Amazon will tip your delivery driver if you 'thank' them through Alexa

Amazon customers with Alexa-enabled devices can send a dose of goodwill to their delivery driver through a program the company announced this week.

And the gratitude won’t cost the customer anything.

Customers can use the device to say “Alexa, thank my driver” to have an appreciative message — and $5 — sent to their most recent delivery driver, according to the announcement.

The company is set to give away $5 million through the initiative, with the $5 per thank you message set for the first 1 million received.

The five drivers who earn the most thank-you messages will get an extra $10,000 and can pick a charity to receive $10,000, the company said.

Amazon’s $5 tip announcement came the same day as the Washington D.C. attorney general’s office filed a consumer protection lawsuit against the company, according to the Washington Post.

The outlet reported that the suit involves tips from customers that were meant for Amazon Flex drivers. The lawsuit contends that Amazon used those tips to subsidize labor costs and increase profits, despite claiming the entire amount would go directly to a driver, according to a statement from the attorney general’s office.

An Amazon spokesperson told the newspaper that the claim was meritless.

In February 2021, Amazon was ordered to pay more than $61.7 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges in the matter. The amount was used to compensate drivers. D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine said in announcing the lawsuit Wednesday that Amazon hadn’t faced civil penalties for lying to consumers.

The $5 tip also comes the same year that Amazon Prime customers saw the cost for their annual membership increase by 17%, according to Kiplinger. The tip initiative does not benefit U.S. Postal Service workers, who also deliver Amazon packages, according to the outlet.