Dasher Tasks on Doordash - EVERYTHING You MUST Know!!

Dasher Tasks on Doordash - EVERYTHING You MUST Know!!

Intro

So Doordash has had various opportunities to earn on the app, some are great, some are meh, and some aren’t even around anymore. That said, one of those opportunities that are either coming or will be here soon are Dasher Tasks. 

Hence the purposes of this being a pilot program.

So in this article, We are talking about:

• EVERYTHING You MUST Know about Dasher Tasks

• What Doordash tells you vs how it ACTUALLY is

• Everything in between!

Disclaimer: The content of this article does not contain and is never intended to be legal, business, financial, tax, or health advice of any kind, This article is for entertainment purposes only. It is advised that you conduct your own research and consult with qualified professionals before applying anything you find online. 

I also want to be clear that everything mentioned in this article is very market dependent and what applies to me and my market may not apply to you!

DrivenWyld/YouTube

Doordash: This is a new earnings opportunity for Dashers and will help make our platform better. On major holidays, some stores do not update their hours in our app, leading to Customers placing orders and Dashers being assigned to them and needing to cancel when they arrive at the closed store. By helping us collect these hours in advance, we can update them on behalf of the Merchant and protect both Customers and Dashers from wasted time.

Okay, I have to give credit where credit is due. This is actually not a bad idea on paper. The amount of times I have been delivering on holidays or people have been deactivated wrongfully because of a store being closed and you report the store closed, is crazy.

Now how much follow through is the corporate side of Doordash going to have is to be seen but that is a good thing for us.

Also, keeping the name of the program broad keeps the thought of this expanding going in a positive direction, and not just pigeonholing themselves into a single task. 

Doordash: Q: What are Dasher Tasks / Why am I getting assigned to this?

A: We are beginning to offer trusted, high-quality Dashers like yourself additional non-food delivery-related earnings opportunities that are designed to improve the quality of experiences for our Users. As part of our Pilot test, if you do not wish to complete this task, you can decline it without it hurting your acceptance rate.

Bold of this company to put this on a help page where this is very public information and claim it is going to “Trusted, High Quality Dashers”. For how this company treats the term “high quality” it is probably going to Top Dashers or Platinum Dashers depending on your market. 

Doordash: Q: How will Dasher Tasks affect my acceptance rate?

A: For now, Dasher Tasks will not impact your overall acceptance rate: accepting a task will not increase your acceptance rate, nor will declining it decrease your acceptance rate.

So for those looking to exploit the acceptance rate hack, like with Cash on Delivery like this commenter on my YouTube channel:

That won’t be possible for these orders.

Also, why would you want to find a way to game the system when there are better ways to make money in this industry? We will go deeper into this concept later in the article, but the point is this is building a scarcity mindset within yourself. 

If you are just thinking “how can I get more Doordash Orders” or “how do I get more out of this one app”, then you are putting a lot of dependence on one app or income source. Both financially and emotionally.

Look I am all for maximizing value and finding the best ways to make money but find the best ways to make money for the industry not for just one app. 

Doordash: Q: Can I opt out of receiving these tasks in the future? 

A: If you wish to opt out of receiving tasks, please fill out this Form. We will process the request within 1-3 business days.

Feel free to opt out if you like.

Doordash: Q: What if the Dasher wants to unassign from the Task? 

A: You can un-assign yourself in the Support workflow by clicking on the help button, selecting which issue you’re encountering (ie. “Issue with Store” or “Issue with Task”), briefly tell us why you want to unassign, and click Continue. You will receive half-pay and this will not affect your completion rate.

Let me tell you now, if you don’t want the task anymore it better be for a good reason. Don’t be that guy, I promise you there is going to be deactivations from this specifically and then Doordash is not going to pay you for “security purposes” and say a “violation occurred” and refuse to go into detail because they are, have been and always will lie to you about that. 

Don’t give them a reason to do so by pulling this shady stuff, because then you have no one to blame but yourself.

