COLIN PERRY
News Editor
Last Friday, students who worked for Tapingo as couriers received a surprising message from their managers: The delivery service would be ending in just two days, and their jobs would go along with it.
The online food ordering app was brought to Fredonia’s campus last Fall by the Faculty Student Association (FSA), but even it had no idea that deliveries would be done with by the end of Sunday night.
Tapingo sent its notice to all couriers via Slack, an app that provides group chat services and the primary method of communication between Tapingo management and their employees. In the message, Johnny Pelosi, a Tapingo staff member, said the delivery service had a “great run” at Fredonia but the service was ending regardless.
“Unfortunately at this point, we are going to shut down Tapingo Delivers for the rest of the semester at Fredonia,” Pelosi wrote. “This decision does not reflect all of your hard work, we truly appreciate all the time and effort put into running Tapingo Delivers.”’
Pelosi also apologized for posting scheduled shifts for the days after the 29th, as these would no longer be available.
But just one day after the deliveries ended, couriers received another message telling them that they would be providing delivery service once more as of this Friday due to demand in the community. Many couriers are planning on resuming their positions, but the instability on Tapingo’s end has left them with reasons to be uneasy.
A student courier, who wished to remain anonymous, called Tapingo’s organization “an absolute mess” and cited a lack of communication as a constant problem for the staff. The student was not surprised that Tapingo cancelled its delivery service at Fredonia.
“The days they were busy, they were really busy,” the student wrote over email. “But on the other hand, there were days where four people were clocked in and only three orders came in. We also have to realize the other campuses they run at are huge compared to Fredonia … The income from Fredonia’s campus must have been so insignificant compared to those schools.”
Another student courier who also spoke on the condition of anonymity called Tapingo “very unorganized” and claimed its approach to Fredonia was flawed.
“To me, [Tapingo] seems like a lot of 20-year-old guys that had this great idea and wanted to get this company started, but in actuality I think the delivery aspect was more responsibility than they anticipated,” the courier said. “The biggest thing that’s been going on this semester was winter weather, and them not realizing how bad the weather can get.”
Tapingo did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
