Photo: IC

As Chinese food delivery and takeout sector has been growing rapidly, there are more food deliverymen racing around Chinese cities. If you ever tried ordering online takeout in China, most of the time you will be surprised by these deliverymen's efficiency.

But there can be exceptions. For example, if the deliveryman arrives five or ten minutes later than the scheduled time, or if you find that your coffee has spilled over during delivery, what would you do? Would you forgive him or write negative comments about him on the online takeout platform?

Most of the time, I will just be polite and forgive them. After all, being a deliveryman is not an easy job. In Beijing, for example, many food deliverymen come from much smaller Chinese cities or the countryside. Most of them have a family to feed back in their hometown, and their entire family may not be earning enough. 

To be qualified deliverymen, the most important thing is that they need to be excellent electric bike riders. This is because most of the time, the platform gives them only 30 minutes to fetch the food from restaurants and deliver it to the customers. 

After there is an order, they first need to vie for it because there are too many deliverymen and sometimes there are not enough orders for everyone. Once they get the order, the 30-minute countdown starts. They rush to the restaurant and wait for the food to be packed. After fetching the food, they get on their electric bicycles and rush to the customers, trying to make it as fast as possible. This is also why so many deliverymen can be seen racing on the road - because they cannot afford the consequences of being beaten by the clock.

If late, they may get negative comments. A deliveryman told me that every time they get a negative comment, they will be fined 500 yuan ($70.5). Every time the platform receives a letter of complaint about a specific deliveryman, a fine of 1000 yuan ($140.9) or more will be slapped. This can be a heavy burden on them. So, when a deliveryman asks me for good comments, I agree without hesitation as long as there are no serious mistakes.

Indeed, customers should be aware of these deliverymen's difficulties and be polite to them, but this should not be a one-sided process. Most deliverymen are polite, but there are those who are rude to customers, or even threaten clients who post negative comments on the platform. This is scary, because the deliverymen know our names, phone numbers and addresses.

Customers' rights should be properly protected as well. If the buyer finds that the food is completely cold, and the coffee or soup has been spilled over, are they justified in posting negative comments on the platform? If they give up such right only because they are afraid of being threatened or hurt, the online takeout industry is to blame. It is understandable that deliverymen have their own difficulties. But after all, they should take their job seriously. As customers have paid for the delivery service, they should be treated properly. And if deliverymen make serious mistakes, they need to be punished. 

"How can you be so hard-hearted to give him negative comments," people may ask when we complain about the deliverymen. But customers' rights should not be harmed because of such scruples. The platforms should protect customers' personal information. 

It is important for customers to treat deliverymen politely, but China's online takeout industry will not be healthy unless customers' rights are guaranteed as well. Customers and deliverymen should stand in each other's shoes.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn