In today’s world, you can order almost anything online—and in some cases, it can arrive at your door within minutes, thanks to apps like DoorDash. However, one woman recently experienced a driver who refused to complete her order.
The reason why has left Reddit users speechless. According to a viral post, a $3.50 tip wasn’t enough to justify traveling two blocks with a coffee—at least in the driver’s opinion.
Newsweek spoke to the 40-year-old woman’s husband, who shared the screenshots of the exchange on July 15. The post quickly went viral, racking up over 41,000 upvotes.
User Tikkity_Tok23 told Newsweek: “She ordered on DoorDash, and when he said these things, she was absolutely shocked. She ran in to show me because she couldn’t believe it actually happened.”
Reddit/Tikkity_Tok23
The post describes how she ordered a Starbucks coffee, which cost between $8 and $9 on DoorDash, and tipped just under $4—since the coffee shop is only two blocks from their Long Island, New York, home.
But instead of receiving her drink, she got a message from the driver that read: “I’m not going to serve homeless people in this rain. Cancel the order. I won’t bring it to you. If you don’t have money, you should make coffee at home.”
She responded: “Homeless people? What the f***? I am reporting you to DoorDash.”
The driver replied: “Accordingly, you have to pay if you want your order to be delivered, or you will suffer from hunger.”
Confused, the woman wrote: “How can someone homeless order from DoorDash? It was already paid—you can’t order if you don’t pay first. You should not have accepted the order if you didn’t want to deliver it.”
The driver answered: “There are too many bad orders coming in every day. I’m not going to bring that. $3 is ridiculous.”
Newsweek reached out to DoorDash for comment.
According to workplace insights platform Glassdoor, the estimated hourly pay for DoorDash drivers ranges between $17 and $25. DoorDash’s website states pay is made up of three components: base pay (which varies), 100 percent of customer tips, and promotions.
In 2023, Vice published an article about Dashers begging customers for tips. A DoorDash spokesperson told the outlet: “While nothing in our guidelines explicitly prohibits Dashers from asking a customer for a tip, we have a zero-tolerance policy for harassment by any member of our community on the DoorDash platform. This includes instances where Dashers harass customers for a tip.”
The woman’s 36-year-old husband called the experience “crazy” and confirmed that they reported the Dasher, who has since been banned while the incident is being investigated.
He wrote online: “Taking bad orders out on a customer who actually tipped almost 40 percent for a two-block delivery is unacceptable. We’re not the type to report people, but this guy got what he deserved.”
He also told Newsweek: “My wife felt sad because she knew it was more than just her order—the guy was clearly having a bad day. But that’s still no excuse to treat anyone like this. We all have bad days. That doesn’t mean we take it out on others.”
Reddit Reaction
The Reddit post sparked intense discussion, garnering over 4,500 comments.
One user wrote: “This guy’s not just having a bad day—he’s having a bad life.”
Another added: “‘Make coffee at home’ while simultaneously calling you homeless is crazy work.”
A third commenter shared: “I used to dash, and honestly, people don’t always tip… but that’s just reality. If you don’t want to take an order because it’s too low, just decline it. This is so bizarre. Sorry about that.”