Uber driver refuses to return lost wallet because the passenger "didn't tip" - AITA?

Tipping is part of American culture. No one is required to tip anyone but it is often expected in service situations. But how far should a worker go for someone that refuses to tip them?

An uber driver recently found a wallet that had been left behind in his car. When he contacted the owner of the wallet, he was asked to make a 30-minute drive to return the wallet. The owner of the wallet also refused to meet half-way. Since the driver wasn't tipped for the initial ride and didn't feel he was being offered enough to drive all that way, he refused to return the man's wallet. He asked Reddit:

'AITA (am I the a-hole) for not returning someone’s wallet because they didn’t tip me?'

u/aitanotips writes:

I’m in my last year of college and to make ends meet I drive Uber. Yesterday I got this guy in my car and I drove him across town. I picked him up near my house and drove him home, which is 35 minutes away.

He left his wallet in my car, with everything in it. ID, social security, etc. I reached out to Uber support and had them give him my email, so we could discuss him picking up his wallet.

I talk to the guy, he asks me to drop off his wallet. Doesn’t offer to pay me. I ask him how much he’s going to pay me to bring it, and he offers me 10$. I decided I don’t want to haggle the guy, and 10$ isn’t worth my time, so I tell him I don’t want to drop it off and he needs to come get it.

We can meet at the gas station by my house. Well, he doesn’t drive at all apparently. I tell him to have a friend drive him, he says he doesn’t have anyone who can. He gets mad at me for not wanting to bring it to him, but I don’t really care.

They guy was somewhat nice but didn’t tip me. Which is fine, he doesn’t have to. But since he didn’t “go above and beyond” to tip me, I didn’t feel obligated to bring him his wallet.

I finally told him I’m leaving it with the gas station clerk and it’s up to him if he wants to go claim it or not. He said he doesn’t get paid till next week and can’t afford an Uber there, and he can’t get food without his ebt card. I feel like it’s not my problem.

AITA (am I the a-hole) for not bringing this guy his wallet because he didn’t tip me?

Is OP being entitled or does he have the right to refuse to bring the man his wallet?

Let's see what Reddit had to say about this:

sisitsathrowaway kept it simple:

YTA. (you're the a-hole)

But madamessagain writes:

dude needs to take better care of his stuff. nobody should carry their SS card around with them.

many_hobbies_gal says:

YTA, you could have dropped it in the mail, with insurance and tracking.

HappyCamper82 writes:

YTA. Keeping a wallet that isn't yours is theft. You drop it in a mailbox if you don't want to return it, or give it to the police, not leave it at a random gas station.

CannibalisticVampyre says:

YTA If that was your wallet and you couldn’t get to the person, you’d be upset. And leaving it with a random person is shitty, because how will you be sure they won’t just keep it? And you’re perfectly happy to let someone go hungry because they can’t afford to give you more money, you can’t actually be struggling too hard to make ends meet or you’d have at least a modicum of empathy for this person.

But OP responded:

If it were my wallet and I didn’t have a car I have plenty of friends who’d be willing to take me to go get it. I feel like the fact that he doesn’t have any friends willing to do him a small favor reflects badly on his character.

Looks like Reddit thinks OP is being inconsiderate and entitled at best. Many think he's being far more cruel to a man who can barely afford basic necessities.

We all want to be paid for the work we do but have we lost the ability to do things out of the kindness of our hearts?