While tipping isn’t a common practice in Asia, some customers would tip delivery riders as a form of gratitude for sending their orders.
A woman in Singapore recently claimed that her order was deliberately withheld until she gave in to a rider’s demand for a tip.
Demanded RM31 tip for “large” order
According to the woman named Li (transliteration), she said that she helped a friend place an order worth S$133.50 (approx. RM414) via a delivery platform for a company lunch gathering on Apr 21.
After placing the order, she left a note asking the rider to call her friend once he arrived at the location.
“At 11:20am, I received a message from my friend saying the rider had contacted him asking for a tip. I later found that the rider had also messaged me through the delivery platform with the same request,” she added.
Based on screenshots Li shared with Shin Min Daily News, it showed the rider telling her friend that the order was “too large” and asked whether he had cash on hand or planned on giving a tip.
The rider then went on to say that if Li’s friend didn’t plan on tipping him, he would cancel the order so that another rider would take over.
“Since it was already getting late and the rider had already picked up the food, my friend had no choice but to agree on tipping the rider S$10 (approx. RM31).
“I later checked the delivery platform and saw that the rider was already near my friend’s company but stopped halfway before continuing with the delivery after my friend agreed to tip him,” she said.
Unhappy by incident
Needless to say, Li was deeply displeased by the rider’s behaviour as she felt he “threatened” not to complete the order unless his demand was met.
She added that she has lodged a complaint with the delivery platform but has yet to receive updates so far.
“I understand delivery riders work hard and I’m not against tipping. If a rider politely asks or explains their situation, I’m willing to give a tip,” she explained.
According to the delivery platform’s website, riders are prohibited from soliciting tips and customers can refuse to tip riders and submit feedback.
Meanwhile, a delivery rider told Shin Min that riders generally do not ask for tips as they risk getting reported, thus ruining their livelihood.
However, he also noted that if riders use auto-accept mode and receive an order that is too large, their only option is to cancel it.
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