“This Is the Game They Play” — DoorDash Drivers Expose How They Think App Steals Worker Tips

DoorDash states that 100% of gratuities on orders go directly to drivers, so the application only makes it profit from a portion of the delivery fee appended to food purchased on the application.

But a driver for the app, TikToker DoorDash Dave (@doordashdave) avers that the application indeed does "steal" tips from its driver.

He detailed how in a viral TikTok on the subject. In it, the delivery driver for the widely used mobile food ordering application begins his video by looking into the camera. Behind him is a green-screen image capture of the DoorDash application. He explains that because he's never purchased food via the application, he wanted to see what tipping looks like from a patron's perspective.

"So I have not personally ordered from DoorDash before. So I was very curious to take a look around to see what it said about the driver tips. I was very curious to take a look around to see what it said about the driver tips. Clearly here it says 100 percent goes to the driver, so, no problem there."

However, Dave was still adamant about discovering what the mobile application's software was responsible for.

"So how do they take our tips? They gotta come up with another way to do it. Here's how."

At this point in the video, the green screen changes to a snippet of a conversation between Dave and the DoorDash driver assigned to his order.

The driver, Nelson, agreed to help Dave and be transparent regarding the amount of money he was receiving for the order. Working in tandem, they discovered a pricing fluctuation that seemingly implies DoorDash manages to secure some of a driver's tips through different means.

Dave informs David of the tip amount he's going to give him and says he will check to see if it's the same amount once the order is said and done.

Nelson replied that he was indeed game and that he himself had wondered whether DoorDash takes some tips.

"First I needed to recruit my driver. Make sure he was on board with checking the numbers after the delivery was completed. Seems like he's ready to go he's on board and [it] seems like he was curious to know what was going on too. Yep, we're gonna test out our theory."

Next, Dave's clip cuts to footage of him recording his smartphone screen which is still open to his DoorDash application showing the delivery from Nelson in progress.

Following this, he intercuts a snippet of Nelson speaking to him directly to the camera.

According to Nelson, DoorDash takes a cut of what the driver would've made for the trip to bring them their food if they're given a decently sized gratuity in the application. "When a customer pays well, you know, through the app? They give less for the trip."

So while the gratuity remains untouched, some of the money they would've otherwise gotten simply for completing the order is swiped away from DoorDash, Nelson claims.

"Oh yeah, for sure," Dave replies.

The food courier continued, "So you don't know who's giving, what they're giving you and what the tip is ... You don't know. Until the end that you could see."

Nelson then unlocks his smartphone and begins rattling off statistics from his application to support his claim. As he does so, Dave then hands him an extra $5 for his troubles.

Afterward, Dave's face pops up in another superimposed video clip.

"Now here's where DoorDash gets cute," he says. He then pulls his face away to reveal another green screen image on the application. It appears to be a photograph of the DoorDasher's phone. "Over here you can see the $4.50 tip was included. So that's fine, it wasn't touched."

However, Dave then goes on to delineate the roundabout way in which DoorDash takes away some of Nelson's money. "But here's what they do. When this high is higher, the customer tip this base pay is gonna be lower. They're not gonna give you the same pay that they would have initially given you if there's, there was no tip."

According to Dave, DoorDash intentionally swipes money away from the standard delivery fee drivers believe they'll be getting for a trip without gratuity. However, if a customer does decide to be a bit more generous, then they're going to get some of that delivery pay swiped away.

"So this is the game they play. The more that the customer pays, the less they're gonna give you." The TikToker then went on to detail why he believed this was supposed to be grimy. "A tip is supposed to be additional. So what DoorDash is doing is they're using your tip as your wages also. So something is just not working out here."

He continued, "And that is exactly how they 'steal' tips. They're not stealing from the tip section, no but they are taking it out of your wage bag."

Afterward, the video cuts back to Nelson speaking on the matter. "That's how they beat us ... And it adds up for them ... That's how they win man."

As he speaks, Dave agrees with him.

Moreover, in a caption for the post, Dave thanked Nelson for helping him get to the bottom of his gratuity query.

Numerous commenters had varying opinions on Dave's video, however. One person contested that there are specific calculations at play that don't factor in gratuities.

"Wrong. The base pay starts at a fixed $2. The base pay is increased by $0.25 each time the order goes through every driver in the area and nobody accepts."

However, there were others who said that this is right on the money. "This is absolutely correct. Been dashing for six years now, and they will lower the base pay the higher the customer tips."