How DoorDash decides an error charge, and what helps
DoorDash decides both sides: whether to charge you when a customer complains, and whether to give it back when you dispute. Here's what its own help page says it looks at.
Before it charges you
DoorDash says it judges a customer's claim on photo evidence, the type of error, possible customer or Dasher fraud, and other things it doesn't list. It asks every customer who reports a problem for photos.
When it does charge you, it's 25% to 100% of the item's price plus tax for an item reported missing, wrong or poor quality, and the whole subtotal plus tax, less commission, when the Dasher took the wrong order.
DoorDash says it usually doesn't charge you for:
- late deliveries, no-shows and cold or melted food, which it calls outside your control;
- problems reported 72 hours or more after delivery;
- reports it finds to be fraud.
What the dispute form takes
Tick boxes for the items and a reason from a list. There's nowhere to write and nowhere to attach a photo. DoorDash says it posts its decision in the Merchant Portal within a few hours.
What helps
DoorDash doesn't publish how it weighs a dispute. Going by what it does publish:
- Start with what it says it doesn't charge for. A late or cold order, or a complaint 72 hours after delivery, goes against its own page.
- Tick only the items you're disputing. The charge is per item, so the dispute is too.
- Pick the reason that says what happened. It's the only words DoorDash gets from you.
- Don't dispute everything at once. A very high volume can switch off your Dispute button, usually for up to 72 hours. Closest deadline first, over a few days.
Source: DoorDash: Error charges and disputes
The 30-second photo habit
DoorDash's form can't take your photo, but Uber Eats says a photo or video is the best way to get a dispute resolved smoothly, and ezCater's dispute form asks for photos of the order or setup. So keep one for every order:
- Check the bag against the ticket and initial the ticket.
- Seal the bag.
- Take one photo with the sealed bag and the ticket in it, order number readable. Frame the order number, not the customer.
Keep them 45 days, which covers every app's window.
Sources: Uber: Refunds for missing or incorrect orders · ezCater: Order issues and disputes
Got an error charge report sitting in your portal? The free check shows which charges may be worth disputing, and the deadline on each.
— Alec