A doorbell camera has once again done what doorbell cameras do best: caught something nobody was supposed to see. This time, it’s an Instacart delivery driver standing on a customer’s porch, having already completed the drop-off, asking the household to go back into the app and increase her tip. The clip, posted to X on June 28, 2026, quickly racked up attention for all the wrong reasons.
What made the footage especially hard to defend was what was sitting in the background the whole time. The driver had left the groceries in direct sunlight on the porch rather than placing them in a shaded area, which became the detail many viewers couldn’t get past. Standing there asking for more money while the produce wilted behind her didn’t exactly make a compelling case.
The roughly 30-second clip shows the driver on her phone, speaking to whoever answered the door and gesturing for more money. The customer had already set a $12 tip before the order was placed. The driver can be heard asking, “Sweetheart, can you ask if somebody could put some extra on my tip? Could you ask somebody if they could put some extra on my tip?” It is not confirmed whether she received anything additional, but she did eventually leave.
The clip divided the internet roughly along predictable lines. Some felt sympathy for gig workers navigating a tough pay structure. Others had a more immediate reaction to the combination of sun-baked groceries and bonus requests. The post itself posed the question plainly: would you have given more, or zeroed out the tip entirely?
This InstaCart delivery driver woman rang the doorbell of the house where she had delivered the groceries to.
She asked them if they could put extra money on her tip. 😳
Mind you, she was already receiving a $12 tip!
If you notice, she left the groceries in the sun and not… pic.twitter.com/TrHgkaSvfc
— 👉M-Û-R-Č-H👈 (@TheEXECUTlONER_) June 28, 2026
What Instacart Actually Pays Its Drivers
Context matters here. Instacart shoppers earn between $7 and $10 per batch before tips, according to Gigs Done Right. That is not a generous baseline, and tips genuinely do make a difference to drivers who are shopping, packing, and delivering orders on a per-job basis.
That context doesn’t excuse poor service, but it explains why tip pressure exists on these platforms in the first place.
This Isn’t How It’s Supposed to Work
Whatever one thinks about the tipping debate, the approach here falls outside normal expectations. Doorbell tip requests are not a sanctioned part of Instacart’s delivery process, and the company has no policy that encourages or endorses in-person tip solicitation after drop-off.
Instacart had not issued a public response to the clip at the time of publication.
The Reaction Online
The comments were not subtle. One viewer wrote that they would “zero that tip out in a heartbeat and report her to Instacart,” citing the groceries left in the sun as the bigger issue before the doorbell request even registered. Others took a more measured position, saying they might have tipped more if the driver had simply moved the bags to the shade first. A few shared their own frustrating delivery experiences, including orders left blocks away from the actual address on hot summer days.
The video is a useful reminder that the doorbell camera is a neutral witness. It doesn’t editorialize, it doesn’t forget details, and it definitely doesn’t move the groceries out of the sun for you.