Cash on delivery (COD) is now available on DoorDash in some cities: Customers can pay for deliveries in cash, but many delivery drivers aren’t happy about it.
Hands-free electronic payment is one of the features of delivery apps that motivated millions of people to try working as delivery drivers because it eliminated one of the biggest safety issues—handling cash.
Carrying cash has long been a major downside for delivery and taxi drivers. Cash can make you a target for robbery.
And safety issues aside, handling cash is an annoying friction point in the delivery process. Customers had to keep cash and drivers had to make change & hold onto large amounts of cash. Forget about a no-contact delivery when cash is involved.
But now that cash on delivery is an option in many cities, Dashers will have to decide whether they want to opt in or not.
Will you accept COD orders or opt out?
In one Reddit thread, Dashers weren’t happy to hear about COD:
“I don’t want people thinking all DD drivers carry cash now. Sounds unsafe for everybody”
“Can’t wait to see the first ‘customer refused to pay’ story…”
“The whole point of these apps is to NOT HANDLE CASH!!! Drivers feel safer when they are not carrying cash around”
While many drivers are opposed to the idea, others don’t mind dealing with cash. For the moment, DoorDash gives drivers a choice to opt out.
So if COD is coming to your area, read on to see how it works and how to opt out if you’re not interested in accepting cash.
How cash on delivery (COD) works for DoorDash drivers
When an order is COD, the order acceptance screen will have a cash on delivery label and a note to let you know how much cash the customer needs to give you.
There is no need to pay the restaurant—DoorDash still handles merchant payment.
The customer will pay you in cash when you drop off the order. The cash is yours to keep and DoorDash handles the earnings calculations for you.
You keep the cash, and DoorDash deducts the cash amount—excluding your earnings and any tip—from your next direct deposit.
In a way, cash payments are a way of getting your earnings sooner.
COD requests are labelled, and tell you how much cash to collect
The app tells you how much cash to collect
After a COD the app tells you how much you collected. Have extra? That’s a tip
Payout example for a cash on delivery order
In brief, you collect the cash payment and keep it. DoorDash deducts the cash amount from your weekly direct deposit.
More details:
Let’s say that you have $150 in DoorDash earnings this week. You accept a cash on delivery order with a minimum payout of $6. The app tells you to collect $25 from the customer.
The customer hands you $30 in cash and tells you to keep the change.
DoorDash will automatically add the $6 payout to your balance and deduct the $25 payment, leaving you with an electronic balance of $131.
If you stopped Dashing for the week, your direct deposit would be $131.
The final math: $131 electronic payment + $30 in cash = $161. $156 from DoorDash payments, $5 in cash tips.
More COD questions and complications
As you might imagine, cash brings complications. Here are some common issues that may arise with COD. All information is from the DoorDash FAQ about COD.
What if you don’t have enough cash to give the correct change to the customer?
DoorDash says you can still hand the delivery to the customer without collecting payment. Then, select “issue collecting cash payment” in the app. You will still receive base pay.
What if the customer says they already paid online?
Do not give the order to the customer. In the app, select “Issue Collecting Cash Payment” and then “Customer refused to pay.” You will still receive base pay.
What if the customer says they don’t have any cash?
Let the customer know that you can’t give them the order. In the app, select “Issue Collecting Cash Payment” and then “Customer refused to pay.” You will still receive base pay.
What if your balance goes negative because of COD orders?
Let’s say you only have $10 in payouts from DoorDash and get a $25 COD order.
After accepting the cash, your balance with DoorDash would be -$15 ($10 – $25).
Once your balance goes negative, DoorDash will stop giving you COD orders. You would then have to complete regular orders until your balance is positive again.
What about tax reporting? DoorDash has not said how they will handle tax reporting for cash orders.
If I had to make a guess, DoorDash will add a separate line item on the yearly 1099 for cash payments. They will likely only include cash payments from DoorDash, not tips. Tips will be up to you to report.
How to opt out of COD
You may see a popup in the Dasher app about Cash on Delivery. It will have an opt out button at the bottom of the popup.
If you don’t see that popup or want to opt out later, Go to Account>Settings to find the opt out.
You are free to decline cash on delivery requests. DoorDash says that declining a COD order will not impact your acceptance rating.
Opt out on the popup, or go to Account > Settings
DoorDash drivers react to COD
Cashless, hands-free payment is one of the biggest perks of DoorDash and other delivery apps.
With a cashless system, drivers simply hand off the delivery and go—or drop the order without seeing the customer.
Cash adds extra waiting, extra preparation, extra mental math, and makes it so you can’t do a fast ‘leave at door’ delivery.
It’s not surprising that many Dashers don’t like the idea of COD.
Negative reactions
“They don’t pay enough to put that safety risk on us!”
“If you can use an app to order food no reason you need cash for payment”
“I don’t want people thinking all DD drivers carry cash now. Sounds unsafe for everybody”
“Watch out for fake bills…”
“If you don’t have a bank or credit card get a damn prepaid card”
“You know for a fact it’s gonna be an extra chore when it comes to tax time”
Positive reactions
While the reactions from most Dashers seems to be overwhelmingly negative, some don’t have an issue with COD or see some benefits:
“Was doing it 3 years ago and do them now. Usually decent money here”
“Think of it like swapping and out your weekly balance like an ATM”
Should you do COD orders?
Many drivers won’t like the extra work and the extra risk that comes with cash on delivery orders. If you feel unsafe or uncomfortable with COD, opt out or decline COD orders.
But if you like getting a cash advance on your earnings, give COD orders a try. Make sure to keep some change on you!
Other special order types on DoorDash
Kelly says
I was robbed twice this week on COD’s. On mother’s day people used fake address next to their house and the phone number was wrong also. I spoke to the lady and she ne er ordered DD. Then yesterday, I went to pizza hut. Talked to guy working he said they got took on e cash deliveries this week alone. SO…I called customer to make sure she knew it was cash delivery. She replied yes, she understood. When I delivered two teenagers probably 16 came running to say they were down hill so I walked to meet them. Thry said their mom paid on a card (same as other property said). I had to call dash support, took 20 minutes to deal with that. Then I left and called manager at pizza hut. Another 20 minutes then he screamed at me that I threw pizza on ground, which didn’t happen, she called and paid on a card, and he HAD to refund her. Cops were called so I could file report. They called pizza hut and they said order was paid do no statements could be made. The girls called their aunt over and she threatened me so I left food and got put of there. So, I was stolen from, threatened, cursed out by manager of pizza hut, looked like an idiot to the cops, and got an email from DD saying those people are taken off their app. UNBELIEVABLE! ILL NEVER TAKE SNOTHER COD cash delivery. THEY ATE DANGEROUS. Idiots figured out how to rob DD and are getting away with it. I’m not getting killed for $18 for DD.
Doug H says
Wow, that’s horrible! Getting rid of payment friction and disputes is probably the best innovation of delivery apps, and COD gets rid of it.