Stealing tips is a strong accusation that our current president would certainly tweet that due process is necessary before any conclusions can be made. So let’s do some due processing. Some accuse DoorDash of skimming from our tips. If a customer tips $10, we only get $9. Unfortunately there is no way for us to actually prove it without a Snowden-esque DoorDash employee spilling the company secrets.

The more numerous accusations involve the “New Pay Model,” now over 6 months old. The “Old Pay Model” paid a flat rate of $5 for each delivery plus 100% of tips. The “New Pay Model” pays $1, plus a pay boost based on complexity, plus 100% of the tips. You can read up on the switch here, but in short, the “New Pay Model” increases the pay for smaller orders so that we will accept them. DoorDash can continue to grow their customer base. Constant growth is necessary for most gig apps to remain in business. No one will invest in something that doesn’t show growth.

With the “New Pay Model” the accusations question whether or not the tip is taken into consideration when calculating driver pay. This is not so much theft as it DoorDash subsidizing dasher pay with tips. Theft would be almost impossible to prove, subsidizing dasher pay with tips is not. So let’s see how this all works.