Apps like GrubHub and Uber Eats make dining in more convenient than ever, but slow deliveries can make the experience miserable. Imagine you plan a romantic evening for you and your partner just to get icy spaghetti and meatballs. Nothing ruins a Lady and the Tramp moment more than cold food.
Even worse, one TikToker says this may happen not because of strangely intense traffic or something else out of the delivery chain's control but by design. @jhordanthemodel, who for the sake of this article we'll call simply J, is a DoorDash driver and they just released a video in which we can see what the creator calls a "whole section dedicated to people who don't tip" at a McDonald's.
The clip instantly went viral and sparked a heated discussion on customer service and (the lack of) accountability.
Recently, a DoorDash driver made a TikTok about what happens to the food of those customers who do not immediately tip
We managed to get in touch with J and they were kind enough to have a little chat with us.
"I've been dashing for almost 2 years now," J told Bored Panda. "My waitressing job closed down all of their locations when COVID hit, so I decided to start dashing as a quick way to make money while I looked for another job. But, I realized how much I actually liked dashing, and I liked the money I was making so I stuck with it. It was a nice, flexible job to have while in college (I just graduated last fall)."
J said that from what they've experienced there are more customers who do tip on the app than don't. "Other Dashers may have a different experience because some areas aren't as busy as others."
And it went viral
In an earlier Bored Panda article on this issue, we explained that the total earnings a Dasher makes off an order consists of Base Pay + Promotions + Tips.
When customers place an order at one of the restaurants, they agree to a delivery fee and set the tip. The app then pushes orders to drivers who are logged into the app.
Once someone accepts an order, they drive to the restaurant, pick it up, and deliver it to the customer.
Base pay is DoorDash's base contribution for each order. It usually ranges from $2-10+ depending on the estimated time, distance, and desirability of the order. Deliveries that require Dashers to travel a longer distance, that are expected to take more time, and that are less popular with Dashers have a higher base pay.
This number does not change based on the customer tip amount; if there are two identical deliveries where one customer leaves a $3 tip and another customer leaves a $6 tip, one Dasher will earn $3 more than the other.
If Dashers aren't interested in a specific order, the payout for it goes up every time one of them declines it, so eventually, it will get big enough for a driver to pick it up. The problem is, however, that until that happens, the food is just sitting there.
A spokeswoman for DoorDash told the Daily Dot in a statement, "We're proud of the flexible earning opportunities we provide, with Dashers making on average over $25 per hour they're on a delivery. We are actively looking into the issues raised in this video and will take appropriate action as we learn more."
But people are appalled by this system
They say tipping before you receive your order makes no sense
And there's a heated discussion in the comments
Another TikToker, Amanda Jones (@prettyladyj1), used the duet function in response to J’s video and made a case that “tipping is a satisfactory service,” garnering nearly 3M views and 340K likes.
“That means if I’m satisfied with how you bring me my … food then I’m gonna tip you,” Jones says, continuing to argue that tipping should be done after a customer gets their order.
J commented on Amanda's video saying, "You can feel however you feel, the fact still stands that we don’t have to take your order. Tip afterwards, literally no one is stopping you."
J highlighted there's a difference between going out and ordering food to your home. "I would say if you're thinking of delivery services like a restaurant with servers, then this is why you may be confused on how it works. It's not the same. I was a waitress for 5 years at many different places, and can confidently say it is not the same."
"A 'tip' is the wrong word for delivery services, with Doordash is more so a 'bid for service.' You're paying your driver to pick up and bring you your food. As Dashers, we are independent contractors, which means we aren't employees of Doordash, but rather have a contract with Doordash. And this contract states that we legally cannot be fired/deactivated over not taking orders. They could do that if we were employees of Doordash, but we aren't. I think a lot of people just didn't know all of this and were under the impression that whether they tipped or not we had to take their order. So, finding out now that that isn't the case I guess has some people upset."
Food service distributor US Foods sought to gain insight into the delivery landscape and conducted a national survey of people who have used a delivery app at least once along with those who have delivered food for an app-based service at some point.
"Our survey establishes the most common complaints in the world of food delivery apps. Not surprisingly, people want food served warm, fresh, and on time – especially when they're paying a premium for it," US Foods wrote in a statement.
The top frustration among delivery app users was that food isn't always delivered warm or fresh, a complaint cited by 17% of respondents; that was similar to the 16% who were critical of the fact that food was delivered late. Among other issues, 12% highlighted incorrect orders or restaurants ignoring special instructions, 11% were irritated by inconsistent prices, 10% were bothered by food getting shaken around during delivery, and 9% were annoyed by inconsistent or limited menus.
But frustration extends beyond the customers. "Of the nearly 500 deliverers we surveyed, topping the list is weak tips, food not being ready at the restaurant, and lack of communication with customers. To remedy this, many operators are scaling back delivery services and menus so as not to overwhelm the kitchen and create a negative experience for both the dine-in and delivery customers," US Foods noted.
The survey also revealed that 95% of people tip deliverers regularly but only 63% of them do so via the app. The rest 27% still use cash.
J wanted to emphasize that at the end of the day it's the customer who is making all the decisions. "You 100% can choose not to tip at all, and you 100% can choose to tip after the delivery or tip in cash."
"We aren't upset with you over your choice, were just informing you of what could possibly happen if you don't tip," they said. "There will always be a Dasher who is still willing to take your order without a tip. Just know that whether you tip on the app or in person, we don't get the tip until after we deliver your food. It's not released to us until we deliver the food. So, either way, we are actually getting tipped after delivery, which is what some people were also upset about. And know we aren't being mean or vindictive by declining to take your order, we just get paid $2.50 by Doordash, so we have to make the best out of our dashes. I hope this explanation helped!"