Dasher Diary: My Brush With a Contract Violation in Amarillo

Being a DoorDash delivery person in Amarillo for just about two years, there are certain things that are expected of you. The order needs to be picked up and then dropped off at a set location. Doesn't seem too tough.

Yes, there are weird things that can happen to cause issues. The restaurant can have all kinds of issues. The customer can make things difficult by not responding to messages or giving incorrect drop-off information.

Still, DoorDash can issue a contract violation if they believe something went wrong—like being late, delivering the wrong item, or not completing a delivery. Too many violations and you risk losing your account and income.

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How DoorDash Contract Violations Work

In the two years I have been delivering in Amarillo, I have only received a couple of violations. The first one got cancelled after I disputed the claim. The second one happened over the weekend. Again, I have disputed the violation. I am pretty sure it will be taken off of my account soon.

According to DoorDash, you can get a violation for the following: delivering the wrong order, being late, or not delivering an order. Seems pretty simple: deliver the correct food to the correct person in a timely manner. Got it.

Except that didn't happen over the weekend, according to DoorDash. Apparently I picked up the food late. OK. I went to Jason's Deli to pick up the order, and there was some confusion on the restaurant's part. I marked that the food was not ready.

I waited for the employees to get the order. They were waiting for the kitchen. The order I needed was nothing the kitchen had to make. It was a couple of soups and a dessert. So when they figured that out, and mind you, these were employees I had never seen before. They were pretty new.

When they figured everything out, they apologized for the delay, and I was on my way. The customer didn't even seem like the order was really all that late. They were happy when I dropped the food off, so to get on DoorDash to see the next day that I received a contract violation did surprise me.

How the Dispute Process Works

I disputed it and let them know that I can not control how fast the restaurant gets me the food. I am not back there making the order. I also let them know that the staff was new. It will be resolved, and they will take the violation away after the waiting period.

Until then, I just have to see the glaring "1" next to contract violation every time I open up the app.