Your food keeps getting left in the Toronto lobby
When nobody answers, delivery apps tell couriers to call or message you, give you a few minutes on a timer, then leave the order somewhere safe, which in a Toronto tower can mean the lobby or the front desk. The buzzer itself rings one stored number, so if that phone is not answered in time, nobody upstairs knows. The reliable fix is a buzz that reaches more than one phone in the apartment.
Live with others? BuzzMeBro puts more than one of you on the buzzer. First month free. Start free
Food is the hardest delivery for a buzzer, because it cannot wait for a missed call to be returned.
What the courier is told to do
DoorDash tells its couriers to call and text the customer on arrival. The app then shows a timer that gives the customer a few minutes. When it runs out, the courier is prompted to leave the order in a safe place, such as in front of the unit, with a receptionist or doorman, or in a mailroom, and to photograph where.
Uber’s guide for couriers is similar: call or message the customer in the app, tap to show they did not answer, and if the customer does not respond quickly, follow the prompts to end the delivery.
What delivery instructions can and cannot do
The instructions field is useful. Uber’s driver app shows the details you enter, such as intercom and floor numbers, when the courier arrives. Use it for the buzz code, the entrance to use and the floor.
- Write the code exactly as the panel shows it, not your unit number if they differ.
- Name the entrance if the building has more than one.
- Keep it short, so it can be read at the door.
- Make sure the phone number on the account is a phone that is with you.
What instructions cannot do is make somebody answer the buzz.
What actually changes the outcome
| Approach | Effect |
|---|---|
| The buzz ringing more than one phone in the apartment | Somebody who is home answers, which is the whole problem |
| Clear delivery instructions | Helps the courier find the right code. Nobody answers it for you |
| Meeting the courier downstairs | Works, if you know when they will arrive |
| A staffed front desk | DoorDash lists a doorman as a safe place to leave food, during desk hours |
The first row is the only one that removes the dependency on a particular person being available. How that is set up.
The two-minute check
Before assuming the couriers are at fault, confirm the buzzer reaches you at all. Press your own unit code at the panel and see what happens.
A stranger answering means the panel still holds a previous tenant. Nothing at all can mean the stored number is not reachable from the building line. Working through the causes.
With BuzzMeBro the lobby call rings up to 4 phones at once for $9.99 a month, so the order reaches whoever is in the apartment rather than whoever is on the panel. Before pressing the door key, check it is the courier with your order. Start free.
From our own door
- BuzzMeBro has run on our founder’s own Toronto apartment door since August 2026.
- A buzz rings the phones on the apartment that are set to ring, up to 4 at the same time, and whoever answers first handles it.
- Voicemail never answers a buzz on our service. If one phone is off, the others still ring and can open the door.
- When nobody answers, everyone gets a text that someone buzzed, with a number to call back.
Questions people ask
Can I just put my number in the delivery instructions?
The courier already has a way to call or message you through the app. Instructions work best for the things a courier cannot guess: the buzz code, the entrance and the floor.
Why do parcels arrive but food does not?
A parcel can wait with a concierge or in a mailroom until you collect it. Hot food has a timer running, and the buzzer is the quickest way in.
My building has a concierge. Should this still happen?
It can, if the desk is not staffed at the hour you order or does not take food. Ask management what hours the desk is staffed.
The courier said the buzzer did not work. Were they lying?
Probably not. Test it yourself from the lobby. A panel holding a wrong number, or a number it cannot dial, behaves exactly like a broken buzzer from the outside.
What is the version that works when I am the one who is out?
A buzz that rings more than one phone in the apartment. BuzzMeBro rings up to 4 phones together, so a housemate who is home can let the courier in.