Dasher Diary: An Amarillo DoorDash Driver Speaks Out After Being Accused of Stealing

One of the things about being a delivery driver in Amarillo is that problems can come up. Sometimes they can be your fault. Maybe you spill a drink. A food item may tip over while driving. You could end up having an issue finding the location where you are supposed to deliver the food.

Then there are things that are out of your control. You could arrive at the restaurant super early, but the restaurant is super busy and the wait time is super long. That is nothing that you can control.

Factors Out of a Driver's Control: Traffic and Construction

You could encounter construction or an accident on the roads, which can delay your arrival. The construction is a given in Amarillo. The accidents sometimes seem to happen at the worst time. Not that there is ever a good time, but they seem to happen and block traffic when you need to be somewhere.

Read More: The One Detail Amarillo Dashers Need for Faster Delivery

The Sealed Bag Policy: Why Dashers Can't Check Your Order

Another thing you can't control is if the restaurant messes up an order. It happens. DoorDash wants us to make sure everything is included. They also refuse to let us open the bag. We could ask the restaurant if everything is included. Their answer is always yes.

That is, until we drop off and receive a message from the customer that something is missing. There really is no way for us to know. We can't break the seal of the bag. We have to just trust that the restaurant packed everything up.

Recently, I had a customer not receive an item. The way that he messaged me had me scratching my head, really. Usually, if something is missing, I will just receive the message letting me know. I will instruct them to reach out to DoorDash. That is all we can do.

The 'Chip Theft' Accusation: A Frustrating Encounter

After that, DoorDash will either refund your money or have another delivery driver go and pick up the missing item and deliver. The recently missing item was chips. That seems to happen a lot. Instead of letting me know an item was missing, this customer went the extra mile.

He accused me of stealing his chips. My first thought was: if I were going to be a thief, I'd take the whole burrito, not just the side of chips!  Of course, I didn't. I also didn't appreciate being accused. Mistakes happen. The restaurant forgot. I had no way of knowing.

Maybe the customer didn't realize they put the chips in the bag with the food. I would have had to open the bag to steal them. Perhaps he thought the chips were separate, and I took those. I wasn't sure. All I knew was that I was already in line for my own dinner when the message popped up, and I made sure to let him know I had moved on

He did apologize, and I get it; it is frustrating when this happens. Just don't automatically believe every delivery driver is bad. Most of us wouldn't do that.