I don't want this article to be a rant about Doordash non-tippers. We all know that there are people that choose to never tip their Doordash driver. Strange, but true. But hey, maybe we shall not judge? After all, tipping is not mandatory right.
A Doordash driver can go out and deliver food to a customers using their own car, gas, time and whatever else it takes to deliver the food, but a tip is not mandatory so it's okay to pass on it. Even if the Dasher has to walk up a couple flight of stairs, deal with parking enforcement, spend a lot of time looking for an apartment, etc. Again, tipping is not mandatory so maybe they'll pass.
A cheapskate customer thinks "Hey, it's not my problem, if they are going to complain about things like this, maybe they should get another job." This of course is immature selfish thinking, but they are right about one thing. Again, they do not have to tip if they don't want to!
Where is all of this coming from? Well, today I had a rather large order, and the tip that I received was just downright insulting. I really cannot imagine how a person feels about themselves after not tipping on an order such as this one. I'm going to share more details about this order toward the end of this post, but first I'm going to talk about some other things.
Some Doordash customers cannot afford to tip
If a Doordash customer cannot afford to tip, then so be it. They may have had to struggle to gather $10 for a Jack-in-the-Box meal. If somebody really is this dirt poor. I'll give them a pass.
The problem is that I don't believe anyone is that poor. Not here in the United States of America! Yes, there are many people that are struggling, but even the poorest of the poor in the USA can afford to give a buck or two as a tip. I've known welfare government assistance recipients that have always tipped their pizza man, so I won't ever buy the I can't afford to tip excuse.
Then why don't some Doordash customers tip?
They are basically cheap-asses. They feel that they are a bit more privileged than your average bear. They figure, why should they tip you? The Dasher's company should be paying the Dasher to do their job. Tipping is just a bonus and not required. There's no doubt that a person like this is wet behind the ears and lacks life experience. But, they are right about not having to tip if they don't want to. This type of person will always pay as little as they can even if it means that the Dasher will get screwed. They don't care. It's not their problem.
Non-tipping Doordash customers get the worst service
Fortunately, for everybody, non-tippers generally do not get the same great service that tippers do. We've all always heard the saying "You get what you pay for." As far as getting food delivered is concerned, the same life rules apply.
When Dashers are offered calls from non-tippers, the amount of pay is generally some ridiculous amount of pay such as $2, $3 or $4. This is showing the Dasher what their pay would be, and it includes the customer tip. The majority of Doordash drivers will decline these calls and rightfully so.
Now, when a Doordash customer tips, it's a whole different story. Let's say a customer tips $5, and Doordash for whatever reason only payed $2 base-pay for the order, the Dasher would see a $7 offer to make the delivery (Worst case scenario for a $5 tip customer.) This is much more better offer for a Dasher, and most Dashers would jump at the opportunity.
Most $5 tip orders will be more than that. I would say 90 percent of $5 tip orders would pay the Dasher $8 or more. This is enough to entice most Dashers, and a Doordash customer would have their food delivered quickly.
While all the tipper's orders are being delivered in 15 to 30 minutes, the non-tipper's orders sit at restaurants for an hour or even maybe even longer. Most Dashers are not going to waste their time delivering food for a measly $2 or $3. All the while the non-tipping customer is wondering why their food is taking so long to be delivered. They should not worry though because eventually some Dasher will end up picking up their order. Most likely a new Dasher that doesn't know any better.
Not every Doordash customer can tip $5 and that's okay
It should not be expected that every Doordash customer tip $5. Sure, there are some customers that tip $10 or more regularly, but I would say that the majority of tips from customers are in the $2 to $4 range, and that is completely fine. A Dasher will appreciate the $2 or $3 tip that a customer leaves for them. It can turn what would have been a $4 order into a $7 order. It can turn what would have been a $5 order in to a $8 order, etc.
These tipping Doordash customers will receive great service as their order will be picked up promptly and delivered nice and fresh. The extra $2 or $3 is well worth it. A small tip will make the driver happy, and it will make the Doordash customer even happier.
