BAIT AND SWITCH

Some Instacart Customers Are Screwing Workers by Retracting Big Tips

They add fat tips to the order to entice workers to accept them—then remove them after delivery.

Instacart workers are being lured to take orders with the promise of fat tips—only to have the customers remove the gratuity after their groceries are delivered, CNN reports. The bait-and-switch is being fueled by competition for delivery with so many Americans quarantined at home. Some customers have figured out they are more likely to have an Instacart worker accept their order if they tack on a $50 tip, which is visible to the shopper but which can be changed to zero later. “It’s very demoralizing,” said Instacart worker Annaliisa Arambula, who noted that shoppers risk their health by entering supermarkets. “I don’t pretend to be a hero, like a nurse in a hospital... but I literally am exposing myself [to coronavirus] and when I return home, exposing my own family to the possibility of transmitting this disease.”