So you are ready for your shift, you start up your Doordash driver app click the button to start your dash, then suddenly you get this pop up about new terms of service that requires you to agree before you can continue. This is the oldest trick in the book by companies as they know you want to sign on as quickly as possible and so they know that you will just simply agree to it to get it out of your way, when they know they could have emailed this to the users before it was active so they had time to read them over.
So now your big choice, do you miss your current shift so you can actually read through this big long pop up or do you simply click agree and then think about going back to read it later? We are going to bet you are like 95% of other users and just going to click agree.
So what changed for the Doordash Terms of service on 01/30/2022 versus their last version on 12/16/2020? Here is a quick view of some of the changes.
- Minor verbal changes such as “Doordash or Company” has been changed to “Doordash, Company, We, Us or Our”. Plenty more small changes like this, but doesn’t directly affect anything, just for clarification.
- Making note that arbitration is the primary source for handling disputes or legal matters and drivers must opt out if they do not wish to use arbitration.
- Clarification that drivers negotiate their compensation by accepting or rejecting oppurtunities through the Doordash platform.
- Clarification that Doordash and drivers are two seperate business entities and the driver shall be solely responsible for determining how to operate their business and how to perform the Contracted Services. (IE what you accept, decline or the means you use to complete the order)
- Clarification that the driver will complete the orders in a timely, efficient, safe, and lawful manner but Doordash shall not, control the manner, method or means the driver uses to perform the Contracted Services. Instead, the driver shall be solely responsible for determining the most effective, efficient, and safe manner to perform the Contracted Services, including determining the manner of pickup, delivery, and route selection.
- Rewording that the contractor agrees to maintain a customer rating & completion rating as stated in the dasher ratings section. (https://help.doordash.com/dashers/s/article/Dasher-Ratings-Explained?language=en_US)
- CONTRACTOR’S OPERATIONS section has been updated from five agreements to ten.
- Only new contractors can opt out of arbitration, but Doordash will still honor any previous request to opt out from prior versions.
Some important highlights of the Dasher TOS are below, but in simple terms Doordash has the right to offer you order request or not, they are not required to do so. You may also negotiate a pay rate of your choice, you are not stuck with the standard pay. (Although Doordash would most likely just reject your rates). And finally, you are not to share your email, phone OR password and should you choose to do so Doordash is not responsible for fraud (this seems like it should be common knowledge, you should never give out your information if you don’t fully trust the service or person you are giving them to).
CONTRACTOR acknowledges that DOORDASH has discretion as to which, if any, Delivery Opportunity to present to CONTRACTOR, just as CONTRACTOR has the discretion whether and to what extent to accept any Delivery Opportunity.
Unless a different rate of pay is negotiated or CONTRACTOR is notified otherwise by DOORDASH in writing or except as provided herein, CONTRACTOR will receive payment per accurate Contracted Service completed in an amount consistent with the publicly provided pay model, which CONTRACTOR can view here. DOORDASH reserves the right to adjust or withhold all or a portion of payment owed to CONTRACTOR if DOORDASH reasonably believes that CONTRACTOR has defrauded or abused, or attempted to defraud or abuse, the platform. From time to time, DOORDASH may offer opportunities for CONTRACTOR to earn more money for performing Contracted Services at specified times or in specified locations. Nothing prevents the parties from negotiating a different rate of pay, and CONTRACTOR is free to accept or reject any such opportunities to be paid at different rates.
To prevent unauthorized access to CONTRACTOR’s account and to prevent unauthorized use of the DOORDASH platform, CONTRACTOR agrees to protect and keep confidential their email, phone number, password, or other means of accessing their account via the DOORDASH platform. CONTRACTOR acknowledges that unauthorized use of CONTRACTOR’s account, email, phone number and password could lead to financial loss and access to CONTRACTOR’s sensitive personal and account information. If CONTRACTOR discloses their account information, user ID, and/or password to any person or entity, CONTRACTOR assumes all risks and losses associated with such disclosure. If CONTRACTOR believes someone may attempt to use or has accessed CONTRACTOR’s account without CONTRACTOR’s permission, or that any other unauthorized use or security breach has occurred, CONTRACTOR agrees to immediately notify us at www.doordash.com/help/.
CYA (Cover your a$$)
This is a tricky part from Doordash, one that is over looked by most dashers is section 3 #7 which states:
In the event CONTRACTOR fails to fully perform any Contracted Service (a “Service Failure”) due to CONTRACTOR’s action or omission, CONTRACTOR shall forfeit all or part of the agreed upon fee for that service. If CONTRACTOR disputes responsibility for a Service Failure, the dispute shall be resolved pursuant to the “Payment Disputes” provision below.
While I am not a lawyer, I would assume that Doordash put this in there to make sure that drivers complete the orders & don’t just start taking food out of bags whenever they want, but Doordash could also fall back on the “well you forgot an item” as well if it happened enough times and not pay you for those orders. One of the best things you can do is CYA, ask the restaurant multiple times if everything is in the sealed bag, if the bag isn’t sealed, double check the item count to make sure you have the correct number of items, some dashers even take pictures of the orders when they pick up & deliver. (You probably don’t need to go through the customers food though) (FYI – The drivers utility helper app does have a timestamp camera built in as well)
What should you do if this does happen to you? Well section 7 #1 of the ICA will tell you how to to dispute or challenge the payment failure.
