DoorDash Ratings: What They Are and How They Work For Drivers and Customers

DoorDash wants its customers to get what they ordered with the customer service they expect every time they use the service.

Enter DoorDash ratings.

While it can make you feel vulnerable as a driver to receive ratings, these necessary numbers let DoorDash know whether you’re doing your job well.

Plus, DoorDash ratings can help you excel as a driver.

If you’ve received your first rating, it’s time to learn how the system works and how to improve your scores.

What Are DoorDash Ratings?

DoorDash ratings come primarily from customers who use DoorDash for delivery orders.

Customers use ratings to let DoorDash know whether their overall experience with you as their Dasher was good or bad.

DoorDash also considers its customer ratings alongside other ratings, like the on-time, completion, and acceptance rates.

Together, your scores show the company how reliable you are as a Dasher in terms of providing the quality service it expects.

How Do DoorDash Ratings Work?

Once a customer receives their order, they can open the DoorDash delivery app, click on their order, and rate their Dasher from one to five stars based on the overall delivery experience.

One represents the worst service, and five represents the best.

Your Dasher performance relating to how you pick up and complete work is responsible for the other ratings that make up your Dash rating.

The completion rate, acceptance rate, and on-time or early rating combine with your customer rating to determine your overall score.

Each rating only includes your last 100 deliveries.

For example, say your first customer rating was three stars, but all since have been five stars.

You’ve just completed your 101st delivery, so DoorDash removes your three-star rating, bringing your customer rating to five stars.

However, DoorDash averages your total Dash rating based on all four scores, so a lower completion, acceptance, or on-time rating could bring it down.

Who Can See Your DoorDash Ratings?

As a DoorDash driver, only you and DoorDash can see your Dash ratings and customer reviews.

Customers and other drivers cannot see your ratings or feedback.

Although you can’t view specific feedback and ratings by individual customers, you can see a breakdown of your positive and negative ratings in your driver dashboard.

To do this, click on Ratings in your dashboard, where you’ll find your overall rating and customer feedback from each delivery experience.

On Time/Early Rating

The on-time/early rating tells DoorDash whether you typically meet DoorDash customer expectations of on-time deliveries.

What Is It?

The on-time/early rating is one piece of your overall Dasher status.

You’ll receive a rating for each order based on whether you delivered the order within the time DoorDash estimates.

How Does It Work?

You’ll get an on-time/early rating for every order, with the best scores available to Dashers who deliver by or up to five minutes past the expected time.

As a delivery driver for DoorDash, you can view the expected delivery time in your dashboard before accepting an order.

DoorDash considers only the past 100 deliveries to calculate your score, so you can keep bringing your score up as you make more on-time deliveries.

The company considers problems out of your control, such as delays at the restaurant or inclement weather conditions.

How Do You Get a Good Rating?

Excellent time management is the key to a good on-time/early rating.

Do not accept more orders simultaneously than you know you can handle.

Also, get to the restaurant on time and head straight to the customer’s home to drop off their order.

Completion Rate

DoorDash wants to ensure that its delivery drivers complete the orders they accept.

The completion rate gives each Dasher a percentage based on their order completions.

What Is It?

The completion rate shows DoorDash how many orders you’ve completed as a DoorDash driver versus how many you’ve accepted.

This score affects your DoorDash food delivery ratings.

How Does It Work?

DoorDash calculates your completion rate by dividing the number of completed orders by the number of accepted orders.

For example, if you’ve completed 130 orders and accepted 140, you’ll have a 92.8% completion rate.

Like other ratings, the completion rate only comes from your past 100 orders.

How Do You Get a Good Rating?

Strive to complete orders successfully.

However, if an emergency prevents you from completing an order, you can report it to DoorDash as soon as possible to avoid a ding to your rating.

Acceptance Rate

The Dasher program relies on food delivery drivers who want to stay busy completing orders and helping the platform.

Therefore, DoorDash includes an acceptance rate in your overall rating to gain insight into your availability.

What Is It?

The acceptance rate shows how many orders you’ve accepted versus those that DoorDash gives you.

How Does It Work?

When you accept an order through your dashboard, it becomes part of this rating.

However, declining an opportunity can decrease your score.

DoorDash only considers your last 100 deliveries in the calculation.

How Do You Get a Good Rating?

Choose a DoorDash schedule that fits your needs so that you can remain available during your shift to accept orders.

Avoid rejecting orders unless you have a clear reason to do so.

How to Provide Feedback

There may be times when you disagree with customer feedback or another rating about your DoorDash delivery service.

When that happens, you can contact the company to provide feedback and attempt to resolve the issue.

To contact DoorDash via live chat:

1. Visit help.doordash.com.
2. Click on “Dasher Support.”
3. Click on the “Chat with Us” link.
4. Input your information and problem category, and hit the “Start Chatting” button.

To contact DoorDash by phone, call (855) 431-0459.

This number is available 24/7.

How to Maintain a Good DoorDash Rating

Maintaining a high DoorDash rating in each area is crucial for Dashing success.

DoorDash uses these ratings to consider drivers for its Top Dasher program and to determine which Dashers can remain on the platform.

Follow these tips to improve your customer service and ratings as a driver.

Be Friendly

This should go without saying, but friendliness is the key to forming genuine connections with your DoorDash customers.

