Now that curbside pickup and grocery delivery have become more common, many customers who use these services may wonder about the etiquette regarding tipping drivers.
If you use Safeway’s grocery delivery service, perhaps you’re wondering if Safeway delivery drivers expect tips. If so, continue reading this article to see what I learned!
Do You Tip Safeway Delivery?
Safeway Delivery drivers and grocery pickup are prohibited from accepting or expecting customer tips. According to Safeway, it is against their policy for any employee to accept tips. However, if customers place an order for Safeway groceries through Instacart, the app automatically applies a tip.
If you’d like to learn more about Safeway’s tipping policy for Instacart, which grocery delivery services accept tips and more, continue reading through this article for more useful information.
Why Don’t Safeway Delivery Drivers Accept Tips?
There is no stated reason on Safeway’s website as to why their employees are not allowed to accept tips. Additionally, every company under the Albertsons umbrella cannot accept tips.
In other words, tipping goes against Safeway’s parent company policy and is an inflexible rule for Safeway employees to adhere to.
Safeway’s website also states that while they appreciate the generosity of customers, the company considers tips inappropriate, which may be why they cannot accept them.
Customers should not push Safeway delivery drivers to accept tips, as they could face harsh consequences for going against company policy.
Does Safeway Accept Tips Through Instacart?
While Safeway staff doesn’t accept tips directly, customers who order through Instacart can cheat the system because of how the Instacart app is set up.
When a customer places an order through Instacart, the app charges a little extra to provide the driver with a tip for their services.
Therefore, if a customer wishes to tip their delivery driver, they can use this app.
However, customers are urged not to insist upon tipping regular Safeway Delivery drivers.
Which Grocery Delivery Services Accept Tips?
While Safeway Delivery is unable to accept tips, there are several other companies with similar services that gladly accept tips. These businesses are as follows:
Whole Foods/ Amazon Delivery:
- Delivery drivers from Amazon-Whole Foods are all allowed to accept tips.
- Customers who want to tip Whole Foods workers can do so when they order through the Amazon Flex App.
- Customers should bear in mind that while Amazon allows Whole Foods workers to accept tips, it is unclear whether or not their employees are allowed to keep 100% of the tips given.
Caviar:
- Caviar delivery workers are allowed to keep all of their tips.
- Because Caviar Delivery is run on a bicycle service, many customers are more inclined to tip their server due to the slightly higher level of risk of carrying food on a bike.
- If customers don’t have cash on hand, they can tip their delivery man up to two hours after their food has been brought to their house.
Uber Eats:
- Uber Eats delivery drivers are allowed to keep 100 percent of the tips given.
- Drivers cannot accept tips until after the package has been delivered to a customer.
Postmates:
- Postmates drivers are allowed to keep all of their tips, and the service does not use tips to subsidize drivers’ pay.
- The app allows customers to tip their driver after their order has been delivered, and doesn’t allow new orders to be placed until a tip is either sent or the notification dismissed.
Grubhub/ Seamless:
- Grubhub delivery drivers are allowed to accept tips and they are not used to reduce a driver’s pay.
- When customers place an order, an estimated tip amount is calculated based on the cost of the order, in order to better accommodate the driver completing the delivery.
If you want to learn more about shopping at Safeway, you can also read our other posts on whether or not Safeway takes EBT, if Safeway takes WIC, and the Safeway Club card.
Conclusion
Safeway Delivery drivers are unfortunately not allowed to accept tips. While the Safeway FAQ page doesn’t give a specific reason for this policy, it is in place due to Albertsons Companies stores not being allowed to accept tips in general.
I have Safeway delivery a couple times a month. These are mostly young kids. They work hard and are very pleasant and professional. I feel bad that they are not allowed to accept tips. They do deserve it and Safeway should revisit this policy.
I believe that all people, young and older people alike working for Safeway, should be allowed to accept tips from clients receiving delivery services from Safeway. We appreciate their hard work. I’ve been told that these hardworking folks are receiving very low wages from Safeway. If this is correct, Safeway should be ashamed and should not take advantage of students and other people delivering for them. I’ve been horrified since moving here to learn that Safeway’s policy restricts their employees from receiving tips but has not raised the wages they are paying employees. Shame on Safeway owners!
I am subscribed to Safeway delivery and my groceries are supposed to be delivered by Safeway trucks. Nevertheless, Safeway opted to use DoorDash instead which has resulted in some issues like missing items or wrong ones. Now Safeway website is adding driver tips in order to subsidize their use of DoorDash instead of their own employees who have been prohibited to accept tips. This is dishonest to Safeway employees and customers.