TikTok video showing DoorDash driver cursing at customer over 25% tip sparks online debate over tipping culture in the U.S.

What's an acceptable tip for a driver who delivers a $20 pizza?

A TikTok video purporting to show a DoorDash delivery driver in Texas swearing at a customer over the $5 tip she gave him has gone viral, sparking fresh online debate over tipping culture in the U.S.

"I just want to say it's a nice house for a $5 tip," the driver can be heard saying as he walks away from a home in the door camera video posted to TikTok earlier this week by a user under the name Lacey Purciful.

"You're welcome!" the resident says, appearing surprised by the remark. "F*** you," the driver responds before walking away.

A spokesperson for DoorDash said a delivery driver had been removed from their platform in connection with the incident.

dystop,
@dystop@lemmy.world avatar

Tipping is not the right way to ensure everyone earns a decent wage.

kuontom,
kuontom avatar

What a bad take. You expect employers to stop exploiting their staff by underpaying them? Un-American

dismalnow,
dismalnow avatar

It's only a bad take if you cannot imagine unions, labor laws, and minimum wage.

Poggervania,
Poggervania avatar

Woooosh

kuontom,
kuontom avatar

Workers' rights? Literal communism! Go back to China

stephfinitely,
stephfinitely avatar

I don't think you know how communism countries treat there workers...

kuontom,
kuontom avatar

I'm aware. I was hoping people would understand sarcasm without an explicit /s but sigh

Fulthi,

We get it. It's just not funny.

kuontom,
kuontom avatar

Fair enough

HeinousTugboat,

I thought it was funny.

LeftIt,
LeftIt avatar

We get it

I see three users in this thread not getting it. And the OP is replying to one of 'em. Not sure if you're blind or just want to be a prick mate, but if its the latter leave that attitude on Reddit yeh?

norbert,
norbert avatar

We seem to have brought a lot of try-hards that just want to argue and can't see obvious sarcasm.

inb4: "sArCAsm dOEsnT coME ThrOUGh TeXt!"

nightauthor,
nightauthor avatar

There are cases where sarcasm doesn’t come through, because it’s only clear that it’s either sarcastic or crazy. And there’s a lot of crazy in the internet.

But i did feel this was clearly sarcastic.

DreamerofDays,

But sarcasm doesn’t come thr—

Oh…

I’ll sit down

borkcorkedforks,

Dude, people are walking around believing that shit. Parody doesn't work when the extreme just has the same take.

SpicyPeaSoup,
SpicyPeaSoup avatar

Poor guy. Like trying to explain philosophy to a potted plant.

genoxidedev1,
genoxidedev1 avatar

Ahhh china. The country of workers rights.

Poggervania,
Poggervania avatar

Tipping is messed up on both ends for both the delivery person and the customer when you think about it.

Tipping is basically a way for a corporation that could actually pay a livable wage to instead not do that, and then criminally underpay their employees - after all, the customers will just pay extra to make up for the literal below minimum wage pay the corporation is paying the delivery person.

sirspate,
sirspate avatar

It's also a way for employees to under-report their income on their taxes, which is a perverse incentive.

Suddenmoose,

tipping culture needs to die

wagesj45,
wagesj45 avatar

the question is how to kill it. anytime someone suggests that they just won't tip anymore, they're deluged by a torrent of hate because "that's not how it works!" yeah, they know and they want to change it.

seems like the only acceptable answer is for business owners to recognize that tipping culture is wrong and voluntarily, through the goodness of their hearts, abolish tips in their establishment and pay a living wage. this is super admirable for the very few businesses that do this, but its wildly unrealistic to think it will happen. so the default is accepting that businesses will continue to exploit their workers and their customers kind-heartedness.

AnonTwo,

What about making government repeal the minimum wage laws surrounding tipping, so that corporations have to pay the actual minimum wages?

wagesj45,
wagesj45 avatar

would be cool. but one political party will throw a shitfit if you try. theyd rather burn the country to the ground than force our corporate overlords sacrifice a single percent of their record profits.

maybe we could include a union info card with every tip.

Flaky_Fish69,
Flaky_Fish69 avatar

I’m okay with being flamed.

Three points to consider:

  • tipping itself is voluntary.
  • employment is at will (if they can find a better paying job, they should.)(for that matter, so is my patronage- which is why I don’t use door dash or whatever. Totally unethical)
  • many tips aren’t going to the driver/waitstaff/other staff at all.

