An Idaho man puts in a DoorDash order and waits for it to get delivered. Eventually, he notices the driver is parked in a movie theater parking lot for two hours. What happens?
TikTok creator Joseph (@josephbolin8) posted a video about the experience on April 5. It has more than 1 million views.
“I placed a DoorDash order almost two hours ago,” he says to start the video. “Don’t DoorDash a whole lot. Very, very rarely. I placed the order. Order went through. Payment went through. The driver went and picked up my order pretty quickly.”
What Happened After His DoorDash Order Was Picked Up?
Joseph continues, “Well, for the last hour and a half plus, he’s been sitting in a parking lot not moving. Which is fine; I know they clump together these orders. But where my beef is is with DoorDash itself.”
That’s because Joseph says he reached out to Customer Support and chatted with the company’s AI chatbot, but he was denied a refund by both the chatbot and a real representative. “They keep saying we can’t issue you a refund because we want to be able to pay the restaurant; we want to be able to pay the DoorDash driver,” he says.
But that means Joseph is expected to take just $10 in credits despite spending $25 on the meal. “For an overpriced meal. At 11 o’clock at night. And they’re [expletive] me out of $25. I am that petty,” he says.
What Does the Idaho DoorDash Customer End Up Doing?
At this point in the story, viewers learn why Joseph is filming the video from inside his vehicle. “Luckily for me, this movie theater parking lot that this DoorDash driver is parked at and has been for almost two hours is pretty dang close to me,” he says. “So, I am going to go see, you know, where the [expletive] my food is. I’m not paying $25 and not getting at least a little entertainment out of it.”
He continues, “This is absolutely ridiculous, DoorDash. Just because they’ve already picked up an order doesn’t mean your drivers can just sit somewhere and be hanging out for almost two hours, and I’m still left paying the DoorDash fee.”
The video then cuts to Joseph on the road with the Dasher’s vehicle in front of him. Apparently, the driver finally started moving again, so Joseph decided to follow him.
“I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but also … he has my food,” he says. “What is he doing in a parking lot for that long amount of time while my food is just in his car? So we’re just going to follow him home, see how it goes. You see his little map.”
Where Did the DoorDash Driver Lead Joseph?
To Joseph’s surprise, the driver leads him back to his own subdivision and directly to his home. He waits in his car as the driver finally makes the delivery, which consists of a single white paper bag and a fountain drink that is presumably flat.
“Maybe I’m being petty; maybe I’m being childish,” Joseph says. “But there’s nothing that [expletives] me off more than working 50 to 60-plus hours a week, making a living for myself and my family, and spending that money on DoorDash to deliver myself dinner late at night … and in return you get terrible customer service, you get your food two hours later, and the only response you get from a chatbot and eventually a representative is, ‘Oh, sorry, here’s $10 and use it on your next purchase because there’s nothing we can do about it.’”
He concludes, “I hate that in today’s world, customer service is trash. Everyone wants a 50% tip. No one says hello when you go to order something or talk to anyone. So don’t ever order from DoorDash. They suck.”
Viewers React to the Man’s DoorDash Rant
In the comments section of the video, viewers reacted to how the story played out.
“I’m kinda upset you didn’t confront him, not gonna lie,” one viewer said.
Joseph replied, “Everyone is. I was [expletive], but by the end of it I figured me confronting him and calling him [a name] wasn’t going to change anything.”
A second person said, “DoorDash needs a max wait. If the wait is too long then drivers should be penalized.”
Someone else stated, “You just have to tell DoorDash that the food is inedible due to violation of food safety standards. The food was kept at room temperature for too long and would be unsafe to eat. Threaten to report it to the health department or whoever you report that violation to. They’ll give you your money back.”
Another person guessed, “Bro really picked up your order and then went to watch a movie. SMH.”
How to Get a Refund From DoorDash in This Situation
DoorDash offers instructions for reporting late orders through the app. In some cases, behavior like this from a driver can result in a contract violation and eventual banning.
According to Road Warrior, the company decides whether to refund orders based on the specific circumstances of each order. Sometimes, the company’s support asks for more information; other times, it offers credits; and other times, refunds are denied.
This policy isn’t necessarily popular among DoorDash customers. One frequent flyer posted to Reddit complaining about being given credits instead of refunds for late orders and (what they view as) inedible food a year ago.
One person said, “Maybe stop ordering. I really can’t feel bad for someone saying a service is unequivocally [bad] yet is a frequent customer.” Others echoed the sentiment.
In an email statement to AllHipHop, a DoorDash representative wrote, “This Dasher’s conduct was unacceptable and his account was deactivated. We fully refunded the customer’s order.”
AllHipHop contacted Joseph via TikTok comment and direct message for comment. We will update this story if he responds.
@josephbolin8 @DoorDash, is this a normal transaction? #fyp #tiktok #viral ♬ original sound – Joseph B