DoorDash Acceptance Rate: 3 Reasons Why Yes! It Matters | Ridester.com (2023)

DoorDash has statistics on its drivers based on customer satisfaction, just as Uber Eats, a Lyft driver, Postmates, and other delivery and food delivery services do.

These depend on whether deliveries are on time along with the acceptance rate of the driver.

As a new DoorDash driver, you may be wondering if your acceptance rate matters.

What is Your DoorDash Acceptance Rate?

Your DoorDash acceptance rate is based on the percentage of deliveries that you have accepted out of the most recent 100.

Accepting more deliveries that come through for you will raise your acceptance rate.

Your average acceptance rate will vary because it is a rolling average.

The oldest delivery opportunity disappears after the most recent record.

If you passed on several orders early on, you need to boost your acceptance rate to roll those earlier ratings out of the way.

It may take some time to see your acceptance rate go up since the older ones will roll off first.

The acceptance rate is out of 100 so be patient; the rate will bump up the more deliveries you accept.

If you had a low acceptance rate last month, you can work at making it stellar this month.

What is a Good DoorDash Acceptance Rate?

According to DoorDash, there is no acceptance rate that you need to have to remain an active dash driver.

DoorDash may remove customer ratings from a driver’s profile that fall below five stars in certain situations.

They will take into account the following when determining if a review stays on your customer rating:

• If the wait time at the restaurant is more than 10 minutes
• Complaints about incorrect or missing items since this is the responsibility of the restaurants to add to the bag before they seal it
• If dasher’s remove themselves from the delivery, causing it to be more than 15 minutes late before you accept the order
• When the delivery is late due to extreme weather
• When it is a batched order of 3 or more that causes the delivery to be late
• System-wide outages
• Challenging delivery situations

The removal of these lower ratings will come off your account, so there is no need to check up on it.

Your DoorDash ratings depend on feedback that the company deems fair. A customer that uses food delivery apps wants a good dining experience.

What is Considered a Bad DoorDash Acceptance Rate?

There is not a minimum acceptance rate requirement for a DoorDash delivery person.

Declining deliveries regularly will put your fellow dashers in a bind.

The driver taking your order will not have as long to make the delivery that you passed on.

What’s worse than other dasher’s having to rush delivery or take it to the customer late is the chance that the food may be cold or melted.

Drivers may face a DoorDash deactivationif they get poor ratings consistently, are often late, or tend to cancel orders.

What can cause the deactivation of an account is if the driver’s completion rate drops below 80% or 4.2.

Accept orders that you are sure you can fulfill.

Completing orders ensures your completion rate does not dip below acceptable levels.

Does DoorDash Acceptance Rate Matter for Drivers?

Like any job, you want to offer good service and maintain a high accepted order rate to gain the full benefits and DoorDash is no exception.

What matters to DoorDash and what matters to drivers may be two completely different things.

According to DoorDash

The Acceptance Rate is known as the percentage of deliveries a driver has accepted out of the latest opportunities to deliver food.

If you have a low acceptance rate, you can raise the rate by accepting the deliveries that are offered to you.

The acceptance rate policy will affect your ability to become a DoorDash Top Dasher, but it will not affect the number of deliveries you are offered.

Visit the DoorDash platform to see your current rating and how to bring it up.

The best dashers maintain a high acceptance rate and have good stats.

Top Dashers will have access to peak pay with exclusive delivery zones, letting them serve more DoorDash customers.

This can lead to larger tipping bonuses that will help offset their expenses.

According to the Drivers

The acceptance rate is viewed differently by some drivers.

Some dashers will argue that it does not affect them at all.

DoorDash will not let a driver go because they don’t complete a minimum amount of orders.

The driver can accept as many orders as they like, or they have the opportunity to decline them.

Some drivers point out that DoorDash has said a low acceptance rate will lead to suspicion of fraud.

This suspicion may result in the deactivation of the driver’s account.

Are Drivers Penalized for Having a Low DoorDash Acceptance Rate?