CONTRACTOR’s Failure: In the event there is a Service Failure, CONTRACTOR shall not be entitled to payment as described above (as determined in DOORDASH’s reasonable discretion). Any withholding of payment shall be based upon proof provided by the consumer, restaurant or other business, CONTRACTOR, and any other party with information relevant to the dispute. DOORDASH shall make the initial determination as to whether a Service Failure was the result of CONTRACTOR’s action/omission. CONTRACTOR shall have the right to challenge DOORDASH’s determination through any legal means contemplated by this Agreement; however, CONTRACTOR shall notify DOORDASH in writing at www.doordash.com/help/ of the challenge and provide DOORDASH the opportunity to resolve the dispute. CONTRACTOR should include any documents or other information in support of their challenge.
Common Questions
- Does this make me an employee?
No this does not make you an employee, you are still a contractor, it is just more clear now.
- Does this mean I can not cancel orders?
No, you can still cancel orders from time to time, but you still must meet the dasher ratings requirements, which can be found here. (Currently as of this article you must keep a 4.2+ customer rating & 80%+ completion rating)
- Can I be deactivated for my acceptance rating (if you decline trips)?
No, according to the dasher ratings page listed above and the terms for deactivation, there is no minimum requirement for acceptance rating and dashers can pick and choose which orders to accept.
- Can I be deactivated for being late to pickup/delivery?
Yes, according to Doordash, “Repeated lateness may result in deactivation”, so make sure you have enough time to make it to pickup and delivery.
- Can I change my mind after agreeing to these terms?
Yes, according to Doordash, “CONTRACTOR may terminate this Agreement upon seven (7) days written notice.“, so if you agreed to these terms to start a shift & finally read them later and don’t like them, you need to notify Doordash asap.
Opting out of Arbitration
So you don’t want to use arbitration or maybe you just want to make sure that you are open to any and all legal means if the time ever comes. (IE class action suits or directly suing). This is where opting out of arbitration comes in, although arbitration has been in their terms of service for awhile, in this recent update they did make it clear how to opt out of it, but it isn’t as easy as Uber where you just send an email, you will have to make some effort.
To start you must notify Doordash in writing of your intention to opt out of arbitration, yes, by snail mail. If you try to opt out by email they will reject it, so you must do it by first class mail and must be done with-in 30 days from 01/30/2022, anything past 30 days will be ineffective.
Doordash does state this option is for new contractors only in section 7 #9, but they will honor those who have opted out in a previous version.
Existing CONTRACTORS who have agreed to a prior version of this Agreement with DOORDASH without opting out of the Mutual Arbitration Provision contained therein do not have an opportunity to opt out of this Mutual Arbitration Provision.
DOORDASH will continue to honor the valid opt outs of existing CONTRACTORS who validly opted out of the Mutual Arbitration Provision in a prior version of the Agreement.
Mailing address:
General Counsel
303 2nd Street, Suite 800
San Francisco, CA 94107
Requirements:
- The letter must state CONTRACTOR’s intention to opt out
- Must be signed by the CONTRACTOR directly (no electronic copy/paste, but actual ink)
- You can only opt out for yourself, if you have any sub-contractors they must opt out themselves
- Include your full legal name, address, email address and phone number. (I mean how else they going to know who you are?)
Here is a copy of my opt out letter I have used for many gig companies, you should be able to edit it to your needs but since I am not a legal professional I would suggest that you have someone look it over for you.
Full Legal Name
1234 Fake St,
Your City, State, Postal Code
12/16/2020 (current date of creating/signing/sending)
Doordash Inc/ General Counsel
303 2nd Street, Suite 800
San Francisco, CA 94107
Re: Opt out of Agreement to Arbitrate
To Whom It May Concern:
By this letter, I (your name) am opting out of the Agreement to Arbitrate as authorized in secion XI Mutual Arbitration Provision of the “Independent Contractor Agreement” updated on 01/30/2022.
I (your name) do not agree to the Agreement to Arbitrate for the the accounts below.
Dasher ID: [ list your dasher id ] (on android doordash screen click 3 menu dots – about)
Email: [ list your email account that you use to log into the dasher app ]
Sincerely,
[Sign here, must be real signature with ink]
[Your full legal name here]
Other than that, for the most part it is about the same as every other agreement I have read, including the last version of the TOS agreement, it of course benefits the company more than the actual driver, but there are some things that did need more clarification and this update has helped clarify them even more so than the last TOS update.
If you haven’t read the full terms of service contract, you should schedule an hour and go through them for yourself. There is lots of information in there and since most drivers do not have time before working to read these, they over look them. But these are your terms, once you agree to them, you are bound to them while dashing.
You can find the official and full length independant contractor agreement for Doordash at https://help.doordash.com/dashers/s/ica-us?language=en_US
