Economy & LaborOCT 18, 2023

Woman Can’t Understand Why People Order DoorDash Instead Of Just Driving, Gets A Reality Check

Without noticing it, many of us have started taking delivery services for granted. The idea that a restaurant meal or a bag of groceries can be on your doorstep within hours, if not minutes has become very deeply ingrained. Now, many delivery companies know they can charge higher and higher service prices because we aren’t exactly going to change our habits over a few dollars.

TikToker Jessica Fay went viral when she called people with cars lazy for using DoorDash when they can just drive. Netizens debated her points and provided some alternative thoughts in the comments section. Bored Panda has reached out to Jessica Fay by email and will update the story when she gets back to us.
More info: TikTok

One TikToker wanted to know why folks would rather pay a lot more than just drive to a restaurant

Image credits: Marques Thomas (not the actual photo)

"Things I don't understand as a 20-year-old. How do people DoorDash food when they have a car?"

Image credits: jessicafayyy

"Why? Are you drunk? Good reason. Anything else? Why?"

"This would have been like $16 on DoorDash. I know because I almost did it one time, and I was like, "Hehe, no!" $9, I just drove. I don't get it. I'm definitely my father's daughter for real."

Image credits: jessicafayyy

As great as it feels to get things right on your doorstep, it’s worth understanding what these companies actually do

Image credits: Yu Hosoi (not the actual photo)

While pizza delivery has been around for years, imagine telling someone in the 80s that you would be able to get practically anything delivered right to your door, often within the same day, if not hour. They might not believe you or perhaps assume some then science fiction technology, like robots or teleportation would be involved.

Setting aside the numerous ways delivery services underpay their workers, it’s somewhat impressive that we have the logistical prowess to hand deliver chicken nuggets to a hungry person across much of the country. Of course, we should not set aside this issue, as DoorDash in particular is a pretty egregious offender.

For example, the company would, in some states, still classify their workers as independent contractors, not delivery personnel, to get around pay and health and safety regulations. While it’s not the only company to do this, there are laws around what a company can ask a delivery person to do and what they absolutely can’t ask for a reason.

DoorDash has a habit of lying to its workers and to its customers

Image credits: Brett Jordan (not the actual photo)

On top of that, DoorDash came under fire for withholding parts of driver’s tips. Instead of handing over this money, they would pocket the tip except for a section that would go into the minimum delivery fee a driver would be paid for each order. So people at home, perhaps feeling a bit guilty for ordering a pizza during a blizzard only helped line the pockets of DoorDash.

The initial allegations of withholding tips came in 2019 and a class action lawsuit was resolved in 2020. The company chose to settle and reverse the policy. And it’s not just the drivers who were getting the wool pulled over their eyes. This year, a one billion dollar lawsuit has been filed, alleging that DoorDash charges more for users of iPhones.

So perhaps Jessica Fay, who made the initial TikTok was simply unlucky, but regardless, it’s not exactly forthcoming and honest behavior from the company. DoorDash’s lawyers have their work cut out for them, as there was another lawsuit that just ended in August of 2023, which found that the DoorDash app made it purposely difficult to get paid time off, which the workers are entitled to, as they are no longer seen as independent contractors.

There are many valid reasons why someone would use a delivery service

Image credits: Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 (not the actual photo)

So all of this raises the question, why use DoorDash in the first place? While the ability to order things has been around for a while, it is in some ways a lot more ethical to hand a pizza delivery person some cash than to keep using a platform that regularly exploits its workers and lies to customers.

Of course, as one can see in the video’s comments (found below,) there are actually many good reasons to use DoorDash. First and foremost, laziness isn’t perhaps the worst sin on the planet, and a handful of Dollars more to avoid driving could make sense. People with disabilities might have cars but would prefer to avoid driving too much if possible. If you want to learn about other delivery services, check out Bored Panda’s article on male Instacart shoppers.