The Best One Yet - 🫠 “I got charged a Flake Fee” — Cancellation fees’ surge. Uber & Instacart hookup. Netflix’s live comedy fest.

Episode Date: May 8, 2024

The new trend in fees? The Flake Fee — From restaurants to salons to spin classes, more Americans are getting charged for canceling last second.We’re in the middle of Netflix is a Joke, the 12 day comedy fest in LA that’s streamed live on Netflix — Netflix is betting on a live streamed comedy fest, because First Movers keep moving.And Uber & Instacart are rivals, but just moved into each other’s apps — And it’s all to take on DoorDash, because “the enemy of your enemy is your friend.”Plus, It’s National Teacher Appreciation Week, so Nick & Jack shoutout some of the greatest ones yet.$UBER $CART $NFLXSubscribe to the best newsletter yet: tboypod.com/newsletterWant merch, a shoutout, or got TheBestFactYet? Go to: www.tboypod.comFollow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypodAnd now watch us on YouTube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Wednesday, SaViche, Wednesday, May 8th, and today's pod is the best one yet. This is a T-boy. Nick and I are whipping up the top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Jack, I am seeing you tomorrow in New York, but I got a red-eye flight tonight. Should we just get right into this thing, baby? Let's get you to the flight as soon as we can.

Jack, let's see it our three stories. What do we got today? For our first story, there's a new fee trending across the economy. It's the canceled appointment. fee. From restaurants to salons, we're all getting charged a no-show fee. Or as we call it, the flake fee. Ah, the flake fee. For our second story, it's Uber and Instacart. These two delivery companies are rivals, but they just hooked up in a way we've never seen before. Get this, Uber's app. We'll go inside Instacart's app, and it reminds us of a quote from Polly SciClass. And our third and final story,

Netflix is in the middle of 12 straight nights of live street. comedy shows. Because Netflix knows that first movers have to keep on moving, baby. But Yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Fantastic mix. Love the mix today, Jack. I was an Econ major. Nick was a history major. We actually took one class together in our lifetimes. I think it was Econ 201. I think it was Micro 101. I like how you rounded up on that. Either way, Nick and I weave history and economics into the show like every episode. But Yeties, Jack and I, we also took a bunch of different surprise classes you probably didn't expect that our friends didn't take it off. And we weave those classes and those lessons into the show too. In fact, if you add it all up,

this very podcast is actually the product of all the teachers we've ever had. For instance, my social studies teacher, Mr. Kipp, he taught me to question the headlines and to dig deeper for the right story. Jack, my poetry teacher, Professor Resnick, she taught me how to craft a rhythm with some razzle dazzle and some sprinkled dinkle. Miss Ryder, my sixth grade teacher, she'd taught me the pride of putting everything I have into a project. Jack, Mr. Abdis, my fifth grade acting teacher taught me how to publicly perform like your life's on a stage with reciting some cookie crisps. Nick, I had a music teacher named Mr. Sparanza.

Without his lessons, I wouldn't have the rhythm to do the lyrical dance of this show with you every day. Yeah, Mr. Montara decorated his classroom with Led Zeppelin posters. And without it, I wouldn't be able to find the connections between rock and roll and everything we do. Nick and I have been blessed with the teachings of a whole bunch of amazing teachers who left us with all sorts of random skills. Jack, Miss Reynolds made us write an essay every day and I hate it. But what do we basically do right now?

We write an essay every day and then presented on this pod. Yeties, every one of these teachers taught us a lesson and they did it while handling a classroom full of some crazy kids. And we know there's a whole bunch of Yetis listening to this pod right now because their teachers introduce them to it. Jack, Dr. Joe teaches this pod at Piedmont University. Professor Hornish introduced this pod to the students at Rhodes College. And Mr. Chris Carino teaches this very podcast at the Greater Lawrence Technical School just outside Boston. So to all the teachers listening right now, thank you for making all of us brighter.

It's teacher appreciation week, isn't it, Jack? So to everyone listening right now, ping one of your teachers or give them a call, let them know what they did for you. One teacher, let them know that one thing that you're still doing to this day thanks to them. Mr. Sparanz had made me stand in front of class and say Dorei Mifaso Lati Doe. I was terrified, but it built character. If it wasn't for detention, we wouldn't have the takeaways. Jack, let's hit our three stories, baby.

Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea that caused a cultural storm. 50% that's a fat tip. Tea Boy City on your at list. If you know, you know, because we're ready to go. We can't wait no more. So just start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor.

For our first story, a new fee is popping up across the country from restaurants to hair salons, even to babysitters. And that fee is the canceled appointment fee. Nick and I call it the flake fee. And it's a fee that we actually endorse. Jack, us consumers, we're a fickle bunch, aren't we, man? I don't know. I feel like we're reasonable, actually. Yeah, actually, we are.

We're good people. We're good people. But we've lamented that businesses are oppressing us. consumers with fees. I can't stand the convenience fee. The service fee. What service? The resort fee? I'm paying a fee because I'm here. Jack, the hotel we're staying at this week in New York. They charge an urban fee. You're kidding me. No, I'm not kidding. It's to use their bikes. I'm not even going to use the bikes. What an outrage. This feels like a the feocry. Oh, it feels like retail's a whole bunch of fee tail and we're all paying the fee fee fee out there. And unfortunately, we have to introduce you to the

latest fee. The no show fee. Ah, the no show fee. It is a fee that you pay that you pay. You pay. if you cancel your appointment at the last second or you don't show up. Known as the canceled appointment fee, Nick and I like to call it the flake fee. Yeties, you cancel your manny-petti, boom, you pay a fee. You cancel your colonoscopy. You pay a fee. You got a last second rain check on the dinner reservation at Dorcia? You're going to end up paying a fee.

How about this? Let's say you booked a Pilates class for tomorrow morning, but you show up 15 minutes late. They won't let you interrupt the class, but they will make you pay for that class, even though you didn't make it on time. Well, according to the Wall Street Journal, it's not just Jack's lovely Pilates Saturday morning class. Barbershops in lovely Los Angeles

are charging $100 if you don't show up for your appointment. Personal trainers are charging 100% of the price because you had to put down the credit card to book that personal training appointment. We all have that buddy who's a little bit of a no-show. Are you thinking of our buddy, Timmy Jack? If I was a personal trainer and I was waiting for Timmy to show up and he just didn't,

oh my God. I'd want to take that money. You throw the flake fee on our buddy, Timmy. That's why flake fees are surging, and we've got the data to prove it. Get this, Yeties. According to Square, the payment processor that also tracks fees since the pandemic, flake fees have just taken off. In the beauty industry, the percentage of beauty salons that are charging a cancellation fee

has tripled in the past three years. In the restaurant industry, the percentage of restaurants that are charging a cancellation fee has quadrupled in the last three years. Think about it. Restaurants make reservations. reservation so easy with the various booking apps. It's friction-free booking. It's easy to grab a res. But the downside is that canceling your reservation is easy too.

And cancellations are costly to the business. Yes, they are. Jack, should we jump in T-boy style? Can you whip out the whiteboard for us over there, please? If the restaurant can't fill the reservation that you canceled last second, they might lose out on $150 of revenue for that table. You're supposed to be there at 7 p.m. You don't show up at 7.30.

You cancel the res. Boom. No one's eating there between 7 and 8 p.m. And if that happens once a night, that's actually 54 grand over the course of the year in lost revenue for that one table. They set up the booth right by the window like you like, Jack. And because you didn't show, they're going to lose 55 grand this year. Now, maybe the restaurant manages to get a walk-in to fill the table for the reservation you canceled last second. But, Jack, that's kind of hard because since the pandemic, people tend to book ahead for things.

