‘Karen’ Advises Customer To Pick Up Food Herself Next Time After Getting Denied A Tip
To tip or not to tip is a question of culture. In some Asian countries, people would get offended if you offered them a tip as they would take it as charity. In some European countries, they will gladly take your tip but won’t expect it. But in the US, while tipping is not mandatory, service workers will expect it, will expect a certain amount and will even ask for it.
A doorbell camera captured an interaction between a Domino’s delivery driver and a customer that sparked a discussion online. In the video, you can hear the delivery driver asking for a tip while handing the pizza to the customer and the woman just says goodbye and closes the door. The customer considered the request a sign of entitlement and some people agreed, but there were also commenters who believed the customer was being cheap.
More info: TikTok
Delivery driver is upset after not getting a tip she asked for while handing the customer the pizza
Image credits: user626366461
The viral video which now has 5.9 million views was posted by an anonymous person on TikTok who named themselves X on the app. It shows a short clip from a doorbell camera and it starts right at the moment when the delivery driver asks if she will get a tip. The woman asks for it while handing the pizza to the customer and her question or request, or demand, depending on how you look at it, is “Tip?”
The customer simply thanks her for the food and is closing the door when the delivery driver explains that she drove this pizza to the customer and brought it to her doorstep, so she should thank the driver with a tip because she has a car and could have picked it up herself.
A clip from a doorbell camera shows a delivery driver handing the pizza to a customer and asking for a tip at the same time
Image credits: user626366461
@user626366461 Umm…. The entitlement is killing me 😂 #dominos ♬ original sound – X
The customer, on the other hand, feels that she already paid for the convenience of getting the food delivered to her home when she paid for the order. It seems that she tried to stay polite and wished the delivery driver a nice day before closing the door.
The delivery driver was seemingly frustrated at not being tipped and told the customer to come and get the food herself next time, but left it there and even though the clip ended here, it was clear she was leaving.
The delivery driver points out that the customer has a car so she could’ve picked up the order herself but got it delivered to her door instead
This situation made people divide into two camps in the comments. Part of them were judging the customer or not tipping, because they got their food and the driver had to deliver it in the snow.
Some of them also guessed that maybe this wasn’t the first encounter between the two of them. There were other fellow delivery drivers who had sympathy for the one in the video, speculating that maybe several customers before this didn’t tip either, and she just got frustrated and let it out.
The customer, however, is convinced that she already paid for the convenience to get it delivered when paying for the order
Image credits: The Bag N Box Man LTD (not the actual photo)
The other camp, which seems to be the bigger one, was pretty appalled by the way the delivery driver acted. They were thrown off by how she didn’t even properly give the pizza to the customer and was already asking for a tip.
Many of them said that even if they were planning on tipping and then were asked like the delivery driver in the video did, they would change their minds and would slam the door in front of the delivery driver’s face.
The woman wished the delivery driver a good day and closed the door, but not before the Domino’s worker suggested getting the pizza herself next time
However, the ones that pointed out that maybe the delivery driver had a few customers not give her a tip might be onto something. Online resource for finance questions Credit Card conducted a survey on tipping in the post-pandemic period and it seems that Americans are not rushing to come back to 2019 levels.
If we look specifically at tipping for food delivery drivers, 63 percent of respondents said that they would always tip in 2019, but in 2022, that number dropped to 57 percent.
Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Credit Cards, explained the reasons behind it: “Inflation is cutting into consumers’ purchasing power and a tight labor market has left many service industry businesses understaffed and struggling to provide top-notch customer experiences.”
People in the comments were quite divided as tipping is a norm in American society
Not only are fewer people tipping, but those who do tip are leaving smaller amounts. A different survey by Popmenu revealed that in 2022, “43% of consumers typically tip servers 20% or more, down from 56% of consumers last year.”
Popmenu chief executive and co-founder Brendan Sweeney commented on the data, saying that the drop could also be attributed to people tipping more generously during the pandemic as they wanted to help struggling businesses if they could but now “People are not feeling like they’re in savior mode all the time.”
While others were taken aback by how rude the delivery driver was by asking for a tip before handing the pizza to the customer
Tipping in the US is a social norm that has deep roots in society and customers feel the pressure as they consider it a duty more than an expression of gratitude. This sentiment is evident in the Play USA survey data as “60% want to follow the steps of other countries and get rid of tipping entirely.”