(Door dash for example, if you tip less than or the same as the delivery fee they pay the driver, they pay the same fee regardless and keep the extra tip. If you pay more than, they take the delivery fee. Many of the point of sales kiosks that are asking for a tip never go to the people bejng the counter- especially at place last that you wouldn’t normally tip at. Or some of it goes there, but then management gets a cut, square gets also gets their cut, and visa etc also get their cut)

Rhaedas,
Rhaedas avatar

As a pizza deliver driver once (in the era before GPS when it was usually cash or a check), the nice houses often were the worse for paying a tip, if anything. The apartments and run down areas seemed to get the point of you doing them a service, and would find change they probably needed to make a tip. That being said, tipping in the US is yet another example of corporate power shifting responsibility and blame onto the consumer rather than take direct action on a problem. The modern example is putting in more and more systems to encourage higher tipping, rather than raise wages.

Litany,
Litany avatar

Yes! I never know how to feel about being prompted for a tip when I get carry out. Normally the tip is for table or delivery service. I don't think I should be obligated to compensate someone's wage for running my credit card and handing me a bag.

It is is 100% the case that establishments know customers will feel obligated to tip in any scenario they are prompted.

Hell, how do I even know that such a tip goes to the service staff who are paid less than minimum wage?

Flaky_Fish69,
Flaky_Fish69 avatar

Frequently, it doesn’t. Or more frequently, not all of it. It’s acruelly illegal (a form of wage theft.) but because there’s a sense that the person working the shit job needs that shit job… complaining about it doesn’t help.

In any case… I’m of the opinion that I shouldn’t have to tip. If that pisses of service workers, they can (and should,) go find another job. That said I do tip for typical things- I just do t think I should have to. And if the service is terrible….

In any case, there are waitstaff that make relatively large paychecks from tipping as well. (Particularly in bars.)

leaskovski,
leaskovski avatar

I never understood why the driver should get a tip? Do you top your mail man everytime he turns up with your post?

DarkThoughts,

They often have to pay for the gas. But then again, if they didn't get tips, and they wouldn't get enough money from the job, then they wouldn't take it in the first place. Which means then the companies would have to actually pay enough money, meaning the drivers wouldn't actually need tips. Tipping just needs to go. It's a stupid fucking system to rob the customer of more money than necessary and breeds those confusing social standards that cause nothing but conflict.

throwing_handles,

Adding to the tipping discussion, US and most state laws stipulate that if an employee’s tipped-minimum wage plus tips for a given hour do not sum to the standard minimum wage, the employer must pay the difference.

This is a deliberately obscure way of saying, ‘employers may take the first $X of each employee’s tips each hour.’ If a tipped-minimum restaurant put that statement verbatim on their receipt they’d be boycotted, because people would realize how asinine it is.

AttackBunny,
AttackBunny avatar

So, we are assuming the pizza was $20. a 20% tip, which is still pretty standard, afaik, would be $4. WTF is this driver pissed about exactly?

Also, why the hell does anyone use these services? They take a huge commission from the restaurant, they don't pay their drivers living wage, shit is frequently wrong, or the driver is an ass. What benefit does this "service" actually offer because I can't see it.

Flaky_Fish69,
Flaky_Fish69 avatar

Iirc, door dash likes to withhold some or all of the fee they pay the driver if the tip is equal to the fee. I forget exactly how it works, but unless you double the delivery fee, you may as well not tip.

AttackBunny,
AttackBunny avatar

All the more reason I ask why anyone uses these apps. It’s not good for the restaurant. It’s not good for the 1099 contractors (they aren’t employed by the delivery services same as Uber/lyft).

AnonTwo,

I pretty much don't even use it anymore unless there's some emergency reason I can't leave the house. Paying for doordash is paying fancy restaurant prices for fast food.

PabloDiscobar,
PabloDiscobar avatar

A spokesperson for DoorDash said a delivery driver had been removed from their platform in connection with the incident.

wut? Is doordash hiring people on the fly to deliver food?

kmkz_ninja,

Doordash doesn’t hire drivers. It’s gig work.

Flaky_Fish69,
Flaky_Fish69 avatar

Download an app and start driving today!

baseless_discourse,

This is why I don’t order delivery anymore.

JoJo,

Whatever you think of the driver’s behaviour, getting someone sacked for having a bad day is a scummy thing to do. You leave them a five star review or you do nothing.

greater_potater,

Well then I'm scum because I would contact the company and demand my tip back and tell them exactly why.

