We want to work by the Terms and Conditions. We believe that the Gophr Marketplace model is the future of couriering, but in the process of growth, the company has lost touch with two important core values: couriers come first (1) and a happy fleet is the key to good service (2). With the introduction of the new app, the marketplace has come to resemble a gig economy company. As for the London circuit, the same day fleet is over-hired and poorly managed, as the workload is set to be dealt with by quantity over quality. There is no real communication and there are no meaningful ways to improve service. The terms and conditions are largely disregarded, and the workflow is controlled by the support team’s internal rules, which are neither transparent nor fair. We think it is time now to raise our voice against this practice, and ask the company to the marketplace model as described in the contract: “Gophr provides a marketplace for Customers wanting Courier services and Couriers providing Courier Services. Gophr does not itself sell or provide Courier Services, Carrier Services or Next Day Services. The contract for the sale and provision of such Services is directly between the Courier or Carrier and the Customer. Gophr is not the agent, joint venture nor partner of either the Courier, Carrier or the Customer.” B1

We want to be treated as parters, not as gig economy workers. To ensure this, we need access to each individual contract. We need to know the whole Fee (3), our share and Gophr’s share in it. We want to know how the pricing works and to be updated upon changes. “Gophr may change the Fees at any time on the provision of notice to Courier in writing, by email or through the use of the Gophr Marketplace.” D4

We want equal rights with the clients (4), and right to amend the contract regarding delivery times (5) and package sizes (6). “Gophr shall provide an Order change function via the Gophr Marketplace, by which the Courier or Gophr may notify the Customer, or Gophr may notify the Courier, of changes to the charges in the event that the Courier or the Customer wish to amend the Order at any time between Courier’s acceptance of the Order and delivery of the Consignment.” D3

There is no need for supervising, if there is no complaint, there should be no intervention, and the intervention should be mediation, not one sided decision making in favour of the clients. “Gophr shall provide a procedure for resolving disputes between Customers and Couriers via the Gophr Marketplace. Gophr shall use its reasonable endeavours to mediate any dispute between the Customer and the Courier where such dispute is submitted to Gophr via the Disputes Procedure” F1

We want to be able to cancel deliveries, to update what order deliveries will be made and be able to navigate the app without requesting support. The promise was that Gophr would cut out the middleman, but instead the workflow has been made more complicated.

We need in app communication (7), where changes can be agreed on, and are trackable for all parties. Direct communication between clients and couriers has to be promoted for quicker and better service, and verbal agreements should not be questioned. Trust is key when comes to deliveries and not just from the customers - the company should be able to trust its very own couriers too.

We want transparent reviews and to know who wrote the reviews or who gave the stars. Without this, reviews have no meaning, as it is not possible to relate them to actual deliveries, and therefore less possible to maintain or improve service quality. We want to be able to address unfair reviews.

We want valid performance monitoring. The so-called KPI rating combined with the boost points is the ranking order of dispatch. The response ratio is not reflecting the couriers performance, as it is largely out of their control. It merely depends on the couriers phone (8) and the workload. The busier the circuit is, the lower the ratio goes. Both the old and the new app have the same issue, in fact the new app is even worse when it comes to pushing through job notifications. It is crucial to get access to dispatched jobs and we strongly ask to postpone the monitoring of it and also to solve this as soon as possible. It is discriminating to restrict job access due to the well known malfunctioning of the app and then penalise the courier for it.

ETA counting should be vehicle-specific. While it works for motorbikes, the app estimates 30% shorter delivery times than Google Maps for bicycles. When Google estimates 10 minutes, the app will calculate 7. We recommend to postpone Punctuality and Reliability counting until this issue gets solved. It provides strict delivery times which often lead to unnecessary, and potentially dangerous hurry. The platform promotes reckless driving. The estimated delivery times are misleading for both the couriers and the clients, and the dispatch has to be supervised by the courier. Again, the busier it gets, the harder it is to make good judgements when accepting job offers. The delivery order is often wrong and the app is not able to build the most optimal route. It would be crucial to be able to modify this order to provide a fair delivery time estimate to the clients.

