EXPLAINER: Why are Lalamove’s delivery rules causing confusion?

Vaguely worded policies are leaving customers and riders with different expectations.

Lalamove customers are pushing back against seemingly misleading policies from the courier service, as clients and riders alike face different interpretations of vaguely worded descriptions of the app’s services.

Over the past month, complaints about delays in Lalamove deliveries have increased on social media. Customers have raised the alarm over Regular and Priority bookings arriving several hours after the app’s displayed arrival times.

“12 mins away lang yung pinapickup ko kasi malapit lang sa location ko. Umabot ng mahigit isang oras kasi naghintay pa ata ng booking at kumuha pa sa ibang lugar. Tapos inuna pa yun ideliver kesa yung sa akin,” said one Reddit user about a supposed Regular booking in early August.

Others have echoed similar claims, even for Priority bookings that charge extra with the promise of urgent delivery.

“I had somewhere to be, so [we] chose priority para I can get my documents on time. It took TWO HOURS to get to me. Whenever I checked the tracking, driver was in different subdivisions that are along the way, tumatambay pa. I even put in a 300 tip, pero wala din, late pa rin,” said another Reddit user.

The Lalamove website lists three delivery options for customers: Regular, Priority, and Pooling. It generally describes Regular as the standard delivery option, Priority as the fastest option, and Pooling as a way to group orders.

While many customers believe Regular and Priority to be straightforward, point-to-point deliveries, the two options previously allowed riders to group deliveries. The Lalamove website used to display the following disclaimer in 2025:

“For Regular and Priority orders, please confirm with your driver before pick-up if you don’t want your order to be combined with other deliveries.”

However, the updated delivery options in 2026 clearly indicate that Priority bookings cannot be grouped with other orders. “[Priority] orders are delivered direct to Drop Off point and not grouped with another order,” the website reads. 

Lalamove also advises customers to book Priority for perishable and time-sensitive deliveries.

Lalamove now also explicitly states that riders may group together multiple Regular deliveries. “[Regular] orders should arrive in around 60 minutes (within 15 kilometer distance) and arrive faster than Pooling option. In some cases, orders may be grouped with another order along the same route but should still arrive within standard delivery time,” the website reads.

Some riders seem to have different interpretations of the delivery options, especially after Lalamove updated its website to reflect newer definitions.

In a Lalamove riders Facebook group, answers to queries about grouping orders vary greatly from the official website’s descriptions and customers’ interpretations.

Responding to a question about grouping Priority bookings, some riders believed the practice was allowed as long as the arrival times were met. Some also advised that Priority bookings could be grouped with Regular and Pooling orders, as long as the former were delivered first.

The apparent lack of alignment between customers and riders on the official service guidelines creates tension and opens the door for exploitation, highlighting a need to clearly communicate expectations to all stakeholders.

radar reached out to Lalamove for comment but has yet to hear back. This story will be updated as soon as the company responds.

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