Doordash Delivery
Disclaimer - these are things I have heard first hand in face to face conversations with other drivers. Some of these things I have done myself, other things I have not. I will be clear about whether I've done it or not.
And remember I'm just the good friend telling you how things work, don't get mad at me. Appreciate you have that friend who will tell you this stuff. And there is no way to make this brief, it goes deep.
Drivers are independent contractors, not employees. Which means we have the contractually allowed option to cancel an order after we have accepted it. This does not mean that your order gets cancelled. It just means they have to find another willing driver to accept the order, then they will deliver it. Canceling orders is sometimes a necessary evil, trust me no driver likes doing it. Because however many minutes you have invested when you cancel, you're not going to get paid for that time.
We are paid by delivery, not the hour. Ya we're not getting rich out here folks.
Sometimes unforeseen stuff happens, a car breakdown, an accident....things happen.
But sometimes a driver is making a financial decision when they cancel. Or a decision to protect our precious star rating
Before we dig, when a driver cancels is important.
I'll give you the common descriptions, then do deep break downs below
Psst...The driver that ends up delivering the order has NO clue another driver has canceled it. They think they were Boss Hog getting your order to you in 15 minutes. But they don't know the total time involved due to the cancellation was 45 minutes.
I have done this one, other drivers have told me they do this one
Shortly after the driver accepts the order usually doesn't have a big impact on service, as long as you left at least a minimum tip. Another driver will be offered the order and quickly accept because they see a tip attached. Many drivers contract for multiple delivery apps. So maybe we accept your Doordash order which is a 3 mile delivery for 7 bucks pay offer, which means you tipped about 2.50. But right after we accept it a 15 dollar pay Uber Eats pops up with a lower 2 mile delivery distance. Well you don't have to be a rocket surgeon to figure out that 7 dollar order is about to get unassigned.
The problem here can be what type of system the restaurant is on. Some start making your order as soon as the you place it, mainly the big sit downs that actually cook the food to order. But most of the fast foods and quick prep restaurants don't receive your order until after a driver accepts it. That way it doesn't sit around getting cold. But if a driver only accepted your order because they were trying to keep their acceptance rate up, and not because the order was super profitable. Well now your order gets made, but if other drivers don't want it it's gonna sit.
I have very specific guidelines before I do this one, other drivers have told me they do this one
Once the driver gets to the restaurant, (I don't do this version) again maybe a better order pops up on your Uber or Grub Hub so off your driver goes.
Or maybe staff informs you it's going to be a 20 minute wait, now if this was an add on order the driver is screwed. But remember I don't do add ons so I don't ever run into this problem. But other drivers might have to unassign the second order. Also our waiting time pay adjustment does not equal what you would make just dropping the order and getting another one. I still don't do it for that reason, so when is the only time I even consider it?
If I can't get a hold of you through text, or by calling you to inform you of the situation. Now I'm in a spot where I worry about you giving me a 1 star rating because it took so long, even though it wasn't my fault. It only takes 100 completed orders to clear a canceled order. But it can take 1,000 orders or more to clear the 1 star rating you gave me. What would you do if you were a driver, exactly.
Now I'm going to call you 10 times, because I know your caller ID says Texas, New York, possibly California Call. But your still not going to answer even a "California Call" lol. Now I leave customers my little delivery time information sheet. But what if they don't believe it? Without communication with you, it becomes a big risk to stick with the order.
Now I don't mind the waiting, AJ's got slammed one time with a group of like 30 people. So my customers order was going to take like 45 minutes, but I waited for it Why? Because I was able to get in touch with the customer to explain. So I had no worries of getting a 1 star rating from them. In fact they gave me a 5 star and I knew it because they put the specifics in their comment. And since it was a 5 star Doordash does show us a sprinkling of our positive comments.
I have only done this one time, other drivers have told me some wild stories
Canceling after you have received the food, and drove away from the restaurant (I had a vehicle break down, it happens) But this is a customer service nightmare. Because now the restaurant has to re-make the order, and they have to find another driver.
Wild story I've heard number one (I've NEVER EVER done this it's a scum bag move)
A driver might have just decided they wanted your order for themselves. Most apps let you dip down to about 80% completion rate before your at risk of deactivation. This unfortunately is an issue I don't see how the delivery apps can ever squash. Drivers don't be a dirt bag like this, if your not able to run your delivery business for a decent profit. Just go get a 9 to 5, everybody is hiring right now.
Wild story I've heard number two (I've never done this one, but it's in the tool belt)
A driver told me if she's in route to a customer, and she hits an unforeseen traffic situation. Like going over the bridge to Linda or Olivehurst, but there's an accident on the bridge. So she was definitely going to be more than 10 minutes late, tried calling her customer but no answer. She just canceled the order to avoid the possible contract violation. She had to tell support a fib that she had a car break down. They paid her half pay for the order, and her kids ate Chili's that night. They tell you to throw the order away, or donate it to the homeless somehow. But they don't require any proof of what you did with the order. I actually threw it away when I had a vehicle break down lol, Mr. Square Goody Two Shoes here lol.
Delivery apps are very adamant about being to the restaurant on time. If your more than 10 minutes late you might get a contract violation, these are really bad. A few of them and you're out the door, don't ask any questions just get your **** and get out lol. But they are very ambiguous about being late to a customers home. "repeated late delivery times may result in deactivation" WTF does that mean exactly? 2, 5, 7, 15 times or what, and in what kind of time frame? and how late? we're left to assume it's the same 10 minute time frame as arriving at the restaurant.
