If you order with DoorDash regularly, at some point, you’ll run into the dreaded DoorDash missing items situation. This is when you place an order, have it delivered to you, then find that something is missing from your order. Sometimes, it might be a small thing – maybe a drink is missing. Other times, it could be a major item – an entire entree, for example.
When this happens and you find yourself missing items from your order, you can report it to DoorDash and get a refund or credit for the missing items. (see also, No One is Picking Up My DoorDash Order – Why This Happens And What You Can Do).
In this post, we’ll look at how to report DoorDash missing items, what you shouldn’t do when you find an item is missing, and some tips and strategies to avoid missing items in the first place.
How To Report DoorDash Missing Items
If you find that you’re missing an item in your DoorDash order, you should immediately report that it’s missing. The process to report a missing item is straightforward.
- Go to the order in your DoorDash app.
- Tap the “Help” button in the top right corner.
- Under “Order Issues,” select “Missing Items.” If your order wasn’t made correctly, select “Items Made Incorrectly.”
- After you’ve selected your issue, follow the prompts on the screen.
If you’ve followed all of the above steps, you’ll reach a resolution. DoorDash will either issue you a refund or give you a credit for your missing items. This usually happens immediately or within a few hours at most.
If you still have issues, contact DoorDash support and they’ll be able to give you further assistance. For additional information, you can check out the DoorDash directions on how to report missing items.
What You Should Not Do About DoorDash Missing Items
When you’re missing items in your DoorDash order, it can be tempting to be mad at DoorDash – and your Dasher specifically. While sometimes it can be the Dasher’s fault, often, it’s not their fault.
So the first thing is don’t immediately take your frustrations out on your Dasher. Most restaurants seal items in a bag before handing the order to the delivery person, so even if something is missing, your delivery person has no way to confirm that everything is in there.
The main exception are drinks, which attentive Dashers should recognize are missing. I rarely forget delivering drinks because I check the order before I pick it up. But when I place orders on DoorDash, I get a lot of situations where the Dasher simply forgot to check the order for drinks and the restaurant didn’t hand the drink to the Dasher.
The second thing you shouldn’t do is contact your Dasher after the order is delivered. The fact is, once your order is delivered, your Dasher can’t do much about it. Instead, contact DoorDash with your issues.
Finally, don’t contact the restaurant either. Again, your issue shouldn’t be with the restaurant or with the Dasher. You placed your order with DoorDash, so they are the ones that can handle the issue.
In short, when you have an issue with missing items, don’t contact your delivery person or the restaurant. Contact DoorDash instead. You’ll get a refund for the missing items, so it won’t be a big deal.
How To Avoid DoorDash Missing Items
There are a few things you can do to minimize missing items. The first thing is to avoid asking for extra items in the notes section of your delivery. Some customers will do this, but Dashers don’t see the order notes until after they’ve picked up the order. If you ask for extra food or sauce or something else in those notes, you likely won’t get them – and it’s going to be your fault, not the restaurant or Dasher’s fault.
Second, consider not ordering drinks. In my experience, drinks are the most commonly missed item because they’re usually added to the order by the restaurant at the very end. This makes it easy for the restaurant to forget to hand the drink to the Dasher. Then, many Dashers don’t pay attention to the items in the order, so they forget to ask for the drink too.
If you stick to main menu items and avoid asking for additional items, you’ll have a better shot of getting all of your items delivered.
Final Thoughts
It can be frustrating when you place a DoorDash order and find you are missing items. Fortunately, DoorDash makes it easy to get a refund.
It’s a minor inconvenience for sure, but don’t let it ruin your experience.
This post may contain affiliate links. Financial Panther has partnered with AwardWallet and CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Panther, AwardWallet, and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
More Recommended Ebike/Scooters
Check out these other ebikes and scooters I've reviewed:
- Urban Arrow Ebike – Last year, I made one of the largest purchases I’ve ever made – I bought a $9,000 electric cargo bike from Urban Arrow. In my Urban Arrow review, I will discuss what it is and why I decided to buy this bike, as well as discuss how impactful a bike like this can be on your journey to financial independence.
- Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Ebike – The Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is a fat-tire ebike that I’ve had the pleasure of riding for a while now. It has amazing power, great looks, and awesome range. If you’re looking for a great fat-tire ebike that offers a lot for the price, the Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is definitely one for you to consider. Check out my Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Review.
- Hovsco HovBeta Ebike – The HovBeta is a folding ebike with great specs and a lot of interesting features, and importantly, it’s sold at a good price point. I’ve had a blast commuting with it and using it to do deliveries with DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. Check out my Hovsco HovBeta Ebike Review.
- Vanpowers Manidae Ebike – The Vanpowers Manidae is a fat tire ebike that I’ve been riding as my primary winter commuting bike and have also been using it to do food delivery with apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. After clocking in a decent number of miles with this ebike, I wanted to write a post sharing what my experience with the Vanpowers Manidae ebike has been like. Check out my Vanpowers Manidae Review.
- Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding EBike Review – A Great Value Folding Ebike – The Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding Ebike is an entry-level folding ebike that offers a lot of value for the price point. I’ve been riding the Sohamo S3 for a while now, putting the bike through its paces, and I have to say, this bike has exceeded all of my expectations. Check out my Sohamo Review.
- KBO Flip Ebike – The KBO Flip is an excellent bike. I’ve had a great time riding it and think it’s a versatile bike that can be used for a lot of purposes and can fit a variety of lifestyles. It’s worked out great for me as a general commuter bike and as a food delivery bike. Check out my KBO Flip Review.
