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Quality Rating on Doordash - EVERYTHING You MUST Know!!
- Joseph Mandracchia
- 3 hours ago
- 9 min read
So Doordash has been piloting different ways to rate us as drivers or allow others to rate us for things we may or may not be in control of. That said, we have seen some markets pilot a new rating, Quality Rating and it may be something that is better than I gave it credit for.
So in this article, We are talking about:
EVERYTHING You MUST Know about the Quality Rate System on Doordash
What they are saying 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 we are going to go over is very market dependent, and what applies to me and my market may not apply to you.
A Quick Note about the Source Material
Doordash has always been known to sneak in rating programs, and sometimes instead of not having a help page or having it’s own help page, they kind of sneak it into an already existing page.
So if you are anything like me and you Googled it and couldn’t find it, go to the bottom of the Dasher Ratings Explained page on their website. They buried it down there.
Quality Rate
We are currently piloting a new rating in some markets called Quality Rate, which was designed to give you more objective, actionable insight after each delivery—helping you understand what makes a great delivery experience and recognizing you for consistently delivering high quality service. If you are in an eligible market for this pilot, you will see ‘Quality Rate’ in the ‘Ratings’ tab of your app.
We always hear them say things like “actionable insight” and then categorize things that are out of the control of the driver, or things that would be in control of the driver in theory but at the end of the day aren’t as in control of the driver in practice.
Let’s say damaged items are one of the controllables right? On the surface, this is a simple task. Make sure the order gets there in one piece, but what if the packaging was not something that was done right? What if the coffee cup lids weren’t put on right and it spilled onto your hand?
What if the order was sitting for a while and that reduces the “quality” of the order? What if they are pulling some refund method? These aren’t the fault of the driver but they happen frequently enough to make it a valid concern for us.
Quality Rate measures how many of your last 100 orders you completed without reported issues. Completed orders can take up to 12 hours to be reflected in your quality rate while we review and validate customer reports. These reports are factored into your
Quality Rate based on severity:
Minor issues : -1% per delivery
Major issues : -3% per delivery
Minor issues can be:
Missing items: This occurs when customers report that something is missing from their order after you were notified to check the order at pickup, such as a drink or dessert.
Damaged items: This occurs when customers report that their order was handled poorly, such as spilled drinks or upside-down pizzas.
Major issues can be:
Orders never delivered: This occurs when the customer reports that their order never arrived.
Wrong orders delivered: This occurs when customers report receiving a different order rather than the one they placed.
There is no minimum requirement for Quality Rate, but consistently completing deliveries with major issues results in a poor customer experience. Repeated instances of major issues may also result in contract violations and Dashers may be eligible for deactivation of their account for violating the terms of their ICA.
First off, I am glad they are doing this instead of having more contract violations occur on a gig worker. This is clearly their attempt to inform a driver of issues taking place without it being a straight contract violation.
That’s fine and all but, some of these ratings are pretty much out of the control of the driver. Missing items are not us, we cannot check sealed bags. Damaged items aren’t us, we cannot check sealed bags.
An order never delivered means either the order was stolen, or more likely today customers are looking for a refund of some kind. Wrong order delivered, either the drivers fault due to stacked orders, restaurants fault for providing the wrong order, or again customer wants a refund.
What if something happens on a reported delivery outside of my control?
We understand that not all customer-reported quality issues are within your control. That's why we've implemented safeguards to ensure that this rating is fair for Dashers:
Every customer report is validated before it affects your Quality Rate
We’ll check delivery photos, instructions and customer history to ensure accuracy.
If we didn’t send you any reminders to check for items on an order, missing certain items will not impact your rating
Most of this is outside of the control of the driver, most of this is most likely validated by AI long before a person and would require an appeal if it was available. According to reports however, there are no appeal options for this.
Meaning customers can report what they want, have it affect our ratings and potentially cause wrongful deactivations. This might actually lead to worse results because it isn’t directly a “contract violation”.
How do I know if there was a customer-reported issue affecting my Quality Rate?
If a customer reports a major or minor quality issue on their recent delivery, we will review all reports before it impacts your Quality Rate. To see if there was a reported and validated quality issue impacting your rating, you can always tab into “orders with major issues” or “order with Minor issues” under “Quality Rate” in the Ratings tab. It may take up to 12 hours for an order to appear in your Quality Rate while we complete these validation checks if any major or minor issues have been identified.
I have a feeling a lot of drivers are going to get hit with rating hits for no reason because some dumbass is just saying “sure why not” while having a bad day and screw it!
What if there are no customer-reported issues on a delivery?
We will automatically count that as an order without any issues.
Also, this would apply for any of your ratings, especially since most of them are calculated on a rolling basis.
Can I still receive a contract violation for a delivery that has a major issue (i.e. order delivered incorrectly) reported?
A: Yes. However, if you successfully dispute the contract violation tied to the delivery, it will be automatically removed from being included in your Quality Rate.
