'You put zero tip and I can see that upfront': Customer's order gets held up for hours after shopper decides to teach them a lesson about tipping

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Eleonora Bader
Feb 26, 2024 9:00 PM EST

One customer was 'held responsible for their actions' by a full-service shopper who felt it was their mission in life to teach them a lesson. What was this lesson about? Well, tipping.

Look, people are awful, I get it. I was a waitress once for many, many years, where I met people from all walks of life. Some were kind, some were petty, and some were downright entitled human beings. Working in the service industry really gets your hatred for humanity going, but still, by law, you don't need to tip. Should you tip? Absolutely. Is it your choice to tip? Also yes.

Scroll down to read about the approach this shopper decided to take, and how it all played out in the end. It all began with a rude message that the customer received after placing an order. Below you can find out what it said. Then, check out this engineering firm that lost big time when one of the manager's decisions to punish an employee by taking them off a project went badly.

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  • 01
    "I bet it will sit there all night long..."
    via Canva
  • 02
    Hello Jen, I would advise you to tip appropriately if you want your order delivered. Your order will sit for a long time until Instacart makes the offer look nice. You put zero tip and we can see that up front. I'm not sure what you are thinking but, I thought I'd be nice and help you with THE suggestion on how to get your order faster. I bet it will sit all night long. I hope you have a good one and best of luck to you. Another shopper will be assigned to you. May the odds be forever in your fa
    via u/DaikonSpecial9689
  • 03
    4:30 Good evening Jen. Not sure where that message came from, but rest assured, I will shop you order with same care that I do all my orders. 4:30 PM I have reported the comment to Instacart.
    via u/DaikonSpecial9689
  • 04
    Jen - 4:31 PM Ugh ya hay was last night :(. Someone took my order and held it hostage until store closed and sent that message Jen - 4:31 PM Thank you it was a rough experience 4:32 PM Wow. I'm so sorry.
    via u/DaikonSpecial9689
  • 05
    Has this ever happened to anyone? Shopper or customer? I opened the chat for an order I was working on and there was a message already there NOT FROM ME. Apparently someone had held this customer's order hostage for hours and she had to reschedule it for the next day. This seems totally out of line. If a customer doesn't add any tip then just don't pick up the order.
    via u/DaikonSpecial9689
  • 06
    Glass-Bank-8924 - 16 hr. ago I don't think it was for “hours” unless that shopper just didn't want to make any money for the rest of the night? But I have seen people do some weird stuff trying to "teach" someone a lesson if they don't tip... Reply Share 287
    via u/Glass-Bank-8924
  • 07
    Daikon Special9689 OP · 16 hr. ago After further questioning that is exactly what they did. Doesn't seem worth it to me, but whatever. 142 Reply Share
    via u/DaikonSpecial9689
  • 08
    treeteathememeking · 14 hr. ago I usually tip in cash. Maybe it's a bit boomer of me but I don't know how much I trust these delivery companies are actually giving the full ti, so that's my way of guaranteeing the driver gets 100%. So this is extra crazy. Reply Share 18
    via u/treeteathememeking
  • 09
    blazenation 15 hr. ago You got the people that work instacart complaining about tip baiting then you have people doing this. It's a problem caused by itself. I just order direct form staters. it's a 10$ fee and still batched through IC I just don't have to deal with these people anymore 77 ↓ Reply Share
    via u/blazenation
  • 10
    Rilenaveen - 9 hr. ago Hahahah. C n op this is a lot of bs on your part. I promise no shopper "held this hostage for hours". They probably accepted it. Sent the message and then unassigned it. And no one took it until you did. But go on with your weird a ; flex. Reply Share 13
    via u/Rilenaveen
  • 11
    00 whatsyanamejack - 15 hr. ago If instacarf wasn't so greedy none of this would be an issue for either side. Reply Share 48 Feeling-Ad-2690 · 13 hr. ago THIS! I'm new and do this occasionally as a third job, my husband does instacart & doordash during winter
    via u/whatsyanamejack, u/Feeling-Ad-2690
  • 12
    layoffs. I CAN NOT BELIEVE HOW STINGY INSTACART IS! You don't get paid miles, you don't get paid until you get to the store, MOST tips are percentage based so when items are out of stock your tip goes out the window, and instacart pays Jack for batch earnings! I keep seeing orders pop up that are about 50 items/units that are going 20-25 miles away and the total pay is $21-$24!
    via u/Feeling-Ad-2690
  • 13
    Then you have to consider the miles back to your area especially if where you're delivering is rural. That's 40-50 miles of driving, 1-2 hours of total time for $24. If you minus 3 gallons of fuel @ 3.20/gal that's $9.60 off your $24 "earnings" so it's actually $14.40. Divide that by the 2 hours it took total (includes driving time to return to regular area) and you're only making $7.20_hr (less than half of (minimum
    via u/Feeling-Ad-2690
  • 14
    wage). It's so not worth it especially if you consider the miles you're putting on your vehicle. Instacart needs to step up and pay a proper wage if they expect to keep any decent "employees". We see ALOT of j (¹) 2 cra ad looking shoppers when we're out and I can see why, you'd literally have to be high or desperate to accept alot of these orders! On the other hand CUSTOMERS need to
    via u/Feeling-Ad-2690
  • 15
    understand that this is a service that requires a tip. You tip at restaurants because it's understood and accepted that servers don't really make anything for an hourly wage and are relying on tips, same concept. The issue is that this is relatively new and tipping isn't really understood as a necessity for your shopper. Plus literally EVERYTHING now has a "tip" option further confusing things.
    via u/Feeling-Ad-2690
  • 16
    Seriously, I got asked if I wanted to tip an online service! Nope. I'm not tipping robots-ever. But really it comes down to: either Instacart/delivery services need to pay a living wage and make the tips something that the shoppers only see after delivery, OR they need to put an automatic gratituity of at least 15% on every order with the option to increase.
    via u/Feeling-Ad-2690
  • 17
    Budget_Garlic9818- 13 hr. ago Your comment needs to be pinned. Most shoppers don't understand the breakdown as you've presented it. I wish I could ↑vote it a thousand times. 7 B Reply Share
    via u/Budget_Garlic9818
  • 18
    cantbebanned. 15 hr. ago I'm a shopper and I don't even bother looking at orders with no tip. Regardless of what insta is paying, it's not worth my time 24 Reply Share
    via u/cantbebanned
  • 19
    StopThe Earth LemmeOff · 12 hr. ago The shopper was 100% doing the customer a favor here. Gotta learn how the platform works somehow. Reply Share 14
    via u/StopTheEarthLemmeOff
  • 20
    Kylieria 15 hr. ago They didnt hold it for any length of time. They said it would sit for hours because they didn't tip, which is true. Stop ordering 300-500 items and not tipping. Reply Share 26
    via u/Kylieria
  • 21
    johnnysdollhouse · 15 hr. ago Instead of just not picking up the order, this person went out of their way to scold. Next level passive-aggressive. Reply Share 17
    via u/johnnysdollhouse

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customer service employee reschedule workplace stories reddit customers working full service delivery tipping delivering food life lessons order service fee contractor tipping culture service industry
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