DoorDash’s CEO has slammed a viral social media post that accused a food delivery app of having a “Desperation Score,” which pays drivers based on how “desperate” they are to work.
Tony Xu shared a screenshot Saturday of a Reddit post written by a user who claimed to be a developer at a major food delivery app. The post claimed that managers at the unnamed company consider drivers “human assets,” among other jaw-dropping allegations.
Even though the post, which did not name DoorDash, was subsequently deemed a hoax by tech site Platformer, it had already been seen by millions of X users and spread so widely that it prompted Xu to shut down rumors that it had been written about his company.
Xu reposted a screenshot of the Reddit post on X, writing: “Holy f***ing sh*t is right! This is not DoorDash, and I would fire anyone who promoted or tolerated the kind of culture described in this Reddit post.”
The CEO commented on each outlandish claim, noting that “dashers are not ‘human assets'” and “having a metric like a ‘Desperation Score’ is an abomination.”
The outlandish Reddit post was debunked by Platformer, after a reporter contacted the user who wrote it. The user reportedly tried to corroborate their story using AI-generated evidence, including a Uber Eats work badge made using Google Gemini. The individual also declined to connect the reporter with any coworkers who could confirm the story, Platformer reported.
Despite its debunking, the Internet still raged about the post’s contents. The post alleged that a “Desperation Score,” or a hidden metric, determined how desperate drivers are for cash based on the orders they take.
“If a driver usually logs on at 10 PM and accepts every garbage $3 order instantly without hesitation, the [algorithm] tags them as ‘High Desperation.’ Once they are tagged, the system then deliberately stops showing them high-paying orders,” the post claimed.
“The logic is: ‘Why pay this guy $15 for a run when we know he’s desperate enough to do it for $6’” the Reddit post added.
Xu decried the notion of a “Desperation Score,” and said that DoorDash has never had a “Driver Benefit Fee” which the Reddit post claimed went “straight to a corporate slush fund used to lobby against driver unions.”
Holy fucking shit is right! This is not DoorDash, and I would fire anyone who promoted or tolerated the kind of culture described in this Reddit post. There’s so much wrong with this post.
— Tony Xu (@t_xu) January 3, 2026
- Dashers are not “human assets.”
- Having a metric like a "Desperation Score” is an… https://t.co/tStwfQAcpI
The Reddit post also alleged that the unnamed app’s “priority delivery” is “a total scam” that “does nothing to speed you up.”
In response to that particular claim, Xu asked: “Why would you charge for faster delivery but not make it faster?”
“We’re not perfect by *any* stretch of the imagination, but we work every day to make our platform better for everyone who comes to it. What’s described here is appalling, and if true, whoever is operating in this manner should be ashamed,” Xu concluded.
DoorDash also addressed the claims on its website, providing a counter to each allegation made in the Reddit post.
“We were appalled, like many others, by a recent viral post. It hit a raw nerve, not just because of the extreme allegations and dehumanizing language used, but because it raises real concerns about how workers are treated, specifically those who deliver for their neighbors and communities,” DoorDash said.
“As our CEO and Co-Founder, Tony Xu, has made explicitly clear, we do things differently at DoorDash, and have zero tolerance for the kind of culture and behaviors described in the post.”
While DoorDash has denied having the controversial policies described in the viral hoax post, the food delivery app has made headlines in the past over poor working practices.
Last February, DoorDash was ordered to pay almost $17 million to settle claims that it unfairly used customers' tips to subsidize the wages of its delivery workers in New York.
New York Attorney General Letitia James said DoorDash used the wage model between May 2017 and September 2019.
At that time, the company guaranteed workers a base payment for each delivery, but was factoring tips into that equation – and only paid workers for whatever the tips didn’t cover, James said.
The company would guarantee workers a base payment for each delivery but was factoring tips into that equation, only paying workers for whatever the tips didn't cover, according to the attorney general.
James argued that DoorDash also did not make it clear to customers that their tips were being used to offset worker wages.
The company has since stopped using that payment method.
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