Tipping Question - need advice/help!

[Kassia]

I wanted to order a vacuum cleaner from Walmart on Sunday and threw in a few groceries since it was free shipping.  I couldn't get the order to go through so I called their contact number and the representative placed the order for me.

When I got the confirmation email, I realized that he switched from free shipping to delivery from the store and waived the delivery fee.  But, in this case, I assume I'm expected to tip since it's no different than something like Instacart, right?  

DH says no tip because I frequently get free delivery from the store as part of my shipping order anyway.  But that's different because the driver (I think they use DoorDash) knows that it's a shipping order and not a delivery order.  This is clearly a delivery order.

So, how much do I tip?  If I tip a percentage of the total it will be huge due to the vacuum.  But I only got a few other things and they are light and easy - nothing heavy, no cans, nothing cold, etc.   I actually only got three other items but six of each of those.  

I was thinking of tipping $5.  Is that too little?  It will be the vacuum and a few light bags.  If I do a percentage of the total it will be much more.  

I am so irritated with Walmart over this - it was supposed to be shipped and I wouldn't have to tip at all then. 

 

[Carrie12345]

I’m not the best person to answer, because I have exactly 1 delivery service, and that’s Dominos. 😔 But I generally consider $5 to be my regular tip amount, and then I add to it if I have an extra big order, it’s raining, my dirt driveway is slushy, or things like that.

If it’s a delivery service that also does the physical shopping, I’d do more. Heavy/bulky/awkward, I’d do more.  An easy pick up and drive, probably not.

[Kassia]

4 minutes ago, Carrie12345 said:

I’m not the best person to answer, because I have exactly 1 delivery service, and that’s Dominos. 😔 But I generally consider $5 to be my regular tip amount, and then I add to it if I have an extra big order, it’s raining, my dirt driveway is slushy, or things like that.

If it’s a delivery service that also does the physical shopping, I’d do more. Heavy/bulky/awkward, I’d do more.  An easy pick up and drive, probably not.

Thanks!  We never do delivery and I didn't want it in this case so it makes it difficult.  Obviously, it's not the driver's fault that Walmart handled it this way but I don't want to spend a lot on a tip when I could have gotten free shipping anyway.  Maybe I should have canceled the order.  ;( 

 

[Jean in Newcastle]

Our grocery stores have it clearly stated that their drivers don’t accept tips. But googling Walmart delivery says that their drivers do accept tips. But that it’s up to you. (Ie. Not expected). 

[MEmama]

I don’t think it would be expected, but tips are always appreciated. I tend to think it’s the show of gratitude and kindness that goes further than the amount, so I wouldn’t worry about how much you can give. Maybe include a small note of thanks; in this era of darkness all acts of kindness go a long way. 🙂 

 

[teachermom2834]

I always do Walmart grocery curbside pickup. A couple weeks ago something I wanted wasn’t available and they offered it to be shipped so I did that. I figured I would pick up my curbside order and a couple days later this item would arrive on my doorstep like an Amazon package. Then I got a message that another local store had it and it would be delivered to  me that day instead. I thought it was weird but I didn’t plan to tip because I never would have opted to have it delivered and that was on them.

When the item was delivered it was packaged as though it had been shipped. (Like in sealed shipping packaging not in a plastic Walmart bag). 
 

The whole thing was weird but I think they are doing a lot of switching up their delivery methods and I wouldn’t feel at all responsible for tipping. This person didn’t even knock on the door and wouldn’t have been available for an interaction to tip. Basically tossed it on the porch and ran back to his truck.

[Kassia]

2 minutes ago, teachermom2834 said:

I always do Walmart grocery curbside pickup. A couple weeks ago something I wanted wasn’t available and they offered it to be shipped so I did that. I figured I would pick up my curbside order and a couple days later this item would arrive on my doorstep like an Amazon package. Then I got a message that another local store had it and it would be delivered to  me that day instead. I thought it was weird but I didn’t plan to tip because I never would have opted to have it delivered and that was on them.

When the item was delivered it was packaged as though it had been shipped. (Like in sealed shipping packaging not in a plastic Walmart bag). 
 

The whole thing was weird but I think they are doing a lot of switching up their delivery methods and I wouldn’t feel at all responsible for tipping. This person didn’t even knock on the door and wouldn’t have been available for an interaction to tip. Basically tossed it on the porch and ran back to his truck.

We've had this happen a lot - where I chose shipping but it was delivered from a local store and I was fine with not tipping since I knew the driver would know the situation (and most of the time I didn't even know anything was delivered until after the fact). 