They tend to get reservations. Now, if you canceled your reservation a couple days in advance, we think that's fun. that gives them time to fill another reservation. 24 hours notice, I've done it, you've done it. We've both done it, hotels, restaurants. I'm sorry, something came up. The child care fell through. But if you cancel a reservation last second,

Nick and I are okay with the flake fee. We repeat yetties. Jack and I have discovered that the flake fee is the one fee that we're like actually okay with. And why is that, Jack? Because cancellations can kill a business. So sit down, stand up, and you can charge us a flake fee. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies

who are every business owner in America. The best way to change human behavior is to charge for it. So Yeti's, there's this one interesting twist with the rise of the flake fee. And that twist is how to stop flaking. The data shows that the number of no shows drops if one thing is done. And that one thing is when you pay in advance. Because typically you don't cancel, you actually show up when you've paid in advance. That's why everyone's asking for your credit card.

as you book the appointment. And according to the Wall Street Journal, when customers paid in advance, cancellations fall by 45%. When customers pay in advance, no-shows drops by 82%. It's a fascinating insight into human behavior, that when money's on the line, we all actually behave better. The best way to change human behavior is to charge for it. And that's what many businesses are doing with the no-show cancellation flaky, flake fee. For our second story.

Uber and Instacart. They just shook hands to team up against a common enemy in a way we have never seen before. What a hookup. And it reminds us of something we learned in Polly Sye. All right, Jack, you know those love stories where two people hate each other, but then they end up kind of like getting together in the end of the story. I think that's the plot of every rom-com there. Well, that, exactly that, just happened in the big tech industry, didn't it, Jack?

Two rivals just announced a partnership in the most intimate way possible. Getties, get this. Instacart is putting Uber inside of its own Instacart app so you can now order Uber through Instacart. So this is how it's going to look in a few weeks when this rolls out. You're going to open the Instacart app and you can order your weekly groceries as usual. But you can also order dumplings for that evening delivered by Uber Eats through the Instacart app. We've never seen this before. two competitors putting both of their services inside of each other's apps.

Jack, shit, this is like if Facebook added a Twitter section. Or if McDonald's added Whopper as like a guest on the menu. Or the Ford Bronco is running on a Tesla chassis, man. This is the biggest, hottest surprise corporate hookup since Ron and Hermione. Jack, you know that movie Challenger's out right now and getting a lot of attention? Yeah. I think this is what Zendaya is doing in that move. I don't know about that, but I'll let it stay.

So, Yetis, we know what you're thinking and we know why you're curious. Why are these two companies hooking up? Why are Uber and Instacart now creating this new thing, Uber cart? They're not doing it out of love. They're partnering up out of jealousy. They're doing it out of jealousy of DoorDash. Because DoorDash is far and away the winner of the delivery app wars. Get this, besties.

67% of the U.S. food delivery market is DoorDash. Two-thirds of the pad ties nationwide are delivered. delivered by DoorDash. If you're ordering tacos tonight, odds are a DoorDash or dude is dropping it off at your door. And that means DoorDash isn't just beating Uber Eats in food delivery. DoorDash is also a threat to Instacart in grocery delivery. Because DoorDash is also now running a grocery delivery business and how's it doing, Jack? Grocery delivery revenues have doubled three quarters in a row for DoorDash. And that is why the CEOs of Instacart and Uber are forming an alliance. Why those two are suddenly getting together.

Together, Uber and Instacart have the power and the scale and the size to better compete with DoorDash. Together, Uber and Instacart are going to have more drivers, more users, and more deliveries than DoorDash. With this partnership, Uber is going to get to deliver food for Instacart's customer base, which is mostly suburban families. And Instacart is going to get to ally with Uber to weaken DoorDash's advances on the urbanites out there or in that pad tie. Uber gets something, Instacart it gets something, and DoorDash gets a tough arrival. That's a lovely relationship. And that is why Instacart and Uber stocks rose yesterday. But DoorDash's stock dropped yesterday.

And it reminds us of freshman year polysci class. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Uber Car? The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Yeties, that's actually a line Jack and I remember from political science class about political strategy. It's an ancient Sanskrit proverb. The idea is that rivals should become allies if they share the same ultimate enemy. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

And we've seen this before in history. We actually saw it during World War II. During World War II, the United States was very suspicious of Soviet Russia, but we partnered with them to take on Germany together. The enemy of our enemy was our friend. We don't often see it in business, but this Uber cart, Insta Uber deal is the perfect example of this concept. Rivals Uber and Instacart have teamed up because they shared the same threat of DoorDash. Now that is Polly Sai 101. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, Netflix is in the middle of a, get this, 12-day live-streamed comedy festival in Los Angeles. Netflix is doing what no other media company has ever done again. Now, Jack, let's start this story with a little bit of, I don't know, kind of some live roleplay, baby. Here we go, here we go. When you hear the word Netflix, what are you thinking?

