Tipping for food delivery is a contentious topic online, with vocal advocates on both sides of the matter.
Many folks feel the payment structure of tipping—where a certain amount of an employee’s wages are based on how well the customer feels they were served—is outdated and unfairly places the onus of paying employees on the customer rather than a business owner. Those who support tipping often cite a desire to see people paid fairly for their work in the existing system.
One DoorDash customer, Dr. Ethan Melillo, PharmD(@millennialrx on TikTok), who creates health and wellness content, strayed away from his usual topics to address a weird message he received from a DoorDasher on a recent order.
In the video, Melillo says his delivery driver remarked that his house was nice, implying the $5 tip he received was low for the 20-minute drive to transport it.
“When you give someone a generous tip, and they say, ‘nice house, thanks for the $5 for a 20-minute ride,’” the poster says in the video. “Also, for reference, I live in Rhode Island, and a 10 to 20-minute ride is very common because we probably have the slowest speed limits in the country.”
He shows his order, appearing to only be an entree and drink, which he says totaled $15. The $5 tip that his DoorDash runner found to be insufficient ended up being 30% of the order cost before DoorDash fees, his receipt shows.
“The total cost of my meal came out to $15, so I thought a 30% tip was pretty generous,” he says. “I’m usually the type of person that tips when I even pick up food. So let me know, how much should I be tipping on a DoorDash order?”
@millennialrx @DoorDash tipping going too far? #doordash #doordashdriver #tipculture #tipping #tip #tips #food #trending #fyp #millennialrx ♬ Monkeys Spinning Monkeys – Kevin MacLeod & Kevin The Monkey
The Daily Dot has reached out to DoorDash via email and to Melillo via Instagram direct message regarding the video.
Several viewers agreed with the poster that the 30% tip is a generous amount.
“They are tripping! that is a good tip!” one commenter wrote.
“Former delivery driver, $5 tip for 20 min ride is completely reasonable,” another user said.
“30% tip is generous, people are just greedy now,” one viewer shared.
Others shared that while the tip was generous based on the cost of the TikToker’s order, many DoorDash drivers prefer tips based on mileage, around $1 per mile they are asked to travel to deliver the order.
“I think that was a good tip but doordash doesn’t show how far away the restaurants are so most drivers want atleast a dollar for every mile they drive,” one user wrote.
“It depends on the mileage,” another echoed. “I do $5 base and then a $1 for every mile over 5 miles.”
“I base my tip off of $1 per mile but like how can they be mad at like $5 plus base pay ($2.25 in OH),” a commenter wrote.
