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Uber rolls out in-app tipping

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Uber rolls out in-app tipping

#321

Post by smileysteve »

doublevea wrote: post #128
smileysteve wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because tipping is racist, sexist, and classist --- tips don't correlate with levels of service and reduce predictability in working and using a service.

> Because tipping is racist, sexist, and classist Surely this has to be facetious? If not I would love to hear you elaborate?

Indeed.

> Racist

One reason why Uber has been great for the black community is that hailing a cab has traditionally been more difficult. Studies show that Black patrons get lower levels of service and black waiters get lower tips than their white peers (because of enduring stereotypes).

> Sexist

Women are often tipped more based off of looks than their male peers. Similarly, warding off advances and harassment is a thing.

> Classist

A diner and a 5 star restaurant often have competing levels of service, yet % based tipping means that the restaurant servers take home much less more money. Similarly, things like crooked teeth can affect how your patrons regard your smile.

Re: Uber rolls out in-app tipping

#322

Post by [deleted] »

wutbrodo wrote: post #256
waqf wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Age discrimination: still just fine in America.

Forget allowing "age discrimination": You'd be hard-pressed to find a legal code in the world that doesn't _codify_ "age discrimination" when it comes to the adult/child line. It's honestly stretching the term beyond its common usage to include the child/adult line.

[deleted]

Re: Uber rolls out in-app tipping

#323

Post by cocktailpeanuts »

creepydata wrote: post #285

Cute little narrative you got going there but I don't see any evidence from the article to support it. Since tipping is not actually "politically correct," it's racist, sexist, and classist (1), it's a big lose for the advocates you blame. It seemed they were under pressure from regulators, not social justice activates. I think this is the money quote >Conigliaro said the guild forced the introduction of tipping by p…

I think you make great points, thank you.

Only regrettable thing is the phrase "cute little narrative" you used. The comment would have been excellent even without pulling me down.

I think the point i was trying to make was that it's sad that Uber is making decisions that are against user experience. They used to be able to push through all this because users loved the product. But nowadays they've lost a lot of power because of all the controversies. The reason Uber became popular in the first place was because they built something that was great for the users. If they cared about these little regulations back then, they wouldn't be here and we would still be stuck with the shitty taxi system.

I remember when startup people used to look up to Uber as the poster child for being ruthless just to provide great user experience. Now the narrative has changed even though they are not doing anything different. The new narrative is that Uber is a law breaking sexist organization, and everybody likes to hate Uber.

If Uber still had the same reputation as back then, I don't think they would be introducing features like this, which a lot of people will hate.

Re: Uber rolls out in-app tipping

#324

Post by creepydata »

cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #323
creepydata wrote: post #285

Cute little narrative you got going there but I don't see any evidence from the article to support it. Since tipping is not actually "politically correct," it's racist, sexist, and classist (1), it's a big lose for the advocates you blame. It seemed they were under pressure from regulators, not social justice activates. I think this is the money quote >Conigliaro said the guild forced the introduction of tipping by p…

I think you make great points, thank you. Only regrettable thing is the phrase "cute little narrative" you used. The comment would have been excellent even without pulling me down. I think the point i was trying to make was that it's sad that Uber is making decisions that are against user experience. They used to be able to push through all this because users loved the product. But nowadays they've lost a lot of powe…

You're the one who started with unjustly accusing a completely unrelated group of bullying, of all things; you deserve to be called out for it.

Re: Uber rolls out in-app tipping

#325

Post by losteverything »

snowwrestler wrote: post #316
TuringNYC wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> I think it's a bummer to see developers who make way over the national median income complain they "don't want to think" about maybe giving a couple extra bucks to people who could use it. Numerous comments here are indeed suggesting "don't make me think" but to be fair they are also suggesting higher prices and wages for drivers. They are not saying "don't want to pay", they just want to not think about it and ra…

My perspective is that, if I think drivers should be paid more, tipping gives me the capability to make that real for my drivers. The model of Uber is in fact that the driver is an independent service provider to me , the rider. Uber is just the matchmaker. So if I want my driver to make more, I pay them more. I think the mindset of "I won't tip but at least I think Uber should pay their drivers more" is just rationa…

If anything is wrong it is that the starting point for salary/service was too low.

Paying a really good wage was not done.

Why shoudnt an Amazon worker or a delivery person make $75-100k. The investors and ceo make multiples more.

So we live in the sysyem we have now.

Re: Uber rolls out in-app tipping

#326

Post by danmaz74 »

cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #183

It is sad that companies like Uber are being pressured into making these stupid decisions because of "social justice". For me the main benefit of using Uber (as well as all other on-demand services like Doordash, Caviar, etc.) was that everything is included and I don't have to think. Companies like Uber should be focused on building a product that consumers want and nothing else. These decisions are nothing more tha…

Social justice would require them to pay their drivers more, not to add tipping as an option.

