In the mid afternoon on April 27th, DoorDash drivers noticed major changes to the way that DoorDash displays order offers, and most weren’t too happy about it.
Gone was the old familiar order screen which included both DoorDash pay and part of the customer’s in-app tip.
In its place was a new offer screen that displayed only the pay from DoorDash, without any tip information included. Also new was an estimated order completion time.
Why all the upset? Without upfront information about tips, it becomes much more difficult for Dashers to filter out the lowest-paying orders. Rejecting low-paying offers and cherry picking the best orders has long been the preferred strategy to max out earnings.
Now Dashers may have to take whatever comes their way and hope to discover a tip after the delivery is done.
Side By Side: Old Order Offer Screen vs New
DoorDash is testing new order offers (pictured right) that don’t include customer tips
Dasher Reactions
Dashers on Reddit were not happy to see the new model. Most prefer to skip non-tipping orders, and the new model hides that information.
- “Trash dash straight up hiding tips now!”
- “What kind of ****ery is this??”
- What the f*** is this estimated time bullshit? This is a f***ing scam
One Dasher made an unfavorable comparison to Postmates, which also hides tip information from order offers.
Another example of the new offer screen. Credit Sconant49 on Reddit
Does the ‘DoorDash Pay’ Already Include Tips?
One suspicion that some Dashers had about the new offer screen is that the tip amount may actually be included in the “DoorDash pay” number, despite what the stated formula says.
A Dasher on Reddit received this order offer: “Earn $8 in Doordash pay + 100% in customer tips.” After the order was complete, he found that DoorDash pay was actually only $3 and the customer tipped $5. That means that the initial $8 offer had already included the customer’s tip.
Based on the text of the offer, you would expect pay from DoorDash to be $8, and any tip from the customer would be in addition to that. This Dasher successfully argued his point to support and received a $5 pay bump.
Consequences for Customers: Tips May No Longer Be a Bid for Better Service
When tip information is included with an order offer, Dashers are more incentivized to accept the order and complete it quickly. In a sense, an in-app tip functioned as a bid by customers to get faster, better service.
With the new order offers, Dashers will have no idea if a customer tipped or not. Big tippers and non tippers may be treated the same.
And if the big tippers start to receive worse service, they might be inclined to tip less on future orders, or wait to tip until the order is complete. That’s bad for Dasher earnings.
Things Already Back to Normal? The Old Order Offer Screen is Back for Some
After a few hours with the new order offer screen, some Dashers on Reddit reported that the old offer screen had already returned. But experiences are mixed, with some Dashers still seeing the new screen.
Are These Changes Permanent? Story Developing
At the time of writing, this test is still live in some areas. It’s not clear if this is a temporary test, or if this will become the new normal.
Dashers should take this as a strong hint about what may come. Cherry picking was a common tactic ever since DoorDash began including tip information in order offers, but the #DeclineNow movement in early April might have motivated DoorDash to finally end the party.
When a large percentage of Dashers choose to decline orders, the result can be longer wait times for customers and backlogs of cold food sitting out at restaurants.
DoorDash could increase their base pay to motivate drivers to accept more orders, or they could use design tricks to nudge Dashers to accept more orders. Which approach do you think will win?
More Reading for Dashers
Anthony says
Stopping the cherry picking is great but most doirdashers are not near as smart as they think. I’m approaching 3000 deliveries acceptance rate 90+ I except every Walmart and 3 dollar order and average every week 23 28 hour and make 2 dollars to every mile drove..new dashers don’t listen to the knuckleheads they know nothing it’s that way when u live with momma figure ur own way don’t rely on these guys gave anyone ever noticed they post everything all day but never a screenshot of actual earnings they say they make. Come on start showing what u make instead of telling us. LMAO BIG OLE DUMMIES