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Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

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Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#211

Post by jforman »

arebop wrote: post #163
jforman wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seem to want to kill the messenger here. If Uber's practice was unlawful, it would've been stopped eventually. And why was Uber's practice unlawful? The "free market" of contractors Uber relies on to drive down costs also allows drivers freedom of speech to ask for tips. Uber can either have an open driver market or they can limit their drivers' speech — they can't do both.

Does it make the farmers' market unfree when it declares a rule that vendors may not purchase their wares (but must grow the produce/animals on a farm)? Does that make the farmers employees of the farmers' market? Without getting into the finer points of law about contractor independence & discretion, it's a bit silly to hold the position that Uber can't regulate the service in any way. In particular, standardizing t…

"Does it make the farmers' market unfree when it declares a rule that vendors may not purchase their wares (but must grow the produce/animals on a farm)?"

At my local farmer's market vendors are neither contractors nor employees. Vendors rent space and enter into a normal commercial contract, the rules for which are very different.

"it's a bit silly to hold the position that Uber can't regulate the service in any way"

I'm sorry I'm having trouble seeing your argument here through the huge straw man.

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#212

Post by snowwrestler »

ClassyJacket wrote: post #176
snowwrestler wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The implied social judgment whenever Uber drivers come up is a bummer. Yes, people prefer to make a little bit of money instead of not having money. This is surprising? And when someone earns a little bit of money, they might wish that they made more money. Again--not news. I think before getting critical about why Uber drivers are so dumb, it's worth thinking about why you don't drive for Uber. The answer probably s…

But the comment you're replying to is saying what's the point in working literally for free or at a loss? Sure, if you're not making much, that's one thing, but actually making zero is what they were talking about.

The post above that one (the actual Uber driver) says that their hourly rate is about $8, not $0.

Nobody wakes up in the morning and says "today I'm going to drive for Uber literally for free." Of course not. Let's use a little common sense here.

Uber drivers expect, plan, hope to make money. The point is, they don't make much, and sometimes it's very little (like on a long fare).

So the question is, then why do they keep doing it? And I'm just suggesting that maybe a lot of them don't have a higher-paying alternative that they are dumbly choosing against.

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#213

Post by tlrobinson »

iLoch wrote: post #207
arebop wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is universal agreement about tipping at restaurants. Tips of 15% (or 20%?) are definitely customary, expected, priced-in. People who don't leave tips after experiencing decent service are definitely not paying their fair share. Uber traditionally operates on the service-included model. That was very well established before some drivers agitated for a change. Since then, Uber has adopted an inconsistent policy […

> There is universal agreement about tipping at restaurants. Tips of 15% (or 20%?) are definitely customary, expected, priced-in. People who don't leave tips after experiencing decent service are definitely not paying their fair share. Is this a joke? Not only is it not universal, it's not even customary. The agreement you have with the restaurant is this: you sit down, are served, eat food, and pay. Baseline service…

Where are you located? 15% for average service is definitely customary at sit-down restaurants in the United States.

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#214

Post by alsetmusic »

packetized wrote: post #171
cortesoft wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if this varies by region? I ride with uber quite a bit here in Los Angeles, and I have never once been asked for a tip. I wonder what makes it different?

You're definitely an outlier. In San Francisco, tips are sought more than 10% of my trips.

Frequent Uber user on East Bay. No tip pressure felt on any of my rides.

I had a guy who implied that he'd like a positive rating. Only one out of many.

I realize that EB and SF drivers probably stick to their preferred areas. I'm not disputing your experience, only adding my own.

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#215

Post by vmarsy »

madeofpalk wrote: post #209
prostoalex wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdotal counterpoint to that is a restaurant switching to no-tip policy but then seeing its formerly tippable workers flee for a tip environment http://money.cnn.com/2016/01/19/pf/no-tipping-reversed-bar-a... Even though the former model offers stability and fair pricing, there are some outperformers in the tipping world which must take pride in their customer service skills. If no-tip and tip business coexist in t…

Yeah, this is the problem when an establishment bucks the local trend and becomes a "no-tip restaurant" exception. Go to a country where hospitality staff are paid a 'fair' amount and customers aren't expected to tip and this problem goes away.

