DoorDash glitch results in hundreds of free food orders

As convenient as apps are, they all share the same kryptonite: glitches. Some glitches appear to cause problems like the occasional DoorDash outage, resulting in a lot of hungry people. On the evening of July 7, however, a temporary glitch on the DoorDash app resulted in hundreds of people ordering free food.

The glitch was caused by a payment processing issue that allowed users to check out without an authorized form of payment. The DoorDash glitch went viral on Twitter as people found out about it, resulting in restaurants across the country having to take orders and deliveries en masse. By the time DoorDash resolved the problem, the damage had already been done: people had placed hundreds of orders for free food, drinks, and even Plan B. 

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Twitter users who placed orders during the glitch are now concerned that DoorDash might now extract the full prices of their purchases, and some say they woke up the day after the glitch to their accounts being charged. People are also calling out those who took advantage of the glitch but didn’t tip drivers for large orders, and drawing attention to the extra labor restaurant workers were slammed with.

This isn’t the first time that users have experienced glitches on a food delivery app. In May 2022, a GrubHub promo code for a free $15 lunch caused the app to crash altogether, leaving many New York City residents both hungry and frustrated. Similarly, restaurants were bombarded with orders and drivers often weren’t tipped. DoorDash is currently working on rectifying the repercussions of the glitch.

“We’re actively canceling fraudulent orders, and are in touch with merchants impacted to ensure they are compensated for any unauthorized orders they may have received,” DoorDash told Mashable. “We work to ensure that we are always offering the highest quality of service to the communities we serve, and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused by this.”