Amazon Ends Program To Thank Drivers One Day After It Began

Amazon announced that a new program to thank the company’s delivery drivers with a tip has ended just one day after it began.

The online retailer implemented a program to send the drivers of the first 1 million “thank-yous” a $5 tip. Shoppers could send the thank-yous through an Alexa, Alexa-enabled device, or the Amazon shopping app by saying, “Alexa, thank my driver.”

In addition to the $5 tips, five drivers with the most thank-yous would receive $10,000. Amazon was also set to give $10,000 to each of the top five drivers’ charity of choice. 

One day after it began, all the company-backed tips were given out. 

“‘Alexa, thank my driver’ exceeded our expectations. We’re glad to see customers interested in thanking their drivers and encourage them to continue doing so,” said the company’s spokesperson, Lauran Samaha, in a statement to USA Today. 

Samaha said drivers will still receive any thank-yous sent even though the $5 tip has ended.

The promotion began as reports surfaced that Amazon was facing a lawsuit from Washington, D.C., for stealing tips from drivers. The company is accused of changing its payment policies in 2016, making it so drivers did not receive all of their tips. 

A spokesperson for Amazon told the outlet in a statement that the lawsuit is without merit. 

“Nothing is more important to us than customer trust,” Maria Boschetti said in the statement. “This lawsuit involves a practice we changed three years ago and is without merit — all of the customer tips at issue were already paid to drivers as part of a settlement last year with the FTC.”