"Delivery Startups Are Using Tips To Fulfill Pay Promises, And Customers Are Mad" — BuzzFeed
“Instacart confirmed that when its payment algorithm determines a driver should be paid below that guaranteed $10, the company uses the customer’s predelivery, “up front” tip to cover the difference. The “up front” tip is automatically set to 5% on the Instacart app; if the customer removes the tip, and the payout would be below $10, Instacart itself covers the cost. The company said the number of orders where the algorithmically determined payment comes out to under $10 is low, but declined to specify a percentage.”
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"Workers accuse grocery app Instacart of misusing their tips" — KIRO-7 TV (Seattle)
“The decrease in our wages of at least 30 percent - it's just not fair,” Knudson said. “We can see how they're using the customers' tips to pay us less,” she said.”
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"These Instacart Workers Want You to Leave Them a 22-Cent Tip" — Bloomberg News
“The counterintuitive call for paltry gratuities is meant to seize attention, signal solidarity -- and circumvent what the workers say is a stingy new practice of paying workers less from the company’s coffers if they’re promised more in tips by customers.”
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