Note the way they are presenting this, you can get a hit to your quality rate AND a violation, dispute it and fight back, but if you don’t get a violation and you get hit in the quality rate, they would just apply it as if you are guilty without any opportunity to fight back.
In one of the areas in which Doordash is testing quality rate based input, without actually applying any quality ratings, we have a Dasher in the Driven Wyld Discord Server noting how they got the notices without any kind of way to track the system.
Meaning it counts against them, without the ability to fight back.
Where can I see my Quality Rate?
You can find your updated Quality Rate in the Ratings tab of your Dasher app. Tap into “Quality Rate” for a full view of your recent deliveries, any reported issues, and how to improve.
This is also in its pilot phase as well, and is being tested in different varieties. So if it hasn’t hit your area yet, it may hit soon. It took a while before Dasher Rewards hit in every market.
Are all delivery types included in my Quality Rate?
No. Any offers that include shopping are not currently counted in the Quality Rate.
It is possible that this would apply in the future though, so keep an eye and ear out for updates.
Will this rating impact my experience as a Dasher?
This rating aims to give Dashers like you clearer insights into your last 100 deliveries. In the future, it may be included as part of the eligibility criteria for the Dasher Rewards program.
Like I said, most ratings on Doordash are calculated in this way. This is commonly referred to as “rolling basis”. It also wouldn’t be surprising that when this gets past the pilot stage, they use that as another reason someone doesn’t make platinum and have it implemented in the Overall Dasher Rating.
What if there was an issue with how the restaurant or store prepared the order?
Food preparation issues caused by the restaurant are not in scope of Quality Rate.
That isn’t going to stop customers from making the report about “damaged items” for a refund, give a vague reason why and then it hits your account that way.
Do I need to do anything to see this new experience?
No, you can see your new rating simply by tapping into ‘Ratings’ in the bottom menu, then in your ‘Quality Rate’. Only deliveries completed after May 27th in your area will count towards your Quality Rate. If you don’t see it, try updating to the most recent version of your Dasher app and complete a dash to see it populate.
This also is still the pilot phase of the rating system so it may not be in your area yet.
Better than a Violation?
Honestly, some people are making the point of it being better than a violation. A violation can get you deactivated if not attended to swiftly. A quality rate hit doesn’t have the same weight to your account as a violation would be.
That said, you can fight a violation and dispute a violation. However, you cannot dispute JUST a quality rate hit. As they inferred, just because you didn’t get a violation, doesn’t mean you didn’t get a quality hit.
That doesn’t mean you are off the chopping block either, Doordash has been known for their mass deactivations and wrongful terminations, they don’t exactly need a reason to screw you over.
Let me know if this would be better or worse in your eyes:
Less heavy-weight violations but impacts to your ratings?
More heavy-weight violations but no other impacts to your ratings?
Scammy Customers Have More Power?
Doordash has been cracking down on Scammy customers but this might lead to customers being able to affect our ratings in ways that shouldn’t affect us.
If you dispute an “order never arrived” violation, you can have it removed. However, if you don’t have an option to dispute it, you get what you get and it doesn't matter who is upset.
While this may not have the same impact initially, it would be something that can affect us over time. Such as a series of customers that can pull this crap. Not to mention, with less ability for people to properly report them, scammy customers could last longer on the platform.
This might lead to some unintended consequences.
Protect Yourself
Ways you can protect yourself are things that really should be done anyway, from surface level and on task steps to protect and complete your orders, to being more selective with the orders you accept, and having a diversified income portfolio so you are prepared for anything.
On task, I would just use your hot bags and make sure the orders get there in one piece to the best of your ability. Don’t give them ammunition.
Remember the rule of No tip No trip, how a customer tips is not simply the value of the order. It is a display of the character of the customer you are serving. Doesn’t matter if they claim to “cash tip after”, in most cases they don’t, in fact some have even faked injuries or gaslit you into believing they would when they wouldn’t.
Don’t fall for that, the same people who tip in cash after have also tipped in cash before.
Diversify Your Income, have multiple apps and avenues in which you can earn in your business. That means being on multiple platforms and onboarding with multiple companies.
Maybe expand further with different certifications and skills, such as becoming a medical courier or a mobile notary. Remember the best first investment is in yourself.
Have some kind of exit strategy, remember the gig economy is an income bridge to what would be a long term goal, and not the goal. Invest your money into something that would make you more money independently from your activity.
Scale your courier business into a full delivery service provider
Invest into income producing assets such as real estate or stocks
Get into content creation where you can earn some kind of ad revenue.
All this and more are things I talk about in the Driven Wyld Discord Server.
The Driven Wyld Discord Community is exclusive for gig workers looking to expand their knowledge and expertise in their self-employment and entrepreneurial journeys.
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Join Here and get started on making the most amount of money in the least amount of time in the safest possible way, we are looking forward to helping you secure your financial future!
If you would like to add some other perspective about the Quality Rating 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!
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