The boost point system is bogus and not transparent. Boost points should only come from job dockets to promote late or less favourable runs. Giving out boost points for participating in groups or doing certain shifts is discriminative towards the others, just as it is to lose all boost points for not meeting delivery times. We ask for an open rating system, where the actual percentages and points are public, and the couriers can see their rankings compared to the others to have feedback of their performance.

We want fair pricing and to work by industry standards. While generally speaking we are happy with the marketplace prices, we want to have reasonable package, weight and dimension categories, following health and safety standards. According to Royal Mail, postmen are not supposed to carry a bag heavier than 11 kg, while construction workers aren’t allowed to lift anything heavier than 25 kg alone. The current sizes and weights are way bigger than at the start of the company, while the vehicles and the human body haven’t changed. Volumes have increased, but prices have stayed the same without any consultation (9)

“Most discerning bicycle couriers know that being versatile means making more money. So, they will come prepared to carry unconventional items. Here are some items which pushbikes regularly carry although at first, users might deem them unsuitable: 

Poster tubes; a pushbike will happily collect a tube up to a metre in length
Large envelopes; up to A3 size, you’ll want to make sure your envelope is suitably stiff if you want to avoid paying extra for a cargo bike
Boxes; if they are reasonably light (less than 3kg) you can send things a little larger than a shoebox
You’ll rarely see a messenger without their trademark bag slung over one shoulder. Although they can fit a surprising amount in there, it’s important to consider the weight of your parcel when choosing a pushbike. Weight is the biggest problem for a cycle courier.
Surprisingly, a cycle courier won’t be too happy to carry your can of paint five miles across town. These couriers make their money by picking up and dropping as many items per mile as they can. So, if they can pick up 20 envelopes and drop them periodically, zig-zagging their way to each drop as they make their way through the city, happy days.
If a bicycle courier arrives to find they have to carry a heavy box of paper to the end of their route, they won’t be so happy. They’ll either have to ride the long route to get rid of the heavy item or burn themselves out lugging the heavy item around multiple drops.
Top tip: Keep it light and make sure it’s packaged well in case it needs to be strapped to the bag.” (10)

We have got to a point where clients can order 45x45x45 boxes up to 12 kg for a pushbike. That is 91 litres, when for instance the Bagaboo Workhorse XL sling bag is 74x43x43, circa 40 litres, while the biggest Chrome Barrage Pro holds 80 litres at maximum. We kindly ask the management to return at least to the previous standard, where bicycle jobs were maximum 5 kg and not bigger than 40x30x30. That is the maximum size given the limitation of the bags. Anything over that size or weight counts as a cargo job and the price should be set accordingly.

Package sizes and weights are often underestimated by the clients, but there is no way to upgrade prices when carrying oversized parcels (11). If a package is incorrectly ordered, then the price should be upgraded one tier higher. Oversized bicycle jobs become cargo bike jobs, cargo bike jobs can turn into van jobs, motorbikes can carry car jobs and so on. Choosing the wrong package size shouldn’t give a discount on pricing. In theory, if a package is incorrectly ordered, a cancellation fee applies and the run has to be reordered. The courier can bypass this by delivering it for the right vehicle price by which the consignment would be reordered anyway, saving money and time for the client.

“The weight and dimensions of your Consignment must be entered accurately on Gophr Marketplace. On receiving the Order details the Courier will be making a judgment as to whether they have room to take the Consignment before they quote for the work. If the Consignment is significantly heavier or larger than the stated weight/ size, the Courier is entitled, acting reasonably, to refuse to take the Consignment and a Cancellation Fee of 100% of the minimum price for the selected vehicle will be payable (instead of the full fee payable).”
 

