Usually, the free food was something I liked, but there were other times when it was something I didn't want at all. Most of the time, whenever I have received free food it has been due to a mistake either by Doordash, the merchant or the customer. I would say 90 percent of the time it was the customer!
Receiving free food due to a Doordash merchant mistake
It's amazing how many times merchants have given me free food. A lot of times the restaurant made a mistake on an order and instead of just throwing the food away, they decided to offer it to me. If it was something I liked, there was no reason not to accept it.
Sometimes, just getting to know a merchant can be a free meal ticket. It's unlikely that most merchants are like the one I am about to speak of, but there was a taco shop that would occasionally give me a couple of free tacos whenever I picked up a customer's order. They didn't always give me free food, but I'd say they would about every one in five pickups. They would tell me that I deserved it for delivering to their customers. They were a very nice family and I appreciated it.
Receiving free food due to a Doordash mistake
In my experience, this is the least likely way that a dasher will end up with free food, but it will happen every once in a blue moon. In the past, it was much more common, but things have certainly changed throughout the years. This happens after a pickup when Doordash calls the dasher and tells them that the order has been canceled and to keep the food. It used to happen much more often than it does these days, but it occasionally still does happen.
If you really stop and think about situations like this, it may not really be a Doordash mistake. It is just Doordash canceling an order due to a Doordash customer canceling their order for whatever their reason was. Doordash is just passing on the message to the dasher to not deliver the food. Either way, the dasher is usually happy as they will get paid for the order and get to keep the food!
Receiving free food due to a Doordash customer mistake
Getting free food while out dashing is usually due to a customer mistake, and that mistake is almost always the customer not being available at the delivery. There has been a countless number of times when I have gotten paid and received free food due to the customer not being available. I would put my timer on, text the customer, call the customer, and if they never responded, I would get to keep the food.
Again, this does not happen as much as in the past. The Doordash app will now tell the dasher to leave the food in a safe place if the customer is not available. That means instead of keeping the food, the dasher supposed to just drop off the food anyways. The dasher can leave the food at the front door or wherever else they feel it is safe to do so.
With that said, there are times when there is no safe place to leave the food. Maybe the house is surrounded by a gate that is locked. Maybe there are dogs in the gate or other wild animals around that may eat into the bag of food. Maybe the dasher is at a gate at an apartment complex and cannot just leave the food at the gate. There are many unsafe places that a dasher cannot leave the food. If it is unsafe to do so, never leave the food.
It would always be best to connect with Doordash support and let them know the situation. Tell them that there is no safe place to leave the food and the reason why. Once that is confirmed, the dasher will get paid and get the free food. Even though it is not as common as before, free Doordash meals are still out there! Just be honest though. Never try to steal a customer's food. If Doordash notices that everyday you cannot find a safe place to drop of the customer's food, they'll certainly put one and one together and know what you are doing.
The Jack in the Box fiesta
Before ending this article, I had to share this story. Back in 2017, I received an order for Jack In the Box. It was a larger than usual order for a fast food order. The order was for about $100. It was like 20 orders of tacos and six ultimate cheeseburger meals. It was a lot of food.
I picked up the food, and as I was driving to make the delivery, I received a call from the customer. The customer told me that they put the wrong address and if I could deliver to the current address where she was at. She told me her current address, and I told her that I would have to get back to her in a few minutes, and she said okay.
There was no way I was going to deliver this food to this girl. She was about 80 miles away from me. I contacted Doordash and let them know what was going on. They said I would get paid for the order and to throw the food away or give it away to the homeless, and I was like okay. I called up my wife and told her that we are having some Jack in the Box for dinner this evening. The kids were happy, and we had a good old Jack in the Box fiesta.
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