Walmart+ delivery driver tipping? Really??

[single2019]

Love Walmart+

Been using Walmart+ since before it was called “plus”. Very pleased with it. Unlike Instacart, the product price is the same as store price. Delivery is done (in my area) by DoorDash. Driver typically makes $5/delivery. I tip generously because I love the service. One can opt for leave at the door or sign for delivery. I get a text and email with substitutions that I can accept or deny. Items that are incorrect or unsatisfactory can be refunded very easily. There are times when things are not available after ordering. I think it’s a part of general supply chain issues.

 

[skipro33]

I'm overjoyed that I'm at a point in my life that I can tip without thinking about how much and will that amount affect me in any way. Of course only for good service. For delivery, I'll tip the suggested plus 1 dollar. The Instacart drivers go nuts trying for my orders. I think they must have some way of tagging customers as for how well they tip.
But here's the reason I tip; I'm immune compromised and someone willing to drive way out where I live, 7 Mike's from Walmart and grocery stores, and 23 miles from Costco, may just save my life by avoiding going out in public.
Costco is best, I can place an order and it will be at my front door in under 2 hours. The runner stays in text contact for substitute options, etc. It's a whole lot more than a delivery service like UPS or Amazon.

 

[Scrapr]

Thanks.

I also Googled and found some conflicting data but this was the best article I ran across. It's by Spark, the employer the Walmart drivers apparently work for. It's an interesting read and answers all/most of the questions about Walmart driver compensation.

https://getcircuit.com/route-planner/blog/how-much-do-walmart-delivery-drivers-make

Wow. Even $20/hr is way too low if the drivers are using their own vehicles. Wear & tear & fuel will eat that up in a hurry. that is what I don't get about Uber/Uber eats either

*full disclosure I do use Uber but rarely. Not Uber eats

Edit: spellun

 

[Sunset]

Considering the prevalence of undelivered items in our orders (so far) and the delivery driver tipping, we are definitely not going to continue with W+ after the free trial. Our local store is only a 9-10 minute drive, and there is a Kroger even closer, so unlimited, "no-fee" delivery is not all that valuable to us. Besides, at $98/year, deliveries are hardly free (or even cheap!), especially when you factor in the delivery driver tips they pressure you into giving. I might consider if it Walmart were the only game in town for groceries and the store was a 20+ minute drive from my house.

Considering the missing items, etc, You should request the return of the TIP.

TIPS are not: To Insure Poor Service.

 

[Sunset]

Why did you call out Walmart and Amazon delivery drivers? The others are different? Should we ever tip at all?

I Never got tipped in my career, once a person is past being a teenager, they need to get a REAL job (as my 70 yr old aunt said) and earn their money.

Tipping is the slippery slope of corruption, the cop told me as I offered him $50 to forget about the speeding ticket

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

Considering the missing items, etc, You should request the return of the TIP.

TIPS are not: To Insure Poor Service.

Read my post #8.

 

[bobandsherry]

Maybe I missed someone already saying this, but you are not required to tip and, the important point overlooked from scanning what was written, you can adjust your tip after delivery. So if you tip and get poor service then you can change your tip amount. And conversely, if you got great service and didn't tip then you can add a tip.

I got a year of Walmart+ for net $25. I've used it a couple times in past month, seems reasonable to give a few bucks to tip as I save on gas and my time. I've been able to ship items for free to my daughter, formula for her new son as she couldn't find it locally, no charge for shipping and no tip either. And they also offer 10 cents off fuel purchase with the WM+ subscription, saves a few bucks when I fuel up. Unclear if I'll renew after the year, but if it benefits me I will. In mean time I'll consider dropping a few bucks as a tip to have someone pick and deliver items to my front door in a matter of hours, letting me have time to do something more, or maybe less, exciting.

But if you don't like using the service it's very simple, STOP using it. Get in your car, drive to the store, pick up your own items and drive back home. End of story.

