As first reported yesterday on TLS Status, a Lakewood resident using the Instacart app to shop at a Jewish-owned supermarket on Wednesday, received a shocking response from the personal shopper.
As the personal was gathering three items the customer ordered, he was asked by the app if he wanted to give the shopper a tip. He responded with a $1 for 3 items.
In response, the personal shopper responded with “cheap Jew”.
When the customer called the company, they claimed they fired the shopper as a result of the comment.
While I don’t agree with what the Shopper did, the person leaving the tip needs to understand that people don’t work for free. They shop for the items, check out and drive it to you. They won’t make money on 1.00. it’s probably best to go own your own with so few items. Door Dash and the like are paid on tips.
Remember there is also Lakewood traffic. I always ask myself how much I would want to be paid. Min 10-15 percent of the order. If a small order there is still a minimum tip of 7-8 dollars or maybe more (such few details) involved in going to store And delivering.
He should not have said what he did; however people need to be sensitive to people paid on tips / commission.
This is incorrect, specifically re: instacart. Shoppers can see the tip BEFORE they accept an order on Instacart. Any tip after they complete an order is IN ADDITION to what the shopper originally agreed to take the order for.
um, I may be mistaken, I do not have instacart or whatever, but my assumption is that there is a fee for this service?
A tip is exactly that. And while it MAY be nice to leave one. It certainly isnt mandatory.
And its NOT a jewish phenomenon. There is PLENTY of backlash in todays society about the responsibility of an employer to pay fair as opposed to relying on the customer.
But in my opinion, both those dont come close to the responsibility of the worker to be a decent human being. Earn his wages honorably, and get a normal job if he doesnt feel people value what he is doing the same as he does!
I agree with you. However, are we obligated to tip let’s say a pizza delivery guy when the pizza shop charges an $11 delivery charge? I mean at a certain point the delivery charges and tips are costing more than the pizza itself.
This is horrible
Instacart shoppers do not have to accept orders that aren’t worthwhile for them. A very small order will probably be a very small tip. In addition to tips, Instacart shoppers get paid at or above minimum wage.
Agree with above. I always tip 15-20%. Not that it excuses the shopper. But still, I think that a $1 is out of line too.
As a former residential delivery contractor I would not subject myself or my driver’s to the work in Lakewood. Although gratuities are not a requirement drivers make next to nothing after expenses without Good tips. To go 2 miles in Lakewood it can take 40 minutes that means that one delivery can cost almost 1.t hours to be completed. The delivery cost paid to a driver averages between 2-13 dollars which adding one dollar to that essentially means that the median income on that delivery would be approximately 14 dollars then subtract Fuel, maintenance, insurance, and other expenses such as taxes and administrative expenses it just is no longer worth it to be involved in residential logistics in or around Lakewood. It is unfortunate that this driver was stupid enough to take a lie pay delivery. It is furthermore unfortunately that they would make a comment like that as it sounds antisemitic and biased in nature. I am not exactly sure how this story is actually news the headline should read something along the lines of “Underpaid and uneducated fool attempting to make a dollar speaks ignorantly while serving a customer.”
Tips are extra. Tips are voluntary. So charge more for delivery, don’t pretend it is a tip and complain when I dont give as much as you want.
Agree completely, drivers should charge more for going into to Lakewood to begin with. The traffic the risk of accident it all makes traveling there a liability.
You don’t get tips for doing your job.
You get tips for doing an excellent job.
Unfortunately you’re just incorrect. In certain arenas, a minimum tip is expected just for doing the job. Please do your research before posting.
So then it is not a tip it is an additional charge, being deceptively called a tip.
Okay.
Not a news item. People say not nice things. Move on.
Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky (may his memory be blessed) he once said that we are all guests. We are in transit. We truly and sincerely hope that Mashiach will come very soon. Once Mashiach arrives, we will have access to many goodies. People will be excited to be the messenger to bring to us what ever we need and they will bring it with a big smile. They won’t be asking for a tip.
Are you sure they dont get paid from Instacaret? How about Walmart delivery?
Of course they do.
That is too cheap
getting a premium service and tipping $1
Definitely a cheap [person]
This is why I do my own shopping
Not exactly a pretty way to say it, but wasn’t he correct? I don’t think the shopper helped anyone by getting him fired.
Who ever works relying on a tip is lying.
No one owes you a tip.
You have no idea what your talking about
Is it standard to give tips for a grocery delivery? What about something like a paper delivery from Staples?
I don’t tip my Amazon driver nor my Walmart delivery guy?
It’s only worthwhile for people to work these jobs if they’re tipped more than $1 for deliveries. I can’t afford to tip so I just go shopping myself. $1 is cheap. That said the employee is rude and his comment was very uncalled for.
Michael, Personal Shopper: “They do not have brown eggs.”
*Michael finished shopping for your order. (Today 2:17 PM)
Michael: “Cheap jew.”
Customer’s Response: “You’re mistaken. Brown eggs are not any cheaper than the white eggs; they’re actually more expensive.”
First off, instacart pricing is higher than what the items actually cost in store. This should cover their shoppers.
Second, for those commenting not to use a premium service and to shop for themselves – hopefully you won’t ever be in the position of needing someone to do your shopping, but sometimes a person may use the service for that purpose. Not as a luxury. Maybe it’s really not so affordable for him but instead a necessity. BTDT. Lets not judge
No human being of any background, Jew or non-Jew, should be called that. It is demeaning and disrespectful. He should have kept his thoughts to himself.
It’s the drivers fault for delivering in Lakewood and expecting a gold mine after delivery tipwise. Lakewood is a low income urbanized area where you shouldn’t be relying on tips. No offense meant at all to the large Orthodox population, just a fact ( IMHO ) .
no reason this is news , no reason to fire the guy for comment , we’ve become to fragile and kvetchy
you dont fire yourself when you say something dumb..can u imagine any previous godol even paying any attention to someone saying cheap jew big deal thats not even bizyonos es iz afra dearaa
As a longtime Dasher, I can definitely say that there are good and bad tippers from all nationalities. He was very unprofessional and, even though I’m inclined to agree that $1 is a very paltry tip, I’ve never made a negative comment like that to any customer. In fact, I decline more orders than I actually accept for that very reason, poor tips or no tips at all. When the no/low tipper realizes no one is picking up their order and there’s a good chance they won’t receive their order in a timely manner, then perhaps that fact alone will encourage them to provide a decent tip.
I don’t get the whole thing about tipping a percentage based on the cost of the item i.e, if I purchase 3 steaks at $35.00 each at 20% my tip would be $23.00 however if I purchase 3 salads at $10.00 each, my tip would be $6.00. The same amount of work is involved.
I’m not saying we need to be tolerant of anti-Semitism, but honestly I don’t think getting him fired was a good idea. Rather respond “that’s unkind, but you’re right that I should have tipped you more. I will send another $5 now. Have a great day!” Bam, you left somebody with a positive perception of a Jewish person and nobody was harmed. That’s how my wonderful parents raised me at least. (also: $1 is not an appropriate tip for this kind of service)
I usually give all my Personal Shoppers the same tip. It’s not the tip they were expecting, but it is nevertheles a decent tip.
The tip I give them is: “Never address a customer with derogatory language.”
Many of my Personal Shoppers have actually thanked me for that tip and told me that no one has ever given them a better tip than me.
And I thank them back for their compliments. Then I offer them another tip, and tell them that, “You may be a ‘Personal Shopper’, but that doesn’t mean you’ve got to take this whole thing personal!”
And they thank me for that tip too.
I’m actually known around the Personal Shopper community as “The Tipster Man”.