Ways To Get Kicked Off DoorDash

Working on DoorDash is a privilege. It isn’t a right. While DoorDash will likely welcome you with open arms the first time you register as a driver for their platform, they are going to be keeping a watchful eye on you. If they believe you aren’t performing well as a driver, they will have absolutely no hesitation kicking you off of their platform.

Thankfully, DoorDash doesn’t like to keep secrets from their drivers. They will tell you the exact behaviors that will get you kicked off of the platform. This means that as soon as you register for the platform, you will know what is expected of you. We promise you, despite what you may have been told, nobody is randomly kicked off of DoorDash. They will always have broken one of the golden DoorDash rules.

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On this page, we are going to go through the main ways to get kicked off DoorDash. Along the way, we are going to be giving you a bit of advice on ensuring that you don’t fall foul of those rules.

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Your DoorDash Rating

The most important metric that DoorDash uses to judge whether you are able to be on their platform is your DoorDash rating. 

Every time you make a delivery on DoorDash, your customer will be encouraged to give you a rating out of 5.

Once you have completed a minimum of 20 orders, you will be required to maintain a rating above 4.2. If you dip below the 4.2 mark, then you will instantly lose your DoorDash account.

Thankfully, maintaining that rating shouldn’t be too difficult. As long as you don’t do something stupid, most customers are going to rate you 5 out of 5. Just make sure that you deliver their orders on time, follow their instructions to a tee and, if they talk to you, treat them with respect.

You will have the odd order where you are rated 4 and below. This may be for circumstances beyond your control. Don’t worry about it too much. All of your other orders should stop you from plummeting below the 4.2 mark. 

DoorDash will give you a warning when you are close to being below 4.2.

Your DoorDash Cancellation Rate

Again, you won’t be judged on this until you have completed 20 orders.

You have the right to pick and choose the orders that you complete on DoorDash. That is the benefit of being a freelance contractor.

If you accept an order on DoorDash, then you will be expected to complete it. If you cancel the order, this is marked against you as a cancelation. This is a bad thing.

If you cancel 20% of your orders, then you will be banned from the platform. 

The best way to avoid that high cancellation rate is to only accept orders that you know that you complete. Whenever you are given an offer on DoorDash, you should always be given enough information to determine whether the order is for you i.e. whether the restaurant and area are reachable and worth the cash that you are being paid.

Yes. There will be times when you have no choice but to cancel an order. However, these cases are few and far between. There is absolutely no way that you will ever get to the point where you are forced to cancel 20% of your orders.

Late Deliveries

DoorDash doesn’t provide a whole lot of guidance on this part. They do say that you are expected to complete deliveries promptly. If you do not complete deliveries promptly, then you are liable to be removed from the platform.

Whenever an order is accepted, there will always be rough estimates for the time that the order should be available for collection from the restaurant and when it should be delivered to the customer. As a DoorDash driver, you must deliver within these estimated time frames.

Not every single order is going to be on time. There may be situations outside of your control where deliveries end up being late. However, as long as you don’t make a habit of it, you should be fine.

We suggest that when you receive an order, you don’t hang around. Make sure that you get to the restaurant as quickly as possible. Once you have picked up the order, deliver it. This may seem like common sense advice, but you will be surprised at the number of people that work at a snail’s pace. They will never be on DoorDash for long.

Red Card Abuse

For some DoorDash deliveries, you will be required to use the DoorDash Red Card. This is, essentially, a credit card that taps into DoorDash’s account to pay for an order. You will be given the Red Card during your DoorDash orientation. It is becoming rarer and rarer that you will need to use it.

If you are caught using the Red Card to purchase anything other than the items ordered through DoorDash, then you will instantly be deactivated from the platform.

You would think that most people would understand that they shouldn’t use the Red Card without permission. It is easy to trace, after all. However, with the number of stories we have heard about people being banned from the platform for using the Red Card inappropriately, we don’t think people got the message.

The only way to avoid this particular issue is to only use the Red Card when you have permission.