Content, who you got? Stranger Things. Tiger King, The Crown, the Dig. Did you watch The Dig? You are dramatic, my friend. Because when you look at the Data Yeti's, Netflix's business is really a comedy business. True. I don't watch enough comedy movies these days, man.

Midnight Movie Club. But in the last 10 years, Netflix has unleashed 500 stand-up comedy specials. Netflix is really the comedy streamer. And this week, Netflix doubled down on comedy like you'd never believe. It's like Netflix grew another funny bone because from May 1st to May 12th, Netflix is having its third annual comedy fest called Netflix is a joke. Netflix is a joke. It's a comedy festival with 400 different comedy shows happening across Los Angeles right now.

Basically, besties, just about anyone who's ever made you laugh got a Netflix show for this week. It's an absolute Hall of Fame of Humor. We're talking John Stewart, Seth Roke, and Kat Williams, Nicky Glazer, Jerry Seinfeld. Will Ferrell, Ali Wong, Jim Carrey. Trevor Noah, Chelsea Handler. They're all doing comedy in this festival. Jack, it's the World Cup of Comedy. It's the Olympics of Amusement.

It's the Hunger Games of hysterical people. I wish I was in L.A. So we could check this out. I mean, every night, there's like seven amazing comedy shows. But here's what Jack and I found fascinating about this story, Yeties. This year, Netflix is doing something different. And what's the one key difference, Jack? This year's Comedy Festival, Netflix is streaming life.

to Netflix. The first two Netflix comedy festivals, they did record everything, and they eventually published those stand-up specials to Netflix like in the spring, summer, and winter. But Jack, you and I know that publishing later, I mean, Netflix had time to edit

out the bad jokes and the awkward pauses and the strangeness and the, oh, can we take that out? Yes, we can take that out because we're editing it. But this year, Netflix is lifting the stakes by streaming their biggest shows of this festival live directly to the Netflix app.

including the roast of Tom Brady, emceed by our buddy Kevin Hart. It was Sunday night, the Tom Brady roast. According to a New York Times critic, it should have been about an hour shorter than it actually was. Yeah, it should have been an hour shorter, but again, it was live, so... Anything goes, Jack? Gronk is good at tight ends.

He's not good at tight jokes. And this was the worst thing to happen to Tom Brady since the Giants. And you could have watched the whole thing live on Netflix Sunday night. Plus, Netflix had another show that also went down live this week, and what was that, Jack? It's called Everyone's in L.A. Because every comedian is in L.A. right now. It's a nightly variety show hosted by John Mullaney, and they're doing it six nights in a row live on Netflix.

Live every night this week, John Mullady is covering Los Angeles's abundance of coyotes and $25 Haley Bieber smoothies. And he's doing it with guest appearances from the Hall of Fame of Humor. But Jack, you and I know from show business, doing anything live is really, really hard. So why is why?

is Netflix, a company known for polished production, taking on the major risk of live comedy that everyone's going to see regardless of what's said on stage. Because of our takeaway. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Netflix? To keep the first mover advantage, you need to keep moving. Yeties, Netflix is the first mover of streaming. In 2009, Netflix was first to streaming. And millions of people flocked to the Netflix service in order to stream. video on their computers. And that's how Netflix became famous. Disrupting video by streaming online and doing it ad-free.

But Netflix stayed famous by being first again. Netflix was the first streamer to produce original content. It was a huge and expensive bet at the time and it worked. It worked and that kept the first mover Netflix in first place in streaming. Throughout Netflix's history, it's kept its lead by moving into smart but still bold investments. And now Netflix is feeling some heat because they're not. the only streamer that's profitable these days, are they, Jack?

Yesterday, Disney announced that Disney Plus finally achieved profitability. So what is Netflix doing, Jack? They're remaining ahead by pushing forward with the first ever live-streamed 12-night comedy festival. Yeties, keeping the first mover advantage. It ain't easy out there.

