Chipotle app stops customer from being too ‘generous’ with driver tips, sparking heated Reddit debate

A fast food customer has shared their shock after they were prevented from tipping their delivery driver too “generously”.

After placing an order on the Chipotle app they received a notification informing them they couldn’t give more than half of the order total in tips, according to a screen grab taken by the appalled diner.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. That is mighty generous of you, but tips can’t be more that [sic] 50 per cent of your food’s total,” the popup message said.

The customer posted the image to Reddit explaining that they had offered the driver $5.45 after ordering $10.90’s worth of food because they were “just trying to help”.

In the end they were forced to pay the driver’s bonus in cash to avoid the app limit, they told the Daily Dot.

But fellow Redditors soon asked why Chipotle and other delivery apps would take measures to explicitly prevent larger tips.

“Well we can’t have the peasant making any extra money that the company isn’t!” one wrote sardonically.

While another said: “Seems like a ‘whoa that’s really generous but did you really mean to tip $x?’ would handle this, rather than flat out preventing it.”

A third agreed, commenting: “Maybe it prevents accidentally doing the wrong amount but in that case it should ask you “are you sure?” Instead of not letting you. Kinda messed up.”

Others suggested that some companies need to take special precautions to prevent “money laundering” among staff or accusations of fraud.

One argued that such restrictions stopped delivery drivers from using tips to cover up illegal transactions, such as the sale of drugs or prostitution.

“It prevents shady s*** like drivers using [delivery driving] as a cover and having their customers order some McDonald’s and $50 worth of bud and paying in the form of a tip,” they said.

“Plus what if one of their ‘contract workers’ made enough money for the day and decided to take the rest of the week off?” another argued.

“That would lower the supply of labour and they might have to raise wages.”

Redditors called for better wages for hospitality staff and driversGetty Images

Meanwhile, others suggested workers shouldn’t need to depend on handouts, with one writing: “We Europeans always find it weird that waiters, delivery people and others have to depend on tips.

“Companies should pay a living wage.”

Another user suggested the original poster’s message was fake, but scores of Redditors insisted they had proof this wasn’t the case.

“It’s not fake. I just tried it on my Chipotle app and it pops up with the same (typo riddled) message,” one wrote.

While another said: “This is real. I accidentally almost tipped $420 dollars instead of 4.20 and a similar pop up came up for me on Ubereats,” another said.

Chipotle responded to the debate by insisting the preventative measure worked against user error and fraud.

“Similar to many retailers, the Chipotle app includes safeguards around tipping to avoid human error, as well as fraud, to ensure its guests provide their intended dollar amount,” Chipotle’s chief corporate affairs officer Laurie Schalow told indy100 in a statement.

“All tips through the app go to the delivery driver.”