Here's the Actual Cost of Filling Restaurant Drinks [It Could Be Hundreds!]

RSG Contributor Tyler Philbrook discusses why restaurants will have you fill the drink and what you should do as a delivery driver.

By: Tyler Philbrook

You’ve been driving for a few hours now, things are going good.

You’re getting constant delivery requests and most of them are actually worth it.

Not only that but when you get to the restaurants they all have had the food ready to go with no waiting.

This is a unicorn kind of night, until you’re handed an empty cup and told the customer wants a Sprite with light ice.

Do you just fill the cup and keep the night going, or do you insist that the employee do their job?

Does it even matter?

Why Restaurants Will Have You Fill The Drink?

The first thing that I wonder is why the restaurant won’t just fill the drinks themselves. I mean they don’t expect us to go in the kitchen and make the food as well, or bag everything up, isn’t filling the cup a part of their responsibility?

Though it won’t be the case for every restaurant, the main reason I’ve seen that they do ask drivers to do it is they are simply very busy.

Based on how often we have to wait for an order, the to-go people are trying to shave whatever time they can off their plate and put it onto someone else.

Not only that, but people who hand us the food as a driver, are to go people who also rely on tips to survive, which they don’t get from orders through Uber Eats, DoorDash, GrubHub, DeliverThat, or any other delivery app.

This means they know they aren’t making anything off our orders and are less likely to put effort into it.

Finally, at least some restaurants wait to fill cups so that the ice hasn’t melted by the time the driver gets there. This reason I think is good in principle as it’s their goal to have good customer service and a good quality product. However, to me it’s still their job to fulfill the order, we’re simply delivery drivers.

Ubers Policy

Though it seems impossible to find an actual written policy when it comes to whether drivers should fill drinks or not, when you reach out to them they seem to be consistent on it.

I’ve now asked several different representatives, and have seen in groups of other drivers that have asked that it is Uber’s policy that drivers do not fill drinks. That if the restaurant insists the driver should cancel the order and would be given the $4 fee for going to the restaurant.

Reaching out to DoorDash and GrubHub they seem to have similar policies.

This is because, again, we are delivery drivers, we do not get involved in the processing of the food. This would require additional licenses and insurance that these companies don’t want to get involved in because it would raise costs, meaning less profit for them.

State Policy

Looking at several state Food and Safety policies for restaurants it becomes very clear that only those with specific certifications are allowed to handle food and drinks.

If you’ve ever worked at any restaurant there is always some simple training that you take that means you’re food safety certified, which is what allows you to be able to handle the food and drink for the company.

Some even give a time frame of 30 days or less from being hired, giving the new employee time to be trained.

If the state sees someone who does not have one of these certifications doing anything with food, including filling drinks, it can lead to fines of between $250 to $5,000.

Those fines would be for the restaurant itself and not the person filling the drinks, so in theory, the driver filling them shouldn’t be responsible for it. But state officials can sometimes do whatever they want, and then leave it to the person to fight it.

What Should You Do?

So, what should you do if you get to a restaurant and they ask you to fill a drink?

We can’t answer that for you.

I have not seen or heard of anyone who was fined for filling a drink. However, that doesn’t mean it can’t happen.

Even if it could happen in your state, the odds that an inspector will be there at the very same time you’re there picking up a delivery seems low.

On the other hand, should you be doing the employees' job? We are simply couriers for the food, we have nothing to do with the food process. Our job is to get our package, in this case food, to the final destination as safe and secure as possible.

At the end of the day, as a gig worker, you are an independent contractor. Which for the sake of this particular argument means you get to decide for yourself what you’re willing to do and what you’re not willing to do. If you’re willing to risk the possibility of a fine or not.

For me, I base my decisions on what makes the most business sense, and on occasion, I do fill drinks to get to the next stop faster.

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