13 Things DoorDash Drivers Wish Customers Knew

When you get home late from work and don't have the energy to stand over the stove, DoorDash is there. The service comes to the rescue so many times: when you're running out of snacks at your party and can't leave the house, when you're desperate for a late-night sweet treat, and when you're short on time and really need DoorDash to deliver Aldi groceries.

With the convenience of phones, it's easy to just place an order and forget about it until the items show up on your doorstep. But let's remember that there's usually a real person making it all happen. DoorDash drivers are providing a service, and it's important that you, as the customer, aren't making their jobs any harder than they have to be.

Some of the things that DoorDash drivers wish you knew are painfully obvious, yet too often missed or ignored. Others are tips you'd never know unless you took the time to dig into all the social media posts and opinion pieces — which is exactly what we did here. And now, here are 13 totally doable things that you should do every time you place an order on DoorDash, to make sure that your driver's job goes smoothly and that you get the best service possible.

If you're getting something delivered to your home or place of work, it seems obvious that you would double-check the address. Unfortunately, many DoorDash drivers encounter incorrect or incomplete addresses time and time again. Not only is this wildly frustrating for the driver, but naturally, it also makes it takes longer for you to get your food. Without a clear address, your Dasher has to circle around or slowly creep from house to house, trying to match the information they have with the pin of the location. "I'll never understand why they want their food to sit in my car longer than it has to," said one DoorDash driver on Reddit.

Make sure there are no typos, and that you didn't accidentally select your old house or your friend's place. Are you sure it's Jones Street, not Jones Drive? Did you include the unit or building number? If you live in an apartment complex or subdivision, note the name of it, too. The same goes for offices, business parks, hotels, and strip malls.

Also check to see that the pin is at the correct spot. "So many times I've gone to the pinned location, which is a totally different building (example: customer pins at building 10, yet they live at building 2), then I have to drive around and backtrack to find their actual building, and some parking lots are full of dead ends," a driver and Redditer explained.

Even if you're 100% sure that your address is correct, there's a decent chance that you still need to give the DoorDash driver more information. Include any identifying details, like the material or color of your house, the type of car that's parked out front, or another feature that sets it apart from the other places around it. "I've never been to your house. Your house looks like every other house," pointed out one DoorDash driver on Reddit. "Still got Christmas lights up? COOL! Tell me you're the weirdos with lights up in May. Puke green front door? Tell me that."

Include easy-to-follow directions and, if you live in a duplex, note your side of the building. "A simple 'it's the green house with the chain link fence' or something to that effect goes a long ways in getting your order to you in a timely manner," shared another Dasher in a Reddit post. This is especially important for large apartment complexes, which are not always numbered intuitively. 

Delivery instructions are where to mention if there will be a security guard, gate codes, or specific parking rules involved in the delivery of your food. It's also a good idea to take a look at your place at night to see whether there are potential hazards, like overgrown shrubs, uneven walkways, or tricky gates. If so, let your driver know.

Time and time again, DoorDash drivers point out how maddening it is when folks do not leave their porch light on. When you're placing an order to your house at night or even in the late afternoon, make it part of your routine to flip that switch. If you think you're in the clear because you have motion-activated lights, think again. "Many times the motion sensor isn't activated until we're almost at the door and is absolutely no help when we're driving down your street trying to find the house number," shared a DoorDash driver on Reddit.

It's also a good idea to step outside at night to check whether your address number is actually visible from the street, even with the light on. Sometimes the light is still too dim, or it throws a glare that makes the address hard to see from where a DoorDash driver would reasonably be.

If you've done all of the above, chances are, your driver will have no problem getting your order to you. However, there are still certain locations that are particularly challenging to deliver to — like campsites, trailers, apartment complexes, large office buildings, and universities. Hospitals are notoriously difficult, given that they have multiple buildings, limited parking, a number of entrances, and many floors. "Constantly have to drop off food at the ER desk and hope it gets where it needs to," lamented a Dasher on Reddit. "I've had good customers that even meet me at the front. But I've also had customers that won't even tell me what section of the 42 section mini-city hospital they are in. Are you in ER? Maternal care?" said another.