But in this case the order was completed as a delivery from the store and there is a spot for the tip on the order.  So it's a completely different situation since the driver would expect a tip in this case.  

I got myself all worked up about this now and it's silly.  I realized that the grocery items I ordered are rarely in stock at our local store so I would have received them if they had been shipped but I don't think they will be fulfilled from our store.  So I may just end up with the vacuum that I could have had shipped anyway (adding the groceries to my cart caused the problem on Sunday that made my order unable to ship even though they were all marked as available for shipping).  Then I'll have to tip for something I could have easily had shipped for free.  

And we'll probably end up returning the vacuum anyway...we haven't been able to find a new one we like and our old one is falling apart.  So all this aggravation and angst and I'll probably end up at a loss because of the tip.  😛

 

[vonfirmath]

22 minutes ago, teachermom2834 said:

I always do Walmart grocery curbside pickup. A couple weeks ago something I wanted wasn’t available and they offered it to be shipped so I did that. I figured I would pick up my curbside order and a couple days later this item would arrive on my doorstep like an Amazon package. Then I got a message that another local store had it and it would be delivered to  me that day instead. I thought it was weird but I didn’t plan to tip because I never would have opted to have it delivered and that was on them.

When the item was delivered it was packaged as though it had been shipped. (Like in sealed shipping packaging not in a plastic Walmart bag). 
 

The whole thing was weird but I think they are doing a lot of switching up their delivery methods and I wouldn’t feel at all responsible for tipping. This person didn’t even knock on the door and wouldn’t have been available for an interaction to tip. Basically tossed it on the porch and ran back to his truck.

Honestly the way Wal-mart handles their "shipping" by giving it to DoorDash drivers makes me NOT want to ship anything from them.

[teachermom2834]

2 minutes ago, vonfirmath said:

Honestly the way Wal-mart handles their "shipping" by giving it to DoorDash drivers makes me NOT want to ship anything from them.

Yeah I honestly had no idea it would “ship” from a local store. I’ve had things shipped from Walmart before and they have come in a traditional sense from some far away shipping hub. This “shipping” that is actually a local delivery -which I guess is Door Dash- is new to me and honestly it was not what I was agreeing to when I placed the order. 
 

It honestly felt intrusive for Walmart to decide I wanted a door dash delivery on a Sunday evening. I thought the whole thing was weird.

[Kassia]

1 minute ago, teachermom2834 said:

 

It honestly felt intrusive for Walmart to decide I wanted a door dash delivery on a Sunday evening. I thought the whole thing was weird.

I feel the same way (this has been going on for a long time for us).  

We don't have much of a choice other than to order from Walmart because it's our only local store and I like knowing we can do returns if needed (like for the vacuum).  Or many times items are out of stock at our store but I can have them delivered for free with the $35 minimum shipping.

[QueenCat]

Drivers for Walmart delivery get to choose what jobs to take. It might take longer for someone to pick it up with a $0 tip. At least that's how it works around here.

[SKL]

There is probably some resource somewhere for door-dash tipping.  I do think door-dashers will expect a tip, because that is the norm.  No idea how much they earn without the tip.  (I have never used the service, but I have at least one friend who door-dashes.)

Honestly, if I were you I'd probably just go pick the items up at Wal-Mart or cancel the order.  It's not fair that they put you in this position.

[Starr]

I try not to worry about tipping, and just tip. Overall for the year it isn't that much money and we really need all the people who are willing to do service jobs.

[J-rap]

Usually if I don't know what to tip for a delivery drop-off of some sort, I tip $5.00. 

[Kassia]

47 minutes ago, SKL said:

 

Honestly, if I were you I'd probably just go pick the items up at Wal-Mart or cancel the order.  It's not fair that they put you in this position.

They were delivered this morning but I really should have canceled the order.  I'm still irritated about the way they handled the whole situation (I didn't put the long story in my original post but it was just a lot of aggravation to get it delivered the wrong way and then have to tip). 

 

42 minutes ago, Starr said:

I try not to worry about tipping, and just tip. Overall for the year it isn't that much money and we really need all the people who are willing to do service jobs.

I agree - I'm fine with tipping when I make the choice to have things delivered but this case was different since the order was supposed to be shipped and not delivered by the store.  But it's not the driver's fault so I wanted to do the right thing for him.  

[Catwoman]

I order quite a bit from Walmart because I have their Plus membership (or whatever it's called,) so I get free shipping on everything I order. I always choose the "shipping" option, but sometimes my stuff magically shows up at my door in a regular Walmart bag and I don't see anywhere on my order page to add a tip, and since I don't know it's coming, I can't even leave a tip in an envelope taped to the front door. 

