If you run a restaurant on both DoorDash and Uber Eats, the two platforms use different names, different dispute windows, and different report structures for the same basic thing: a deduction from your payout tied to a customer refund. The short version: DoorDash gives you 14 days to dispute, Uber Eats gives you 30, and each platform buries the detail in a differently shaped export. The rest of this guide breaks down both sides.
Dispute window: 14 days vs 30 days
DoorDash requires a dispute to be filed within 14 days of the delivery date. Source: DoorDash Merchant Help. Uber Eats gives restaurants up to 30 days from the order date to submit a dispute with evidence. Source: Uber Help, "Managing refunds for missing or incorrect orders". If you're running both platforms and only checking your statements monthly, DoorDash's shorter window is the one more likely to close before you get to it.
Error charge categories on each platform
| DoorDash | Uber Eats |
|---|---|
| Missing items | Missing items (fully or partially) |
| Incorrect items | Incorrect items (fully or partially) |
| Substandard food quality | Incorrect orders |
| Entirely wrong order (100% of subtotal + tax, net of commission) | Undelivered orders and late deliveries (only when the merchant uses its own delivery staff) |
DoorDash's three named categories plus its wrong-order rule are documented at help.doordash.com. Uber Eats' five categories, including the delivery-staff-specific ones, are documented at help.uber.com.
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Where each platform hides error charges in your export
DoorDash
DoorDash's Financial report has dedicated error_charges and adjustments columns present on every transaction row (populated only where relevant). A separate, more granular MENU_ITEM_ERROR report has one row per affected menu item, including an error_category field, the item name, quantity, and the exact charge amount. Source: DoorDash Developer Docs, Reporting schema
Uber Eats
Uber Eats' Payment Details Report is order-level: each row is one order, and based on Uber's documentation error charges most likely land in the "Price Adjustments (excluding tax)" column alongside a matching tax column (Uber's docs confirm the column, not the exact mapping; verify against your own report). Source: Uber Help, "Download comprehensive payment details reports". A separate Order Errors (Transaction) Report gives per-error detail: issue type, the item(s) involved, the customer refund amount, and the amount charged to the merchant. In the weekly Payment Summary email, the same figures are labeled "Order error adjustments." Source: Uber Help
How to export the report on each platform
DoorDash
- Merchant Portal → Reports tab
- Create a Report → select Financial report
- Check the "Error Charges and adjustments" box
- Choose one-time or recurring, set your date range (up to 2 years back), Create Report
- Download from the emailed link (available roughly 7 days)
Source: DoorDash Merchant Help, "Merchant Portal Reports"
Uber Eats
- Uber Eats Manager → Reports
- Request Reports
- Select "Payment Details Report" (up to 31 days of data at a time) for order-level detail, or "Order Errors (Transaction) Report" for per-error detail
- Request and download; Uber states reports are ready "within minutes"
Source: Uber Help, "Download comprehensive payment details reports"
One missing $10 item, priced on both platforms
The policies above are easier to compare with actual numbers, so here is the same missing item run through each platform's own published formula. The inputs come from the platforms themselves: the $10.00 item price is the input DoorDash uses in its own published error-charge example, and the 8.5% tax rate is the input Uber uses in its own published example ($6.00 item + 8.5% tax = $6.51 deducted). Assume the customer reports the item missing and the platform rules the restaurant at fault.
