This isn't meant to be a triggering comment. I'm genuinely curious to learn about other people's reactions to DoorDash's former tipping system.
Why so unforgiving? Because you can't deter unethical behavior by merely asking for a perpetrator to discontinue the unethical behavior if/when exposed. The expected value of a penalty needs to exceed the financial reward of the behavior it is meant to punish. Furthermore, I don't trust companies who are likely to be unethical the moment someone isn't looking.
I'm not sure I fully understand the backlash. Yes, the tipping policy didn't meet people's expectations ... but it seems almost exactly the same s how tipping + wages work for wait staff in restaurants (where restaurants are allowed to pay them less than minimum wage, as long as the difference is offset by tips).
Why are we okay with this policy, which is enshrined in law, for restaurant wait staff but not for delivery drivers?
A reasonable argument is that tips should always go direct to the staff and they should also at least make minimum wage, but that'd represent a huge change from the status quo and people aren't freaking out about how restaurant staff are compensated, so it seems like this hits a different emotional chord for some reason. Maybe it's more evil-seeming coming from a large tech-ish company rather than SMBs?
But more fundamentally Instacart and Doordash deceived consumers in a way restaurants don't. Say minimum wage for tipped employees is $4, a restaurant pays a $5 wage and I tip $2, I expect that the staff gets the $5 wage and the $2 tip (whether pooled or otherwise). If the restauranteur uses my $2 tip to cut wages below $5, then that would be illegal and outrageous. The minimum wage amount of $4 does not even enter into the calculation in this example, except defining the floor for the restaurant to pay its tipped employees.
Personally, I am not okay with the law. An employer should pay a living wage. That said, I'm biased because I would vastly prefer to avoid the anxiety I feel around figuring out the right amount to tip such that I don't feel scummy nor taken advantage of. I went there to eat some food, not feel anxious.
Can I avoid AWS? No, but I can certainly not spend my own money directly on any of their services.
First of all, people tip beforehand so it's not based on quality of service anyway.
Second of all, it makes DoorDash a steady stream of income instead of hoping that you'll be tipped enough. Most people don't tip and if the tip is large enough, you do receive the tip.
That way DoorDash provides at least a partial matching contribution to my tip instead of eating from my tip.
Once they modify their system and move to a system where drivers get 100% of the tips the drivers will probably see approximately the same payouts on average, just with higher variance across drivers. Basically what DoorDash was doing is the same as tip-pooling at a restaurant which isn't exactly a controversial practice.
DoorDash drivers don’t rely on other drivers. So why should a good driver compensate for the poor tips of a bad one?
Tipping frequently matters more about the tippers mood, the tip-receiver's race and gender, and (of course) order size.
It's like walking blindfolded into a restaurant and putting your tip in the hostesses hand before you even see any of the staff, or have any indication of service.