Be a good customer as much as you can. Meet your driver in the most obvious spot possible, like the downstairs lobby, and include detailed information about the building. Sometimes, the best place to wait may be on the curb, where the driver can simply hand you your order without having to find parking among frantic hospital visitors or bustling college dormitory buildings. Certainly, you can bear the minor inconvenience of going outside, especially if it means that you'll get your order faster.

This should go without saying, but it is paramount that you keep your phone on you at all times while you're waiting for your DoorDash order. The Dasher may need to contact you about missing menu items, substitutions, or out-of-stock groceries. They also might be keeping you posted about unexpectedly long wait times or heavy traffic.

Once they're on the way, it's too late to share your preferences or ask for extra soy sauce. Don't fault your Dasher because you didn't respond to their questions promptly or include your special requests in the initial order.

The delivery driver may encounter issues in finding your place, and contact you for guidance. Here's what one driver went through when trying to deliver to someone who said they'd meet them outside a hospital, as detailed on Reddit: "After 8 attempts at calling and roughly 6 minutes of no answers, I had to leave it at the front desk with staff. Guess who got a lower rating." Withholding a tip or leaving a punitive rating in cases like these is unacceptable. If they can't get ahold of you, please assume that your driver is going to do their best with the information they have.

We hope you're always tipping your DoorDash driver. We know that plenty of folks prefer to tip (and be tipped) in cash. An extra cash tip is appreciated, but there's a reason it's crucial to leave your tip in the app. As a Dasher said on Reddit, "I'd rather take an order knowing I'm going to be paid well than take a low paying order and hope I get cash at the door."

Not only is tipping generously the right thing to do, but it also ensures your order is accepted promptly. Really, there's no incentive to pick it up otherwise. Drivers have been burned by folks who say they'll tip cash and then don't. "If you want your order to be accepted you better tip otherwise it will sit there and get cold until it's batched with another tipped order and some fool accepts it. ALWAYS TIP!" emphasized another Dasher and Redditor.

Some drivers have a minimum tip amount that they use to determine whether an order is worth accepting. "My personal standard for accepting an order is at least $1 pay per mile of driving, and DoorDash in my area pays $2-3/order. So if the restaurant is 5 miles from your house, I'm looking for a $3+ tip to bring me to enough pay that it's worth accepting the order," explained a driver on Reddit.

It's important to note that the base pay for a DoorDash driver is low. According to DoorDash itself, "Base pay is DoorDash's base contribution for each offer. This will range from $2-10+ when a Dasher chooses to earn per offer, depending on the estimated time, distance, and desirability of the offer." In some cities, drivers can opt into Earn by Time mode, which guarantees an hourly minimum but comes with its own set of stipulations.

The reality is that the average base pay is around $2 to $3, according to many drivers, though this certainly varies by city and the promotions happening in the DoorDash app. Regardless, the vast majority of a driver's pay is coming from the tip you give them, so this is not the time to be stingy. Any pay that a driver is getting is also being affected by things that are out of the driver's control, like the wait time at a restaurant. If you're unwilling or unable to give an appropriate tip in addition to the cost of the food and the mysterious service charge on the check, you probably shouldn't be ordering from DoorDash, anyway.

Dashers are classified as independent contractors. Gig work has benefits when it comes to flexibility, but it translates to drivers not receiving benefits like salaried employees do. This is true even if they're working a comparable number of hours. They're not entitled to sick pay or health insurance, and they're responsible for covering their fuel and car maintenance costs.

"DD doesn't pay enough base pay to cover gas and auto expenses, let alone any for our time and labor. Not to mention as contract employees we pay high taxes," explained a driver on Reddit. Indeed, unlike a standard employer, DoorDash does not withhold any taxes on behalf of the Dasher. That means that the contractors cover all of their own Social Security and Medicare taxes. Employees, on the other hand, typically only cover half of the amount, while the rest is covered by their employer. While employees also pay a variable income tax, contract workers ultimately often pay a higher rate in taxes.

Unlike at a sit-down restaurant, a tip on delivery shouldn't be calculated only based on the price of the food. "Think in terms of time and effort. How much would someone have to pay you to get up and go get the order yourself? That's probably a good litmus test for how much you should tip someone else to go get it," shared a driver via Reddit.

