Tipping is a customary part of ordering from restaurants, but one driver has exposed a sneaky new method people are using to skimp on tips.
In a now viral TikTok video, delivery driver Sarah reveals that some customers “tip bait” drivers, adding that she had “no idea” they could do this until becoming a driver herself.
“There’s this thing called tip baiting, and I am so disgusted,” the courier began in the clip with over 640,000 views.
“Tip baiting” is when customers offer a large tip when placing the order, only to lower it once the food has been delivered.
To illustrate her point, Sarah — a stay at home mom who delivers for UberEats and DoorDash — recounted an instance when she’d accepted an order for a woman within a five-mile-radius, offering a $15 tip.
She recalled that the diner had asked for a “whole heaping handful” of ketchup and extra sauces, free water and a bunch of napkins and straws — and she made certain they were all in the bag and got it to the customer while it was still “piping hot.”
Customers are indeed permitted to adjust their tips within a limited period of time after delivery — but Sarah didn’t know they were allowed to decrease the initially posted amount. “I had no clue that you could take it away.”
“After that hour went by I looked at my earnings and I did not make $15 off that order,” Sarah said. “You know what I made? $2.”
Giving her customer the benefit of the doubt, she sought advice in a Facebook group of fellow delivery drivers, inquiring about the tipping “glitch.”
“I messaged a couple of people and they were like ‘yeah, it’s a thing,’” a furious Sarah continued. “So you mean to tell me I went the extra f–king mile for this customer like I do every other customer, and they do me like that?”
Many TikTok users were horrified by the concept, some offering explanations as to why this may happen.
“It’s because @DoorDash employees are filming vids saying they won’t take orders for low tips. This person tricked you. It’s not fair either way,” one user wrote.
“I think drivers should be allowed to rate their customers since the customer is allowed to rate the drivers,” one suggested.
In August, an UberEats driver went viral for claiming that only made $0.37 for four hours of work delivering eight orders, telling Insider he made $30.97 in but then had to fill up his tank, which cost $30.60.
The Post has reached out to DoorDash and UberEats for comment.