311–320 of 670 posts
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.
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.
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…
I'm not being judgemental, and I'm not saying they're stupid to drive for a small immediate profit instead of doing nothing. I'm just perplexed when they say they're losing money (or making so much less than minimum wage that they may as well be) but they keep on doing it instead of stopping. If they're not just blowing off some steam with hyperbole, they would literally be better off staying home on the couch.
Most people don't drive Uber as a job. It's a second or third job. Make-you-own-hours is what makes that possible.
> If they're not just blowing off some steam with hyperbole, they would literally be better off staying home on the couch.
I mean, ditto for payday loans -- you're better off not having the money. Unless you actually need the money to make rent. Then you're screwed.
Uber is better than payday loans, but if you're depreciating your car at a faster rate than you're making money, you're still up against a negative expected value.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't mind tipping in principle, but I really hate the payment terminals that are preconfigured with outrageous options, so it prompts you to pick 20%, 25%, 30%, "other", so you feel like a total sleaze giving a normal 10-15% tip. It's the worst when I'm picking up takeout from a restaurant that also has tables. Like, am I supposed to tip in this scenario? Do I have to go into "other" to tip less than 20% for being…
I still tip the normal amount when I get takeout from a restaurant that has tables.
No one likes tipping, but it's become a moral issue. Something transformative has to happen in America to change the situation.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 chea…
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.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Where are you located? 15% for average service is definitely customary at sit-down restaurants in the United States.
Do you know anyone who actually works in food service? I do, and they'd be pissed if everyone skimped with a 15% tip. It's 20% for adequate service, 25% for excellent.
Taxi drivers get $1 no matter the fare. The gall of that industry to even ask...
And even the slightest infraction of protocol and I leave 0.
I used to overtip all the time. I got absolutely nothing of value for doing it, so forget it.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I haven't done it in months now, I just don't feel like it anymore considering how little I make.
So you're saying it's not worth it for you? So that is bad?
I drive around, worrying that I don't get dragged into Los Altos (nobody wants rides OUT of Los Altos late at night - they're all coming home). Sometimes I will drive for a few minutes picking someone up before they cancel. If I didn't get far enough to pick them up I get no money for this. I finally pick up the person and try to make conversation with them. They're not always willing to talk, but I understand.
After driving for a while it gets too late to get too many requests. I start late because driving in traffic is a horrible hourly rate.
I had to deal with app crashes, the maps app being wrong due to changes, people putting the wrong address, people not finding my car and calling me in a noisy place etc. Some people don't like this because they think I'm a full time driver and I'm supposed to know how to deal with these situations. I'm not a professional. I never received any training by Uber. I don't know every single street in your neighborhood. I don't even have enough experience doing it to know how to deal with every situation.
So I would use the odometer to see how much I actually drove (Uber doesn't count picking up as distance - a hold-over from taxi companies). I calculate my profit using the amount of miles, and minutes (I time when I start, not when I make my first pick-up). When I see a single digit number it makes me disappointed yet again. Even when I'm driving at football games it's still more like $12 an hour because of the damn traffic. It's 3x more expensive, but it takes very long to get out of the parking lot and to get into it.
Don't even let me get started on star ratings... giving an Uber driver 4 stars basically says "this person shouldn't be driving with Uber" since the minimum rating is like 4.3
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Can't they mark your home territory and try to schedule you rides that take you the right direction? they had this feature unfortunately, NOBODY LEAVES SAN FRANCISCO so it's pointless, you'll be waiting for someone to want a ride south for a very long time they've since removed that feature because it hurts your bottom line to use it
> you'll be waiting for someone to want a ride south for a very long time Why would you wait long? It's not like the system doesn't know where you are. Just start driving back, and if someone is around that needs a ride that direction, deliver it to someone already heading back to home territory in the same direction. Worst case you don't get anyone and drive back without any fares. All it should take is a slight bia…
Because while there ARE people that are driving south, other Uber drivers are closer than me to them.
> Just start driving back, and if someone is around that needs a ride that direction, deliver it to someone already heading back to home territory in the same direction.
I tried that. Every single time I did it, I ended up home before Uber found anyone. The only time the feature was useful is getting closer to the freeway that I was going to take.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
To me it sounds like they should consider adding a feature where a driver can pick an area they want to give rides in.
There couldn't possibly be any PR consequences if they did that. I mean, it's not like redlining at all.