Remember, DoorDash drivers are spending money on gas, and on the wear and tear of their vehicle. "With delivery, tip is based on miles and time. It costs the same to take one Big Mac 4.7 miles as it does to take a BBQ meal for 5," explained another Redditor.

It's considerate to think of how cumbersome your order is when calculating an appropriate tip. Did you order food and drinks for a team lunch at the office that's going to require your driver to make multiple trips to your floor? Are you stocking up on bulky or heavy items? Do you live on a fourth-floor walk-up and want the driver to bring the food right to your door? The level of difficulty is not considered or calculated by the DoorDash app. "If you want me to carry 48 cans of cat food and two 40-pound bags of food up your dark, icy stairs, you REALLY should consider giving me a nice tip for the order," implored a Dasher on Reddit.

If there's a legitimate request that you forgot to include in the order or a detail that you accidentally left out of your delivery instructions, by all means, reach out to your Dasher. But do not abuse that line of communication by acting like the annoying kid in the back seat repeatedly asking, "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?"

Drivers want you to get your order as quickly as possible, especially when it's something that needs to arrive hot or cold. Not only do they want to provide high-quality service for the customer's sake, but they are also rewarded by the DoorDash app for deliveries that are on time or early. Pestering them is annoying at best. At worst, it's distracting and slowing down the delivery time. "We all know you can see where we are. If you see us at a restaurant for an extended period of time, that's probably because we are waiting for your order in a slow or busy store. We aren't just goofing off or taking our time," explained a Dasher on Reddit.

Also, do not communicate with your driver for personal reasons. They are not your friend or a potential date. "Please don't text via the app AFTER the delivery to tell me thanks sweetie with a winky face," said an exasperated Redditor and DoorDash driver.

At the restaurant, your Dasher's responsibility ends at checking to make sure they grabbed your drink, the handful of extra ketchup packets you requested, and the right number of pizza boxes. If your burger has lettuce on it when it wasn't supposed to or the place didn't put the fries in the bag, that's not on them. Your order usually goes straight to the restaurant, so the driver doesn't have any control over how the business interprets the ticket. 

If there's something you need that you're not able to specify in the app, you're better off contacting the restaurant directly. Don't try to sneak in some special request relating to your order in the delivery instructions. "Delivery instructions are just for that. It's not a place to ask for extra ranch or no tomatoes. That's on you when you place the order," warned a driver in a Reddit post. Plus, the Dasher likely won't have access to this information until they're on the way. Any issues with how the order was made can be taken up with DoorDash in the Help section of the app.

Nothing hits quite like an extra crispy, ice-cold fountain drink. Everyone knows that, but not everyone knows that transporting such a beverage can be a huge hassle for DoorDash drivers. Ordering up to four fountain drinks is probably fine if the restaurant has drink carriers; one or two beverages is safer.

If you're with a group, you might be making the takeout drink ordering mistake that is not just getting a full gallon. Chick-fil-A, for example, sells jugs of its teas and lemonades. From KFC, you can order half-gallon pouches of soda, iced tea, or lemonade. If you're just ordering for yourself and have the option, request a can or bottle rather than the fountain drink. It's way easier for the driver to transport, and it leaves room for them to deal with orders that might have unavoidable drinks — like a bunch of sugary fast-food coffees that have been customized in a bunch of different ways.

It's always best to assume the best intentions in life — and in food delivery. Rest assured, your driver wants you to get your order as quickly as possible. If it's taking longer than you'd hoped, don't assume that your driver is being negligent. Even though we know how fast food restaurants can make food quickly, that doesn't mean that everything always goes according to plan. When a business is short-staffed or swamped, your Dasher is left waiting in a long line of cars at the drive-thru, just like you would be if you had ventured out of the house.

DoorDash drivers are not compensated for wait times, so an order that originally looked like it would be worth their effort can become one that barely covers their expenses. Even when there's a reason totally beyond the Dasher's control, a late food delivery affects their metrics — which, in turn, can influence what additional rewards that Dasher is eligible for. It can even amount to a contract violation. And while a driver can dispute their being knocked for a late delivery, there seem to be some restrictions on this. Ultimately, a late order is as much of a bummer for the worker as it is for you. You can trust that incidents like the DoorDash AI delivery scam in Texas are the exception, not the rule.