And the pressure to tip is felt in the video we discussed today, as the woman got judged for not leaving a tip by some viewers as if she didn’t have a choice to decide not to tip.
Do you think it’s possible for Americans to get rid of tipping? How do you think that would look? Do you think that until then, customers should tip no matter what? Let us know your opinions in the comments!
Speaking as a delivery driver, you do not ask for a tip from the customer, especially before the transaction is even complete. Here is how deliveries work: You tell the cost of the food, they pay you for the food, they will either let you keep the change or tip you some other way, you give them the food, tell them to have a good day, and you leave. If they don't tip, you don't tell them to pick it up next time, you just go back to your car and say that to yourself. The most important thing is to never be a jerk as a delivery driver. That might lose you a customer.
I generally dont have cash to begin with and put my tip on my card when I place my order. I hope the drivers are told when they pick up thr order (especially the ones that work for the restaurant) so they arent upset when I dont give them cash at the door. Contactless delivery helps with that at least.
Why should I care if the company I am delivering for "loses a customer" if that very same company doesn't pay me enough to survive without tips?
Amy pay online now so they may have seen there wasn't a tip from online and hoping there would be in person.
You don't know what happened, it is cut so that you only see when she asks. For all you know 1. She watched her pay and select no tip. 2. She had offloaded multiple pizzas and that was just the last one. 3. The customer may have been rude prior. Realistically-- you're right you usually don't ask like that so instead of explaining how the transaction should work maybe consider what led to that point. 1. Coming up short for the month/ struggling financially. 2. Not being tipped a few times in a row. 3. Maybe this customer is a repeat customer who never tips and finally got under their skin. I'm not saying they are right, but I do think that a video claiming this should show the whole transaction and it makes me wonder why OP would only begin with the worst bit.
These are my thoughts exactly
I knew the comments were going to be good. I was expecting more people saying there shouldn't be any tipping, the company should pay better. Well unfortunately they don't so don't take it out on me and just tip me. Especially out in the snow where if there was an accident, the company won't pay for damage. But you're exactly right about the transaction, never be a jerk!
I don't know why people are downvoting you; you're right.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Because being a pizza delivery driver is for students. Don't be a bum. Tipping is stupid anyways. I live in a country now where there is no tipping. It's great. You people are entitled and lazy.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Get a real job bum
I don't understand tips. Her job is to collect food and deliver it to customers and then her employer pays her for carrying out the duties of her job. Don't like it, get another job.
The thing is that in the USA some jobs have a much lower minimum wage since they get tips and thus can make up for it through that. This means that in the USA tips are effectively mandatory rather than a nice little extra like it is in any other country that does do tips.
and those jobs will never change until people stop subsidizing them. Employees are fighting the consumers instead of those that put them in the position in the first place
It's chicken before the egg though. It won't change without people not tipping but people won't not tip because they are aware that they are directly affecting the livelihood of that person.
When people stop ‘subsidizing’ restaurants loose employees so there’s no one to serve you or deliver your food. If you go to restaurants or use delivery service you are a part of the dynamic, not an observer. So either you contribute or you stiff the worker out of their hourly wage. Don’t like the way American food industry works don’t participate
So, get another job. If no one does the job they’ll start paying more. It’s literally never going to change while people are still doing it because why on earth would it?
Everybody did "get another job" and then people started caterwauling, pearl clutching, and Karening out about "how nobody wants to work anymore" while throwing chairs at the remaining dedicated souls left running the front of house. So "getting another job" only created another set of problems. Bottom line is in American culture, people need a deep rethink about work, the value of labor, and how to treat everyone with dignity and respect.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
The problem isn't the employers. It's the customers. If they're not willing to pay a server or driver a 20% gratuity then they're not going to be willing to pay a 40% increase in menu price.
It is somewhat the employers I've been to many restaurants in the US where they openly advertise that they pay their wait staff a living wage and a such don't accept gratuities. Employers can make the change most are just cheap bastards.
It's great that you eat at those restaurants and I wish that others would follow your example, but let's be honest. Most of those restaurants go out of business because most people aren't willing to pay the increased menu prices when they're cheaper elsewhere.
