When local restaurants coordinated a boycott of the Waitr delivery service last weekend, it was supposed to be temporary.
Upward of 40 local businesses, many of which had used the service since its introduction in Houma and Thibodaux in May of 2018, stopped taking delivery and pickup orders through Waitr in response to what they deemed unfair changes to the Waitr operating agreement, particularly involving fees paid to the company by the restaurants.
Three of them have now told The Courier and Daily Comet that they have decided to permanently end their relationship with Waitr.
…”We decided that we’re just done with them,” Boudreaux said. “Their values don’t align with ours, and even if they change the contract, it’s tainted.”
Nikki Robichaux, owner of Fig Cafe in Houma, said she is “just over Waitr,” because the new fee structure precluded her from making a profit on food delivered by the service.
“I was in a 15% bracket, now I’m going to go to the 25% bracket,” Robichaux said. “They’re going to assess 3.1% credit card fees, and a 30-cent-per-transaction fee. When you add it up, it’s over 38% that I’m going to have to give to them, and our profit margin isn’t even that. We’d be losing money.”