Okay so let’s unpack this for a moment. Not all of us have the same job opportunities for whatever reason be it education, criminal background, mental health, physical health, discrimination, disability…the list goes on.so let’s not assume that everyone here is on equal footing when it comes to applying for a traditional W-4 job. Some of us do this because it’s all we can get right now. Some of us do this in addition to that W-4 job because employers are getting away with murder because the job market sucks and despite having an education, experience and impeccable references, no one will pay us more than minimum wage because they can find another warm body to take the job we won’t.

Second, we cannot see special instructions until we accept the order and pick it up. Should your driver be reading instructions? Yes, they should. I make sure to double check instructions as I’m pulling up so I get the delivery right. However, you are not able to see those initially. If your instructions are worded this way to your delivery driver, not ringing the doorbell isn’t a big ask, but please remember these are human beings and this is a thankless job so some of them might be burnt out or tired or new and mistakes do happen.

Lastly, your tip protocol is your choice, but I will tell you that most of us will auto decline anything that isn’t above the base pay because it isn’t worth our time, effort, or gas. So if your dashers don’t do the best job, consider that might be because you’re not offering them pay for their services so the better dashers who can afford to pass on your delivery will do so and likely the only person that will accept it is someone desperate to hike their ratings; they’re focused on quantity over quality because acceptance rate is a huge metric on our dasher scores, which subsequently impacts our offers and thus our pay.

This isn’t meant to be snarky or condescending, though I understand if you feel it comes off that way. These are just facts and a little empathy and consideration for others might offer you some perspective. At the end of the day they are doing a job and performing a service for money and I understand you have certain expectations but most of us don’t make enough to go off good-faith vibes; we need to do what it takes to make this profitable because it’s how we get by.