Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes • Hacker News Board

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#271

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Mar 16, 2017, 5:13 AM UTC

diminoten wrote: post #225

brandonbloom wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> your cancel reflects poorly on you in Uber's rating system This is simply not true. I just checked: My rating is 4.73. I've probably taken a few hundred rides with Uber. I assume they adjust ratings for bad experiences, especially if you're a regular rider. By the way: It's not that hard to get consistent 5 stars as a passenger. Be respectful of the driver and follow these steps: 1) Say something like "Hi, are you…

> This is simply not true How could you possibly know this?

[deleted]

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#272

Post by hug » Thu, Mar 16, 2017, 5:13 AM UTC

bitwize wrote: post #223

It's not just Uber -- I've seen tip jars out in Australian food stalls with signs exhorting patrons to tip. I like not having to tip, too, but it's like the Prisoner's Dilemma: once somebody starts successfully collecting tips, everybody else feels pressure to ask for them and then the whole economy adjusts to accommodate them. That's how I think we got where we are.

In Melbourne I have literally never had anyone at any cafe, food stall, or any other similar place ask me for a tip, and yet every single one of them have a tip jar.

The tip jar is always filled with silver change, almost always a "round up" from a note. If I buy a coffee for $4.20, and pay in cash, the tip jar might get my 80c. (I almost never carry cash, so this is rare in and of itself.)

The only time I've ever even seen a tip requested is as a part of some POS card readers, where it asks if you would like to leave a tip before you enter your PIN -- Conversely I've also had employees tell me "just hit enter to skip the tip bit of the transaction" before I've even gotten to that stage.

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#273

Post by hug » Thu, Mar 16, 2017, 5:15 AM UTC

snowwrestler wrote: post #188

dominotw wrote: post #5

Tipping is awkward and unpleasant. It is the number one reason I use uber.

Did we read the same blog post? Uber's inconsistent and awkward tipping scheme is a big reason I don't use them.

Uber's tipping scheme is extremely transparent: Don't tip.

The "self employed contractors" who pick you up may have tipping schemes inconsistent with one another, though.

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#274

Post by tdumitrescu » Thu, Mar 16, 2017, 5:19 AM UTC

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.

I've never had a driver ask for a tip in the bay area. If one were to, I'd give a 1-star rating and write in "asked for tip" as the reason. If that's unacceptable behavior I'll stop using the service rather than join the under-the-table tipping game.

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#275

Post by julianozen » Thu, Mar 16, 2017, 5:19 AM UTC

dataminded wrote: post #33

I don't agree with the argument that passengers should tip because Uber isn't paying their drivers enough. That sounds like welfare for Uber. If the pay sucks, Uber should have trouble recruiting drivers.

My theory on this is that Uber is not 100% transparent on what drivers will earn, offering them incentives and promises that skew the numbers for new drivers. Because there are always drivers willing to try and get burned out, prices stayed depressed.

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#276

Post by wpietri » Thu, Mar 16, 2017, 5:20 AM UTC

buu700 wrote: post #246

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.

+1. I use Uber over Lyft right now because I prefer a UX as close to "type destination, arrive, done" as possible, which Lyft's whole tipping deal needlessly impairs. If Uber is going to implicitly make tipping a requirement to not feel like a jerk (as with Lyft), but without copying Lyft's ability to tip from the app, suddenly Lyft looks a lot less unattractive by comparison. Now that I know this is starting to beco…

Huh. I use Flywheel, and it has tipping with a default tip. You can change it during or at the end of the ride if you want, but if you do nothing, it sticks with whatever you picked as the default. I'm surprised Lyft doesn't do that.

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#277

Post by patcon » Thu, Mar 16, 2017, 5:21 AM UTC

I feel like the inconvenience of getting hustled is just a minimal tax on using an questionably moral, very low-cost, low-job-security service. You get it cheap, but you've got to interact with desperate people, and deal with how that makes you feel uncomfortable...

If you don't want to get hassled, better pay is the byline, not a tacked-on after-thought.

(Disclaimer: I found the tone of this post pretty insufferable.)

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#278

Post by prawn » Thu, Mar 16, 2017, 5:21 AM UTC

ClassyJacket wrote: post #187

walru wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is good service and hospitably an antiquated notion? I'll happily give a bartender, server or a driver an extra buck or two when they make the experience pleasant/informative/friendly because, far too many people treat their jobs not as a privileged but a chore. Without tipping far too many would take your money for granted and the quality of service would decline across the board because there is zero incentive to p…

Do you believe that in Australia and Europe, restaurants and taxis are non functional because they don't have tipping? I've eaten out hundreds of times in my life, never left a tip, and never thought I needed an incentive system directly between me and the waiter. Same with taxis. There are only so many ways to screw up bringing food to a table. I've never once though "wow that waiter really brought my plate to me ba…

I believe they do tip their hairdressers in the US. Rest of the argument stands though, and I agree with you.

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#279

Post by untog » Thu, Mar 16, 2017, 5:22 AM UTC

iamaelephant wrote: post #74

untog wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately it's the nature of the beast when wages are so low. Bartenders are typically paid next to nothing and depend on tips, whereas in Europe they are paid a decent amount and don't need tips to get by. Unfortunately US politics means this won't change any time soon. Evidently it's simpler for every American to carry around spare dollar bills every day than it is to pass meaningful legislation.

If Americans would stop tipping then the current wages would become untenable and the restaurants and bars would lose staff. They would need to increase wages (and prices) accordingly. This is something the American people have the power to change without legislation.

Sure, but in that window of time people who like paycheck to paycheck will suffer a sudden loss of income and likely slide into poverty. Which is why we take proactive political action. At least in theory, anyway.

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#280

Post by wpietri » Thu, Mar 16, 2017, 5:24 AM UTC

developer2 wrote: post #267

dawnerd wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I deleted my Uber account over all the bad press and a few bad rides last couple months. There's definitely a trend for the drivers to be either really really bad at driving, or super aggressive with tips. Do drivers really expect people using a cashless system to... carry cash? I actually had one driver accepts tips using stripe.

Taxi drivers in my city are notorious for, at least in my experience, attempting to swipe your credit card with Stripe on their personal cell phones. Not just for the tip, but for the entire fare. They openly commit fraud against their company by trying to steal the fare for themselves without reporting it to their company. I've refused to pay for, and reported to their company, 4 separate drivers in the past 2 years…

Why do you think this is fraud?

At least in SF, I'm pretty sure the standard deal is that the drivers pay for the cab regardless of what they get in fares. Cabs were a cash business for a hundred years, after all.

I think the deal with credit card machines in the cabs is that the cab companies see it as a revenue source. I know cab drivers grumble about the cost of using them. It makes sense to me that Stripe is cheaper for the cab drivers.