No tip for your delivery person? Then be prepared to wait, says DoorDash.
The next time you order burgers and fries from your couch, be warned. If you don’t add a tip for your delivery person, you may have to wait longer for your food.
That’s the message DoorDash is sending consumers in a test of a new screen on its app that warns customers in the United States and Canada of the consequences if they don’t tip at least a few dollars at checkout.
The screen, which appears in the app during the ordering process, gives customers the option to enter a tip amount and proceed, or click the button that says ‘Continue without tip’ – and face consequences to catch.
“Orders without a tip may take longer to be delivered,” the screen reads. “Are you sure you want to continue?”
The pressure on customers to add a tip, that DoorDash raised in a statement Wednesday marked the company’s latest attempt to make changes to the app, amid concerns about the rights of gig workers and fair pay for delivery workers. In June, DoorDash announced it would give delivery drivers the option to be paid a minimum wage, which would vary by region, instead of earning money for each delivery.
DoorDash started its tip pilot in a number of cities in the United States and Canada earlier this year, and could potentially expand it nationwide, the company said.
“While the vast majority of customers leave a tip, no-tip offers may be considered less desirable,” DoorDash spokeswoman Jenn Rosenberg said in an email Thursday. She said Dashers, the nickname for the independent handymen who pick up and deliver food and other goods for DoorDash, keep the tips they give.
The company will analyze the results of the pilot before potentially rolling out the reminder nationwide. It’s now appearing for randomly selected users in several cities across the United States and Canada, DoorDash said.
Tipping has traditionally been associated with rewards commensurate with the quality of service provided, but the pressure to tip grew by default in the early phases of the pandemic, when many people stayed away from restaurants or grocery shopping and depended on delivery people to bring them. food.
DoorDash’s announcement has received a lot of attention in the news in recent days. Eyewitness News invited consumers to express their opinions onlineand some readers expressed annoyance at having to add a tip before even receiving the service they tipped for.
Carolyn Jones, 36, who has been a Dasher in Dallas for nearly a decade, said she feared some customers thought delivery fees went to Dashers like her, and she hoped the new tip screen would make it clear that wasn’t the case.
Last week, she waited 20 minutes for a Panera order to be ready, then spent another 10 minutes delivering the order to a customer’s home. She earned $4 from DoorDash and $3 from the tip, she said. In September, she spent 22 minutes picking up and delivering a Chipotle order and said she received $2.25 from DoorDash and no tip.
“I just hope people understand that we are providing a service,” she said. “We actually pick up your food and get it to you safely, and it’s usually hot when it gets to you.”
DoorDash said consumers still have the option not to tip. But it added that it had seen a “meaningful reduction” in the number of no-tip orders since the pilot started.