Reviews go both ways
Customers rate riders, and riders rate the delivery too. Here is why we ask riders how it went at the gate, what we do with their answers, and how trust works on both sides of the handover.
Every Laayo delivery ends with a handover: a bag passes from a rider’s hand to a customer’s at a gate, a shop counter or a hostel stairwell. Most of the time it takes a few seconds and both people smile. Sometimes it does not go well, and until recently only one side of that moment could tell us about it.
Customers have always been able to rate their rider. We think riders deserve the same voice.
How customers rate riders#
After a delivery, the app asks the customer how it went. They can rate the food and the rider separately, so a slow kitchen does not turn into a bad mark for the person who rode through the rain to bring it. A rider’s average rating shows on their profile in the rider app, and it is one of the signals that make up a freelance rider’s medal.
Low ratings are not just a number. When a customer leaves a poor rating with a comment, our team reads it.
How riders rate the delivery#
After marking an order delivered, the rider app asks the rider a short question about the handover: how did it go? They pick a star rating and tap any tags that fit. The tags are written from the rider’s side of the gate:
- Good things: the customer was nice, said thank you, gave a tip, was on time, gave me water.
- Problems: the customer was rude, was late, the delivery address was wrong, I could not reach the customer, the customer refused the order, the customer did not have change.
There is space for a short comment too. The whole thing takes a few seconds and can be skipped.
We chose tags over a free-text box on purpose. A rider standing at a gate with their next order already waiting will not write a paragraph. Two taps they will do. And tags let us see patterns: an address that is wrong again and again, a building where nobody answers the phone.
What we do with rider reviews#
Rider reviews are visible to our team on each customer’s profile, alongside everything else we know about their orders: an average, a tally of the good tags and the problem tags, and the full list with a link to each order. Low ratings are marked so they stand out.
Here is what that is for:
- Fixing addresses. If several riders tag the same customer with “wrong delivery address”, we can reach out and help them fix the pin, which helps the next rider too.
- Supporting riders. A rider who reports a rude customer or a refused order should not carry that alone. Our team can see it, follow up and back the rider when there is a complaint about the same delivery.
- Understanding cash problems. “Did not have change” sounds small, but it is a real cost to a rider standing at a gate. It is one of the reasons we keep making E-Payment easier.
It is just as important to say what rider reviews are not for. Customers do not see them, a single bad review does not block anyone from ordering. They are a quiet signal for our team, not a public score.
Trust, measured over time#
Behind the scenes we keep a trust score for customers and for riders. It is built from what actually happens over many orders: deliveries completed, cancellations, ratings from the other side, refunds. Older events count for less as time passes, and one bad day does not outweigh months of good ones.
Today that score is observational only. It does not change prices, block cash orders, decide refunds or affect a rider’s pay. We use it to understand patterns and to spot the rare account that needs a closer look. If we ever let it change what someone can do in the app, we will say so clearly first.
The handover is the product#
It is easy to think of a delivery app as menus, payments and maps. But the moment that decides how someone feels about Laayo is the few seconds at the gate. A polite customer and a careful rider make each other’s day better. A wrong address or a refused order makes it worse for both.
Asking both people how it went is how we learn to make that moment better.
What’s next#
We are looking at closing the loop for riders: when a rider’s report leads to a fixed address or a resolved complaint, they should hear about it. If you ride for Laayo, keep tagging. Every tag goes somewhere.
