I’m so confused by DoorDash’s sudden rise. I think I may have used it once. What is separating DoorDash from UberEats, Postmates, Grubhub etc?
Network effects are pretty strong. Locally, I don't know anyone who uses anything other than SkipTheDishes.
Also they announced they were "investigating the issue" for 4 months before, and then didn't make a change. So let's not congratulate them until its been confirmed to be actually working as drivers and customers expect.
This isn't meant to be a triggering comment. I'm genuinely curious to learn about other people's reactions to DoorDash's former tipping system.
Once they modify their system and move to a system where drivers get 100% of the tips the drivers will probably see approximately the same payouts on average, just with higher variance across drivers. Basically what DoorDash was doing is the same as tip-pooling at a restaurant which isn't exactly a controversial practice.
DoorDash drivers don’t rely on other drivers. So why should a good driver compensate for the poor tips of a bad one?
Tipping frequently matters more about the tippers mood, the tip-receiver's race and gender, and (of course) order size.
It's like walking blindfolded into a restaurant and putting your tip in the hostesses hand before you even see any of the staff, or have any indication of service.
Anyway, yes, actually: I think there's a good argument to be made for a higher wage for delivery drivers -- and all waitstaff -- that makes their earnings less dependent on tips. If people want to tip for exceptional service, that's fine, but there are a surprising number of people who treat tips today as if they're only for exceptional service, will cut tips in half or even to zero for things beyond the server's control (e.g., the restaurant will not accept your clearly expired coupon), etc.
Things a dasher is responsible for:
1. The correctness of the order. Yes, it's fair to hold them responsible for this, because they have the order and they are at the restaurant. If the order is wrong, they can easily correct it then. If it's wrong at my house, now what? Probably I'm unhappy, even after Door Dash offers me credits
2. Keeping the food in good shape. That includes heat (some dashers use a heat bag), but it also includes keeping soup, chili cheese fries, and other things upright. (All things some dashers have screwed up for me.)
3. Paying attention to notes. I eat my Taco Bell with diablo sauce. Did he include the sauce I asked for in the notes? (Bonus points for including things like napkins and sporks without being asked.)
4. Polite behavior. Most are polite, but some practically throw the food at you and run away.
That's a pretty silly system.
That way DoorDash provides at least a partial matching contribution to my tip instead of eating from my tip.
Why so unforgiving? Because you can't deter unethical behavior by merely asking for a perpetrator to discontinue the unethical behavior if/when exposed. The expected value of a penalty needs to exceed the financial reward of the behavior it is meant to punish. Furthermore, I don't trust companies who are likely to be unethical the moment someone isn't looking.
Can I avoid AWS? No, but I can certainly not spend my own money directly on any of their services.
First of all, people tip beforehand so it's not based on quality of service anyway.
Second of all, it makes DoorDash a steady stream of income instead of hoping that you'll be tipped enough. Most people don't tip and if the tip is large enough, you do receive the tip.
I'm not sure I fully understand the backlash. Yes, the tipping policy didn't meet people's expectations ... but it seems almost exactly the same s how tipping + wages work for wait staff in restaurants (where restaurants are allowed to pay them less than minimum wage, as long as the difference is offset by tips).
Why are we okay with this policy, which is enshrined in law, for restaurant wait staff but not for delivery drivers?
A reasonable argument is that tips should always go direct to the staff and they should also at least make minimum wage, but that'd represent a huge change from the status quo and people aren't freaking out about how restaurant staff are compensated, so it seems like this hits a different emotional chord for some reason. Maybe it's more evil-seeming coming from a large tech-ish company rather than SMBs?
Personally, I am not okay with the law. An employer should pay a living wage. That said, I'm biased because I would vastly prefer to avoid the anxiety I feel around figuring out the right amount to tip such that I don't feel scummy nor taken advantage of. I went there to eat some food, not feel anxious.
But more fundamentally Instacart and Doordash deceived consumers in a way restaurants don't. Say minimum wage for tipped employees is $4, a restaurant pays a $5 wage and I tip $2, I expect that the staff gets the $5 wage and the $2 tip (whether pooled or otherwise). If the restauranteur uses my $2 tip to cut wages below $5, then that would be illegal and outrageous. The minimum wage amount of $4 does not even enter into the calculation in this example, except defining the floor for the restaurant to pay its tipped employees.
This is a difference without distinction. It is the separate minimum wage for tipped employees which allows the restaurant to pay less than the minimum wage. If the tipped employee minimum wage is $A and the untipped employee minimum wage is $B, and the tipped employee earns $C in tips:
The restaurant must pay $A. If $A + $C < $B, the restaurant must pay $B -($C + $A) more so the employee earns $B. Else, the restaurant doesn't have to pay anymore.
That's exactly how DoorDash works. They pay $1 (equivalent to $A), guarantee another amount (equivalent to $B), and if $A + $C < $B, they fill in the difference.
> But more fundamentally Instacart and Doordash deceived consumers in a way restaurants don't.…
How so? They operate exactly as restaurants do in tipped employee minimum wages states in regard to tips.
There are some restaurants that are exclusive on certain platforms (UberEats for example is exclusive with McDonalds), so if you want that, there's only one game in town, but most people I know who use these platforms regularly (myself included) aren't using them for a specific restaurant. It's more like, "I want sushi! I wonder what is available on my platform of choice?"
Beyond they all have slightly different pricing models, but at the end of the day they all cost about the same.
https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/7/11/20688108/postmates-acqu...
Looks like Doordash doubled its US marketshare in the last year mostly at Grubhub's expense while others have remained more or less flat.
I miss Foodler so damn much.