A DoorDash customer admits not tipping led his delivery driver to destroy his Dunkin’ Donuts delivery.
TikTok user Ceros Whaley (@ceros.tv) shared the story, which left him questioning the nature of tipping etiquette, in a video with more than 124,000 views.
At the start of the video, Ceros stands outside his apartment door and sets the scene. “My DoorDasher just destroyed my entire DoorDash order,” Cero says. “Let me explain what happened.”
Husband orders Dunkin’ Donuts for wife
Because his wife loves coffee, Ceros ordered her a medium latte and a strawberry donut from Dunkin’ to surprise her when she woke up. Yet, the order was taking longer than he had expected.
“I am just baffled about it, it takes two hours to get the order,” Ceros says.
Ceros made the decision to not leave a tip for the Dasher. “Now this is gonna probably spark some debate here immediately upon me not leaving a tip. I just didn’t have the money to leave a tip,” Ceros says.
Anticipating backlash about not just picking it up himself, Ceros made sure to inform viewers that he didn’t want to leave his sleeping wife alone on the off-chance she woke up when he wasn’t home.
“My wife freaks out when I leave in the morning because she likes waking up next to me, it’s like her favorite thing to do,” Ceros says.
DoorDash driver destroys Dunkin’ delivery
“So let’s get into this, the person comes up and immediately sees me and their eyes turn red and I get confused,” Ceros says.
According to Ceros, the dasher arrived infuriated, bombarding Ceros with questions about why he did not tip. “And immediately… this happens,” Ceros says.
He pans the camera to the step of his apartment door. You can see coffee spattered across the steps and an empty cup sitting perfectly upright. The dasher threw Ceros’ coffee all down the steps of the apartment.
“I was confused, my drink is right there, [he] just tossed my drink down for not leaving a tip. I asked, ‘Why did you do that?’ and he said ‘Have a good day’ and walked away naturally,” Ceros says.
Was destroying the order appropriate?
Ceros then looked towards the camera and began to ask if lack of tip necessitated this kind of response. Understanding the frustration, Ceros explained that the dasher understood that he was not getting a tip when he agreed to take the order initially.
“To destroy an entire order … is insane. I’m just looking at it, I’m not cleaning it up,” Ceros says.
Perplexed by the entire interaction, Ceros could not wrap his head around why a person would do this to prove a point. “It feels, partially … I don’t know, a bit of an overreaction, in my opinion. Maybe I’m psychotic […] but it feels like a bit of an overreaction,” Ceros says.
Luckily for Ceros, when he turned to DoorDash to explain his recent experience, allegedly they too found the dasher’s reaction to be unreasonable. So, Ceros received credit back for his initial order and was even able to order his Dunkin’ Donuts a second time.
“Now I’m scared to not leave a tip,” Ceros says.
Viewers react to the dasher’s decision
Ceros concludes his video by assuring viewers he always tries his best to leave a tip and that this time was a rare occurrence. Regardless, many commenters still disagreed with Ceros’ decision to not tip in this case.
“I just literally tipped $10 on a DoorDash order. If I don’t have the money to tip, I either order less or don’t order or go get it for myself,” wrote one commenter.
And this wasn’t the only comment on that matter, many viewers agreed that if Ceros couldn’t afford to tip, he shouldn’t have ordered in the first place. Many viewed tipping as customary and a necessity when using services like DoorDash. However, some believed the exact flip.
A user who previously worked as a DoorDash driver disagreed with the dasher’s decision to destroy the Dunkin’ order.
“I used to DoorDash for 2 years & I never expected a tip from anyone b/c before you accept an order, it tells you how much you’ll make w/o it. I always saw tips as a bonus for a job well done,” the viewer said.
Is tipping on the decline?
However one may feel, Ceros’ lack of tipping may not be exactly out of the ordinary. As tipping has been on the decline since 2019, and roughly 50% of people who use food delivery services don’t tip.
Even tipping at sit-down restaurants has declined immensely, with only 35% of Gen Z consumers and 50% of millennials always tipping. Comparing these numbers to the 80% of Gen Xers and 83% of Baby Boomers, it looks like tipping isn’t as common as it once was.
So whether you agree or disagree with Ceros’ lack of tipping, it may be important to think about going forward.
@ceros.tv #fyp #storytime #doordash #tipping #foryou ♬ original sound – Ceros.TV
The Daily Dot reached out to Ceros (@ceros.tv) via TikTok direct message and DoorDash via press email for comment.
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