GrabFood customer tips rider in fear of losing food order
A GrabFood rider requested a cash tip from a customer after accepting his order, which was “too large”, and was willing to cancel the pickup if he was unable to receive it.
The customer shared the incident on the Facebook page, Complaint Singapore, questioning why a rider would “threaten” to cancel the order.
Rider requesting for cash tip
In the post, the customer, identified as Felly, shared that she was helping a friend order food via Grab on 20 April when the rider requested a S$10 cash tip.
Source: Complaint Singapore on Facebook
Speaking to MS News, Ms Felly shared that she was first confused by the request.
The 30-year-old asked: “What the hell is this? Where got demand for tips?”
According to Ms Felly, the rider had “loitered” for 20 minutes near her friend’s location before making the delivery.
Rider reached out to friend directly
The rider then personally messaged Ms Felly’s friend, asking the same question.
Image courtesy of Ms Felly
In fear of the rider “running away” with the food, her friend eventually gave the rider the S$10 tip.
Fortunately, the order was delivered successfully, though with a 20-minute delay.
Responding to a comment under her post, Ms Felly added that the rider was already 10 minutes away from the delivery location, but was “purposely” waiting for a tip confirmation.
Source: Complaint Singapore on Facebook
Ms Felly subsequently reported the incident to Grab, but they have yet to respond to her.
Netizens faced similar experience with riders
The post garnered comments online, with netizens sharing that they have also gotten similar requests when ordering from GrabFood.
One netizen said they came across a rider who also requested a tip to show them “appreciation”, though they did not provide one.
Source: Complaint Singapore on Facebook
Others suggested that Grab would assign large deliveries to drivers instead of riders, with one commenter stating that they would give tips out of courtesy.
Ms Felly agreed with the commenter, but stood by the fact that riders should not be demanding it.
Source: Complaint Singapore on Facebook
One Facebook user suggested that Ms Felly cancel the order, but she responded that the rider was already nearby and would have to pay more for a new order.
Source: Complaint Singapore on Facebook
Tipping is voluntary, says Grab
Grab emphasised that customers should never feel pressured to tip, noting that deliveries must be completed professionally regardless of whether a tip is given.
“We encourage any customer who encounters such a situation to report it through the Grab app Help Centre so that we can take the necessary steps to support them,” a spokesperson from Grab said.
However, Grab does recognise the struggles delivery-partners may face when handling large and bulky orders.
With that, they have introduced features such as “Split Order”, which allows partners to “request additional support for larger orders, at no extra cost to the customer or impact on their earnings”.
They added that they are currently following up with the delivery-partner to “better understand what happened” and to ensure that they are properly supported in handling large orders.
“We are continuing to expand these capabilities and improve our backend systems to better detect large or complex orders early, so that additional partners can be activated ahead of pickup where needed.”
Also Read: GrabFood rider highlights delivery difficulties at condos, suggests leaving food at guardhouse
GrabFood rider highlights delivery difficulties at condos, suggests leaving food at guardhouse
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from Complaint Singapore on Facebook, and Grab (for illustration purposes only).