But great first movers, they keep moving. They move, and they move again, and they move again, and they move again. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for it? for Saviche Wednesday. Businesses across the economy are charging no show fees because your cancellation is costly.

Ah, the flake fee, but the best way to change human behavior, it's to charge for it. For our second story, it's Uber and Instacart. They're partnering up. They're not moving in together, but they're letting each other put their apps inside the other's app. It's a little bit like a no-strings hookup,

isn't it, Jack? But to take on DoorDash, they've recognized what we learned in Polly Sime. The enemy of my anime is my friend. Third and final story, what do we got, Jack? We're in the middle of the Netflix is a joke comedy festival, which is streaming live on Netflix. To keep that first mover advantage, Netflix knows that you gotta keep moving and moving and moving. But yet is this pod's not over yet? Here's what else you need to know today. First, Reddit just announced its first earnings since its IPO and Reddit stock jumps 20% on huge revenue growth. Reddits revenue jumped

48% last quarter. That's pretty darn huge. And get this, 83 million people are on Reddit every single day. It's the smallest social media company, but it's growing. And second, Apple just announced their first new iPad in nearly two years. And this new iPad, oh, it is expensive, my friend. The iPad Pro starts at $1,300. And it's basically a MacBook because it has a case with the built-in keyboard and touchpad, which is like, those are all the parts of a MacBook.

Now, this is kind of funny, Jack, because you don't have an iPad, but I believe your three-year-old son has an iPad. Yeah, while there's fussing in the restaurant, we might give him some bluey. Yeah, it is the iPad. It was invented for millennials, but it's used by millennials kids and millennials' parents. That's true. We've got to skip the generation for iPads, didn't we? If you're using an iPad, you're either six years old or you're 60 years old, Jack.

And finally, Kellogg's just announced a new initiative for all their workers, summer Fridays. Kellogg workers can now leave at 12 p.m. on Fridays for a half day, but only on one condition. You gotta make up for that lost time, Monday through Thursday. Hey, Tony, the Tiger, can you just give the people a half day off, please? What's going on over there? I guess there is no such thing as a free lunch. We're free breakfast. Now, time for the best fact yet.

This one sent in by Jacob LeBaron from lovely Draper, Utah. The difference between a million and a billion is actually huge. Jack, can you please whip out the white board? and sprinkle on some context on a million versus a billion. All right. In terms of time, one million seconds is 11.5 days. But one billion seconds is 31.7 years. 11 days versus 32 years.

That's the difference between a million and a billion. Or Jack, how about one more when it comes to like animals out there? All right. A million grams is about the weight of a walrus. But a billion grams is the weight of seven statues of liberty. That comma and three zeros are really heavy and take a really long time. Yeties, respect the comma. Besties, you look fantastic out there.

And remember, before you do anything today, don't just call your mother, call your teacher. Tell them the impact they made on your life because chances are, a bunch of them did just that. If Ms. Ryder didn't have Jack writing those essays on paper, I don't know what this podcast would even sound like, man. And if Mr. Montara didn't love Led Zeppelin, this podcast would be a lot more. born. If you know, you know. Jack and I, we'll see you tomorrow. And before we go, congratulations to Yeti Lauren Kramer. Jack's sister-in-law, the incredible wife of the incredible Teddy Kramer, and what did she just win, Jack? Well, she's a fantastic nurse mentor at the hospital I was born in in Browler. And she was just recognized during National Nurses Week for her incredible

mentorship of other nurses. Congratulations, Lauren. And a shout out to Yeti Scott Brown from Provo, Utah, who's got a whole bunch of things to celebrate. He just graduated from Brigham Young Universe. He just got married the day after graduation, and he's starting a brand new job right now. Not too shabby, and a happy 20th birthday to Bestie Avery Patel, who's celebrating in the place to celebrate Orlando, Florida, with a Michelin Star meal. Happy third anniversary to Allison and Austin in Ventura, California. They're celebrating with cats on the beach. And Sarah Mogul He'll turn 31 years old down in Miami after dominating the fintech startup world. And happy birthday to Kat in Chesapeake, Virginia, who's celebrating at a Panoi restaurant.

And to anyone else who's celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack Ironsstock of Disney, Netflix, and Instacart.