Peloton warehouse workers begged to stop home deliveries during COVID-19

Peloton’s home delivery program is seen as one of their competitive advantages compared to competitors who require new customers to take delivery of their new bikes and then put them together.

With Peloton, it’s all handled by either Peloton employees or by XPO Logistics. I personally received my bike during COVID-19, and it was handled by XPO.

Over on Buzzfeed, there is a report that Peloton employees begged to stop doing home deliveries.

But while Peloton’s leadership was scrambling to keep up with consumer demand and rapidly expanding market share, the warehouse and delivery workers who assemble, repair, and deliver Peloton equipment were apoplectic. According to internal communications reviewed by BuzzFeed News, some felt the company’s decision to designate delivery of pricey exercise bikes as essential during a pandemic was reckless and put them in danger of contracting the coronavirus.

“I’m actually livid right now,” one Peloton employee wrote in a post to an internal company message board. “Peloton really doesn’t care about our safety or health.” Others echoed concerns that the company wasn’t taking the risk of their exposure seriously.

Peloton offered employees $100 per day in Hazard pay (pre-tax), but some employees felt like it wasn’t enough.

“Y’all really sat down in a room came up with this plan and thought we’d be ok with risking the safety of our loved ones for $100[?]” said one comment. “[If] y’all really care start administering screenings to let us know if we good or not, or just keep us home.”

After employees raised the alarm, Peloton did stop delivering its treadmill, which cannot be set up ahead of time due to its size. The bikes are assembled in a warehouse with minimal setup needed inside the customer’s home. In my experience, the only task that needed to be done after delivery was final tightening and installing the screen.