Doordash has been recently rolling out a program that they call "Dasher Rewards" to various regions. In the areas where this program has rolled out, it has replaced the "Top Rated Dasher" program. This "Dasher Rewards" program has a tier system in which dashers must qualify to make it into either the platinum, gold or silver tier. Although Doordash claims that this new program was created to reward the hardest working dashers, many dashers are not happy with this new program and feel like Doordash is just taking advantage of them. We will get more into that later in this article, but first we will explain how this "Dasher Rewards" program works.
What is the Dasher Rewards Program?
The "Dasher rewards" program is a new tier system implemented by Doordash to reward their best dashers with the best benefits. The higher a dasher is on the tier, the more benefits he or she will get.
There are three different tiers. The top tier is the platinum level tier. The second tier is the gold level, and the last tier is the silver level. To reap the most rewards from their dashing experience, dashers will want to make it to the platinum tier.
What qualifications or criteria are needed to make each tier as a Dasher?
Below you will find the criteria needed in many parts of the country where this Dasher Rewards program has been implemented. Please note that not all regions have them same qualifications. Though it seems like most areas have the below qualifications.
In my region, the qualifications are different from the above image. I am now going to post an image below of the criteria needed for each tier in my area.
As you can see, the criteria to reach the tiers is tougher. Why certain areas have these tougher requirements is unknown. The only thing that I can think of is that Doordash sat down, had a meeting and decided that they were going to up the requirements for certain areas; for whatever their reasons are.
What rewards do dashers receive at each tier level?
The platinum level, which is the top tier, gives dashers the most rewards. It is the only level that always gives dashers the sought after "Dash now anytime" option. This is the same reward that was only given to "Top Rated Dashers." Please note that many dashers have said that when they are at the gold level, it says that they can also "Dash now anytime." Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case as gold level dashers have state that they cannot dash anytime they want. Platinum dashers also get top priority for high paying orders and have access to large orders.
Gold level dashers get increased priority for high paying offers. Although, the platinum tier dashers will get priority over them. Again, Doordash has stated that gold level dashers have priority access to dash now, but this seems to be untrue.
Silver level dashers get priority for high paying offers. Of course, the platinum and gold tier drivers will get priority over them. The silver level tier will also get a dasher early access to scheduling.
Here is a breakdown of the rewards from Doordash:
How is the Dasher Rewards program different from the Top Rated Dasher program?
With the Top Rated Dasher program, your acceptance rate had to be 70 percent at the end of the month. You then qualified for Top Rated Dasher benefits for all of next month. The main benefit that most dashers appreciated was the "Dash now anytime" benefit. With this Dasher Rewards program, to be at platinum level, and have the "Dash now anytime" benefit, your acceptance rate has to always remain at the platinum level criteria.
With the Top Dasher Program, dashers could let their acceptance rate drop low during the month. They did not have to worry about losing their "Dash now anytime" benefit. All they had to worry about was making sure that they were at 70 percent acceptance rate at the end of the month. They would then be a Top Rated Dasher for the following month. With the Dasher Rewards program, a dasher will immediately lose their "Dash now anytime" benefit if they fall below the criteria.
The completion rate needed, and the customer rating needed for the different tiers is also different from what was needed for the "Top Rated Dasher" program.
The "Top Rated Dasher" program also required that a dasher have completed at least 100 dashers the previous month. With this new tier system, some regions still have the 100 dashes completed requirement to have platinum status. There is a slight difference though, and dashers really need to understand this. It is not 100 dashes for the previous month that is required. Instead, it is 100 dashes completed during the past 30 days.
This means that the number of dashes delivered during the last 30 days, which shows on a dashers stat page, will continually fluctuate. For example, if I finish dashing at 10 pm, and my stats show that I have 200 dashes done during the past 30 days, that number will most likely change at midnight. Why? Because at midnight, the dashes that I completed 30 days ago will fall off of my record. If I did 12 dashes 30 days ago, those 12 will fall off, and my stats will now show 188 completed dashes over the past 30 days. The deliveries over the past 30 days now fluctuates just like the acceptance rate.
Why did Doordash create the Dasher Rewards Program?
Doordash will naturally say that they created the "Dasher rewards program" to reward their best dashers. Is this true? Well, there are many dashers, and I am one of them, that feel like Doordash is pushing this tier system in order to benefit themselves.
Doordash knows that the only real benefit that dashers care about is dashing anytime they like, and in order for a dasher to have this benefit, Doordash has made sure that the dasher really has to work for it. We all know that Doordash does not like when dashers decline calls, and in my region, if I want to be a platinum level dasher that can dash anytime I want, I must maintain an 80 percent acceptance rate.
Doordash knows that I am not a Doordash employee that has to accept every call. They know that I am an independent contractor that can decline any call I want, and they have no choice but to accept that. With that said, from their point of view, if you do not meet our criteria for the platinum level and accept at least 80 percent of calls, we will not let you dash anytime you want. Woah!! Talk about punishing a dasher!! Even though I am not an employee, they are still finding a way to punish me like I am an employee.
In my area, I must also have 150 dashes completed within the past 30 days to be a platinum dasher. This means that I must consistently dash way more than I would like to keep my dash now anytime benefit. There won't be anymore taking a week off of dashing whenever I want. My total dashes completed during the past 30 days would drop like crazy!
What all of this comes down to is control. Doordash has come up with a plan to control their dashers as much as they possibly can. If a dasher was their employee, the dasher would have to work many hours and accept every single call. Of course, Doordash does not want dashers to be employees as it would cost them mega bucks. So they figured out a plan where they could make dashers dash as much as possible and to accept as many calls as possible. Very smart and devious I must admit.
Is the Dasher Rewards Program good for Dashers?
To be completely honest, this program may benefit some dashers. Full-time dashers will reap the most benefits from this tier system. They shouldn't have any problem making the number of dashes needed for the platinum level. As long as they keep their other stats good, they will be alright. As a platinum dasher myself, I have truly noticed that I have been getting higher paying calls. I am getting $20 plus calls more frequently than when the Top Rated Dasher program was around. I've also noticed that the pay per mileage has really improved. Many calls are for example, $10 for 3 miles, $8 for 2 miles, $5 for 1 mile, etc.
With the Top Rated Dasher program, they always said that you got top priority for higher paying calls, and I always called BS on that. With this new platinum level tier system, it really seems like you do receive the best calls. So, I will give Doordash credit for that.
As I've said, full-time dashers should benefit from this new program. Unfortunately, they are a very small minority of the dasher community. Most dashers are part-time dashers. Some do Doordash deliveries on the weekends, after school, etc. Most dashers do less than 10 hours a week. For them, which make up the majority of dashers, this tier system is complete garbage.
Doordash wants to make Dashers employees without making them employees
I will end this article with the truth. Doordash want to make dashers employees without making them employees! Not that we want to be employees, but as independent contractors, Doordash knows that they have limited control of their dashers. They cannot tell dashers what to do, but that does not mean that they cannot create a system to entice you do what they want to do. That is exactly what Doordash has done here.
What all of this comes down to is a choice a dasher will have to make. Do they want to play this game with Doordash? If they do, then by all means go on ahead. If a dasher does not want to play these games with Doordash, they can always stop delivering for Doordash and deliver for another company. Those are the only two choices. What choice will you make?
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