 

[aja8888]

I'm a "regular" at our Walmart that is one mile away. I do all the shopping (DW is handicapped and doesn't move well without a lot of help). I like going and picking out our groceries and chatting with the workers, who pretty much all know me by sight. It's kind of a "day out" for me when I am not playing golf.

I suppose if we were remote enough and I didn't have constant cabin fever, I would try the delivery service. The tipping requirement is bazaar, but I would tip the delivery person even if it was not required.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

The people who do the driving for those kinds of places rely on tips for their compensation. I see their sad posts on Reddit when they don't get decent tips. They aren't usually the kind of people who have a lot of other job alternatives. We usually either do our own shopping or Whole Foods pick up, but when we use a delivery service or Lyft we tip generously. We can afford it, won't miss it and it means a lot to the drivers. We had some home repair work done the other day and we tipped each of the work crew $50.

I grew up poor and many of my friends and family had jobs working for tips. I know how much those tips mean if you have a low income household.

 

[mrfeh]

The real question is:

Why can't Walmart pay the drivers a proper wage?

I am not sure I would sign up for a service that made me feel guilty.

This.

If the customer pays part of the driver's salary, Walmart doesn't have to.

 

[iloveyoga]

Been using Walmart+ since before it was called “plus”. Very pleased with it. Unlike Instacart, the product price is the same as store price. Delivery is done (in my area) by DoorDash. Driver typically makes $5/delivery. I tip generously because I love the service. One can opt for leave at the door or sign for delivery. I get a text and email with substitutions that I can accept or deny. Items that are incorrect or unsatisfactory can be refunded very easily. There are times when things are not available after ordering. I think it’s a part of general supply chain issues.

You said it better than I did. I have a delivery coming in the morning. I can add on or change up until some time in the early morning hours. I love it.

Our Walmarts even do a decent job of picking out fruits and vegetables and the milk is always very fresh. And I don't mind tipping at all because I did not have to go to the store.

 

[Midpack]

Do not tip Walmart or Amazon delivery drivers.
Let Walmart and Amazon and their contract delivery providers pay a living wage to their delivery driver workforce on their own.

Ups drivers make over 100K with overtime so no tip needed.

Corporate America is now trying to raise wages using digital tipping and digital begging at time of purchase.
Do not be scammed and shamed into leaving a tip for a multi- billion dollar corporation like Walmart.

Before we know it the airlines will be digital begging for the pilots to get a digital tip when we buy an airline ticket.

I don’t wholesale disagree, it seems the spread of tipping has gotten out of hand, but again this is (not solely but) significantly driven by most customers spending their money where they find the lowest prices. People like to say they object, but where they actually spend is what matters, actions speak louder than words. People who casually object usually don’t appreciate what it takes to make a business successful (but insist they do).

Some restaurants have tried to eliminate tipping, increased employee wages and prices substantially, explained to customers, and they still lost business - and had to go back to lower prices and servers relying on tips. https://www.inc.com/huffington-post/what-happens-when-a-restaurant-eliminates-tipping.html https://www.eater.com/21398973/restaurant-no-tipping-movement-living-wage-future

If with no explanation you were offered Product/Service A for $20 at Company X with optional tipping and the exact same for $24 at Company Y - do you think most people would choose Company Y? The restaurant examples above show customers say one thing and do another. The success of Walmart over all the small businesses they crushed shows most customers say one thing and do another when it comes to prices and spending their money.

All I’m saying is it’s not as easy as you think, and customer behavior is part of the reasons, not just greedy companies…

Unless all businesses in a sector raise wages to absorb tipping, companies who do what you want are and have been punished for trying. Or unless customers change their actions en masse - which seems highly unlikely.

Until, it seemed, the wheels came off. Most of the restaurants that participated in the Meyer-catalyzed no-tipping movement had, by 2018, returned to gratuity. Meyer, whose organization never fully recovered from the shift to what he called “Hospitality Included,” capitulated earlier this summer, announcing that he would bring back tipping to USHG. Thus tipping won, and decisively.

