Gardner, a legislative analyst for the city.
In an Aug. 30 presentation to the council’s Committee of the Whole, Gardner said restaurants have been experiencing problems with food arriving late or cold, and delivery services that featured old menus and incorrect prices.
And restaurants — not the delivery services — have paid the price, he said.
“Restaurants have been receiving bad customer reviews after a bad delivery that was no fault of their own,” Gardner said.
Bellingham’s new ordinance is based on a similar one in Seattle, and other major U.S. cities are considering similar measures, he said.
Further, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee issued an executive order in November 2020, limiting the fees that such delivery services can charge.
“The platforms have seen the handwriting on the wall with this one, and they can’t continue to alienate an essential business partner in this whole business model,” Gardner said.
Deron Neuman, owner of the local delivery service Viking Food, said his business already has agreements with several Whatcom County restaurants.
“It really doesn’t affect us much at all,” said Neuman, whose business has been operating for nine years.
“If any customer has an issue with the quality, we’ll take care of it,” he told The Bellingham Herald.
Councilwoman Hollie Huthman said during the meeting that she proposed the ordinance, which takes effect Nov. 1, after hearing complaints from restaurant owners and others.
“They get frustrated customers who think it’s the restaurant’s fault, then you get one-star reviews on top of the one-star reviews,” said Huthman, co-owner of The Shakedown nightclub and The Racket, a bar and pinball lounge that also serves food.
“Since presenting this idea for an ordinance to council, I’ve only heard more stories from restaurant owners about how frustrating and the negative impacts that having their menus listed on these platforms has been recently,” Huthman said.
In November 2020, DoorDash policy changed to require a restaurant’s consent for listing its menu.
“DoorDash was founded to help grow and empower local businesses by providing them with transformational access to their local communities through convenience,” a DoorDash spokesperson told The Herald.
“Restaurants on DoorDash are eight times more likely to stay open during the pandemic than those who aren’t, and we know that each merchant should have the power to make choices affecting their business. We commend efforts to both support local merchants and ensure that they are heard,” the DoorDash spokesperson said.
DoorDash said it will remove any restaurant that does not want to be on its platform within 48 hours of receiving the request.
This story was originally published September 12, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
CORRECTION: The spelling of Mark Gardner’s name was corrected Sept. 12, 2021.
