A Just Eat driver is refusing to deliver for McDonald's as he claims staff wanted him to go through a 'degrading obstacle course' including scaling a 5ft fence to get to the restaurant. Ben Andrews says drivers were told in July they could no longer use the car park at the Grangemouth branch in Falkirk, with the manager suggesting they pull into a nearby industrial estate instead.
The 33-year-old claims that the only way to access the restaurant from the abandoned estate is on foot, with the journey including a climb over a 5ft metal fence and clambering through a bush. He claims that other drivers navigate the fence by dropping customers' food on the other side and hauling themselves over.
When Ben voiced his concerns over the 'inappropriate' situation, he claims a staff member took an order from him and threatened to call the customer to say he was 'refusing to deliver'. He is now refusing to carry out deliveries for the store until he is allowed to use the car park again.
McDonald's confirmed the car park is for customer use only and said delivery drivers are recommended to park somewhere safe with an appropriate route to the store. However, Ben says there is no alternative parking as the restaurant is located next to a dual carriageway, with some other drivers now having made a hole in the fence to avoid having to climb over.
Ben, from Falkirk, said: "I decided not to do it because it was degrading to climb over fences to access an area without safe parking. I didn't want to waste my petrol.
"I could see from [where I was in] the McDonalds I wasn't prepared to scramble over fences with food in my hands. It's like a bit of an obstacle course.
"You've got to try and traverse over a metal fence and push yourself through the bush with a carrier bag, carrying milk, food and drink - it's not appropriate to do.
"We're being paid by a customer of McDonalds to collect their order. If they [the customer] came into the car park, the staff wouldn't say, 'you're not allowed to park here, go jump over a bush'.
"Until our food is in the hands of a customer, we're working on behalf of that customer. That was what was really frustrating to me.
"You've driven there, used your petrol, you don't get paid the distance to the restaurant and you turn up and the food is there waiting and they refuse to give it to you. It's then going to be wasted food on that company, or it's going to be cold or refunded. It's not just me [not] being paid, there's also that element of them now wasting food."
Ben contacted Just Eat in July to complain about the situation, but says the issue has still not been resolved. The industrial estate is also now in the process of being torn down, but Ben says the McDonald's store is still refusing to allow delivery drivers to use their car park.
Instead, he claims drivers are forced to use 'illegal' parking spots where they risk getting a ticket.
Ben said: "They're expecting you to make a five-minute one-way drive to get to this other place and try and traverse over all this stuff while you're holding food and drinks. If you then deliver it and there's a spillage, [there's going to be a problem].
"I'll take whatever actions I can take. I feel kind of powerless. There's not a huge amount I can do when no one replies to me.
"You make an official complaint with a company you're working under the name of, and you'd hope within four months something would have moved."
Just Eat confirmed they had received Ben's complaint and have raised the issue their restaurant partner.
A McDonald's spokesperson said: "Due to the size of the carpark at our Grangemouth restaurant all spaces are reserved for restaurant customers. We have advised our delivery partners to find a safe and convenient place near the restaurant to park when collecting orders."
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