If you drive for Grubhub, you may encounter a variety of messages and warnings. After a while, you might figure out what the messages mean and how they affect you.
However, not all messages are as clear, so that can be frustrating. Consider what it means to be removed with penalty.
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What Does Removed With Penalty on Grubhub Mean?
On Grubhub, “removed with penalty” usually means the app removed you from an order as the delivery driver. That can happen if the order takes too long and you aren’t moving. Grubhub will assign the order to someone else.
Unfortunately, the message is out of your control, especially if you have a long wait at a restaurant. But the only penalty you’ll receive is a lower acceptance rate.
What Removed With Penalty Means
“Removed with penalty” means that Grubhub is unassigning you from an order. You’ll usually get this message after eight minutes of no movement. First, you should receive a warning after five minutes of not moving.
After another two minutes (seven minutes total), you should get another warning. If another minute passes with no updates, Grubhub will remove you from the order.
Fortunately, it doesn’t do much other than lower your acceptance rate. Sure, that can be annoying if you like to keep that metric high. However, it shouldn’t remove you from the app or lead to other serious issues.
How to Avoid “Removed With Penalty”
You can’t always completely avoid the “removed with penalty” notification. However, Grubhub drivers can do a few things to reduce the chances of the issue coming up.
Here are some things to try during your next shift.
Go Inside
When possible, go inside the restaurant to pick up the food. Some drive-thru lines can be long, and some may even be long enough to the point where you don’t move for multiple minutes.
Before you enter a drive-thru line, check to see if the lobby is open. If so, you can go inside and ask for the food. Then, you can get back out to your car and complete the delivery much sooner.
Yes, getting out of your car is less convenient. However, it can be worth it when it comes to making money and completing the orders you get.
Avoid Slow Restaurants
As you drive for Grubhub, you might come to learn which restaurants are slow in your area. Start a note on your phone of these restaurants and their specific locations. For example, one McDonald’s might be fast, but another one is too slow.
Before you accept an order, consider if it’s from one of the slower restaurants in your market. If so, you’ll need to decide if you want to risk taking it and getting removed.
You’re more likely to see the “removed with penalty” message at slow restaurants since you have to sit there waiting for food longer. So the more you can avoid those locations, the better.
Unassign the Order
You can also unassign yourself from the order on Grubhub. If you get to a restaurant and learn there will be a wait, go to your Grubhub app.
Tap on “There’s a problem” then “I can’t deliver this order.” Follow the prompts on your screen to explain the issue.
That way, you can move on to your next order and keep from waiting. You’ll avoid the removal from Grubhub, and you might even make more money that hour than you would have.
Decline Stacked Orders
Grubhub can assign multiple orders to you at a time. The app might also give you an order while you’re working on another one.
According to one driver, they had two orders to complete. However, as they were working on one, they got unassigned from the other.
If one of the orders in the stack is to a slow restaurant, you may want to decline it. The same is true if there’s any reason you might not complete both quickly.
Communicate With the Restaurant
Sometimes, you can’t avoid slow restaurants, so you might need to wait. However, you should communicate with the restaurant as much as you can.
First, ask about the order as soon as you walk in the door. Then, they can give it to you if it’s ready, or they should tell you how long the wait will be.
If they tell you it will be two minutes, keep an eye on your phone and ask for the food after those two minutes. The restaurant may hand you the order, or they may say it will take longer. In that case, you can decide if you want to unassign the order and move on.
Is “Removed With Penalty” on Grubhub Bad?
On Grubhub, “removed with penalty” isn’t a bad thing, though it can be annoying. You’ll see the message if Grubhub takes you off an order while you’re working on it. Luckily, the most that will happen is your acceptance rate will go down. Make sure to avoid slow restaurants and go inside to get the food to complete orders faster.