JoJo,

I get the impulse, for sure. It’s upsetting, you want revenge. But would you stop to consider whether the injury to your feelings is really worth throwing someone out of work? I mean, if it’s some tax-avoiding, worker-exploiting, obscenely highly paid executive, go for it. Bury them if you get the chance. But punishing a very low wage gig worker to make yourself feel better, and tightening the iron grip of the afore-mentioned executives by snitching on them? Be the better person and feel good about it.

snooggums,
snooggums avatar

Did you watch the video?

It wasn't like he muttered it under his breath. He was a total ass directly to his customer's face because they had a nice house and didn't tip to his satisfaction.

JoJo,

I did watch the video. He was having a bad day. And the wealthy person he took it out on took it upon themselves to dismantle his life. That’s the whole point of being wealthy, after all. You don’t have to give a shit about anyone but yourself. And there will be ordinary Joes cheering you on because this world is absolutely fucked.

kmkz_ninja,

I wish I could pay someone poorer than you to just follow you around and insult you.

rikonium,

Some people said Amy Cooper (Central Park “Karen”) was having a bad day - I found it telling that the implication being made is that they believe everyone has highly racist tendencies barely contained and all it takes is a case of the Monday’s to lie and attempt to sic the police on a person of the wrong complexion. (projection?)

JoJo,

You’re going to have to explain why an entitled rich woman abusing her power is equivalent to the driver here.

rikonium,

Both had someone brushing it off as “a bad day”

JoJo,

And yet the more obvious analogy is between the two Karens in these stories, no?

Unaware7013,

And yet the more obvious analogy is between the two Karens in these stories, no?

No, full stop. You're trying to compare someone being racist with someone who didn't give a tip big enough for the delivery driver. Reporting someone for verbally abusing you isn't being a Karen, doing something like yelling "fuck you" at a customer because they didn't give you enough extra money is being a Karen.

rikonium,

I’m not the one who excused behavior with a “just a bad day” for the lady nor driver so not making any analogies here

sadreality,

Central park lady committed a crime ho for which she was not prosecuted.

rikonium,

And? I’m just pointing out people “having a bad day” to excuse poor behavior

sadreality,

I don't see how these stories are being mixed together.

He said fuck you which is a dick move

She made a false police report which is a crime.

Putting these two together is making a false equivalency

rikonium,

I’m not comparing the acts at all which are clearly very different in severity, I’m highlighting that some people tried to excuse the behavior of both as merely having “a bad day” while I am of the opinion these are clear signs of who they are as a person rather than a “normal” (I know that’s subjective) person simply having “a bad day” - it was said in one of the above comments I replied to earlier which is why my comments all hinge on the “bad day” excuse.

lp0101,

Oh no, it’s the consequences of his own actions.

I’m all for worker’s rights and solidarity among the working class. That doesn’t mean I give people carte blanche to be dicks. In the end, I’m paying for a service, and that service doesn’t include a man child being upset at my tip.

JoJo,

It is a wholly disproportionate consequence. Chasing him down and yelling at him in the street might have been a reasonable course of action. Chasing him down and asking him how badly the gig employer was treating him to make him feel this way would be much better. Dismantling his livelihood just because you have so much power it doesn’t even occur to you to avoid abusing it, when his poverty is what makes your own wealth possible, is vicious entitlement.

lp0101,

You’re looking too far into this, my guy. This has nothing to with wealth and power and everything to do with expecting a minimum level of politeness from people I’m paying to provide me with a service. I’ve had bad days at work, and I’ve never lashed out at a customer like he has.

The only entitled person in this exchange is the delivery driver who felt that a 20% tip wasn’t enough.

JoJo,

It was 25%. But a 25% tip on a $20 order really isn’t that impressive. The driver does much the same amount of work as for a $100 order.

Income inequality does make it possible to hire gig-workers to run increasingly trivial errands for us, and the structures that enable that do make it possible to treat those gig-workers like shit. That does not mean you should. If you’re going to order small, you should tip big and I don’t think that is remotely controversial?

AnonTwo,

That does not mean you should. If you’re going to order small, you should tip big and I don’t think that is remotely controversial?

I don't see why that wouldn't be controversial. You're thinking of just wealthy people and not middle class. I would be losing money every month paying premium for small orders. I know this because i've done this for months (was very sick for awhile).

And since I still believe in tipping people because I understand that they're not being paid even minimum wage, I opted to just not order at all now.

lp0101,

No one here treated the gig worker like shit. He got a higher than average tip, he wasn’t satisfied with it, lashed out at someone who did nothing wrong, and then he had to face the consequences of his own actions. It doesn’t matter if he was having a bad day, it doesn’t matter what happened before this.

If you’re going to order small, you should tip big and I don’t think that is remotely controversial?