Store Hour Collection Task 

Doordash: Q: What is the purpose of collecting store hours?

A: For major holidays, some stores do not submit updated hours/store closures in time so Customers order from them when they’re actually closed. We do not want Dx like yourself to get assigned to these orders, drive to the Mx only to find the Mx is closed, and be forced to cancel and receive half pay. By helping us collect these hours ahead of time, we can accurately update the store hours on behalf of the Merchant and prevent this from happening.

Which would be great for us in a lot of cases but I can also imagine this going sideways. 

Like the restaurant didn’t have staff to ACTUALLY come in on the holiday and they closed because they are EXTREMELY understaffed, even though they never planned to and they even reported to Doordash that they were going to be open. 

Now they closed the store and you gotta be the guy to show up to the closed store due to staffing issues, and Doordash gets all uppity for being notified that the store is closed on a holiday they said they would be open on. 

So what happens to you, Dasher? Deactivated for “fraudulently reporting the store closed”. Even though you had a good reason. 

Doordash: Q: What is the best way to go about asking for store hours?

A: “Hi, I’m a Dasher for DoorDash and DoorDash has sent me here to confirm your holiday hours on [holiday name]. If your store is closed or your hours are reduced, we can help update them for you accordingly.”

Don’t get too hung up on the verbiage, just ask them politely what they plan to do with their store hours on the holiday. 

Doordash: Q: What if the Merchant doesn’t know what their holiday hours are or the employee is being difficult / doesn’t speak English? 

A: If the Merchant does not know, you can select “Staff doesn’t know yet” where you will also be able to provide additional details of the issue.

This can also just be the case of they are too low on the totem pole to know for sure, and the person they can ask about it isn’t actually available, so they cannot answer. So try to keep your cool on this, not always them.

Doordash: Q: How much will I get paid for completing this store hours task?

A: After completing this task, you will be compensated at least $5, depending on the distance you have to travel. If you have to unassign from the task, you will receive half pay. 

Of course, there is no option for tipping for obvious reasons. Just a flat rate, so don’t lose money on the miles because they want you to drive far.

Doordash: Q: How long will this task take?

A: This task should take you around 2-5 minutes to complete. If the Merchant is busy, it may take a bit longer to collect hours.

This isn’t including distance to drive to the location so it can be longer in that regard, but it is an easy $5 if it is close. 

Doordash: Q: What if the Merchant provides me wrong information? Will I be penalized for it? 

A: We will reach out to the Mx to verify that you visited the store to confirm the hours. If the Merchant confirms they provided the wrong information that you end up submitting, you will not be penalized for it. If any abuse from your end is detected, you will not be eligible for other task-related earnings opportunities.

Like I said, I wouldn’t be surprised if deactivations would end up happening as well. 

Shelf Photos Tasks

Doordash: Q: What is the purpose of taking shelf photos?

A: By taking photos of the shelves, you are helping the store and our customers understand what items are available, and what items are out of stock. This helps customers order what is actually available in the store, preventing poor customer experiences and order cancellations. It also saves time for other Dashers from trying to pick items that are sold out.

First of all, I am so glad my point about tasks being expanded into other areas has been validated right away. 

Second, this looks like it is taking the Field Agent approach to audit the availability of items, the pay on that app is a bit low but I wouldn’t be surprised if DD took a similar approach and paid just a touch more and suddenly called themselves “industry leaders”, only to drop it immediately after. 

Doordash: Q: What if the Merchant approaches me and asks me to stop taking photos?

A: The merchant should already have been informed that you will be in the store, if they still object, please show them the letter of approval found in the DoorDash app. If the merchant still insists, we leave the store and contact support.

I can imagine this happening in locations that discriminate against gig workers, so please don’t get arrested trying to appease a Doordash order. 

If you would like to add some other perspective to how Customer Ratings work on Doordash, feel free to email me: drivenwyld@gmail.com and who knows? Maybe your email or perspective and be featured in a post as well!