Thinking about driving for DoorDash? Well, did you know that up until 2019,
DoorDash drivers weren't able to keep 100% of their tips? Curious to learn the truth
about working for this widely-used food delivery company? Keep watching.
With the slogan "Your time. Your goals. You're the boss,"
DoorDash positions itself as an employer of choice for those looking for work flexibility.
"DoorDash provides so much flexibility."
And this is the main appeal of the job for most Dashers — being their own boss and the freedom
to take on as much or as little work as they wish. All while making the most of the entrepreneurial
spirit of working as an independent contractor. DoorDash driver Jerry Graham said he was attracted
to the job because it meant he no longer had to deal with a boss. Graham wrote on Kinda Frugal:
"Almost every time I've left a job, whether it was a side hustle,
day job, or contract work, it was about my boss [...] Not having a boss is a big bonus for me."
Mike Hayes, who works as a Dasher in Oregon,
told Business Insider that he doesn't mind being an independent contractor because the gig lets
him take days off and look after his children while his wife is at work. Nevertheless, he was
also quick to point out that the flexibility of the job has its limits, telling the outlet:
"People eat at set times, so my schedule revolves around when people are hungry,
rather than when I want to work."
"We…"
"We Doordash."
DoorDash drivers are paid per delivery rather than per hour. Unfortunately, the payment structure,
which consists of base pay and peak pay, leaves much to be desired. The base pay depends on the
distance, time, and desirability of each order while the peak pay is typically an extra few
dollars per delivery during busy periods. There are also promotions that let drivers
earn more money for finishing a set number of deliveries over a specific period of time.
According to the DoorDash website, the company's base pay ranges between $2 and $10+ per order.
According to a TikTok video posted by Denise Small, this seems to have been lowered,
"As if a $3 base pay from DoorDash was not insulting enough,
they've lowered it to $2, $2.25, $2.50, $2.75."
Another dasher agreed, telling Business Insider:
"I've gotten offers for $3.75 to drive 30 miles, and that's just ridiculous."
On July 31, 2021, some Dashers went on strike after a post on Reddit called for drivers to
switch from DoorDash to Uber Eats for the day. One of the demands was a $4.50 minimum base pay rate.
We aren't sure how many DoorDash drivers took part in the strike, but so far the effort seems
to have fallen on deaf ears, as Dashers geared up for another set of strikes in the spring of 2022.
Since DoorDash's base pay and peak pay system just don't cut it, Dashers rely on gratuities
to bolster their wages. Customers can tip when placing their order through the app or after the
food is delivered to their doorstep. When deciding whether to accept an order, DoorDash drivers can
see their total earnings per delivery, including the base pay, peak pay, and tips. However, it's
only after the delivery is completed that they see the breakdown of the amount they have earned.
Since drivers see the entire amount before accepting the delivery, orders without tips
usually take a while to get picked up. Mike Hayes, who Dashes for the company, told Business Insider,
"Offers with the lowest tips generally get passed down through different Dashers
before someone accepts them. My piece of advice for customers is to tip more
than $5 on your delivery if you want it to arrive fast."
Up until July of 2021, Dashers were able to see the monetary breakdown
of each delivery — including the tip — by downloading a third-party app called Para.
Almost 200,000 Dashers signed up for the app within months of its release.
However, last year, DoorDash rewrote its code, cutting Para off. This loss of tip
transparency was one of the reasons why some Dashers went on strike on July 31, 2021.
While the flexible nature of Dashing is a definite bonus, many drivers have said that the job is
better as a temporary or a part-time gig rather than a sole source of income. This is mainly
because DoorDash doesn't guarantee a stable wage — the delivery service only pays for the deliveries
a driver completes. This can be problematic during slow days. Dasher Mike Haye told Business Insider,
"On a good week, I can make up to $800 working about 45 hours
a week. On a bad week [...] I can make around $200 to $300.
The downside of being an independent contractor is not having a fair wage or any real benefits."
Nevertheless, Dashing can be a great option for those looking to supplement their salary.
Doing deliveries for DoorDash as a secondary source of income
has worked out well for Jerry Graham. Graham wrote on Kinda Frugal:
"My primary source of income is project-based,
and I work remotely [...] I need a side hustle I can do according to my schedule quirks.
When I have free time, ideally I would use it to make extra money."
Other Dashers have also said that working for DoorDash is a great in-between-jobs gig,
as one driver highlighted on Reddit,
"It [is] a bridge to find another job with better security and a better workplace."
Since tips make a huge difference to the income of DoorDash drivers,
it's little surprise that orders with low, or no tips, get rejected. So are there repercussions for
a Dasher who repeatedly hits the decline button on those pesky $3 orders? The answer is both yes
and no. As independent contractors, Dashers are free to accept or decline each order. And
while DoorDash cannot take any punitive actions against a driver who rejects multiple orders,
declining orders can prevent a driver from qualifying for the company's Top Dasher program.
Along with some other requirements, Top Dashers need to accept at least 70% of orders offered
to them. According to the company, they are then offered "priority-access to high-value orders."