It wouldn’t be anything like 40%. Prices in the UK are not all 40% higher than in the US. However, I genuinely would rather pay more and know the servers are paid enough to live on, get holiday pay, maternity leave etc. Especially when I’m being guilt tripped into paying it as a tip anyway. If you can’t afford to pay your employees properly your business shouldn’t be open as it’s not viable.
I wish people would stop comparing prices of food to other countries. When reading others impressions of American cuisine they all agree that the food is amazingly cheap and the portions are enormous. That tells me that they charge more for less in the UK. And 40% is a fairly low estimate considering how much most restaurants have tried to keep menu prices low for the last couple decades.
There will not be a forty percent increase. One customer is not paying for the entire paycheck of a server. Staff typically has more than one table at a time. Servers know they make more than 10-16 per hour and they like it that way.
You're forgetting about all the times that a restaurant is empty. The server will still be making that hourly wage when there isn't anyone to serve.
A tip is never mandatory. It's for going above and beyond.
It's not really, in this day and age, even the government is in on the system where it is a large part of a service employee's wage. Domino's isn't paying for any of the drivers expenses, they barely pay for their time, and that is common knowledge. Refusing to acknowledge that reality, when you know it is so, is incredibly exploitative. "Get a better job!" Maybe they're trying, maybe this is what they can do for income at this time. If you don't like the fact that tips are systematically engrained in the transaction, then don't engage in the exploitation, and indeed, go pick it up yourself.
Exactly. So employers are getting away with paying these types of jobs a low wage bc they rely on the customers to make up for it with tips. Which makes the customer look bad if they don't tip. It makes more sense to get paid well and not stress about getting enough tips to make ends meet.
Much in the same way WalMart pays low wages, and at the same time teaches its employees how to apply for food stamps and rent subsidies so we the taxpayers can keep their underpaid employees fed and housed.
That's exactly how it's supposed to work. The restaurant charges you less for the food and you give the server what you think they deserve for serving you.
Zoe and Sto are right. If no one wants to do it for this money, it will change.
Company still has to pay you minimum wage if customers don't. So if we all stop tipping and no one wants to serve or deliver anymore... Then they'd have to raise their wages, right?
they would, except the servers would be mad
And no, that's not the reason why minimum wage is so low in the US. You have clearly been decieved. Lots of minimum wage jobs do not get tipped.
It's not true that tipped workers are paid less, and it's aggravating that so many people believe it. If the worker's tips plus tipped wage does not equal the standard minimum wage, the employer is required by law to make up the difference. It's not some massive loophole that let's them pay $2-$3 an hour unless people enable it by tipping.
I don't get any tips working at my minimum wage job (fast food), so why should I tip someone who makes more money than I do? I do tip, but I feel resentful doing it.
Domino Delivery drivers use their own cars and out of that almost $5 the local Dominos charges for deliveries, the driver gets $0. Nothing for gas, nothing for insurance, nothing for car maintenance. They earn their tips. They no spend money out of their in own pockets to get your food to you.
Who tf asks for a tip like that? It's so interesting that we're simultaneously talking about how tipping culture is bad but also expanding the expectations and even the industries where tipping is now a thing. Saw an article the other day about tipping airline stewards/stewardesses.
Only in America....
Canada getting pretty bad too...
We're supposed to tip airlines employees too now?
Someone struggling for money/ coming up short for the holidays and on the desperate side. For some people that $5 tip could be the difference between eating or not eating or paying your gas bill. People are quick to say 'don't like it don't do it' but the reality is many people have financial obligations and it isn't that easy. There are always many factors going on around these videos-- yes maybe she's just rude... but more likely she's desperate. Many delivery drivers get shorted tips nowadays because of the ridiculous surcharges added onto the order. People see like 3 convenience fees and assume one goes to the driver as a mandatory tip. In reality-- the people at most risk, making the least money are now making less because companies gotta line their pockets first. But by then, people are already disillusioned and pissed off so don't want to pay out another $2-3 for a pizza that should have been$13 but somehow was $25 after taxes and fees.
I worked service industry for years and I very much get the idea of being desperate but if the point is to get $5 asking when she did is the least likely way to accomplish that. And yes I always tip for servers/delivery drivers/uber/cabs/baristas but this would put even me off. The additional comment about the car and telling the customer to pick it up themselves next time is also a good way to get the driver reprimanded or let go so once again it's counter productive. But I do get what you're saying about pizza and delivery prices going up. One of my friends used to deliver pizza and he would make a ton from tips, especially in winter because people felt sorry for him being out in awful weather. But pizzas were half the price they are now.