Indeed this problem goes away. A new one pops up though: mediocre service, such as having to ask many times for refilling the tap water bottle or get condiments, and struggling to get the waiter's attention in general.

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#216

Post by aninhumer »

hyperbovine wrote: post #88
redm wrote: post #4

No Tipping is one of the main reasons I liked Uber; no cash, no pressure, you just get out of the car and walk away with everyone happy. I would rather pay more for each fare and have Uber aggressively prohibit tipping. I suspect many people feel the same way and if Uber doesn't get it under control, it could be the biggest challenge they face.

After I switched to Lyft in the wake of the Susan Fowler thing, I discovered that they give you the option to tip. It made me realize that the pain point of tipping is actually feeling pressured to tip the moment the service ends . With the Lyft app I can tip (or not) later on, and I almost always do. It's not tipping that I don't like; in fact I really like tipping. With their strict no-tipping policy, it turns out…

Hmm, I'm normally against tipping, but now I'm wondering if this might be a solution to the problems with 5-star rating systems.

I've often thought that it would be better to have a simple thumb up/down for quality control and then a separate above-and-beyond option for recognising exceptional service, but that requires friction on the latter option to make it work properly. Initially I was thinking just requiring a minimum comment length would work, but having to tip e.g. $1 might be a good alternative to that.

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#217

Post by Lazare »

iLoch wrote: post #207
arebop wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is universal agreement about tipping at restaurants. Tips of 15% (or 20%?) are definitely customary, expected, priced-in. People who don't leave tips after experiencing decent service are definitely not paying their fair share. Uber traditionally operates on the service-included model. That was very well established before some drivers agitated for a change. Since then, Uber has adopted an inconsistent policy […

> There is universal agreement about tipping at restaurants. Tips of 15% (or 20%?) are definitely customary, expected, priced-in. People who don't leave tips after experiencing decent service are definitely not paying their fair share. Is this a joke? Not only is it not universal, it's not even customary. The agreement you have with the restaurant is this: you sit down, are served, eat food, and pay. Baseline service…

That's a good description of how some parts of the world work. It might even be a good description for how the US should work. It is not even remotely a good description of how the US does work.

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#218

Post by whiddershins »

madeofpalk wrote: post #206
whiddershins wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's different because in restaurants and bars it is so well established and priced in, it's really just part of the price.

Then make it a part of the price!

There are restaurants that have tried, several in Brooklyn currently do. I guess we'll see how it all plays out.

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#219

Post by morgante »

redm wrote: post #4

No Tipping is one of the main reasons I liked Uber; no cash, no pressure, you just get out of the car and walk away with everyone happy. I would rather pay more for each fare and have Uber aggressively prohibit tipping. I suspect many people feel the same way and if Uber doesn't get it under control, it could be the biggest challenge they face.

That's honestly why I continue to use Uber despite all the negative press. They continue to hold the line against the excessive tipping culture in America and I want to support them for refusing to give in to pressure to add a tipping option to the app.

Any driver who aggressively solicits for tips automatically gets a low rating and a note from me.

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#220

Post by thesmallestcat »

whathappenedto wrote: post #175
thesmallestcat wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The implication is that 20% the widely accepted minimum "good tip" rate, and consistently tipping 15% is consistently being cheap. Especially when you're a tech worker FFS. Let's break out of our echo chamber a bit. In the US, tipping isn't "paying more than required," it's basic manners. You can argue until you're blue in the face about how businesses are to blame, but the vast majority of society, who have no big b…

Actual data shows the average tip is 16.1% https://qz.com/189458/the-united-states-of-tipping/

Those are tip numbers reported by Square. Original reply was to comment about tipping at restaurants, not POS tips. I found 16.1% surprisingly high for Square tips, actually. But even then, 15% is below average.
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