- Hiboy P7 Commuter Ebike – The Hiboy P7 is an excellent electric commuter bike that’s offered at an affordable price point. The range and speed of this bike are both very good, so you won’t have any trouble getting anywhere you need to go with it. As a food delivery vehicle, this is also good – with how much range it offers, you’ll be able to work all day on a single charge. Check out my Hiboy P7 Commuter Electric Bike Review.
- Himiway Escape Ebike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
- Espin Sport Ebike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
- Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
- Varla Falcon Scooter – The Varla Falcon is an excellent scooter that offers a good amount of power at a lower price point compared to more powerful scooters. It’s not exactly an entry-level scooter, nor is it a high-powered scooter. I think it fits somewhere in-between those two categories – an intermediate scooter if I had to give it a category. Check out my Varla Falcon Review.
- Hiboy S2 Scooter – The Hiboy S2 is an excellent entry-level commuter scooter that's perfect for someone looking to save some money in transportation costs and improve their commute. Check out my Hiboy S2 Review.
- Hiboy S2R Scooter – The Hiboy S2R is one of the more interesting electric scooters I’ve been able to test out. It’s not a high-powered scooter, but for an everyday transport option, it’s very useful, especially given some of the unique features that it has. Indeed, for the price, the Hiboy S2R might be the best value scooter I’ve used. Check out my Hiboy S2R Review.
- Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.
More Recommended Investing App Bonuses
For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:
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If you’re looking for more easy bank bonuses, check out the below options. These bonuses are all easy to earn and have no fees or minimum balance requirements to worry about.
- Upgrade ($200) – Upgrade is a free checking account that’s currently offering a $200 referral bonus if you open an account and complete a direct deposit. These bonus terms are easy to meet, so it’s well worth doing this bonus as soon as you can. Here’s a post I wrote with more details: Upgrade $200 Referral Bonus – Step By Step Directions.
- Ally Bank ($100) – Of all the banks out there, Ally is, without a doubt, my favorite. At the moment, Ally is offering $100 to customers who open an eligible Ally account and meet the requirements. Here are the step-by-step directions to earn your Ally Bank referral bonus.
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- Varo ($25) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $25 bonus to new users that open a new Varo account with a referral link. The bonus for this bank is very easy to meet, all you need to do is spend $20 within 30 days of opening your Varo account. Check out my step-by-step guide to learn how to earn this bonus.
Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.
Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.
Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:
- SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $300 if you complete a direct deposit.
- 5% Savings Accounts. I'm currently getting 5.24% interest on my savings through a company called Raisin. Opening a Raisin account takes minutes to complete, it's free, and all of your funds are FDIC-insured. I explain how it works, why I'm now using it to store my emergency fund and any other cash savings I have, and why I recommend everyone check it out in this review.
- US Bank Business. US Bank is currently offering new business customers a $900 signup bonus after opening a new account and meeting certain requirements.
- M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account.
- Empower. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.
Feel free to send Kevin a message here.
Doordash doesn’t do refunds or credits if order is not as expected ie. missing items, poor quality, cold food due to late delivery, delivery to wrong address, etc. If you didn’t get the food and dasher provided photos of a delivery location that is not yours, then you have to hunt around the street if neighbor got it. If dasher delivered to same street in a different suburb, then you have to drive to all suburbs with same name as your street to find your order.
Here’s the response I got from doordash:
“We’re following up to let you know that we’ve concluded our review and have made the decision to deny your refund request.
We recognize that you may be disappointed by this outcome, but we based our decision on a comprehensive analysis of all relevant factors, including the full details of the order, the details of your refund request, and your overall account history.”
My query was about the order. No one asked for refund. Why are they even talking about refund. I know they won’t refund.
Now they’ve blocked my email:
“This email is no longer monitored by the DoorDash Support team. Please check out our Help Center ” so there’s no way to contact them, even by live chat. I get error chat disconnected. Agents just disconnect mid conversation.
Told them to cancel subscription, and still got charged, and now still waiting for refund or excess debit.
i am fighting like hell right now to get a refund for an order that was delivered to a completely different address and apartment complex, the location on the app shows the wrong location and they are still denying me my refund, i will never use doordash again
Yes I sent a message to the BBB due to cross contamination and door dash denying my refund due to drive handling the food improperly causing pork to leak over entire meal
My girlfriend ordered 6 items last night around 2am. We waited 20 minutes for a driver to be assigned to us. My girl opened the app to see what was going on. They canceled the order, gave us only 2.47 refund, and said we cancled the order. So we spoke to a manager at 2:30 am and they just hung up on us. For 2 days we have been hung up on and nothing has been done to resolve this issue. Why would we cancel the order when it states that if you cancel it you only get 2.47 out of 37.59. This shows dishonesty and theft. Everyone of the customers service representatives hung up on us, were very rude, and said there is no managers available… but last night at 2am there were 2 managers that we talked to and then hung up on us. Everything has been documented for legal purposes, and pictures have been taken for proof of conversation were I was on hold for about 27min and this is getting serious. I’m sure other people have this same issue, please help in this situation. It’s 37 dollars the owe me and refuse to refund me, they keep reverting to ‘we’ cancled our order, why would we do that when the penalty is not getting your full refund.
I place an order from Royal Donuts on 09/28/203 for 20 pigs in the plankit with cheese there wasn’t any cheese I spent $42.50. I sent pictures showing there was no cheese and I was denied a refund, I provided proof that my order wasn’t right and still was denied a refund is this how you treat your customers? If I order something and it’s not correct I have to except it and waste my money, so I’m just taking chance.
i was denied a refund even though i provided proof my order was wrong i ordered 20 pigs in the planket from Royal Donuts with cheese there was no cheese i took a picture showing no cheese and emailed it to Door Dash i spent $42.50 and iwas denied my refund my order had missing items the cheese and i had to go looking for the driver who was walking around looking for my apt when they should have called so my order was cold.