DoorDash Review: The Pros and Cons, and What to do When You Want to Grab a Bite Without Stepping Out of Your Home


Nowadays, people are keen on looking for quality service and convenience for their day-to-day activities. With the recent happenings around the globe, like the pandemic breakout, people have resorted to delivery services for their essential goods and needs in order to have more time for other important matters and avoid going out and risking their health and safety. That is why door-to-door delivery services have suddenly become popular these days because they offer these kinds of services which the people seek.

What is DoorDash?

DoorDash is a food delivery platform that is based in San Francisco, California and is currently expanding its services throughout the United States and some parts of Canada and Australia. The company offers food delivery services and has partnered with local restaurants and fast-food chains to deliver quality food service to people at the comfort of their homes or wherever they may be. At present, it is also one of the major food delivery platforms in the United States.

How does DoorDash work?

DoorDash partners with local restaurants and food chains that offer takeaway food items and let their delivery drivers or “dashers'' take these orders and deliver them to their clients. These dashers are the ones that take your orders, go to the store you want your orders taken from, and then order the food and deliver it straight to where you are or where you want it to be delivered. In order to use this platform, you must first have the DoorDash app on your mobile phone. You can download it on Google Play Store if you are an Android user or in the App Store for iOS users. Once you have downloaded the app, you need to register and create an account in order to fully access the platform’s services.

How am I supposed to use DoorDash?
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First, you have to download the app onto your smart phones and then create an account. You can create an account by linking your Facebook account or your Google account, or by manually entering your email address.
Here is a short step-by-step instruction on how you can create your DoorDash account.
  1. ​Open the DoorDash app.
  2. Once the app is opened, tap on the tab that says Sign Up.
  3. On the Sign Up page, you will be asked to enter basic information details like your name, email address, current address, phone number, and your desired password. Enter all the required details, and then tap on Sign Up.
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Once you have successfully created your account, you can now start ordering on the app. Ordering on DoorDash is very simple! Here are step-by-step instructions on how you can order using the DoorDash app.
  1. Open the DoorDash app. 
  2. Once the app is opened tap on the option that says Deliver to at the upper part of the screen, and then enter your location or where you want your order to be delivered.
  3. Once you have entered the delivery location, you will see two options that say Hand it to me and Leave it at my door. Select your preferred delivery option from the given choices, and then tap on Save. You may also leave additional instructions for your Dasher when your order is about to be delivered.
  4. Once you have selected your delivery option, you will see on the screen a variety of restaurants or food chains DoorDash is partnered with and the delivery time it will take to have your orders. Select your option by tapping on the restaurant or food chain of your choice.
  5. You can filter your choices like the delivery time it would take, clients ratings, or the type of food you want to buy by tapping on the different categories on the upper part of the screen.
  6. Select the food you want to order. Once you have selected your order, tap on Add to Cart.
  7. Once you tap on Add to Cart, tap on the tab at the bottom part of the screen that says View Cart to see your order transaction. If everything looks good, tap on Continue. If you want to have an additional order, tap on the tab that says Add more items.
  8. Once you tap on Continue, you will see your delivery details on the screen. Review your delivery details and select the tip amount you want to give your Dasher. 
  9. At the bottom part of the screen, select your preferred payment method. Once you have chosen a payment method, tap on Place Order.
  10. Once you tap on Place Order, it means that your order is already in process. You can monitor your order at your screen by looking at the icons on your screen. There are four icons: DoorDash icon, Restaurant icon,  Driver icon, and Home icon. If your DoorDash icon has been highlighted, it means that your order is already received by DoorDash and is already being processed. Once the Restaurant icon is highlighted, it means that your order is already being prepared. The Driver icon represents your Dasher, and the Home icon being highlighted means that the order is already in transit to your home.
  11. Once you have your order, rate the quality of service you have for your service by rating the restaurant and the
    Dasher.

​DoorDash Pros and Cons
PROS
CONS
Convenience
Food quality may not meet up to your expectations
Various food places to choose from
Waiting time
Reduced health risk
​Messed up orders
More extra time
Additional costs
Easy to navigate mobile app
Variety of food items to choose from

PROS
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  • Convenience – This is the main thing DoorDash offers its users. Convenience. You can order food without ever going out of your homes, giving you more time for yourself and other more important activities.
  •  Various food places to choose from – Since DoorDash is in partnership with multiple local restaurants and other food places, you can then also order food from these varieties of food places at the same time. You will not be limited to a single place for your orders. If you are craving different foods from different food places, you can do so at the same time.
  • Reduced health risk – We are living at a time in the midst of a pandemic. Everyone is advised to stay indoors and avoid public places as much as possible to reduce the risk of catching the virus. So, having your food delivered straight to you rather than going out just to buy food reduces the risk of you being sick and the people around you as well.
  • More extra time – When you order food and have it delivered to you rather than going out and buying food yourself, it means more extra time. The time and effort you will spend on going out for your order can be used for other more important activities or more time to rest if you feel tired or some other things you want to do.
  • Easy to navigate mobile app -  Using the DoorDash app on your phone is not complicated as you would think it is. The platform offers its users an easy-to-navigate interface in its mobile app to not have a hard time placing their orders.
  • Variety of food items to choose from – One great thing about these kinds of platforms is that you can select a variety of food items you want at the same time. Unlike when you go to a particular food place, and your orders are limited to what that place has to offer, using this kind of platform allows you to order food at different places simultaneously.

