I'm just offering you the inside scoop folks
If you're offended by honesty
Or how things work in the real world
Please close this website now

Your delivery instructions
Are the best tool you have at your disposal
Drivers thrive on customer tips
It's just the way it is folks

And since these apps don't tell us your complaints

These instructions are your chance to mention issues you have had with drivers in the past

So that all drivers who deliver to you will see them

And hopefully adjust their behavior

Also per your customer agreement you clicked "agree" on
But you never actually took the time to read

The delivery app does not control the manner in which the driver completes the delivery

The customer controls the manner of delivery using their "delivery instructions"

This is also stated in the driver contracts we agree to

And like 95% of customers simply leave their instructions blank
This is a big problem

Now before I open Pandora's box here

CUSTOMERS YOU MUST CONTROL YOURSELVES

You can't make these instructions ridiculous
Because drivers always have the option to unassign your order
After accepting it

If we feel we can't meet the contractual obligations of a particular delivery
Like delivery instructions that are just ridiculous
We can cancel

We can't make sure it's cooked Vegan style
So don't ask
We don't work in the kitchen, or even in the restaurant
The counter person is just going to say "yes"
Regardless if it is correct or not
Drivers are usually just bag jockeys lol

Usually we are handed sealed bags
That we can't check
because we are not allowed to open them
And we're on our way

So here are some ways to improve your service

Proper Delivery Instructions

Customers, ease drivers into this gently please. This is going to be culture shock for a lot of drivers. Because we rarely see delivery instructions. The goal is to be informative, not authoritative. And remember when I said if you're offended by honesty, this ain't the place for you lol. If your a non tipper maybe limit your instructions to telling your driver if you want a door knock, or not. The driver has already accepted an order with a low pay. That many drivers before them may have declined. So if you're like "BE ON TIME OR ELSE". I guarantee you that driver is going to unassign your order, and back into the waiting pool it goes. Only now the restaurant has started your order, so it may sit on an unheated holding rack. Until another driver decides to accept the order. Non tippers really need to chill getting mad over delivery times. Would you accept an order with no tip if you had the choice? Well we do have the choice lol.

What To Include

Your knocking or ringing preference
Even on a leave at door order type
Tell your driver if you do, or don't
Want us to knock or ring before we leave
Some want a knock, some don't
If you do want a knock, you won't get it
Unless you ask for it
Especially on Doordash
Doordash drivers can actually get fired for knocking
If you didn't ask for it
More on that in the coming "ratings" section

Ask your driver to use a hot bag please
Maybe something like

"my food was cold last time, can you make sure to use an insulated bag please"

Does your door open outwards?
Ask the driver not to block it lol
I know, I know, but some don't pay attention

Fair Tipping
Touchy Subject Huh
Because Some Drivers Are Terrible
And Don't Deserve Tips
But Delivering Is Simply Not Profitable
Without A Fair Tipping Scale
So What's Fair?

This all depends on service being on point I know. Nobody wants to tip first before knowing quality of service right? But since drivers see the tip first, then decides. This creates a crappy situation for customer and driver. And waiting for the driver to show up, then tip cash. Well that's actually going to make the order take longer. Because we don't know your going to tip in cash. So we just see the company pay offered (which sucks) and decline the order.

Tipping a delivery driver should be based on the mileage they had to drive. Not on the dollar total of your order. If you live 10 miles away from the restaurant. It doesn't matter to me whether you ordered 1 hamburger, or my heated bag is full with 100 hamburgers. I still have to drive 10 miles to you regardless. Tipping based on the order total, instead of mileage. Is the NUMBER ONE reason folks in Plumas Lake or Sutter. Either have super long delivery times, or may never even get their order. Nobody wants to drive 20 miles round trip, for a company pay of like 9 bucks.

If you're in town and under a couple miles from the restaurant. Throwing a few dollars on as a tip means the first driver offered your order. Will most likely accept it, instead of declining it.

And as your mileage from the restaurant goes up, if that tip doesn't reflect. Well the app may have a hard time finding a driver to accept your order. A 2 dollar tip on a 10 mile delivery, not many drivers are going to accept that. You know who will accept it? The exact bad quality drivers you don't want accepting your order.

You might get lucky and a good driver is ending their day, and they live sort of close to you. So it's sort of like they will get paid a little something for their drive home.

Or it's the end of the Month and a Top Dasher is trying to boost their acceptance rate. So they can re qualify for Top Dasher next Month. But the drivers who give the best delivery service. We have ways of keeping our percentages in line, without having to accept a whole lot of unprofitable orders. And no we don't share this little gem with other drivers lol. While we need to help each other, we are still competitors. We want the best paying orders sent our way, and the others to somebody else lol.