If you’ve ever checked out the r/doordash or r/UberEats subreddits, you’ve probably walked away with the impression that food delivery apps are a shitshow, and it seems like things are only getting worse. Between skyrocketing fees, the summer slowdown and billion-dollar class-action lawsuits in which plaintiffs allege DoorDash charges iPhone users higher fees than their Android counterparts, it doesn’t seem like the best time to be a food delivery app driver or user.


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Take surge pricing, for example. Everyone who uses Uber knows about the fact that prices increase in response to increased demand, but apparently, surge pricing can apply to Uber Eats too, as one Redditor found out when they opened the app to see that orders from McDonald’s and Dunkin’ came with $20 delivery fees. As explained by seasoned pros in the comments, a $20 delivery fee is what happens when it’s very busy or there aren’t enough drivers available. Like with surge pricing on Uber, if you wait a while, the fees should go down — hopefully, you aren’t starving!


On the subject of fees, the aforementioned $1 billion lawsuit was filed against DoorDash in May alleging that the company charges iPhone users higher fees than their Android counterparts, allegedly because “studies reveal iPhone users earn more.” The lawsuit claims that DoorDash engages in “deceptive, misleading and fraudulent practices” and that they mark up orders by as much as $2 for iPhone users. DoorDash has refused these claims and told the New York Post that they “look forward to vigorously fighting them” in court.


 

While customers are grappling with higher fees, drivers are dealing with the summer slowdown, with many drivers taking to social media to express their frustration at the lack of orders they’re getting during the hotter months. One user, posting in r/UberEats, was on the clock for over 16 hours and only had five deliveries, netting them just under $50. A r/doordash user claimed to have only had one delivery in almost 10 hours, earning $12, though commenters questioned whether the problem was DoorDash or the fact that the OP has an incredibly low acceptance rate (according to one comment, their acceptance rate was 0 percent and is now 3 percent; Top Dashers must have an acceptance rate of at least 70 percent).



But to commenters on the above TikTok, the answer is clear: The increasingly high fees are directly contributing to the “summer slowdown” as more and more people decide that “8 to 9 dollars in fees and then a tip” is too steep a price for a $15 meal, as one commenter put it.



Unfortunately, though, this means it’s not just the customers who are left starving, it’s all the drivers, too.