​CONS

  • Food quality may not meet up to your expectations – One major reminder when you order your food via food delivery is to limit your expectations. For example, you might find out that the food you have ordered may have issues like it is not already warm enough or not cold enough, or other minor problems. Also, take note that your order follows a longer process to be prepared compared to when you eat at an actual restaurant where freshly prepared food is directly served to your table. So, you should consider these instances when you order your food via delivery service rather than going and dining at an actual food place yourself.
  • Waiting time – Since you ordered your food online, expect that you will have to wait a certain time frame for your order to be delivered. The arrival of your order may depend on the availability of the Dasher or the restaurant you ordered your food from. 
  • Messed up orders – This is one of the things you need to expect when you order your food online. Although this does not happen all the time, there will be some rare instances where your delivery might have some issues like orders are like not the one you ordered, or it might have been mixed up by another person’s order. This might happen due to some reasons like the Dasher assigned to you might be new on this kind of job or miscommunications.
  • Additional costs – Of course, you should expect to always pay for additional costs like service fees and delivery fees if you use online servicing platforms. If you use DoorDash, the delivery may range from as low as $1.99 up to $5.99 for each transaction. However, this may also depend on the restaurant you have ordered from. Thus, there is really no fixed delivery fee for every DoorDash order transaction. But then it is worth the price for the convenience it offers. 

Dine at home or dine outside?
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If only we live at a much more relaxed and leisurely time, dining out might be such a good idea. Who would not want to have fun, go out and eat and spend some quality time with family, friends, loved ones, or colleagues from time to time? It can be a sort of breather after a long exhausting day at work or a change of view from your daily routine. Or if you are feeling lazy to prepare your food yourself, going out to eat might just be the best answer for you. It will save you the effort of preparing and cooking your meals and washing the dishes afterward. 
However, there was a sudden plot twist. We entered into a time where a pandemic is ravaging the world. Because of this, the occasional celebrations have been cut off and we are forced to stay at our homes with minimal to no physical contact with people outside of our homes. Restaurants and other food places are not allowed to take in dine-in guests because going to public places have been temporarily banned. And we now have to prepare our food ourselves whether we like it or not, even if we are busy unless we choose to go on a diet or starve ourselves. So, having this sort of delivery service offers us some kind of connection to the life we once had before the pandemic started. Even though we temporarily cannot enjoy going out to dine like we used to do, at least we can still enjoy the foods we like to buy outside by ordering it through this kind of platform. Also, most people are now working from home, and most classes as well are done at home. So, to be working or attending classes and studying the whole day and still have to worry about what you are going to eat for your next meal can be quite stressful. That is why, ordering food instead and having it delivered straight to wherever you are rather than preparing it yourself saves you extra time for yourself or other activities and less stress thinking about it. Not to mention also how it reduces your risk of catching the virus by not going to crowded places where you have no control over whoever comes and go. It also protects you, your family, or other people around you by having less physical contact from people outside your home.


DoorDash: Is it worth it?

If you are looking for convenience, definitely Yes! Although there might be some expectations you may not meet when you have your food delivered to you compared to if you go and eat at an actual food place, those are only minor issues and are part of what you should expect for food deliveries. If you are feeling hungry yet at the same time, you are also feeling too tired or not in the mood to go out, or maybe you are too busy to buy food most especially during these times when most people
are working from home due to the pandemic, then having food delivered straight to your doorstep is definitely a big help. It will save you some extra time to rest or other activities, and it will also save you less stress from thinking about preparing meals and cleaning up afterward. Sure, you have some additional fees to pay, but it can be much cheaper than having to go to the restaurant and pay for transportation fare or car fuel, most especially if you are the type of person who would rather often eat outside than at home because maybe you don’t have time to prepare and cook for your meals or you are not good at that kind of stuff. It will also save you more time and effort in buying your food. You just have to make a few taps on your phone and then wait for your food to arrive. Not only that, since going to public places these times pose a certain kind of health risk due to the pandemic, having your food delivered to your doorstep instead reduces this kind of risk for you and the people around you. You won’t have to worry about being in contact with people you are not familiar with catching the virus because all you have to do is wait for your orders to be delivered right at your doorstep.  Also, you can think that by ordering food through this kind of platform, you are not only offering yourself convenience, but you are also helping another person as well, particularly the Dasher. You are giving these people additional income by giving them tips from each transaction you have with them. It is like a win-win situation for both of you and your Dasher. It’s true that this platform may have its setbacks because, as the saying goes, “nothing is perfect.” Like all platforms, it will always have its flaws, and it will not be as perfect as you would expect it to be. But still, the convenience and the service it offers to its clients outweigh all these setbacks. So, if you are looking for a platform that offers you convenience and practicability when it comes to your food or daily food preparations, DoorDash is definitely a platform highly recommended to be worth trying for.

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