DoorDash Scams

DoorDash is an American company operating an online food ordering and food delivery service. It is similar to ride share companies like Uber and Lyft, except they specialize in food delivery. There are several other food delivery companies, for example GrubHub and Uber Eats. As of March 2024, DoorDash has the biggest market share of the online food delivery market in the United States. My girlfriend recently started working as a shift manager at Pizza Hut and in two weeks she has already experienced several online food order scams. The latest one was an order that was picked up by a DoorDash driver. A short time later, another driver showed up to pick up the same order. They had to tell the driver that the order was already picked up. This happened four more times for the same order. If you count the first driver, there was a total of six different DoorDash drivers looking for the same order.

Our best guess is that the first driver unassigned the order and kept it for himself. Another driver saw the unassigned order and claimed the delivery assignment. Upon finding out that the order was already gone, they unassigned themselves from the order... and on it went for each driver. Needless to say, this is just one example of the huge waste of resources, time, and money that is taking place in the fast-food industry. Other scams are orders placed for bogus addresses and people that never show up to pick up their order. Not to mention employees who steal from the till, don't share tips, and make food to take home without paying. DoorDash drivers are not all bad. They have to deal with scams directed specifically at them.

DoorDash has been known to close a driver's account without warning. Often as a result of a bogus complaint by a customer who wanted their order for free. Scammers will take advantage of drivers by contacting them directly and posing as someone from DoorDash. Once they get their account information, they change the bank account info and steal the driver's money. There are numerous videos on YouTube about drivers who have been scammed like this. So, it can be as simple as not paying for a food order to a complex identity theft online money scam. I'm not sure why restaurants like Pizza Hut allow DoorDash to pick up orders when they have their own deliver drivers. Seems like it would be a service that would be better suited for a restaurant that didn't have home delivery. Loss potential is still there, but at least you have some control over the order verification process and who is delivering your food orders.