That’s not to say that you should overdo it, which can come across as fake.

Instead, be your smiling, true self, and treat customers the way you’d like to be treated.

Then, watch your customer ratings soar!

Be On Time

Being on time for deliveries — by DoorDash’s standards, that means not being any more than five minutes late — helps you stay in good standing as a driver.

Each of your last 100 drives counts toward your on-time delivery rate, so consistently being on time will keep your score up.

Better yet, be early.

With only a five-minute grace period for lateness, it’s best to use proper time management to get to each restaurant and customer’s house as early as possible.

Accept More Orders

You might need to skip the occasional order or two if it doesn’t offer the pay rate or reasonable distance you were hoping for.

That’s okay.

However, try to accept as many orders as possible during your shifts to boost your acceptance rating.

Even skipping just one of your last 100 orders results in a 99% rating.

Communicate

If there are any delays or snags with your deliveries, be sure to contact your customers through the app.

You can communicate with them without giving away your personal phone number.

Also, be sure to ask them questions about anything you’re unsure about, such as their delivery instructions.

Clear communication can easily improve your customer rating.

It might also be a good idea to go above and beyond for your customers by sending them a quick message letting them know you’re on your way or hoping they enjoy their meal after delivery.

Follow Delivery Instructions

In the DoorDash food delivery app, customers can specify how they’d like to receive their orders.

For example, a customer might ask you to leave their order on the porch after knocking on the door.

Follow through with those instructions to align with your customer’s wishes.

This simple step can lead to an easy five-star review.

Treat Orders With Care

The last thing a DoorDash customer wants is for their delicious food to be tossed around in its container.

Most restaurants package DoorDash orders specifically to hold up on car rides, but it’s still your responsibility to ensure they get unharmed from point A to point B.

Keep bags away from anything in your car that could poke them.

Also, place them on a seat or on the floor securely to avoid tipping them with turns, stops, and starts.

Some Dashers even have another person help them with orders for this reason.

Double Check Orders

Restaurants shoulder most of the responsibility for an order’s accuracy.

However, you can do your part by double-checking orders.

After picking up an order at a local restaurant, compare the contents of the order with the list of items in your Dasher app.

Some restaurants might seal the bags of food.

In this case, ask a restaurant employee to help you double-check.

What Happens If You Have a Good DoorDash Rating?

As a DoorDash driver with a good rating, you’ll get to remain on the platform and keep providing excellent customer service.

Still, stay on top of your deliveries to continue getting good ratings, which keeps your account in good standing.

Top Dasher Program

The Top Dasher program from DoorDash Inc. gives the best Dashers on the program perks for providing excellent food delivery service to customers.

Top Dashers have high customer ratings, acceptance rates, and completion rates.

How it Works

A DoorDash Dasher can earn Top Dasher status every month.

DoorDash uses the Dasher’s stats from the current month to determine whether they qualify for the following month.

If you qualify, you should see your status change on the 2nd day of the month.

How to Qualify

Dashers in most US cities, including New York and San Francisco, can qualify for DoorDash Top Dasher status.

DoorDash outlines the following criteria for Top Dashers:

• At least 200 lifetime deliveries
• At least 100 completed deliveries during the qualifying month
• Customer rating 4.7 or higher
• Minimum 70% acceptance rate
• Minimum 95% completion rate

What You Get

DoorDash’s Top Dasher program is still relatively new, so expect more perks to make their way to the system over time.

Currently, Top Dashers can access a Dash Now button in the app dashboard.

This feature lets you deliver when you want without scheduling blocks of time like you normally would.

The newest perk for Top Dashers is priority access to high-value orders, which are orders over $30.

These orders typically pay more in customer tips, so grabbing these quickly could result in better pay for qualified Dashers.

What Happens if You Have a Bad DoorDash Rating?

Having a bad DoorDash rating can mean you no longer get to work as a DoorDash driver.

Here’s what to know:

Minimum Rating

DoorDash sets minimum Dasher requirements for its customer rating (4.2) and completion rate (80%).

If you fall below either of those scores, you could get deactivated from the platform.

An acceptance rate has no minimum, but DoorDash encourages its drivers to be reliable with accepting orders to keep the system running smoothly.

There’s also no on-time/early rating minimum, but the company will deactivate a DoorDash driver if they have excessive late deliveries.

Deactivation

Deactivation from DoorDash means that you can no longer deliver orders via the platform.

The company only considers your ratings once you’ve reached 20 orders.

If, after completing 20 orders, you have a lower than 80% completion rate or less than 4.2 in customer ratings, DoorDash may deactivate your account.

The DoorDash Deactivation Policy also states that a DoorDash driver can be immediately deactivated if they are found participating in unsafe practices.

Examples include unsafe driving, failure to pass a background check, or harassment.

DoorDash Rating FAQs

Read through the answers to these frequently asked questions to learn more about DoorDash Dasher ratings.

What to Know About DoorDash Ratings

DoorDash ratings are essential to your success as a DoorDash Dasher.

While one DoorDash review from a customer won’t make or break your reputation as a delivery driver, a few of them could put you on the deactivation list.

Make customers happy by staying in contact with them, showing up on time, and delivering their orders with care.

Make DoorDash happy by accepting orders, arriving early, and proving that customer service is your priority.

Want to deliver more to keep boosting your score?

Learn how to get more DoorDash orders.