Through the rise of platforms like Uber Eats and DoorDash, the historical temptation to stay in and just order something to eat has never been stronger.
But while so many of us use these services nowadays, not all of us are aware that most orders only see the driver who actually brings us the food make about $2 from the company. Since that’s hardly enough to make a day of deliveries worth it, those doing this job tend to rely on the tips of their customers to survive.
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For this reason, it’s not uncommon for DoorDash drivers to decline orders that make it obvious the customer didn’t leave a tip. And as one has shared, that means it could potentially take about an hour before anyone actually picks up your order if you don’t give drivers much of an incentive to do so.
And considering both this paltry basic rate and the fact that using DoorDash makes customers’ orders more expensive, it’s common for their drivers to recommend raising the base pay to address these twin issues.
However, one driver recently revealed that the company took a different approach.
On April 13, a woman who goes by Cyn uploaded a TikTok video showing what her screen looks like after she declines a DoorDash order.
As we can see, this action prompts a window to pop up warning drivers that if their acceptance rate falls below 70%, it’s not likely that a driver will be able to maintain their status as a “top dasher.”
Cyn implied this was a recent decision and it was likely implemented to counter the trend of drivers declining unsatisfactory orders, leading to longer wait times.
And as for what it means to be a “top dasher,” it turns out there are some fairly stringent requirements for this premium status.
According to DoorDash’s website , a driver must have a customer rating of at least 4.7 stars, an acceptance rate of at least 70%, a completion rate of at least 95%, and a minimum of 100 completed deliveries within the last month as well as 200 lifetime deliveries.
In return, top dashers gain features that make deliveries both easier to schedule and that unlock expanded areas to take orders from.
Since there’s apparently no direct financial or tangible incentive to being a top dasher, it’s not exactly surprising that Cyn reacts to this policy with mocking laughter.
As she put it, “Oh my gosh, just raise the base pay!”
As you might expect, her comments featured a lot of people who also drive for DoorDash and the consensus among them is that the top dasher status is either meaningless or simply not sufficient incentive to take a bunch of low-paying orders.
And considering that Cyn’s acceptance rate appears to 6%, it seems she’s firmly in agreement.
Other commenters seemed to think that instead of calling for an increase in base pay, Cyn and other DoorDash drivers should get a “real job.”
She explained in a follow-up video that this isn’t her full-time job , but others countered this logic by saying that those who say this despite using the service themselves clearly aren’t thinking their words through.
After all, if a large number of drivers took that advice and jumped ship, their orders would likely take even longer and they’d almost certainly complain about that as well.
Indeed, the number of people who lament that “nobody wants to work anymore” when people leave fast food jobs en masse demonstrates that scenario quite clearly.
