DoorDash Introduces New Tipping Disclaimer To Address Delivery Delays

DoorDash, a prominent player in the food delivery industry, has introduced a new tipping notification designed to streamline the delivery process and ensure timely service for customers. This innovative approach comes in response to concerns about potential delays in orders without a pre-tip from customers.

The food delivery company is testing out a new warning in the app to encourage customers who don’t include a tip to reconsider. The pop-up disclaimer states, “Orders with no tip might take longer to get delivered — are you sure you want to continue? Dashers can pick and choose which orders they want to do. Orders that take longer to be accepted by Dashers tend to result in a slower delivery.”

According to DoorDash, the company started sending out this notification to customers as a pilot earlier this year, but a recent tweet about the warning has attracted more attention.

This new pop-up is being “randomly tested with customers in markets across the United States,” per DoorDash’s official announcement on Wednesday, but it doesn’t affect the ordering or delivery experience. The company specified that “consumers still have the option not to tip if they choose not to. The test does not impact DoorDash’s commitment to quality or how orders are fulfilled.”

Instead, it simply warns customers who specifically leave a $0 tip about “what may go on behind the scenes,” according to the Los Angeles Times. Though DoorDash’s drivers, called Dashers, can’t see exactly how much a customer tips on an order, they can see how much they can expect to earn from a particular delivery before accepting it. So if it looks lower than it should, “it might take longer for a Dasher to accept the order.”

On Wednesday, a spokesperson from DoorDash told CBS MoneyWatch that “this reminder screen is something that we’re currently testing to help create the best possible experience for all members of our community.” The company also plans to assess customer feedback.

As DoorDash rolls out this new tipping notification, it will be interesting to observe how both customers and Dashers respond and how it ultimately impacts the overall delivery experience for all parties involved. So far, DoorDash noted that “it has seen a meaningful reduction in $0 tip orders since piloting the reminder screen.”