| DoorDash | Uber Eats | |
|---|---|---|
| Item price | $10.00 | $10.00 |
| Charge rule applied | 100% severity (the top of the published 25%–100% band) | Entire item food sales + tax |
| Tax at 8.5% | $0.85 | $0.85 |
| Deducted from your payout | $10.85 | $10.85 |
At the top of DoorDash's severity range, both platforms charge the same $10.85 for the same missing $10 item. Where they differ is the floor: DoorDash publishes a 25% lower bound, so the same item can cost as little as roughly $2.71 to $3.35 depending on how tax is applied to the reduced base (DoorDash's own example uses 100% severity, so it cannot settle which reading is correct). Uber Eats publishes no floor at all, only "a portion up to the full cost." One documented difference on the Uber side: Uber states it retains the full Service Fee for the entire order when an error adjustment is issued, so the commission already paid on a refunded item is not returned. DoorDash mentions commission only in its separate entirely-wrong-order rule. Source: Uber Help, "Managing refunds for missing or incorrect orders"
Full comparison
| DoorDash | Uber Eats | |
|---|---|---|
| Dispute window | 14 days from delivery | 30 days from order date |
| Who can dispute | Admin or Store Manager portal role | Admin or Manager account role (third-party integrations cannot) |
| Missing/incorrect item charge | 25% to 100% of item price + tax | Full item cost + tax (full); partial for partial errors |
| Entirely wrong order | 100% of subtotal + tax, net of commission | Not separately published as a distinct rule |
| Report with order-level detail | Financial report (Error Charges and adjustments) | Payment Details Report |
| Report with per-item/per-error detail | MENU_ITEM_ERROR | Order Errors (Transaction) Report |
| Resolution time | "Within a few hours" per DoorDash help | Not specified; "reversals cannot be guaranteed" per Uber help |
| Fault waived for very late complaints | Yes, if reported 72+ hours after delivery | Yes, if reported 96+ hours after the order was placed |
Sources: DoorDash figures from help.doordash.com and developer.doordash.com. Uber Eats figures from help.uber.com and help.uber.com (Payment Details Report). The 96-hour late-report exclusion is from merchants.ubereats.com, "Order errors".
FAQ
- Does DoorDash or Uber Eats give restaurants more time to dispute an error charge?
- Uber Eats gives restaurants more time. DoorDash requires disputes within 14 days of the delivery date, per DoorDash's merchant help center. Uber Eats allows up to 30 days from the order date, per Uber's help center article on managing refunds for missing or incorrect orders.
- Do DoorDash and Uber Eats charge the same amount for a missing item?
- Both charge based on the item's cost, but DoorDash publishes a specific range (25% to 100% of item price plus tax), while Uber Eats describes full item cost plus tax for fully missing or incorrect items, and partial cost for partially missing or incorrect combo items. Neither platform charges the merchant's delivery or bag fees for these refunds unless the merchant used its own delivery staff.
- Where does each platform show error charges in the exported CSV?
- DoorDash's Financial report has dedicated error_charges and adjustments columns on every transaction row, plus a separate per-item MENU_ITEM_ERROR report. Uber Eats' Payment Details Report most likely reflects them in a "Price Adjustments (excluding tax)" column at the order level (per Uber's documentation; the column is confirmed, the exact mapping is not), with a separate Order Errors (Transaction) Report for per-error detail.
- Can a third-party tool file a dispute on my behalf on either platform?
- No, not without violating each platform's terms. Uber's help center states explicitly that only Admin or Manager account roles can dispute, and "third-party integration services cannot." DoorDash similarly restricts filing to Admin or Store Manager portal roles. Any tool claiming to auto-file disputes for you is operating outside what either platform's own documentation describes.
- What does one missing $10 item actually cost on DoorDash vs Uber Eats?
- At full severity, the same amount: $10.85 on both platforms, using each platform's own published inputs ($10.00 item, 8.5% tax). DoorDash charges 25% to 100% of the item price plus tax depending on severity, so its published floor for the same item is roughly $2.71 to $3.35. Uber Eats charges the entire item's food sales plus tax for a fully missing item and publishes no lower band.
- Does either platform waive the charge if the customer reports the problem late?
- Yes, both do, on different clocks. DoorDash waives the error charge if the customer reports the issue 72 or more hours after delivery. Uber Eats excludes late customer reports made 96 or more hours after the order from merchant charges, per its merchant order-errors page.
- Which platform's error-charge reason categories are broader?
- Uber Eats names more categories: missing items, incorrect items, incorrect orders, undelivered orders, and late deliveries (the last two only apply when a merchant uses its own delivery staff). DoorDash's published categories are missing items, incorrect items, and substandard food quality, plus a separate 100%-of-subtotal charge for entirely wrong orders.
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