Fuck doordash
I was informed yesterday at my job that they were no longer hiring drivers which would mean that I would be the only driver at my work place, which means I'm going to be given way too much work for one person.
The reason they are no longer hiring drivers is because they are sending delivery orders to doordash.
I used to work doordash. I was underpaid and dealt with the worst customers.
For those that don't know, the way doordash's business model works is that they do a sort of reverse auction. They start an order at $2 plus tip. Then they add money if the order is not being accepted until someone accepts the order. So if someone tips $5, then the order will start at $7 and get accepted much faster than if there is no tip and the company doesn't have to put more money into base pay
Which means that they are using customer tips to subsidize what they should be paying their workers.
The flimsy legal framework this works on is that doordash drivers are considered "independent contractors" and each order is considered a new contract. So if someone accepts an order that has them drive 10 miles for only $5, well that's not doordash's problem, you accepted the order after all
But also, doordash driver's have metrics that they have to follow to get handed better orders. If you keep your acceptance rate high enough, you will get better orders, but in order to do that, you need to accept all the bad orders as well. This strategy keeps the amount that doordash has to pay the driver low
On the customer's end it's also predatory. There is a thing called a "driver's fee" that gives the appearance of going to the driver. The driver does not see it. Instead that money goes into a slush fund that the company uses for various things, including bribing politicians
Because the driver's are considered "independent contractors" doordash is not liable for anything the driver does. So if a driver steals an order, well then the place you ordered from just remakes the order. Doordash does little to vet drivers which makes the job worse for those who are honest. Customers were much more suspicious of me as a doordash driver than they are now that I work with an actual restaurant, which meant I was treated worse and tipped badly. I was often blamed for things completely out of my control.
This company is predatory and I don't care if it's convenient, find some other way to get your food. I understand that food delivery might be important to disabled people, but doordash is not the answer. They are likely violating numerous labor laws and are pouring money into politics. Doordash was a big supporter of trump and will continue to support any corrupt politician who will support laws that allow them to continue to mistreat their workers and customers and further their predatory business model