DoorDash tests warning non-tippers that their order could be slow to arrive

Shame on the non-tippers. As Americans tip customer service workers less and less, per a Bankrate survey, DoorDash is testing a new feature that aims to convince customers to tip their drivers before their order arrives.

When a customer orders from a restaurant on DoorDash yet inserts $0 in the tip amount, a pop-up will appear that suggests they add a tip to get their order accepted and delivered faster. If a user still doesn’t leave a tip, the food delivery app will prompt them a second time with a warning that says, “Dashers can pick and choose which orders they want to do,” implying that it’s likely their order may be rejected.

“As independent contractors, Dashers have full freedom to accept or reject offers based on what they view as valuable and rewarding,” company spokesperson Jenn Rosenberg wrote in a provided statement to TechCrunch. “While the vast majority of customers do leave a tip, offers that don’t include a tip can be seen as less desirable.”

Pre-tipping is a strange concept if you think about it. No one in the U.S. would tip a server as soon as they enter a restaurant. However, having a meal brought to your doorstep deserves gratuity regardless of whether the food is high-quality or not. And it makes sense that drivers would be more motivated to quickly fulfill a delivery if they knew they were being tipped ahead of time. (Some customers opt to give a cash tip, but it’s not guaranteed.)

DoorDash has been piloting the tip reminder screen for a few months to randomly selected customers across the United States and Canada. The company will roll out the feature more broadly once it has proven successful. According to an official blog post, there has been a “meaningful decrease in no-tip orders,” yet DoorDash declined to provide a percentage.

“It’s not location specific, meaning one customer might see the warning in their city and another may not… As with anything we pilot, we look forward to closely analyzing the results and feedback,” Rosenberg told us.

The company also wrote that the test will not affect “DoorDash’s commitment to quality or how orders are fulfilled,” and customers will always have the option not to tip.