I’m physically disabled and have issue shopping due to bone tumors all over my bones (poly ostotic fibrous dysplasia with mccune albright syndrome). It hurts to live, walk, lift, exist, etc.
I’m also on what is essentially a keto diet to help keep my diabetes in the “pre-diabetes” state.
I use Instacart to help me survive and eat. It helps me not burden others and helps my independence.
Groceries are becoming more and more expensive. This is particularly true if you’re on a special diet like me.
Delivering five or so bags of groceries or a few larger (but essential) items can be like $150-200 on Instacart per trip. Then, when I check out, Instacart recommends tipping $40+?
That seems insane to me. Like $20 for that amount seems about right? Maybe throw in an extra $10 if I have some heavy things or items that are large in volume.
Should I be tipping $40+ dollars?
Instacart is paying their workers fairly. It’s just that the driver is not an Instacart worker.
They’re not employees, they’re contractors. And when you, the customer, place an order, they are now your worker as you’ve entered into a contract with this person. They aren’t working for Instacart or the store, they’re working for you. And you’re the one who pays for their time and labor, that all comes out of the service charges on your order.
That’s how all these apps work. They don’t get paid anything by the app, they get paid by you through the app.
This is simply a company using legal distinctions to shift the blame. These delivery drivers should be employees of the company. Besides, tipping is not topical for traditional contractors. Any payment is agreed upon ahead of time in the contract, and payment is made in accordance with said contract. Tips never enter into it.
Tipping food delivery drivers was definitely a thing pre-gig apps. It was quite normal, at least around here, to tip a pizza delivery driver, for example.
I didn’t say tipping wasn’t a thing for delivery drivers. I said it was not typical for contract work. But regarding this comparison, tipping was in no way expected for deliveries before the apps. Del drivers back then were given a livable base wage and were reimbursed for mileage and gas on their vehicle, which the apps also do not do. I know because I did deliveries in college before the apps. It was also normal to tip less than 10% of the purchase price for delivery, yet the suggested tip values in app are always 10% or more. And another difference is drivers weren’t allowed to pick deliveries based on the tip value, but that’s how the apps work making your “tip” effectively the payment for delivery speed. That’s not how tipping is supposed to work.
But back to what I originally said, tipping is not typical for contract work. There is no other type of contract work where tipping 10-20% is expected other than delivery, ridehsare, and other similar new apps, so the apps created this trend for contract work, and it’s merely a way to pressure the customer to pay their workers so they don’t have to.
Legally speaking they’re contractors… but I’m calling BS on that - instacart has an immense amount of control over whether they are available, how they perform their job and what their downtime looks like.
You’re absolutely correct in a legal sense but what we call contractors today is completely divorced from the intention.