Every night, before I go to bed, I ask the Alexa-enabled Lenovo Nightstand Clock what the weather will be. Last night, just after dutifully announcing unseasonably mild weather, Alexa told me I could tip my Amazon driver $5 by saying, “Alexa, thank you my driver.”
Currently about 275,000 Amazon drivers (opens in a new tab) deliver more than one billion (opens in a new tab) Holiday gift boxes that make holiday dreams come true for consumers and, of course, Amazon. But what do the drivers get out of it by carefully leaving these precious boxes on our doorstep? Not much except about $20 an hour. A little tip for one of my drivers seemed like the least I could do.
“Alexa,” I said, “thank you my driver.” I waited a moment, acknowledging that some hard-working drivers would get a little cheer. Instead, Alexa told me she didn’t understand the request.
I decided to reach out to Amazon because I had a few questions, plus when I tweeted about the news, people asked me their own questions about who gets paid and how.
An Amazon representative apologized for Alexa’s initial misstep, insisted the feature was working as promised, and urged me to try again.
Who gets paid?
Apparently, Amazon charges a $5 tip based on your most recent delivery. When you see a package on your doorstep, it might make sense to ask Alexa to thank the driver. Otherwise, the thanks might go to the next delivery, which might not even be for you (maybe for another family member).
How long does the program run?
I have good news and bad news. The good news is, you can always thank your Amazon drivers for as long as they deliver. The bad news is that the US-only $5 tip promotion is over.
“Alexa, thanking my driver has exceeded our expectations. We’re excited to see customers’ interest in thanking their drivers and encourage them to continue doing so. Drivers will continue to receive thank you notifications that they received,” Amazon told via email I.
There are still some rules surrounding the Alexa Thanksgiving system:
Amazon drivers can receive your thank you once per order. If they drop more than one order in one visit, you can thank them for every one of them. We imagined a long list of thank yous on Amazon drivers’ mobile devices.
The program, which began on December 7, plans to tip up to $1 million to Amazon Flex Delivery Partners, Delivery Associates hired by Amazon Delivery Service Partners, and Hub DP drivers who deliver Amazon packages in the US.
Finally, while you can open your front door and thank your Amazon driver directly, there’s no other way to send thanks through Amazon without the Alexa system. Fortunately, you can use it on Echo devices, Alexa in the Amazon app, and the Amazon Alexa app on your smartphone.
On the bright side, it’s heartening to see so many people take the opportunity to thank their hard-working Amazon drivers with money, but on the other hand, maybe Amazon could have set aside $5 million more to slow down the transition from tips to pure thanks.
As I finish writing this post, another vacation package arrives at my door. I didn’t see the driver, so I walked up to my Echo device and said, “Alexa, thank you for my driver.” She immediately replied, “Glad you liked the nearest delivery. We’ll share your driver with you.” thanks.”
I guess it’s better than nothing.