Delivery driver sparks debate after criticising ‘tip baiting’

A food delivery driver has sparked a debate over “tip baiting” where customers pay a bigger tip in order to get their food delivered quicker - only to decrease or remove the tip once the food has arrived.

TikToker and food delivery driver Owen Lindstrom (@owenlindstrom) explained his personal experience encountering the phenomenon.

“In food delivery apps, the customer has the ability to increase or reduce the tips after drop off,” Lindstrom explained in the clip.

“Tip baiting is when a customer offers a large tip to get their food faster and then take it away at the end. While it’s good to protect the customer from having bad service by holding the tip over your head, it leaves a big opportunity to screw over the driver.”

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Unfortunately, it seems there’s nothing the driver can do to prevent this because the customer holds all the power.” The TikToker added: “My best advice would be to find an area that doesn’t tip bait and stick around there.”

Since sharing his experience with tip baiting, Owen’s TikTok has received 4.8m views, 487,000 likes, along with thousands of comments from people expressing their thoughts on the topic.

Some had not heard of the term before but were happy at the fact that they learned about it through Owen’s video, and others agreed that customers shouldn’t be able to change their tip amount.

One person wrote: “Didn’t realize tip baiting is a thing, thanks for sharing!”

“If you can’t afford to tip the delivery driver then you have no business of ordering out. Drivers use their own cars, gas and wear and tear,” another person said.

However, while many-sided with Owen thoughts, there with some that disagreed with the delivery driver and said they believe

One person wrote: “Honestly, the driver shouldn‘t see the tip until he has delivered.”

“You should always tip, but these apps that add an $8 delivery fee encourage people to not tip it’s ridiculous,” another person said.

Someone else added: “Honestly why should you tip someone for something they haven’t done yet it’s like tipping a waitress before they serve you why pay upfront.”

“It’s also frustrating tipping 25-30 per cent and getting horrible service afterwards,” a fourth person replied.

Meanwhile, some suggested ways to improve the current system that enables tip baiting.

One person said: “They should add a feature so drivers can comment on the buyer for other drivers.”

“Normalize companies paying their employees enough instead of relying on tips,” another person wrote.

Someone else added: “The drivers need to get together and start a website of all the addresses that do tip baiting.”