While at a first glance, high acceptance rates might be a sign of a more professional driver,
things aren't this black and white. According to driver Omar Zahran,
the DoorDash system practically forces drivers to take low-stake orders to maintain their Top
Dasher status. This is because the inability to "Dash Now" might just kill a driver's business,
as highlighted by Dasher Kevin Smith. Smith wrote on Quora:
"I'm in a city where trying to schedule dashes is nearly impossible. When I first started I
relied on the 'dash now' option. But now that my acceptance rate [...] has dropped to 55%
I kind of screwed myself."
To attract customers, it's important for DoorDash to have as many restaurants on its
app as possible. In theory, this should also provide exposure for restaurants. However,
the reality is not quite so rosy, with many restaurants unhappy about Dashers
picking up orders. To a large extent, this is because DoorDash charges restaurants up to 30%
per order for the privilege of appearing on its app. In addition,
some restaurants say that they never gave the delivery platform permission to post their menus.
"They took our menu, put it on DoorDash.
And the customer is oblivious to the fact that we have no relationship with DoorDash."
One Reddit user explained:
"DoorDash delivers until they receive a cease and desist order.
It's pretty much their business model [...] The theory is that you will partner with
them when you see your sales go up or at least won't care if they send in drivers."
Another reason for the disconnect between Dashers and restaurants is their different priorities.
Dashers are usually thinking about time since their wages depend on the number of deliveries
they complete. As such, they don't appreciate wait times at restaurants. They are also annoyed by the
lack of consistency between restaurants, even if they belong to the same chain.
McDonald's is a case in point, with some outlets demanding that Dashers go
through the drive-thru and others that they ring a special orders doorbell.
The drivers' frustration is often seen as a lack of professionalism
by restaurant staff who are often also under pressure to complete orders.
In the DoorDash world, tampering with food isn't uncommon. From missing food items to entire meals
being stolen, the delivery system can leave a lot of people hungry. One incident involving
missing food was captured on a TikTok video under the handle @katelyn8560. After ordering
Taco Bell through DoorDash, Katelyn noticed that her food order bag was ripped open. Upon checking
the receipt, she realized that her Doritos Locos Taco was missing and requested a refund.
Presumably, to prove that the order had been delivered, the Dasher sent
Katelyn a photo of the delivery bag on her front porch. Unfortunately or fortunately,
they left their Dorito-dust-covered fingers in the foreground. Not surprisingly, DoorDash has
since fired the driver. While Dashers can be removed from the platform for stealing food,
most order mishaps are due to restaurant mistakes. According to Isabel Kidd's post on Quora,
if the bag arrives on the customer's porch sealed with stickers, Dashers are not docked
for any order mistakes since this indicates that they were made at the restaurant.
DoorDash believes in making the higher-ups put themselves in the shoes of their employees.
The WeDash program does exactly this — it requires all employees,
including DoorDash's CEO Tony Xu, to don the hat of a delivery driver
at least once a month. All money generated through the program is donated to charity.
Not everybody has been happy about the program, however. In December 2021, a DoorDash corporate
employee who reported making $400,000 a year complained about WeDash on the anonymous employee
platform Blind. Entitled "DoorDash making engineers deliver food," the post bemoaned
the fact that the so-called engineer would have to hit the road. The anonymous employee wrote:
"I didn't sign up for this, there was nothing in the offer letter/job description about this."
Luckily, other DoorDash employees disagreed in the comments to the post, with one writing,
"Most of my coworkers and I are excited. DD pays well and I get to better understand what
I'm working on, and hopefully improve the experience for our Dashers."
While many Dashers seem to think that their only outgoing expense when working for DoorDash will
be gas, this is far from the case. Car wear and tear, and even the occasional parking ticket,
can put a huge dent in the salary of a delivery driver. Dasher Vianne Curiel explained to Eater,
"You are putting miles on your car [...] I
think I added 40,000 miles in a year or a year and a half."
According to another Dasher, Moshe Ben Dovid,
the "stop n go" driving he does for DoorDash has wreaked havoc on his car. Dovid wrote on Quora:
"It wears out everything from the tires on up. Brakes and suspension take a beating and the
extra miles will wear away just about everything faster than when most people use their car."
Many DoorDash drivers recommend factoring in vehicle wear and tear — not just gas — when
calculating income. In an EntreCourier article, one Dasher even advises setting
money aside for car registration, insurance, and car maintenance from the first day on the job.
DoorDash changed its payment policy in 2019 after paying $2.5 million to settle
a lawsuit that accused the company of absconding with drivers' tips.
The original payment model saw DoorDash paying its drivers a flat rate of $10 per delivery.
This included a base rate of $1 and customer tips. If a customer didn't tip enough,
DoorDash made up the difference. If a Dasher got a relatively large tip,
however, DoorDash used the extra money to subsidize the hourly wage of its other drivers.
Implemented in 2017, this payment structure worked until two articles — one in The New York
Times and the other in NBC News — shed light on the practice. The revelation didn't go down well
with customers who were upset that their tips didn't go directly to their delivery drivers.
More specifically, they were enraged that their tips were used to subsidize the drivers' base pay,
which they believed should have been covered by the company. Since DoorDash
changed its payment policy in 2019, drivers have been able to keep 100% of their tips.
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