Tipping for Takeaways: A Counter-Intuitive Trend in a Customer-Focused Era
My Uber Eats Wake-Up Call I recently had a jarring experience that highlighted a new and uncomfortable trend in the food service industry. I ordered breakfast via Uber Eats and, which is common in this case, I was prompted to add a tip at the time of ordering – before the food was even prepared or delivered. Wanting to be generous, I preemptively added a 15% tip to the order. Unfortunately, when my breakfast arrived, I discovered that during transit, half of my coffee had spilled so I was provided with a half-filled cup. The delivery itself was a flop, yet the driver had already pocketed a tip for service that turned out to be subpar. Sure, I could theoretically go through the hassle of reversing or adjusting the tip after the fact, but the process to cancel it is cumbersome . In frustration, I found myself thinking: Did that delivery really deserve a tip? Probably not. The whole ordeal left such a bad taste that I swore off using that delivery service for a while. This incid...
