American netizens reveal: Priority delivery is a complete scam! The system gives delivery workers hopeless scores, the more desperate they are for money, the more they are exploited.

A user on the US forum Reddit has leaked information claiming that the author, who identifies as a backend engineer at a major delivery platform, risked violating an NDA to expose how the platform uses brutal algorithmic mechanisms to systematically deceive consumers and exploit delivery drivers. The leaker states they have submitted their resignation and posted from a public library Wi-Fi using a disposable laptop.

(Note): The leak on Reddit is anonymous, similar to the “dreaming” posts on PTT; its authenticity remains to be verified as more information is revealed.

They condemn company executives for viewing drivers as “Human Assets” rather than parents struggling to pay rent. They also detail four shocking internal mechanisms. For example, the system lowers the despair index for delivery drivers—if a driver frequently accepts low-paying, poor-quality orders late at night, the system judges them as desperate and stops assigning high-paying orders. The logic is simple: since this driver is willing to run for $6, why pay him $15?

Priority Delivery logic is to delay other orders

Many consumers purchase Priority Delivery to get their food faster. However, the engineer points out this is a complete lie. He says, “When you pay an extra $2.99, the system only changes a boolean value in the order code, but the delivery logic completely ignores this marker.”

Even more infuriating, the company conducted an A/B test to make paying customers feel faster: deliberately delaying non-priority orders by 5 to 10 minutes. This means the company does not profit from improving service quality but from degrading standard service to earn millions in pure profit.

Brutal despair score exploits helpless drivers

The most controversial accusation in the leak is that the platform has a hidden metric for drivers called the Despair Score. The algorithm tracks drivers’ order acceptance behavior. If a driver frequently logs in late at night and readily accepts low-paying, poor-quality orders (e.g., $3), the system marks them as highly desperate. Once labeled, the system deliberately stops assigning high-paying orders to that driver.

“The logic is simple: since they’re willing to run for $6, why pay them $15?” the leaker explains. Orders with high tips are reserved for occasional, spontaneous drivers to keep them on the platform and gamify the experience, while full-time drivers are ruthlessly exploited.

Welfare fees used for anti-union lobbying

As labor regulations tighten, many bills include regulatory response fees or driver welfare fees. Consumers often think these are to help drivers, but in reality, 100% of this money goes into the company’s pockets. The engineer reveals that these funds are directly funneled into an internal cost center called Policy Defense, which hires senior lawyers to lobby against drivers forming unions. “The money you pay is actually funding lawyers who leave your drivers homeless.”

Tipping theft 2.0: using your kindness to subsidize the company

Although the platform no longer directly confiscates tips, the engineer accuses them of using predictive models to dynamically lower base wages. If the algorithm predicts a customer is a “generous tipper” (e.g., likely to give $10), the system will cut the driver’s base pay for that order to $2; conversely, if it predicts the customer won’t tip, the base pay is increased to $8 to ensure someone delivers the food.

This article, “US netizens expose: Priority Delivery is a scam! System gives drivers despair scores, the more desperate, the more they are exploited,” first appeared on Chain News ABMedia.