You can also get contract violations for dropping the food off at the wrong house
And remember I'm just the good friend telling you how things work, don't get mad at me. Appreciate you have that friend who will tell you this stuff. And there is no way to make this brief, it goes deep.
Drivers are independent contractors, not employees. Which means we have the contractually allowed option to cancel an order after we have accepted it. This does not mean that your order gets cancelled. It just means they have to find another willing driver to accept the order, then they will deliver it. Canceling orders is sometimes a necessary evil, trust me no driver likes doing it. Because however many minutes you have invested when you cancel, you're not going to get paid for that time.
We are paid by delivery, not the hour. Ya we're not getting rich out here folks.
Sometimes unforeseen stuff happens, a car breakdown, an accident....things happen.
But sometimes a driver is making a financial decision when they cancel. Or a decision to protect our precious star rating
Before we dig, when a driver cancels is important.
I'll give you the common descriptions, then do deep break downs below
Psst...The driver that ends up delivering the order has NO clue another driver has canceled it. They think they were Boss Hog getting your order to you in 15 minutes. But they don't know the total time involved due to the cancellation was 45 minutes.
I have done this one, other drivers have told me they do this one
Shortly after the driver accepts the order usually doesn't have a big impact on service, as long as you left at least a minimum tip. Another driver will be offered the order and quickly accept because they see a tip attached. Many drivers contract for multiple delivery apps. So maybe we accept your Doordash order which is a 3 mile delivery for 7 bucks pay offer, which means you tipped about 2.50. But right after we accept it a 15 dollar pay Uber Eats pops up with a lower 2 mile delivery distance. Well you don't have to be a rocket surgeon to figure out that 7 dollar order is about to get unassigned.
The problem here can be what type of system the restaurant is on. Some start making your order as soon as the you place it, mainly the big sit downs that actually cook the food to order. But most of the fast foods and quick prep restaurants don't receive your order until after a driver accepts it. That way it doesn't sit around getting cold. But if a driver only accepted your order because they were trying to keep their acceptance rate up, and not because the order was super profitable. Well now your order gets made, but if other drivers don't want it it's gonna sit.
I have very specific guidelines before I do this one, other drivers have told me they do this one
Once the driver gets to the restaurant, (I don't do this version) again maybe a better order pops up on your Uber or Grub Hub so off your driver goes.
Or maybe staff informs you it's going to be a 20 minute wait, now if this was an add on order the driver is screwed. But remember I don't do add ons so I don't ever run into this problem. But other drivers might have to unassign the second order. Also our waiting time pay adjustment does not equal what you would make just dropping the order and getting another one. I still don't do it for that reason, so when is the only time I even consider it?
If I can't get a hold of you through text, or by calling you to inform you of the situation. Now I'm in a spot where I worry about you giving me a 1 star rating because it took so long, even though it wasn't my fault. It only takes 100 completed orders to clear a canceled order. But it can take 1,000 orders or more to clear the 1 star rating you gave me. What would you do if you were a driver, exactly.
Now I'm going to call you 10 times, because I know your caller ID says Texas, New York, possibly California Call. But your still not going to answer even a "California Call" lol. Now I leave customers my little delivery time information sheet. But what if they don't believe it? Without communication with you, it becomes a big risk to stick with the order.
Now I don't mind the waiting, AJ's got slammed one time with a group of like 30 people. So my customers order was going to take like 45 minutes, but I waited for it Why? Because I was able to get in touch with the customer to explain. So I had no worries of getting a 1 star rating from them. In fact they gave me a 5 star and I knew it because they put the specifics in their comment. And since it was a 5 star Doordash does show us a sprinkling of our positive comments.
I have only done this one time, other drivers have told me some wild stories
Canceling after you have received the food, and drove away from the restaurant (I had a vehicle break down, it happens) But this is a customer service nightmare. Because now the restaurant has to re-make the order, and they have to find another driver.
Wild story I've heard number one (I've NEVER EVER done this it's a scum bag move)
A driver might have just decided they wanted your order for themselves. Most apps let you dip down to about 80% completion rate before your at risk of deactivation. This unfortunately is an issue I don't see how the delivery apps can ever squash. Drivers don't be a dirt bag like this, if your not able to run your delivery business for a decent profit. Just go get a 9 to 5, everybody is hiring right now.
Wild story I've heard number two (I've never done this one, but it's in the tool belt)
A driver told me if she's in route to a customer, and she hits an unforeseen traffic situation. Like going over the bridge to Linda or Olivehurst, but there's an accident on the bridge. So she was definitely going to be more than 10 minutes late, tried calling her customer but no answer. She just canceled the order to avoid the possible contract violation. She had to tell support a fib that she had a car break down. They paid her half pay for the order, and her kids ate Chili's that night. They tell you to throw the order away, or donate it to the homeless somehow. But they don't require any proof of what you did with the order. I actually threw it away when I had a vehicle break down lol, Mr. Square Goody Two Shoes here lol.
Delivery apps are very adamant about being to the restaurant on time. If your more than 10 minutes late you might get a contract violation, these are really bad. A few of them and you're out the door, don't ask any questions just get your **** and get out lol. But they are very ambiguous about being late to a customers home. "repeated late delivery times may result in deactivation" WTF does that mean exactly? 2, 5, 7, 15 times or what, and in what kind of time frame? and how late? we're left to assume it's the same 10 minute time frame as arriving at the restaurant.
You can also get contract violations for dropping the food off at the wrong house