Someone who has delivered to that stiff previously.
Speaking as a delivery driver, you do not ask for a tip from the customer, especially before the transaction is even complete. Here is how deliveries work: You tell the cost of the food, they pay you for the food, they will either let you keep the change or tip you some other way, you give them the food, tell them to have a good day, and you leave. If they don't tip, you don't tell them to pick it up next time, you just go back to your car and say that to yourself. The most important thing is to never be a jerk as a delivery driver. That might lose you a customer.
I generally dont have cash to begin with and put my tip on my card when I place my order. I hope the drivers are told when they pick up thr order (especially the ones that work for the restaurant) so they arent upset when I dont give them cash at the door. Contactless delivery helps with that at least.
Why should I care if the company I am delivering for "loses a customer" if that very same company doesn't pay me enough to survive without tips?
Amy pay online now so they may have seen there wasn't a tip from online and hoping there would be in person.
You don't know what happened, it is cut so that you only see when she asks. For all you know 1. She watched her pay and select no tip. 2. She had offloaded multiple pizzas and that was just the last one. 3. The customer may have been rude prior. Realistically-- you're right you usually don't ask like that so instead of explaining how the transaction should work maybe consider what led to that point. 1. Coming up short for the month/ struggling financially. 2. Not being tipped a few times in a row. 3. Maybe this customer is a repeat customer who never tips and finally got under their skin. I'm not saying they are right, but I do think that a video claiming this should show the whole transaction and it makes me wonder why OP would only begin with the worst bit.
These are my thoughts exactly
I knew the comments were going to be good. I was expecting more people saying there shouldn't be any tipping, the company should pay better. Well unfortunately they don't so don't take it out on me and just tip me. Especially out in the snow where if there was an accident, the company won't pay for damage. But you're exactly right about the transaction, never be a jerk!
I don't know why people are downvoting you; you're right.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Because being a pizza delivery driver is for students. Don't be a bum. Tipping is stupid anyways. I live in a country now where there is no tipping. It's great. You people are entitled and lazy.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Get a real job bum
I don't understand tips. Her job is to collect food and deliver it to customers and then her employer pays her for carrying out the duties of her job. Don't like it, get another job.
The thing is that in the USA some jobs have a much lower minimum wage since they get tips and thus can make up for it through that. This means that in the USA tips are effectively mandatory rather than a nice little extra like it is in any other country that does do tips.
and those jobs will never change until people stop subsidizing them. Employees are fighting the consumers instead of those that put them in the position in the first place
It's chicken before the egg though. It won't change without people not tipping but people won't not tip because they are aware that they are directly affecting the livelihood of that person.
When people stop ‘subsidizing’ restaurants loose employees so there’s no one to serve you or deliver your food. If you go to restaurants or use delivery service you are a part of the dynamic, not an observer. So either you contribute or you stiff the worker out of their hourly wage. Don’t like the way American food industry works don’t participate
So, get another job. If no one does the job they’ll start paying more. It’s literally never going to change while people are still doing it because why on earth would it?
Everybody did "get another job" and then people started caterwauling, pearl clutching, and Karening out about "how nobody wants to work anymore" while throwing chairs at the remaining dedicated souls left running the front of house. So "getting another job" only created another set of problems. Bottom line is in American culture, people need a deep rethink about work, the value of labor, and how to treat everyone with dignity and respect.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
The problem isn't the employers. It's the customers. If they're not willing to pay a server or driver a 20% gratuity then they're not going to be willing to pay a 40% increase in menu price.
It is somewhat the employers I've been to many restaurants in the US where they openly advertise that they pay their wait staff a living wage and a such don't accept gratuities. Employers can make the change most are just cheap bastards.
It's great that you eat at those restaurants and I wish that others would follow your example, but let's be honest. Most of those restaurants go out of business because most people aren't willing to pay the increased menu prices when they're cheaper elsewhere.
It wouldn’t be anything like 40%. Prices in the UK are not all 40% higher than in the US. However, I genuinely would rather pay more and know the servers are paid enough to live on, get holiday pay, maternity leave etc. Especially when I’m being guilt tripped into paying it as a tip anyway. If you can’t afford to pay your employees properly your business shouldn’t be open as it’s not viable.