Cheapskate Doordash customer tips nothing on large pizza order
This article was enticed by a pizza delivery that I had made today. Being in California, it didn't hurt so bad (more about that in a minute.) The offer that I received was to pick up from a pizza joint, and the pay was $3.50. Yes, $3.50. As most of you know, I would never (And you shouldn't either) take a call that paid this cheap, but it was a few blocks from my home, and I needed to go home anyways.
I figured that I'll just drop off the small order to the customer and add a measly $3.50 to my earnings. Heck, I'm driving that way anyhow. Boy, was I in for a surprise! I had never looked at what the order exactly was for until I arrived at the pizza joint.
The customer's order was for 12 pizzas, and a bunch of other sides including five 2-liters of sodas. My first thought was I'm going to unassign this order. Then I thought, this order has to be for some kind of party or something. Maybe they'll give me a good cash tip. Trust me when I say I never gamble like this. You'll lose the majority of time. The gambling offer is usually not even there for me to contemplate because a $3.50 order automatically gets declined.
Again, I'm driving home already as I really need to get home as soon as possible. Also, I'm already at the pizza joint. The decision is final. I'm going to do this order.
I load the whole order into the backseat of my car and make my way to the customer. As I'm approaching, I see kids everywhere and a jumper in the front yard. Yes, a bounce house full of kids and adults hanging out in the yard talking and drinking. It's a party atmosphere just like I thought it would be.
As I pulled up, the kids are looking at me strange, but a young man can tell who I am and tells one of the kids to go call Sarah. Apparently, Sarah is the host of this party. Sarah makes here way to my car and, I hand her half the order which she carries into her house. She then comes out for the rest, says thank you and that was that.
She did not leave me a cash tip. This delivery was done for $3.50. It took me about 40 minutes to make this delivery. I knew when I marked the order as delivered I would not see any tip (which is normal for a call that only pays $3.50.) None of this was a surprise to me. I went in to this call knowing what the deal was.
The non-tipping Doordash customer had no shame
Something that did come as a surprise to me was that this lady felt no shame in not leaving any tip. If she did, she hardly showed it. But, I think if you had a bit of shame that you would have had the kids grab the pizza for you. To face the driver, knowing you ordered over $200 of food and not tipping is just downright embarrassing.
I could not ever do anything like that. Sure, I can get away with it. Nobody, except the delivery driver would know that I didn't tip. But, I would feel so embarrassed with myself. I mean, I would literally look at myself in the mirror and think what a POS that I am.
I mean they paid for a bouncer, all this food, and I'm sure a lot more for their party. Yet, they could not leave their delivery driver at least a few dollars? They were so lucky that they had me to deliver their food this day. By not tipping a few dollars, they could have easily ruined their party.
California non-tipping Doordash customers have an advantage that others across the country don't have
Being a California Dasher, I have an advantage that many other Dashers across the country don't have. Thankfully, I have Proposition 22 to back me up. Most people, especially those of you in California know about Prop 22, but there are some people that don't. I'm not going to get in to the details about this as there are a lot of different subjects that Prop 22 covers. The one that mattered here was the 120 percent of local minimum wage guarantee for active time.
So, for this $3.50 order, I actually made closer to $14. If this was just a few years ago, I would have been angered by this call. Well, honestly, if it was a few years ago I would not have done this order. This is why Prop 22 is a great thing for California gig workers. We cannot get screwed over too much with orders like this.
After doing this order, I couldn't help to think that if I was in Arizona, Texas, Florida, Maine or any other state I would have only earned $3.50. Even though every Dasher needs to be selective and not take the cheap non-tipping Doordash orders, those outside of California need to be even more selective.
California Doordash customers may also have an advantage that those in other states don't. In California, some Dashers are willing to normally take those cheap paying calls knowing that they will generally earn more than what the call originally pays due to Prop 22. This means a lot of non-tippers will get their orders in an acceptable amount of time. Of course, tipping is always better as a lot of Dashers will still refuse those cheap paying calls as there are better ones out there.
All in all, tipping a few bucks is better for the customer, the Doordash driver and the restaurant. It leads to customer satisfaction (a quick delivery,) Dasher satisfaction (more money earned,) and merchant satisfaction (quick pick-up.) I cannot imagine the embarrassment and shame that I would feel if I didn't tip anything. I actually don't think that I would even order food if I was not going to tip. With all that said. Happy Dashing!
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