What Happens If You Deliver the Wrong Order on Doordash?

It can be a pain in the ass to get notified that the order you just made is wrong. We know, and it can be more frustrating when you’re just new to the business.

But what happens? Do you get any penalties after doing this?

What Happens If You Deliver the Wrong Order on Doordash?

To begin with, you can’t get deactivated for singly delivering a wrong order to a customer.

For one reason, Doordash understands that the fault might not even be coming from you – It could be a mistake from the restaurant. Secondly, no one is above mistakes.

The exception to this rule would be when you already have a series of contract violations, poor driver ratings, or maybe a handful of other similar penalties within your last 100 deliveries.

In these cases, your chances of being deactivated are high.

Secondly, your pay for the order, even though not delivered correctly, is guaranteed.

As we explained earlier, Doordash won’t take your account down, and neither would they not pay you.

However, it’s still worth mentioning that the customer would be refunded if they choose to contact support. But how would the refund work, you ask? Well, depending on the situation, it’s between Doordash and the restaurant.

But what if you’re still in the situation of delivering the wrong order? What are the best steps to take? Stick with me through the next section.

What to do if You Deliver the Wrong Order on Doordash

The action to take if you deliver the order can vary widely.

Firstly, as we explained, Doordash won’t charge you a penalty. So, for some people, they might choose to ignore the incident and move on with their schedule of completing other orders.

Doordash understands that mistakes like this do happen, and won’t punish you.

However, it’s always best to either call support to let them know or direct the customer on how they can contact Doordash support as well as sort of explain to them the whole process of getting their actual order and why you can’t help them.

You also want to be sorry and positive when doing this. This way, if you were to get a bad review, say 1 star, it could be raised to 2 or 3 stars. Either way, you should have a better customer experience this way.

Editors note: While Doordash can’t explicitly deactivate you for simply delivering a wrong order once, if you keep getting reported, constantly, you can get your account deactivated.

While the method mentioned above works, it might not be ideal if you’ve had a contract violation or any other similar incident lately.

As some people would do, in this case, it’s usually best you drive back to the restaurant or the customer, and get the order right.

Here you’ll need to call the customer (if you still have the option) to make sure they don’t tamper with the food, and as well, the restaurant, to notify them on time and hear what they have to say before running to pick up the order.

Editors note: This is basically more applicable when the incident isn’t past 30 minutes, or you’re still close to the customer’s address. Otherwise, they could have already tampered with the food or made a report before you can arrive. This why it’s important to try notify them before time.

You can always choose to work with the first approach as most people would.

However, if you feel the need to, have a poor Doordash profile (bad ratings or a couple of contract violations), or have no strict schedule to meet up with, the second approach works better.

Lastly, while you’re not expected to be deactivated, as much as you can, avoid this scenario. In the following section, we explain how to…

Tips to Avoid Delivering Wrong Orders on Doordash

They say prevention is better than cure. And yes, definitely, this is true, but how can you apply it to Doordash, at least to avoid delivering wrong orders in the future?

Always Double Check your orders

Yeah, time is money, but it’s always best to take your time when receiving orders. Be patient.

Once the restaurant hands over the order, take a moment to verify the contents. Compare the items with what’s listed in the app. While you don’t need to open boxes or containers, a quick glance can often identify errors.

And when you arrive at the customer’s address, do the same double-checking.

You also need to verify their address, to avoid delivering an order to the wrong person.

Again, It’s better to deliver a correct order slightly late than a wrong order on time.

Be like this Doordash driver I saw on Reddit…

Stay Organized

Next, stay organized.

If you’re handling multiple orders at the same time, it’s important to keep them separate and organized.

Use insulated bags with labels or different compartments in your car to avoid confusion or missing items after delivery. You also want to be careful here, to avoid mislabeling the orders.

Wrapping up

Finally, as we explained, delivery mishaps do happen. And if it happens to you, don’t panic. However, it’s important you take the right steps as provided in this article.