DoorDash Asks Driver's Wife To Complete Order After He Is Rushed to ER

A woman has shared how she was asked to complete her husband's DoorDash order, despite being with him in the emergency room.

DoorDash is a U.S. based online food ordering platform that connects customers and local restaurants. Orders are passed to DoorDash drivers, independent contractors who fulfil orders delivering from restaurants to customers.

When Miranda's husband got into a car accident while working his DoorDash job, she was shocked by the company's reaction.

On April 15, the Texas-based DoorDasher got into a car accident while working and was rushed to the hospital.

"I was at work running my shift when I felt my phone go off," Miranda told Newsweek. "I thought it was my boss calling me but when the store phone rang my coworker handed it to me and saying it's urgent."

On the other end of the phone, Miranda was told that her husband had been in a car accident. He was ok, but their car was completely destroyed.

After arranging cover for her own job, she got a ride to the hospital. "I was so stressed because even though I was told he seemed fine, I had to see for myself to make sure. I cried so much because I was so worried about him. Seeing him on a stretcher just made me break even more," she said.

Thankfully, none of the people involved in the accident were seriously hurt. While the couple were waiting for the doctor, he realized that the DoorDash order was still in progress.

"[He] freaked out," said Miranda. "He tried canceling it but he was all over the place and he didn't know what to do. I tried helping and accidentally called the customer but I let her know anyways what happened. I found a contact support button and it gave me a bot and after clicking the option to cancel, it said I was connected to an agent."

In a screenshot of the conversation, Miranda told the DoorDash support worker that her husband was in the emergency room and she wasn't sure how to cancel the order.

The support worker replied: "Too bad to know about the situation. Will you be able to complete the order?"

"I honestly let out a laugh when I was asked if I could deliver the food, I showed my husband and it cheered him up a bit funnily enough," she said. "Honestly it didn't surprise me but at the same time my husband and I both had a 'are you f****** for real' kind of thought in our head."

A DoorDash spokesperson told Newsweek: "This interaction with our support team falls below the high standards we set for ourselves at DoorDash, especially during a distressing and scary time. We take these matters seriously and are urgently investigating."

DoorDash also told Newsweek that its safety tool SafeDash, powered by ADT, is an in-app toolkit designed to give Dashers extra peace of mind.

SafeDash includes a number of features including a Safety Reassurance Call, where a Dasher can quickly connect to an ADT agent through the app if they feel unsafe. ADT will remain on the line until the person is safe, or escalate to 911 if required.

The system also includes an Emergency Assistance Button. Dashers can easily swipe the button in SafeDash to prompt ADT to call 911 on their behalf.

"We were the first national delivery platform to offer occupational accident insurance to Dashers at no cost to them, and with no opt-in or application required, which can support them if they're injured while providing a delivery on our platform," the DoorDash spokesperson added.

Miranda told Newsweek that she and her husband have still not received any communication from the company.

"Honestly yeah also doesn't surprise me because big companies never care for the millions of little guys they have," she said. "We've got lots of support from family and friends though."

She explained that her husband was left upset about the incident. "Though he doesn't have any physical injuries, he does keep having flashbacks about it," she said. "He didn't expect a response from the company but he was still annoyed they didn't reach out to him after and that we got the response we did when I canceled. I've always had a negative feeling towards big companies and corporations. I say that as someone, along with my husband, have dealt with the exploitations that comes with being a minimum wage worker."

After the incident, Miranda shared the story with the internet on Reddit's r/doordash_drivers forum, and it was later reposted to the popular r/antiwork subreddit.

Here, thousands of people reached out offering sympathy and support. One Redditor said: "Talk about tone deaf." While another wrote: "Sounds like AI support."

Some even shared similar experiences while working with DoorDash. One Redditor said: "I've been in one wreck dashing. I called support, and the guy asked me if I was close enough to walk the order the rest of the way. When I said no, he asked if I would call the customer to see if they would meet me at the intersection where I had the wreck. I hope your husband is okay."

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