 

[Aerides]

Does walmart ring the door for your to answer, and wait there with your order (ala, instacart, food deliveries) or drop it off like amazon and ups. (even if ups might knock or ring but still drop and go).

Perhaps that's the distinction? With Ubereats and Instacart, I know the delivery person is a gig worker, making very little on each transaction, so I like to tip.

But if this is a paid employee (even contract/temps) via Amazon, Walmart, etc, then, nope that's not where I'd expect to tip.

 

[donheff]

Just do what you think is right? If you feel guilty not tipping, that’s your issue.

We’ve been fortunate like most here, and at least half our population works for low wages, so I’m fine tipping a couple bucks - the OP is complaining about $5.

It’s not easy for individual businesses to just raise wages and forego tips, as customers will give their business to those who don’t and appear to have lower prices. Some/many who complain are the first to seek out lower prices without stopping to think what makes that possible - lower wages among other factors. Individual businesses can’t change our long established tipping conventions easily.

+1 I would rather have standard service fees accompanied by reasonable wage and benefit packages for these folks but that is not how it works here. Fifty years ago, I drove a cab for a while in Chicago. Tips were about 40% of my compensation so I am sensitive to the need to tip people well. I like being able to do it within an app (e.g., Lyft, Door Dash, etc) because it facilitates the ease of the transaction.

My general take is that when a company suggests a tip amount for employees they are being transparent about the fact that those employees rely on tips. If you are not willing to tip them the best alternative is to take your business elsewhere rather than stiff the workers. I have participated in numerous bike tours and recently a Grand Canyon raft trip where the company gives tipping guidelines for the guides. Every once in a while there is someone on the trip who talks up the idea of giving a lousy tip amount. It doesn't matter that the guides did a fantastic job - the follow travelers just don't want to fork out the $. I always guilt them as do most of the other travelers they pester.

 

[bobandsherry]

This.



If the customer pays part of the driver's salary, Walmart doesn't have to.

This is a fallacy. Walmart operates based on ROI, ROA and margins. If Walmart pays it they'll pass that along with increased prices. The consumer pays in the end one way or another.

Realistically, the price of the goods shouldn't change as everyone shouldn't subsidize those who want delivery. And the same for membership cost, shouldn't increase the annual price as those who use it occasionally shouldn't subsidize those who abuse the service by ordering many small orders vs a larger weekly order.

I guess to appease people Walmart should just allow a specific number of deliveries for "free", then charge a delivery fee for orders above that specific number. Make that the "fee" then to pay the drivers more. However you look at it, the consumer pays in the end.

 

[SJhawkins]

I don't use this service but I get what the OP is getting at, I however think it's more of the "straw that broke the cammels back" feeling.

It's seems everyplace you go you see a tip jar, it's getting out of hand. What's next, leave a digital tip at the fuel pump for the person who trucked in the fuel!

Maybe I'm starting my old guy "get off my lawn" phase of life, I'm over todays tipping model.

 

[harllee]

I have used Walmart Curbside pick up for years (even before the pandemic) and overall it works great and no tipping is allowed.. I have tried the Walmart plus delivery several times and it was a disaster--order cancelled, many missing items, items I did not want included in the order. I will never again try the Walmart plus delivery. But I highly recommend Walmart curbside pick up.

 

[Montecfo]

Tipping is not based on the customer's perception of how the employee is paid by their employer. It is about tradition and personal service.

I think the root of people's frustration with tipping is based on this misperception and the expansion of potential tip situations based on apps or software. This creates needless ambiguity for some.

There is no tradition to pay a tip when someone hands you a cup of coffee across a counter. Nor is there one to put money in a tip jar when you order a sandwich. Those tip jars are fine but you have to understand they are just an offer to receive money from you-not one you ever need to accept.

And payment software that asks if you want to tip in non-tip situations are doing the same thing. This should be recognized for what it is. The default would be not to tip if it is not a traditional tipping situation or if you did not receive a personalized service.

