There are two situations where you might need to know how to cancel a DoorDash order. The first scenario is if you placed an order as a customer, then realized you needed to cancel your order (maybe you made a mistake or don’t want your order).
The second scenario is if you’re working as a DoorDash Dasher. There are situations where you accepted an order, then realized it’s not worth completing. In that situation, you may want to cancel the order.
This post will go through both scenarios and walk you through how to cancel a DoorDash order.
How To Cancel A DoorDash Order As A Customer
There are a lot of reasons why you might need to cancel your DoorDash order after you’ve placed it. The most common reason is you made a mistake when you placed your order. Maybe you put the wrong address. Or you forgot an item. Or you simply realized after you placed the order that you don’t want it. It’s also possible that the delivery time is too long and you don’t want to wait.
Whether or not you can get a refund or partial refund on your order depends on how fast you cancel your order. The general rule is this – if you’re going to cancel your DoorDash order, cancel it as soon as you can. If you wait too long, you’re not going to be able to get a refund.
This makes logical sense. Once you place your order, it goes to the restaurant and they start preparing your food. If you cancel immediately, it’s possible the restaurant never started your order. No harm, no foul. But if you wait too long, the restaurant might have started preparing your order already. If DoorDash were to let you cancel orders whenever you wanted, either DoorDash would lose money or the restaurant would lose money. That’s not good (or fair) for either of them.
Because DoorDash sends the order to the restaurant immediately, you usually only have a few seconds to cancel your order after placing it and still receive a full refund. I wouldn’t wait more than 30 seconds at most (and even that might be pushing it).
To cancel your order, you’ll want to go to your Orders page in the DoorDash app. You can then click your order, then click the help button at the top of the screen. From there, you’ll see a button that tells you if you can cancel your order and shows you how much of a refund – if any – you’ll receive.
Getting A Refund From DoorDash
There are four types of refunds you can receive from DoorDash if you cancel an order (and assuming you canceled it fast enough to get a refund). These include the following:
- Full Refund. If you cancel your order fast enough, DoorDash can give you a full refund. This is returned to the card that you used to pay for your order.
- Partial Refund. If you waited a bit too long, DoorDash may offer you a partial refund. In this case, you’ll receive some money back. Your refund will be issued to the same payment method you used to place your order.
- DoorDash Credit. In some situations, DoorDash may offer you a credit that can be used towards a future purchase. This credit remains in your account and you can use it on the next order you place.
- Re-Delivery. If there was an issue with your order and you still want the order, DoorDash can have it delivered to you again. When this happens, DoorDash will send your order to the restaurant again, it’ll be prepared again, and a driver will pick up your order and deliver it to you. This happens most often if the restaurant forgot an item and you really want it.
A few other things to note. If you received your order but an item is missing, you can request that DoorDash refund you for just those missing items. This is usually the easiest thing to do, rather than trying to get the missing item delivered again.
If there’s a big issue with your order that isn’t your fault, you should be able to get a full refund from DoorDash. This includes situations where your order is never delivered. It might also include if your food arrives heavily damaged.
If your food arrives very late, most of the time, DoorDash won’t give you a refund but will offer you a credit towards a future order.
How To Cancel A DoorDash Order As A Dasher
When you’re working as a Dasher, you might also find yourself wanting or needing to cancel an order. The typical reasons why you might want to cancel an order if you’re a Dasher include the following:
- There’s a long wait.
- You accidentally accepted the order.
- You have a personal emergency.
Remember, if you’re working as a Dasher, time is money (you’re getting paid for the tasks you complete, not the time you are working). As a result, you can find yourself in a situation where you need to cancel an order and cut your losses because you’re going to lose money if you try to complete the order.
To cancel an order, click the help button at the top right corner of the app. The button should look like a question mark.
From there, you’ll get to the help screen, which will give you a few options. To cancel the order, click “Can’t do this order.”
You’ll then be brought to a screen that asks you why you want to cancel your order. You can pick any reason you want – it doesn’t matter.
If you are going to cancel an order, try to do it before you actually pick up the order. If you cancel an order after you picked up the order, you’ll technically get to keep the food for yourself, but I can’t imagine DoorDash likes that. You probably also put yourself at a higher risk of deactivation if you cancel orders after picking up the food (by contrast, if you cancel an order before you pick it up, it’ll get sent to another Dasher who can then complete the delivery).
Another pro-tip. Don’t cancel orders because you can’t find the customer. If you can’t find the customer or there’s an issue with the delivery, contact customer service so they can help you. You’ll find an option to chat with customer service in the help menu.
Finally, this is the most important thing you need to know when it comes to canceling orders as a Dasher. While your acceptance rate does not matter, DoorDash makes it clear that if your completion rate falls below 80%, you are subject to deactivation. Your completion rate is the number of deliveries you completed of the last 100 deliveries you accepted. I try to keep my completion rate around 90%, which I think gives me a good cushion so I can cancel orders when needed, without risking deactivation.
Luckily, DoorDash recently released a new feature that allows you to unassign an order with no impact on your completion rate if you’ve been waiting at the restaurant for a while. If you’ve been waiting for a while, you’ll see an option in your Dasher app to unassign the order. You won’t get paid for the order if you unassign it, but DoorDash makes clear that unassigning the order won’t hurt your completion rate either.
Final Thoughts
There are two good rules to know if you are going to cancel a DoorDash order. If you’re a customer and you need to cancel your order, do it as fast as possible – ideally within a few seconds. Don’t wait too long or you might not get a refund or you’ll only get a partial refund.
If you’re a Dasher, cancel orders strategically. If the order will take too long to complete or something else makes the order not worth doing, just cancel it and move on to the next one. But remember that your completion rate matters, so try to be smart about which orders you cancel so you can keep your completion rate high.
If you need more information about how to get in touch with DoorDash customer service, you can also check out this post: DoorDash Headquarters Address, Phone Numbers, and Emails.
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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.
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For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:
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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.
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- 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.
Yes I’d love to know how I can see where delivery is going before accepting it because for some reason I can’t see anything other then where order is being picked up and then I’ll accept to only end up nearly 30 miles from my home and then of course the rest of offers are for out in that area which is ok I just still have to drive the 30 miles back home that I’m which I’m not getting paid. Of course that is life though I mean everyone has to drive to their place of work so That probably didn’t necessary sound very professional but now their is some bad sides of town that I probably shouldn’t even b driving through there at night let alone reliving food so I guess that would be a better Example.