I would fucking hope this is controversial. The very idea of tipping before I get my food is already ridiculous, and I’ve had to contact doordash multiple times to lower or remove my tip when I’ve received food in unacceptable conditions (as if the driver had tossed the bag around in his car). There is no way in hell I’m going to be paying over a quarter the price of my food on delivery.

JoJo,

Gotta keep the servants in line. Got it.

lp0101,

Everyone who makes more money than me is the wealthy and the problem: a child’s guide to class consciousness.

JoJo,

Are you trying to pretend the power relations were in favour of the driver here?

Get a grip.

lp0101,

You hyperfocus on the fact that the homeowner likely makes more money than the driver, therefore absolving the driver of any and all responsibility. Take a step back, maybe pull your head just a little bit out of your own ass, and realize that all the driver had to do to not get fired is literally just not swear at the fucking customer

JoJo,

I have never said the driver behaved well. Only that the customer behaved much worse.

kmkz_ninja,

Lmao. People like this exist in real life, apparently. Are you a human personification of the “Well I’m sure the guy who stole my bike needed it more” meme.

osarusan,
osarusan avatar

Dude, you are way too focused on who did the thing (or rather, how much money they had) than what actually happened. You're missing the forest for the trees.

ryan,

I normally agree with you - if something got misdelivered or an item is wrong, it's best to give the benefit of the doubt, they forgot or they're having a bad day or whatever. No reason to tank a person's whole side job.

In this case though, considering it's the driver directly swearing at the woman and indicating he thinks she has wronged him, and obviously he knows where she lives... I can't necessarily blame her for reporting it to be on the safe side. That's a lot different than just forgetting a drink.

PabloDiscobar,
PabloDiscobar avatar

And at the next delivery the driver spits in your pizza?

Unaware7013,

Yeah, no. You freak out on me like that, especially on a 25% tip, I'm absolutely reporting you to your manager. That kind of entitlement deserves to be destroyed and I don't feel the least bit bad about someone losing their job for bitching out a customer unwarranted.

FeetiePJs,
FeetiePJs avatar

getting someone sacked for having a bad day is a scummy thing to do

It is, but only because losing a job means that person might now lose access to food, housing, and healthcare. That's a really steep price to pay for what could be an isolated incident. But that's not something to lay at the feet of the person tipping here. They are also a victim of the structure we've created. They need to choose between shutting up and accepting verbal abuse in their own home or speaking out and possibly triggering events that ruin the delivery driver's life? Neither of those choices are acceptable.

JoJo,

Did you see that house? They’re beneficiaries of the structure ‘we’ have created. They absolutely should have enough self-awareness to take it on the chin.

PhoenixRising,

That actually looks like an average house in any suburban neighborhood in Texas.

kuontom,
kuontom avatar

Here's the video -> youtube.com/shorts/Pyj9KlgaFdw

Madison_rogue,
Madison_rogue avatar

I did a little digging into DoorDash's pay scheme, and from what it sounds, larger orders might carry a higher delivery premium paid to the driver, plus incentives, plus the tip. They are paid as follows: Base Pay + Tip + Promotions. Base pay is anywhere from $2-$10 based on time, distance, and deliverability. Tip is 100% to the driver for the delivery. Incentive includes peak pay, guaranteed earnings, and challenges.

So the least the delivery driver would have earned was $7.00 for the delivery ($2.00 service plus the $5.00 tip). If it was peak they could have earned $1-$3 more if you make 5 deliveries with an acceptance rate of 60%. So the driver could've made up to an additional $3.00 if he met this criteria.

I personally don't believe DoorDash has a really great payout model, it heavily pays the company over the delivery driver. If anything the driver shouldn't have a beef with the customer; they should have issue with DoorDash for their pay model. Honestly I wonder why the restaurant didn't have a delivery service of their own; those that serve pizza almost always employ delivery drivers.

As far as tip culture is concerned, I am personally not a fan even though I live in the U.S. but we have to live with it. There are scales used as guidelines for properly tipping service, and we use them. That said, 25% is a generous tip for a driver...they drove the food there. They didn't seat the customer, take their order, cook the food, serve it, serve drinks, clean the table, etc.

wagesj45,
wagesj45 avatar

but we have to live with it

we don't have to, but the steps to change it will be uncomfortable for everyone, including the low paid service workers. companies aren't willing to change because it helps their bottom line, and the kind-hearted customers aren't willing to change because they'll feel like they're the ones hurting the service workers. i struggle with this as well.

xc2215x,

I don't mind tipping well but the cursing was not needed.

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