I do not use grocery delivery services, but if I did I would not do "mandatory" tips, nor would I try to analyze the economic situation of the driver. I would tip based on service received. And I tip generously, just not gratuitously.

The market has a way of working out the other details.

 

[Midpack]

I don't use this service but I get what the OP is getting at, I however think it's more of the "straw that broke the cammels back" feeling.

It's seems everyplace you go you see a tip jar, it's getting out of hand. What's next, leave a digital tip at the fuel pump for the person who trucked in the fuel!

Maybe I'm starting my old guy "get off my lawn" phase of life, I'm over todays tipping model.

Then don’t tip when you think it’s uncalled for. Simple. If tip jars make you feel guilty, that’s your issue.

Restaurants, bars, porters, and a few others are a different case, long established with legally below minimum wage structures for restaurants. Beyond that, we tip almost everywhere we get decent service because we realize the workers in those situations usually aren’t very well paid, and we have plenty - like many here. The pandemic made it even clearer how many people are just scraping by, some their own poor choices, but many not. We’d rather err toward over tipping that under when service is good.

 

[Morgan22]

Instacart, Walmart, and I believe most Amazon drivers are independent contractors. That means no benefits. So I believe it is right to tip them. (Someone mentioned UPS, they are employees and paid well, so you do not need to tip them. I know a few people that worked for and retired from UPS).

One of my kids used to do Instacart shopping/deliveries in Boston. They would hustle (try to put together orders quickly and help bring orders into homes if customer wanted) and hoped for good tips. They commented that it seemed the "rich" people were less likely to tip. One particular Bruin wife did not tip. This Bruin has a multi-year, multi million dollar contract. They moved on shortly after that to become a restaurant runner/waitress where tips were pretty much guaranteed.

 

[pacergal]

I tip for restaurant delivery, so I probably would for grocery delivery.

I only had groceries delivered once from Amazon Prime. did not like any of the produce that was picked out--either rotten or not ripe. That was in the middle of 2020, I don't think I tipped then
I do use Kroger pick up, though, and liked that.
Recently have gone back to local Safeway and purchase in person, mostly. I like picking out my own produce.

 

[Chuckanut]

Restaurants, bars, porters, and a few others are a different case, long established with legally below minimum wage structures for restaurants.

For the record, the above varies by state. In my state tipped workers have the same minimum wage as non tipped workers. Thus the issue is further confused for travelers.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Instacart, Walmart, and I believe most Amazon drivers are independent contractors. That means no benefits. So I believe it is right to tip them. (Someone mentioned UPS, they are employees and paid well, so you do not need to tip them. I know a few people that worked for and retired from UPS).

One of my kids used to do Instacart shopping/deliveries in Boston. They would hustle (try to put together orders quickly and help bring orders into homes if customer wanted) and hoped for good tips. They commented that it seemed the "rich" people were less likely to tip. One particular Bruin wife did not tip. This Bruin has a multi-year, multi million dollar contract. They moved on shortly after that to become a restaurant runner/waitress where tips were pretty much guaranteed.

We went to a free concert in the park in a wealthy suburb the other day - average home price in the millions. The band was really good. I was shocked how few people left money in the tip jar for the band. Yet there had been long lines for all the food trucks and the gourmet pizza truck sold out and was turning away customers.

 

[aaronc879]

Before we know it the airlines will be digital begging for the pilots to get a digital tip when we buy an airline ticket.

Definitely not tipping a $250K/yr+ pilot but maybe a flight attendant.

 

[Midpack]

For the record, the above varies by state. In my state tipped workers have the same minimum wage as non tipped workers. Thus the issue is further confused for travelers.

Thanks, I’d forgotten that some states do require restaurants to pay the same minimum as all others. Others require workers must make at least minimum wage with tips, and still others only pay servers as little as $2.13/hr.

https://www.touchbistro.com/blog/the-state-of-tipped-minimum-wage-in-the-restaurant-industry/

https://www.the-sun.com/money/2916127/federal-minimum-wage-2022-us/