The courier can’t be forced to take oversized packages, and in the case of a consignment being too big or too heavy to carry, a cancellation fee has to be paid. When it comes to cancellation fees, the mileage from the table above is always disregarded and only the base price is paid. Upon the courier’s arrival to the collection point, a cancellation is called a cancel on arrival (COA) and is usually charged full price. Individual orders build up to make a run, and the overall value of the run is the bargaining point, the reason why the courier accepts the individual orders. Taking out a piece of the route can make it so that the run is no longer worth it for the courier. The same applies to any other situation where the collection is not possible, other than incorrect package size. “If the Courier is unable to collect the Consignment within the Customer’s chosen time slot by reason of the Customer’s act or omission, then the Customer may be charged in full. Any redelivery of the Consignment will require a new Order, for which the Customer will be charged in full.”

Up until arrival or collection the base price applies as in the terms and conditions: “In the event the Customer cancels at any other time up to collection, a cancellation fee of an amount equivalent to 20% of the charges paid or payable or the minimum vehicle fee listed in the pricing schedule (whichever is larger) will apply. “ E7

We want fair fleet management. The results of our performance records should be acknowledged. Full time work and working the whole circuit should be promoted. The clients need a stable working crew, they like to know the person to whom they hand over valuable or personal items to a reasonable extent. There are less than 200 regularly active clients in town and less than 50 couriers who use Gophr as their main platform. These couriers take the better share of the workload, and through job sharing they often redistribute and manipulate the algorithms dispatch. We kindly recommend to add job count and completed mileage to the Performance Record, as a good indicator of commitment.

The algorithm is far from perfect, it is more like a dispatch assistant. None of the other companies managed to build a reliably working software either, and with making job share as an autonomous feature in the app, Gophr has acknowledged that there are human brains required for a more optimal performance.

The company needs to get back to the “couriers first” ethos, and recognise the role and the importance of each and every courier contributing to the smooth operation of the Marketplace. We are the face of Gophr, and we want this to be acknowledged. It is essential to have a good working relationship, there should be regular open forums and meetings in person with the support team and the management.

We would like to give credit to Gophr for the growth of previous years and for bringing valuable clients to the marketplace. We truly believe that if the requests above are reapplied, it will lead to better service, will set new standards for the whole industry and start change for the better.

 

1 “We have built the Gophr business model around professional couriers and thinking about what we can do to make their lives easier. The quality of the courier is crucial; there is a perception that anyone with a car or a bike can be a courier, but that’s not the case and not who we work with.” “It would be great to have turned the narrative around the current gig-economy platforms on its head and back to the idea we were all sold at the beginning of the emergence of the sharing economy. One of fairness and opportunity for all, and in Gophr’s case supporting our couriers to build their own rewarding businesses.” Seb Robert, https://startups.co.uk/entrepreneurs/seb-robert-gophr/

2 “Happy couriers lead to happy customers and I think that has been overlooked massively by a lot of our competitors.“ Seb Robert, https://growingbusinessintelligence.co.uk/interviews/full/seb-robert-gophr

3 “Fee: The cost of the Order.” A

4 “What has been the secret of your success so far? Giving as much as much weight to the couriers as the customers.” Seb Robert, https://growingbusinessintelligence.co.uk/interviews/full/seb-robert-gophr

5 “However, collection dates and times are not guaranteed.” E4

6 “Gophr does not check Orders before they are sent to the Courier or Carrier for acceptance and accepts no liability for any errors or omissions in the Order. It is therefore essential that the Customer correctly enters all details required for the Order so that the correct Courier Services or Next Day Services and charges are displayed.” C3 “The Courier has the right to refuse a Consignment ... is larger or heavier than stated. In such circumstances the Customer may be charged in full.” E4

7 “Customer can contact the Courier through the Gophr Marketplace. If the Courier has to contact the Customer, the Courier will do so by telephone or via the Gophr Marketplace.” E1

8 Couriers are forced to buy expensive devices in order to get better access to work. iPhones tend to be better for example.

9”We won’t change these without discussing and agreeing it directly with the couriers.” Seb Robert, https:// uk.gophr.com/blog/thoughts-on-the-gig-economy/

10https://uk.gophr.com/blog/parcel-sizes/

11 “And, they can call us to change the specs to reflect the work being carried out, with the results properly reflected in the final price of the job.” Seb Robert, https://uk.gophr.com/blog/thoughts-on-the-gig-economy/