The Challenges Of Delivering Food In The Georgia Street Construct

In the time that I have been delivering food and other items in Amarillo, the one thing I can say is that I have been pretty consistent. I get out and get the food that other people don't have time or the care to go pick up. I deliver it so you can continue to work or enjoy time with family.

I enjoy it for the most part, but sometimes getting through to this company that doesn't necessarily care about us is frustrating. I can count on one finger the number of contract violations I have received.

That warning on your record is designed to scare you into compliance, keeping the threat of deactivation hanging over your head. Usually, when it happens, you dispute it, and they either accept your dispute or it falls off your record after you complete another one hundred deliveries with no issues.

The Georgia Street "Orange Cone" Reality

I opened up my app the other night to get a message that I have a contract violation, and I now have to dispute it. This blemish on my record got my blood boiling for no other reason than the fact that the issue was out of my control.

I was being dinged because a double order I had recently placed was significantly late. In the long run, one order was late to the customer by four minutes, and the other one was two minutes late. Not really that big of a deal. Apparently, they also ding you if you are late picking up from the restaurants.

I admit I was late. I was late to Sharkey's by nine minutes and Church's Chicken by seven minutes, but I made it up and got delivered to the customer in a pretty dang good time. What was the problem?

Why Local Dashers Need a Little More Grace

Both pickup locations were smack dab in the middle of some of the most frustrating construction happening on Georgia Street. Both restaurants were surrounded by orange cones and two-lane traffic.

For the most part, I try to detour my route and get to the locations avoiding the construction, but a lot of people were using my method and trying to get out of these parking lots with the cones, and traffic was just crazy. There was simply no way to navigate through it.

The number of people placing orders and letting us deal with the construction has gone up significantly since Georgia Street has been under the knife. I don't blame the customers for not wanting to deal with this headache at all. I actually applaud them for keeping their sanity.

When Automation Hits the Real World

The problem is with DoorDash. There is no logical reason for them to penalize the drivers who are making the customers' lives so much easier. There is no reason your company should be handing out contract violations in a situation like this.

Every map in the app tries to give us alternate routes to avoid the mess. They are not always easy to take the route, so they are aware that it is a nightmare. I did dispute the violation for what it is worth.

I’m betting I’ll clear those one hundred deliveries to wipe the slate clean before I even get a response from support. I just knew this was one of those things that ultimately ticked me off. I’m genuinely relieved to be able to vent about this. It’s time for DoorDash to come to its senses.