Tampering With Deliveries

All DoorDash orders should be given to you sealed. Do not tamper with them. If you tamper with them, you run the risk of being kicked off of DoorDash.

Chances are that you won’t be kicked off of the platform for doing this on one delivery. Instead, it will be marked down as a contract violation (more on that in a short while)

The problem here is that the driver can also be responsible for orders not being delivered with all of the food. This can be an issue since you can’t open the delivery bag at all. Your best bet here is to try and watch the restaurant pack the order up. 

Threatening Behavior Towards Customers

You are not allowed to act negatively toward a customer in any way. If you swear at them, threaten violent behavior, etc. then you will be removed from the platform, depending on the severity of the violation.

The same rules apply whenever you speak to any of the staff at DoorDash. Do not speak to them in an aggressive or threatening manner. It will act as a mark against you.

Along the same lines, you absolutely should not contact the DoorDash customer outside of the bounds of the delivery. We have heard stories of people trying to score dates with a DoorDash delivery. Don’t do that. You aren’t going to find the love of your life like that. You are going to end up having a report made against you. This can lead to a ban, depending on the severity of the violation.

We are hoping that you do not need us to provide you with guidance on how to treat your customers with respect.

Unsafe Driving

DoorDash expects their drivers to complete jobs safely. If they are caught speeding, given traffic violations, etc. then this could count against the DoorDash driver.

You should always follow the laws of the road while you are driving, which leads us neatly onto the next section.

Criminal Convictions

Any criminal convictions, whether you were driving for DoorDash at the time, can count against you on the platform. Of course, this will be all based on the severity of the violation.

DoorDash reserves the right to carry out periodical criminal background checks.

If you have a drug violation or are driving under the influence, then you will be removed from the platform immediately. If you seem to have a habit of notching up speeding tickets, then you will be removed from the platform immediately too.

Remember, poor drivers will reflect negatively on DoorDash. This means that they will want to do everything in their power to ensure that only the best drivers will be driving for their platform.

Remember, it won’t just be driving convictions that can get you booted off. Anything that could potentially bring you into disrepute may do so. 

Contract Violations

In some cases, you will violate the contract between you and DoorDash. These infractions may not be enough to kick you off of the platform, but DoorDash will certainly be taking notes.

If you violate the DoorDash contract enough times, then you will be removed from the platform. DoorDash does not seem to give details of what their ‘contract violation maximum’ is, although we suppose that makes sense. Every cash will be judged on its own merits.

You will be able to see a number that details contract violations on the DoorDash app. If you want to find out what they are, then reach out to customer support. Some contract violations can be removed if you explain your side of the story.

Marking Deliveries As Delivered Before They Are Delivered

Until that delivery is in the hands of the customer, it should not be marked as complete. If you do this, you will be banned.

We have seen some people mark deliveries as complete just to avoid the DoorDash app telling them they are late. Trust us. It is much better to be late than mark a delivery as complete before it is.

Manipulating Offers On DoorDash

It is important that you do not take advantage of any bonuses or promotions on DoorDash. This includes any affiliate programs that they may offer.

A lot of the promotions they make for customers will specifically exclude drivers from signing up.

Sadly, we can’t give you much more advice than this. This is because all of the promotions can be different. If you want to use a promotion, then read the terms and conditions. You will know whether the way that you want to act is allowed as per the terms and conditions.

Can You Appeal a DoorDash Ban?

It depends. If you have been banned due to a low rating or a high cancelation rate, then no.

If you have been banned for any other reason, then you have the right to appeal. You will be given details on how to appeal when your account is kicked off of DoorDash. Provide as much information as you can during the appeal to increase the likelihood of your account being reinstated. 

Conclusion

There are many ways to get kicked off DoorDash. As long as you make deliveries on time, don’t abuse your customers, and avoid high cancelation rates, then it is unlikely that you will get banned.

Click here to start delivering for DoorDash

If you run into any issues, remember that the DoorDash customer support team is there to help you.

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For more tips on DoorDash, see this article.