At this point, I am tired of worrying about it. I overtip everybody, but I have reached a point where if something arrives and I didn't even realize it was being delivered instead of being shipped, I'm not going back into my account and trying to figure out how to tip someone. Maybe that sounds mean, but I have not been inside a store since early February 2020, so I order a LOT of stuff every week, and I don't have time to figure out who has and hasn't been tipped if I can't add the tip when I place the order.

Also, Walmart tends to split up the orders and ship some items and deliver others (often in multiple deliveries,) and it would be insane to try to tip for every single item that is delivered (when I ordered multiple items at once.) As an example, last week, I ordered 6 boxes of muffin mix, and over the course of two days, two different delivery people delivered one box each, another delivery person delivered two boxes, and Walmart shipped the other two boxes via FedEx. It was insane, and it's a regular occurrence with Walmart. The muffin mix costs $2.96 per box.  I don't see the drivers (they don't even ring the doorbell,) and I don't know when they are coming, so it's impossible to tip them -- and even if I could, I kind of hate the idea of tipping $5.00 for each $2.96 item when I ordered them all together and I'm getting three separate deliveries for them. 

It's a real nuisance because I feel sorry for the delivery people and I want to do right by them, but on the other hand, I don't think I should have to tip multiple times for a single order of inexpensive items. But again, it's not the delivery person's fault... UGH!

 

[kristin0713]

I would never have thought to tip in this instance. 

[Kassia]

13 minutes ago, Catwoman said:

I order quite a bit from Walmart because I have their Plus membership (or whatever it's called,) so I get free shipping on everything I order. I always choose the "shipping" option, but sometimes my stuff magically shows up at my door in a regular Walmart bag and I don't see anywhere on my order page to add a tip, and since I don't know it's coming, I can't even leave a tip in an envelope taped to the front door. 

 

Also, Walmart tends to split up the orders and ship some items and deliver others (often in multiple deliveries,) and it would be insane to try to tip for every single item that is delivered (when I ordered multiple items at once.) As an example, last week, I ordered 6 boxes of muffin mix, and over the course of two days, two different delivery people delivered one box each, another delivery person delivered two boxes, and Walmart shipped the other two boxes via FedEx. It was insane, and it's a regular occurrence with Walmart. The muffin mix costs $2.96 per box.  I don't see the drivers (they don't even ring the doorbell,) and I don't know when they are coming, so it's impossible to tip them -- and even if I could, I kind of hate the idea of tipping $5.00 for each $2.96 item when I ordered them all together and I'm getting three separate deliveries for them. 

It's a real nuisance because I feel sorry for the delivery people and I want to do right by them, but on the other hand, I don't think I should have to tip multiple times for a single order of inexpensive items. But again, it's not the delivery person's fault... UGH!

 

I don't have Walmart Plus membership but frequently use their shipping since I can qualify for the minimum free shipping amount and experience this a lot as well.  One order arrives in multiple deliveries - either directly from the store or from Fed Ex.  I don't worry about tipping when stuff is delivered from the store in that case since that's not the way I ordered and I assume the driver knows that.  I never know when they are coming so there's no way to tip them but I certainly wouldn't want to be tipping multiple times for one order - especially, as you said, when they deliver just one or two inexpensive items at a time. 

Since this was clearly ordered as a store delivery I felt like a tip was necessary even though I was irritated that Walmart messed up the order and it should have been shipped to avoid this whole issue! 

But, yes, "UGH" is a good way to put it - we want to be fair to the poor drivers just doing their job.  

 

[Dmmetler]

My theory is that if a local store has it, Walmart has someone drop it off on their way home or something, because it shows up in a Walmart bag,but other parts of the same order will be shipped in a box. I really hope they didn't call some poor Door Dasher to deliver those three pocket folders I got that way once...

[Kassia]

Well, I placed a shipping order with Walmart today and they delivered one thing from the store - a package of Reese's peanut butter eggs.  That's it.  And they are shipping Cadbury eggs with five 2-liters of soda in the same package - I'm pretty sure those eggs are going to be crushed.

 

[Mom_to3]

We've reduced our orders from Walmart because of how they are dealing with the shipping. We don't tip, though, because we don't know what will be delivered at what time in what manner, exactly like Catwoman's experience. We do tip of course when we do the delivery from the store on purpose.

[Kassia]

26 minutes ago, Mom_to3 said:

We've reduced our orders from Walmart because of how they are dealing with the shipping. We don't tip, though, because we don't know what will be delivered at what time in what manner, exactly like Catwoman's experience. We do tip of course when we do the delivery from the store on purpose.

yes, same!  I didn't even know the items had been delivered.