Driver’s are not penalized for having a low DoorDash acceptance rate, but they will miss out on extra income.

A driver will not get fewer requests if they have a low acceptance rate.

Not completing the orders you accept is the only way to be in danger of account deactivation.

How Acceptance Rate Impacts Top Dasher Status

One of the incentives for drivers from DoorDash is the Top Dasher Program.

To become a top dasher, you will want to keep an eye on your acceptance rate.

The lowest acceptance rate for DoorDash is 70% if you want to become a top dasher.

Accepting 70% of your delivery requests or more will help you become eligible for the Top Dasher program.

More Dasher Requirements

• Customer rating of 4.7 stars minimum
• Completing 200 deliveries since the beginning of your DoorDash career
• Finishing 100 jobs minimum during the month prior
• The completion rate must be a minimum of 95%

What do you do as a top dasher?

You will access the “Dash Now” feature and be able to complete deliveries in all zones.

Having access to this feature means you do not need to schedule yourself, including deliveries in the grey zone (not busy).

Priority access to orders of higher values goes to Top Dashers.

A higher value means higher tips. If deliveries are few and far between, the Top Dasher will get the first pick of the orders, which will bring in more deliveries per hour.

The priority orders are tempting, as is the number of orders.

But it means that you need to maintain an acceptance rate of at least 70%.

Tips for Increasing DoorDash Acceptance Rate

There are several ways you can increase your DoorDash acceptance rate and they are a lot easier than you might think.

1. Take on More Orders

Your rating will not go up if you do not take more orders.

Since the rating is on a rolling average, with the oldest rating disappearing first, you need to accept more orders to roll the old ones out.

You can erase a rating of 3 stars or fewer once you get past the initial 100 ratings.

Over time your acceptance rate will rise.

2. Communicate With the Customer

No one likes to be in the dark.

A good dasher will let the customer know when an order is running late.

Traffic, accidents or a busy restaurant is not your fault.

Let the customer know their food will be there ASAP and they will thank you for it.

Customers are more likely to rate high if their courier gives them updates on their order.

Even saying a simple ‘thank you’ after drop-off can make a difference.

Fewer things are worse than being hungry and not knowing when your order will arrive, especially if the original delivery time has lapsed.

Reassuring yourself that it is okay to make mistakes sometimes as long as you communicate properly will lead you to accepting more orders.

3. Have Reliable Wi-Fi or Access to Wi-Fi

Not everyone has a data plan; if that sounds like you, you need to make sure you park close to a reliable Wi-Fi location.

Parking near a mall or coffee shop to ensure you can seek orders.

4. Keep Your Phone Charged

The lifeline of a DoorDash delivery driver is the device they use to accept orders.

Make sure to charge your phone so that you do not miss out on an opportunity to make a delivery.

Having a charged phone will also make it possible for you to have contact with the customer or restaurant if things are running behind.

Frequently Asked Questions

To help you keep up your rating system working in your favor and reaching top dasher requirements, here are some frequently asked questions:

Is it bad to not accept DoorDash orders?

If you do not accept DoorDash orders, you will miss out on extra income.

Many drivers make their living solely on being a DoorDash driver because it works into their schedule.

If you want to make more money, accepting orders more often will add to your driver pay.

How do you increase your acceptance rate on DoorDash?

You can increase your DoorDash acceptance rate by taking on more orders.

The more orders you take on the quicker the orders you declined will be eliminated.

Make sure you download the DoorDash driver app to access orders more efficiently.

The Bottom Line

A high DoorDash Acceptance Rating may not affect your delivery opportunities.

But it is crucial to keep the number 70% if you want to be a Top Dasher and reap the rewards of having exclusive dibs on higher-cost orders.

To be a successful driver and make a good living, you need to complete the orders you take, be on time, and have a smile that goes a long way.

There are opportunities and money to be made as a DoorDash driver if you make an effort and unload your best customer service skills to get a high rating in customer service.