Why Doordash needs to rethink how it treats their Drivers

Doordash drivers and customers are being blind-sided and manipulated to benefit the company. Doordash is attempting to manipulate drivers,  and customers aren’t getting the service they deserve as a result. They continue to make changes designed to force drivers to take low-paying orders by hiding details around the offers, including the "full payout" and order totals, to ensure that dashers accept unprofitable offers. 

For drivers, choosing whether to accept an offer shouldn’t be a gamble. 

Doordash drivers (“Dashers”) make this delivery service viable and are the de-facto face of the company . We deal with both merchants and customers on every order and we are unhappy. Why? 

Customers who tip more for better service have their gratuities hidden instead of being recognized for doing so. Drivers simply aren’t provided with this information. This means your order may be rejected, as dashers are unaware of your generosity. Low and no tip orders are sometimes stacked with other more generous offers, benefiting Doordash but hurting customers and dashers. This results in delays for your delivery.

This isn’t right…for customers or drivers!

As professional, independent drivers, we’re asking Doordash to make the following changes. These are within our rights as independent contractors, but more importantly, are also the right thing to do.

1.       Be Transparent - a driver should know what they are going to be paid, before they accept an offer

-         Doordash hides the “full payout” from the driver on many orders. This includes any gratuities given by the customer for good service. Stop! It’s simple, a driver should know what they’re going to be paid…BEFORE they accept an offer. Choosing whether to accept the order shouldn’t be a gamble, and customers who provide generous tips should receive the benefit of their appreciation.  In effect, higher tip customers are being used to subsidize low and no tip customers, all to benefit Doordash.

This causes dashers to reject offers which on the surface appear to be unprofitable but may, in fact, be worth accepting. 

Doordash needs to show the full payout on EVERY OFFER and show the FULL total of each order on EVERY OFFER. Up front.

2.       Be Reasonable - bear the costs for your business decisions; don’t put the burden on drivers or customers.

Doordash frequently accepts small, long-distance deliveries with zero tips and no additional compensation. Stop! If a customer wants a salad from a restaurant 10 miles away Doordash should implement a distance surcharge and pay 100% of that fee to the driver.

If Doordash wants to accept low-paying offers without any extra fee, this is a business decision made by them. They should bear the cost.  The financial burden shouldn’t be placed on the driver! 

Doordash needs to be honest about these offers. If no Dasher will accept an order based on its own merits, then either the customer should be prompted to increase the gratuity, or Doordash should increase the base pay until the offer is accepted. It’s simple…no more games!  Each offer should stand on its own merit. 

3.       Be Honorable - focus on improving the Dasher experience. Use resources to solve problems - rather than tricking or coercing Dashers

-         To decline a trip, we currently have to press 4 buttons, all while driving. Stop! Prioritize everyone’s safety over your desire to add friction to declining a trip. 

-         Doordash asks drivers to work within a certain “zone”. Often, Doordash sends offers which take dashers to another zone and then penalizes the driver for accepting those offers (the system won’t send dashers new offers until they drive back to their original zone). We recognize this can be necessary however, a dasher should receive additional compensation for time and distance back to the home zone.

-         Doordash accepts orders for restaurants farther from the customer when there is an identical restaurant closer to the customer. Stop! You are sending drivers out of their chosen zone unnecessarily and/or requiring dashers to drive farther than necessary. This isn’t the action of an environmentally responsible company. There’s no responsible need for driving past 3 McDonald’s on the way to drop off a McDonalds order you picked up halfway across town. 

-        The driver app is designed with purposeful friction to keep you within the app. Stop! This ignores the fact that many drivers have to work across multiple helper apps and platforms just to make ends meet. As independent contractors, drivers should be able to use the tools they see fit to run their business. Make it easier for drivers to manage their work across apps! 

-        Doordash deducts $1 for every stacked order. Stop. We think you should be paying $2 extra per order on stacks because they often require more work and many times, one or both of them are low-tip offers.

-        Doordash charges drivers $500 more annually for daily access to cash outs (to their personal bank) than competing platforms. This equates to 3 or more days of full time dashing. Stop. A driver should be charged a minimal, reasonable fee for daily cash outs. 

-        Doordash allows some restaurants to shave or take tips completely. Stop! Doordash should make it against its Terms of Service to allow this practice and remove any merchant doing so. When a customer is tipping, they are tipping the driver, not W-2 restaurant employees.

At the end of the day,  it’s simple. Doordash and other gig companies have fought hard to classify drivers as independent contractors. They should want to be supportive of our efforts to take full advantage of our rights as such. They aren’t. It seems to drivers that Doordash does not view dashers as “Partners” as they claim, but as obstacles to trick and deceive to accomplish their own goals. 

In the past, Doordash has received negative press for withholding tips, for adding merchants without their consent, and for charging excessive fees to merchants. Some of these practices have resulted in lawsuits and in regulatory actions against the company.

We consider Doordash’s actions against drivers to be a breach of good faith and an abdication by its officers of their fiduciary responsibility to ensure the health of the company. These actions, at the very least, could result in more negative publicity for the company and at worst, could force changes on the company if it fails to engage in fair-dealing.

We, as Drivers and Customers of Doordash,  call on them to immediately implement these changes for the health of the company and the well-being of all those who rely on its success…merchants, drivers, customers, employees and shareholders.

For the good of all concerned we urge you to implement these changes and open a meaningful dialog with representative dashers to ensure future decisions made which affect us have buy-in and make sense.