DoorDash Customer Fees Go Up Thanks To Dumb Regulations

GURPS · Mar 31, 2021

Authorities seem to believe that delivery services can and will simply accept making less money so that restaurants can make more. DoorDash is showing them that this isn't the case:

To recoup what it considers lost revenue, DoorDash has tacked on another flat surcharge of $1 to $2.50, which it often calls a "Regulatory Response Fee." The money goes straight to DoorDash. Only when customers click a tiny button does an explanation pop up saying the city has "temporarily capped the fees that we may charge local restaurants."
NBC News found that DoorDash added supplemental local fees in 57 of the 68 locations that have fee caps.

So, the lost revenue is now being recouped from delivery food consumers—which means higher prices for those who order food. Consumers, in turn, may make up for this by ordering delivery food less often or making smaller or less pricey orders when they do.

NBC News cites restaurant complaints about the new DoorDash fees added to customer food orders and how they make ordering delivery unattractive to consumers. But what did they expect? DoorDash is a business in its own right, not a magical lifeline to help restaurants make more money. (And it's not exactly swimming in dough either: "In the second quarter of 2020, DoorDash made its first profit ever, just $32 million," NBC News reports, and "the company remains billions of dollars in debt," having "lost a combined $355 million in the third and fourth quarters of 2020.")