I wish people would stop comparing prices of food to other countries. When reading others impressions of American cuisine they all agree that the food is amazingly cheap and the portions are enormous. That tells me that they charge more for less in the UK. And 40% is a fairly low estimate considering how much most restaurants have tried to keep menu prices low for the last couple decades.
There will not be a forty percent increase. One customer is not paying for the entire paycheck of a server. Staff typically has more than one table at a time. Servers know they make more than 10-16 per hour and they like it that way.
You're forgetting about all the times that a restaurant is empty. The server will still be making that hourly wage when there isn't anyone to serve.
A tip is never mandatory. It's for going above and beyond.
It's not really, in this day and age, even the government is in on the system where it is a large part of a service employee's wage. Domino's isn't paying for any of the drivers expenses, they barely pay for their time, and that is common knowledge. Refusing to acknowledge that reality, when you know it is so, is incredibly exploitative. "Get a better job!" Maybe they're trying, maybe this is what they can do for income at this time. If you don't like the fact that tips are systematically engrained in the transaction, then don't engage in the exploitation, and indeed, go pick it up yourself.
Exactly. So employers are getting away with paying these types of jobs a low wage bc they rely on the customers to make up for it with tips. Which makes the customer look bad if they don't tip. It makes more sense to get paid well and not stress about getting enough tips to make ends meet.
Much in the same way WalMart pays low wages, and at the same time teaches its employees how to apply for food stamps and rent subsidies so we the taxpayers can keep their underpaid employees fed and housed.
That's exactly how it's supposed to work. The restaurant charges you less for the food and you give the server what you think they deserve for serving you.
Zoe and Sto are right. If no one wants to do it for this money, it will change.
Company still has to pay you minimum wage if customers don't. So if we all stop tipping and no one wants to serve or deliver anymore... Then they'd have to raise their wages, right?
they would, except the servers would be mad
And no, that's not the reason why minimum wage is so low in the US. You have clearly been decieved. Lots of minimum wage jobs do not get tipped.
It's not true that tipped workers are paid less, and it's aggravating that so many people believe it. If the worker's tips plus tipped wage does not equal the standard minimum wage, the employer is required by law to make up the difference. It's not some massive loophole that let's them pay $2-$3 an hour unless people enable it by tipping.
I don't get any tips working at my minimum wage job (fast food), so why should I tip someone who makes more money than I do? I do tip, but I feel resentful doing it.
Domino Delivery drivers use their own cars and out of that almost $5 the local Dominos charges for deliveries, the driver gets $0. Nothing for gas, nothing for insurance, nothing for car maintenance. They earn their tips. They no spend money out of their in own pockets to get your food to you.
Who tf asks for a tip like that? It's so interesting that we're simultaneously talking about how tipping culture is bad but also expanding the expectations and even the industries where tipping is now a thing. Saw an article the other day about tipping airline stewards/stewardesses.
Only in America....
Canada getting pretty bad too...
We're supposed to tip airlines employees too now?
Someone struggling for money/ coming up short for the holidays and on the desperate side. For some people that $5 tip could be the difference between eating or not eating or paying your gas bill. People are quick to say 'don't like it don't do it' but the reality is many people have financial obligations and it isn't that easy. There are always many factors going on around these videos-- yes maybe she's just rude... but more likely she's desperate. Many delivery drivers get shorted tips nowadays because of the ridiculous surcharges added onto the order. People see like 3 convenience fees and assume one goes to the driver as a mandatory tip. In reality-- the people at most risk, making the least money are now making less because companies gotta line their pockets first. But by then, people are already disillusioned and pissed off so don't want to pay out another $2-3 for a pizza that should have been$13 but somehow was $25 after taxes and fees.
I worked service industry for years and I very much get the idea of being desperate but if the point is to get $5 asking when she did is the least likely way to accomplish that. And yes I always tip for servers/delivery drivers/uber/cabs/baristas but this would put even me off. The additional comment about the car and telling the customer to pick it up themselves next time is also a good way to get the driver reprimanded or let go so once again it's counter productive. But I do get what you're saying about pizza and delivery prices going up. One of my friends used to deliver pizza and he would make a ton from tips, especially in winter because people felt sorry for him being out in awful weather. But pizzas were half the price they are now.
Someone who has delivered to that stiff previously.