No tip, no food: Grab rider allegedly asks Singapore woman for US$8 to complete KFC delivery

Li ordered a large 10 KFC meal set for more than SG$130 (US$102) for a friend on April 21, according to AsiaOne. “My friend’s company had a lunch gathering, so I placed the order for him and asked the delivery driver to contact him when leaving the food,” she said.

The 29-year-old, a frequent Grab user, said she did not check the app after the order was accepted. The estimated delivery window was 11-11:30 a.m.

At around 11:20 a.m., her friend told her the rider had requested a tip. She later saw the rider had sent her the same message through the app.

Screenshots of the chat showed the rider claiming the order was too large and asking if her friend could provide a tip, saying, otherwise, they could cancel the order and assign another driver.

When asked how much he wanted, the driver demanded SG$10. As the food was on the way, Li’s friend agreed to pay to avoid delays.

She said the app showed the rider near her friend’s place but not moving, and he only resumed the delivery after her friend agreed to the tip, which made her feel pressured and concerned the food might not arrive otherwise.

“The delivery driver waited until my friend gave him the SG$10 before leaving.”

The order arrived only at around 11.40am. A Grab spokesperson said later tipping was “entirely voluntary” and customers should not feel obligated.

“(Tipping) is not a condition for a delivery to be completed and our partners are expected to fulfill orders professionally regardless of whether a tip is provided.”

The company recognizes that delivering large and bulky items could be difficult for many drivers, he said. “We have introduced features such as ‘Split Order’, which allow partners to request additional support for larger orders, at no extra cost to the customer or impact on their earnings.

“We are continuing to expand these capabilities and improve our backend systems to better detect large or complex orders early, so that additional partners can be activated ahead of pickup where needed.”

He added that Grab is following up with the delivery partner to better understand the situation.