Instacart Driver Goes Viral After Ringing Doorbell to Ask for a Bigger Tip (Video)

A doorbell camera has once again captured a moment that probably was not meant for public viewing.

This time, the footage shows an Instacart delivery driver standing on a customer’s porch after completing an order and asking the household to go back into the app and increase her tip.

The roughly 30-second clip was posted to X on June 28, 2026, and quickly attracted attention for all the wrong reasons.

While the driver stood at the door requesting more money, the groceries she had just delivered could be seen sitting in direct sunlight behind her. Rather than placing the bags in a shaded area, she had apparently left the order exposed to the heat, a detail many viewers found difficult to overlook.

For critics, watching the driver ask for a larger tip while the customer’s produce sat wilting in the sun did not exactly strengthen her case.

The footage shows the driver looking at her phone while speaking to the person who answered the door. She repeatedly asks the customer to see whether someone in the household could add more money to the tip.

“Sweetheart, can you ask if somebody could put some extra on my tip?” she can be heard saying. “Could you ask somebody if they could put some extra on my tip?”

The customer had already selected a $12 tip before placing the order.

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It remains unclear whether the household ultimately gave the driver anything additional, but she eventually walked away from the porch.

The clip quickly divided social media users, with reactions generally falling into two camps.

Some viewers expressed sympathy for delivery workers trying to survive under the often-difficult pay structure of app-based gig work. Others focused on what they considered a troubling combination of poor service and an uncomfortable request for extra cash.

The original post posed the debate directly, asking viewers whether they would have increased the tip or removed it entirely.

What Instacart Drivers Are Paid

The controversy also renewed discussion about how much Instacart shoppers actually earn.

According to Gigs Done Right, Instacart shoppers generally receive between $7 and $10 per batch before tips. That base pay is not especially generous, particularly considering that workers may be responsible for shopping for the items, packing the order and delivering it to the customer.

Tips can therefore make a significant difference for drivers who are paid on a job-by-job basis.

That financial reality may help explain why some gig workers feel pressure to seek larger tips. However, it does not excuse poor service or make customers feel any less uncomfortable when they are confronted at their front doors.

Not Part of the Normal Delivery Process

Regardless of where people stand on tipping culture, directly asking a customer for additional money after completing a delivery falls outside the normal Instacart process.

Doorstep requests for increased tips are not an official or sanctioned part of the company’s delivery system. Instacart does not have a policy encouraging or endorsing drivers to solicit additional tips from customers in person after dropping off an order.

Instacart had not publicly responded to the viral footage at the time of publication.