Does Alexa still send tips when I thank my driver? Amazon closes the program. A spokesperson for Amazon told USA TODAY on Saturday that the company has ended a promotion that allowed customers to tip their delivery drivers.
The business announced Wednesday that the program would apply to the first million thanks. The company reported that all of the $5 company-backed tips had been distributed by the following day.
Through the promotion, customers could gratuitously tip the driver who just delivered their most recent package $5. By saying, “Alexa, thank my driver,” customers with an Alexa-enabled device, an Alexa-enabled device, or the Amazon Shopping mobile apps could start the tip.
In addition to the $5 tips, Amazon announced in a press release on Wednesday that the top five drivers would receive a prize of $10,000 and an additional $10,000 donation to their charity of choice.
“Our expectations were exceeded by “Alexa, thank my driver.” We appreciate customers who are interested in thanking their drivers and urge them to do so in the future, “According to a statement provided to USA TODAY by an Amazon spokesperson, Lauren Samaha, on Saturday morning.
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“Drivers will continue to receive notifications of our appreciation. Drivers no longer receive $5 as a thank-you during the promotion period, “Samha tacked on.
By Thursday, according to a statement on Amazon’s website, more than a million thank-you notes had been received, ending the $5 tip promotion.
The “Alexa, thank my driver” promotion came about as delivery demand for the holiday season continued to rise. It came after allegations of poor working conditions and the most significant union drive in Amazon’s history. A judge ordered Amazon to stop engaging in anti-union retaliation in the warehouse last month after Staten Island, New York, Amazon employees, in a company first, decided to unionize in April.
In addition to announcing the “Alexa, thank my driver” promotion on Wednesday, Washington, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine also revealed a lawsuit against the company, charging it with defrauding customers and stealing tips from drivers. According to the case, between 2016 and 2019, Amazon allegedly used more than $1 million in tips from D.C. residents to offset its labor costs.
The lawsuit “involves a practice we changed three years ago and is without merit,” an Amazon spokesperson, Maria Boschetti, said in a statement to USA TODAY earlier this week. “All customer tips at issue were already paid to drivers as part of a settlement last year with the FTC.”