Amazon’s “Alexa, thank my driver” promotion came to an end just one day after being launched and after a million “thank yous” were received.
On Dec. 7, the e-commerce site kicked off its promotion which offered customers a new way to thank delivery drivers for their service during the hectic holiday season.
Throughout the “Alexa, thank my driver” promotion, Amazon customers were encouraged to use Amazon devices such as the Echo or Alexa app on smartphones to thank delivery drivers for recent deliveries by saying, “Alexa, thank my driver.”
For the first 1 million thank-yous received, drivers were able to receive an additional $5 tip at no cost to customers. According to Amazon, the five drivers to receive the most “thank-you’s” during the promotion period are to be awarded $10,000 and an additional $10,000 to their charity of choice.
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“Delivery drivers work hard every day delivering for our customers, and we want to show them our sincere appreciation and connect them with the customers they serve,” Amazon said in a statement about the end of the promotion. “As of Dec. 8, we have received more than 1 Million ‘thank yous’ concluding the promotion offering $5 per ‘thank you’ to eligible drivers. You can still share your appreciation by saying, ‘Alexa, thank my driver.’ We are thankful for the enthusiastic response to the promotion and the appreciation shown to drivers.”
The start of the promotion coincided with reports that Amazon had been sued by the District of Columbia for allegedly pilfering tips from drivers. A 2021 Federal Trade Commission complaint is cited in the suit. According to the complaint, Amazon is accused of changing its payment policies in 2016 so that drivers earned less than 100% of their tips.
“Nothing is more important to us than customer trust. 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,” Maria Boschetti, an Amazon spokesperson, told TODAY.com in a statement regarding the lawsuit.
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