An Uber Eats and DoorDash driver recently conducted a delivery experiment where she attempted to identify which customers are the least likely to leave a tip.
The video was posted by Maddie Kerns, who recorded it in response to a “semi-viral video” she posted earlier in the week. As of Monday afternoon, both videos had a combined 377,000 views.
@musclemaddie97 Replying to @katieoconnor903 LOL not surprised with the results😬 + I now have pizza grease stained on my pants🫠🍕 #deliverwithmaddie #notionotrip #cheapskate #deliverydriver #tipyourdriver #deliverygirl #experiment #deliveryfail #uber #ubereats #ubereatsdriver ♬ Afrobeat – FASSounds
In response to Kerns’ first video, one commenter observed, “More like 900 times out of 900 lmao. That’s about how many deliveries I’ve done and the only people that have added tips already tipped on their card!”
This led Kerns to record a follow-up video, which started with a simple observation: “This is literally the most accurate comment I’ve seen,” she said.
The driver then said that she conducted an experiment the day prior—“accept[ing] a no-tip Uber offer to see if the customer would tip.” She said that after following the delivery instructions, and even dropping the food off early, she still didn’t get tipped.
@musclemaddie97 Replying to @Outlander Hoor Stop believing them when they say they’ll tip after🫠 People will easily take advantage of you so KNOW👏🏼YOUR👏🏼WORTH👏🏼 #greenscreen #deliverwithmaddie #deliverygirl #tipyourdriver #notipnotrip #uberdriver #ubereats #deliverydriverproblems #deliverydriver ♬ Epic Music(863502) – Draganov89
“I’m not surprised one bit and neither were you guys,” Kerns said.
Kerns said that she’s completed “over 2,000 deliveries since being back with Uber and DoorDash.” Over time, however, she said she’s found that she can predict whether customers will tip. In short, customers who don’t add a tip before their deliveries are completed are unlikely to add one later. Customers who tip extra, she said, likely already tipped on the app.
“Stop believing them when they say they’ll tip after,” Kerns captioned her video. “People will easily take advantage of you so KNOW YOUR WORTH.”
In the comments of Kerns’ follow-up video, a number of fellow delivery drivers shared similar experiences.
“I have had 1 person out of 1500 deliveries that didn’t tip in app give me a cash tip,” one revealed. “My experience is cash tip is on top of what they did in app.”
“I never take no tip orders,” another commenter shared. “I’ve learned the [hard] way. And the only ppl who tip cash already tipped online as well.”
Another assessed, “I remember when I first started a few years ago, I used to take every delivery. so naive back then lol.”
“No tip, no trip,” one emphasized. “That’s my time, fuel, & car maintenance. The worst of society are the ones who don’t understand that,” adding, “Why would we serve them??”
This is not the first time that Kerns has gone viral for her commentary. Last month, Kerns was featured in The Daily Dot for alerting customers about “no delivery” orders on DoorDash. In another instance, she said she was fired from Amazon Flex after posting TikTok videos promoting her job.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Kerns via TikTok comment.
