Our drivers wait five minutes. At least five, to be exact, and then they have to go. That's shorter than some people expect, so here's why, and what happens to your order after that.
The five minutes
When the driver pulls up, your order page starts a timer and they try to reach you by phone or text. If they can't find the door or the buzzer, they'll call. That's the whole process, and it's meant to be quick, because the driver is holding other people's orders too.
The reason is the window system. You pick a two-hour slot at checkout, like 6pm to 8pm, and so does everyone else on the route. A driver who waits twenty minutes for you is a driver who's twenty minutes late to the next stop, who then waits for their own customer, and so on down the route. Five minutes is our attempt to be fair to both ends of that.
Why they can't just leave it
The obvious question is whether the driver can set it by the door.
No. Massachusetts requires the person who placed the order to be the one who receives it, with a valid ID checked in person. Someone else can't accept it for you, and we can't leave a bag on a doorstep. State rules also say that product that can't be delivered goes back to where it started once the route's other deliveries are done. So a missed order doesn't sit in a van overnight or get left somewhere. It goes back with the driver.
Our delivery team wears body cameras, and the ID check is recorded. If there's no valid ID at the door, or the person there isn't the one who ordered, the driver can't hand anything over. That's also not a "missed" delivery in the fee sense, which matters in a second.
The $10
If nobody's there after the wait, a $10 missed-delivery fee is added to your next order. It shows up as its own line, it isn't taxed, and you pay it at the door with that order. It doesn't apply when a delivery can't be completed for another reason, like an ID problem or a purchase-limit problem.
Yes, it's annoying. Ten dollars for a bag you never got feels bad, and we know it. If you were actually home and the driver couldn't reach you, or you think the fee was added by mistake, call us at 857-242-0721 or email [email protected]. We'll look at the delivery record with you.
If you've already missed it
Then the fee is the only penalty. Order again for a window you can really be home for. The $10 shows up on that order as its own line, and you pay it at the door with the order. If you think it was added by mistake, or the driver never reached you, call and we'll look.
Cheaper ways to change your mind
Missing the driver costs more than most of the alternatives.
Cancel while the driver isn't on the way yet, and it's free. That's true whether the order was just received, accepted or packed. Once the driver is on the way, cancelling costs $4, added to your next order as its own untaxed line. Your order page tells you the amount before you confirm, so nobody pays a fee they didn't see.
For the first five minutes after you order, you can change your delivery window or your items, as long as we haven't started packing. Delivery notes, like a gate code or which entrance to use, can be updated right up until the driver is on the way. After that, call us and we'll do our best, though we can't promise every change once the order is packed.
If you know you won't make it, tell us early. The free window to cancel is the best thing we can offer.
Not missing it in the first place
A few small things matter more than people think.
Pick a window you can really be home for, the whole window. If you're ordering for 6pm to 8pm, be there at 6, not at 7:55.
Put a real note in the delivery instructions. Our own pages for Dorchester and Boston mention how many buildings have separate buzzers or door codes, and a driver who can't find your bell is a driver burning your five minutes. Match the name and unit to what's on the buzzer.
Keep your phone nearby and unmuted. The driver will call or text, and if they can't reach you they have very little else to go on.
Have your ID, your cash or debit card, and a minute to look over your order. The whole handoff takes a minute or two when everything's ready.
And if you can't be there at all, it's better to cancel before the driver leaves than to let the timer run.
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