A DoorDasher robbed a woman he was delivering groceries to, and the company could not be less helpful

A customer who ordered groceries through a popular delivery service was allegedly scammed by her driver, who demanded cash payment for an order she had already paid for digitally. This strange encounter serves as a serious warning about how DoorDash drivers are acting in malice.

Michaela Burton, a resident of North Carolina,shared her story on TikTok after regretting her decision to use the app for a grocery run. She says things immediately felt off when the Dasher arrived at her apartment complex. Instead of bringing the groceries to her door, the driver stayed in his car and messaged her to “Come outside,” even sending his actual personal phone number. Burton immediately felt this was unusual. She notes she has never been asked to meet a delivery person outside when ordering to her home.

She refused to go down, so the Dasher eventually came up, but she speculates he intentionally positioned himself so her video doorbell couldn’t capture his face, according to BroBible. When she finally opened the door, the driver launched into a bizarre explanation, and this doesn’t have a fun ending like many DoorDash stories.

If you already paid, it’s up to the app, not you

“He immediately was like, ‘Hey, so the DoorDash app wasn’t working when I was checking out for your groceries, so I had to pay for them all in cash,’” Burton recalls. This is a massive red flag, especially since delivery apps are designed to be completely streamlined and cashless for the customer. Burton was understandably confused because she could clearly see the full charge had already gone through on her credit card.

She pressed the driver for proof, asking for a bank statement or a receipt, but he claimed he couldn’t provide one because he paid in cash. After arguing for a bit, the driver insisted he had tried and failed to resolve the issue with company support. Burton ultimately decided to send the man the approximate cost of the groceries via Apple Pay, and he promptly left.

It doesn’t seem like DoorDash is going to pay her back either. It’s awful that she had to pay for her groceries twice, essentially robbing her of the money. When she realized she had been scammed, she tried to contact the company to get her money back, but she was unable to do so.

This lack of available support after a verified incident is a huge problem. You would think that for a service that relies so heavily on trust, the company would make it easier to report and reverse fraudulent charges.

This situation reveals a critical misunderstanding of how the delivery system is supposed to work. If a Dasher is doing a “shop and deliver” order, they are required to use the company’s “Red Card” to pay for the items. If that card declines for any reason, the driver is instructed to follow a series of steps outlined on the company’s website. Crucially, none of these steps involve asking the customer to pay the driver directly.

In fact, if the Red Card fails, support will sometimes ask the driver to pay out of their own pocket, but the company is supposed to reimburse the driver, not the customer. If you ever find yourself in this situation, you should immediately refuse to pay the Dasher and tell them to resolve the issue directly with company support. If they get insistent, you should still refuse, then report the driver immediately.

Burton concluded that she learned a tough lesson: she will never open the door for a Dasher again if something seems wrong. If there is a problem, the company and the driver should solve it through their official support channels, not by demanding cash from the customer.