Re: Uber rolls out in-app tipping

#327

Post by d0lph »

yebyen wrote: post #305
whiddershins wrote: post #184

I am so unhappy about this change. I tip well everywhere it is expected, restaurants, bars, cabs etc. I hate the system but it is factored in to the price and there's nothing I can do about it. What I loved about Uber when it started was there was no ambiguity. Prices were predictable, as were wait times. Zero cognitive overhead. No guilt or internal debate. Over time every little thing I loved about Uber was taken a…

You know what, I am in a college town that is otherwise way too small for Uber and Lyft, but we have service because of the college. I was on a two hour train ride home after 12 hours of air travel, to save a couple of bucks. I arrived at the train station after the three hour ride (one hour late) at about 1:00am, and all of the Uber drivers had gone to sleep at least an hour ago! I was so glad to see one Lyft driver…

That's definitely the case where tipping is a good thing. If tipping is not expected then it won't be that bad.

Re: Uber rolls out in-app tipping

#328

Post by lazerpants »

verelo wrote: post #289
cletus wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

+1 And Uber is... gone (from my phone). I hate tipping with a passion and despite Uber's questionable practices I was prepared to use it instead of Lyft based solely on tipping. So now I, as a user, have to concern myself with issues like: is the driver actually getting the tip? Or is Uber taking a cut? Does this mean Uber is paying the driver less because they can now get a tip? I don't want to have to concern mysel…

Yeah this is stupid. I'm not sure what I'm tipppng for anyway,"good driving" a "clean car"? These are the comments I can see being assigned to tips. Can I just, please, have a fixed priced service without frills to get me to and from places. It's not an experience I care enough about to optimize the time with my service operator, by bribing them to treat me better than others. I'm glad it's summer, less taxis and mor…

Assuming you're in NYC (based on the last sentence), you should check out Juno. They take a smaller percentage of revenue for the trip, and that makes me feel far better about not tipping.

Re: Uber rolls out in-app tipping

#329

Post by askafriend »

snowwrestler wrote: post #319
ck425 wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do I know what to tip? How do I estimate before getting an uber how much it's going to cost? Tipping is the worst part of visiting the US. You go to restaurant and the menu for your meal says $x, but it's not $x, it's $x plus taxes plus tips. As a consumer I just want to know up front how much something is going to cost. No other country in the world makes this as ridiculously hard. And if you screw it up your "c…

This thread is full of people who work in technology, who think of themselves as smart capable people, complaining bitterly about choosing between 15%, 20%, or 25% in an app. Just tap the middle option. You can't go wrong, and your driver will have a slightly better life than otherwise.

Why not just increase prices by 30% and pay the driver more? That was it’s a better exper for everyone involved.

Re: Uber rolls out in-app tipping

#330

Post by creepydata »

yebyen wrote: post #311
creepydata wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tip jars are never tasteful, putting a tip jar out is equivalent to panhandling, IMO. A business is a place for business transactions, not begging.

I can only assume that you have never worked in any industry in a customer service capacity. Tipping is a totally normal thing, that you are free to engage in or abstain from. If you are especially pleased with a service on a particular occasion, then you should tip. If you are the type of person who is never pleased with anything, then you should certainly feel no obligation to tip, ever. This whole exchange reminds…

>I can only assume that you have never worked in any industry in a customer service capacity

Lol wut? Yes, I certainly have. I've worked no less than 4 customer service jobs.

>Tipping is a totally normal thing, that you are free to engage in or abstain from.

Only in the strictly legal sense, not the social sense.

>If you are especially pleased with a service on a particular occasion, then you should tip.

First off, tips for many service employees in the US are not "for exception service," they are "expected for any service."

I'd prefer to live in a society where employees give a pleasing service without expecting a bribe. I would prefer to live in a society where some customers are not snubbed because of the assumption they won't leave a tip, or will leave a small one. I also don't care to turn every single interaction I have throughout the day into a business transaction.

Not only that but you start with "you are free to engage in or abstain from [tips]" then say "you should tip." Which was is it? Completely optional or expected? You claim it's both.

>If you are the type of person who is never pleased with anything

Wow, way to project. I am pleased by pretty much any service as long as the job gets done semi-competently . I don't need anything "extra," or small talk, or even smiles. I have a massive amount of empathy for service employees who aren't property trained and if I have a bad experience I usually blame poor management, not the customer service employee personally. If the place is crowded I understand I'm going to have to wait, through nobody's fault, crowds can't always be anticipated.

Disliking tips is hardly the same thing as being a miserable person who is always unhappy. That's quite the stretch.

>you should certainly feel no obligation to tip, ever.

I am not such an asshole to believe that someone who doesn't smile or is working short staffed deserves to have their pay docked. That's cruel.

The thing about introducing tips is they become "mandatory," because employees and management come to expect tips. This brings down salaries then everyone is guilted into leaving tips. It's no secret that Uber is ruthlessly cutting fairs and now they are basically saying "we expect customers to make up the difference."

Anyways, my comments were not about tipping in general, they were about tip jars, specially. Tip jars are begging and are no different than panhandling. It's a form of guilt tipping(1) and are always distasteful. A business is no place for employees to beg - save that for the streets.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/advice/2016/05/01/tipp...

"If you don't pay up, you're shamed for your lack of generosity, at best — or at worst, for stealing someone's salary."

And, of course,

"He started rattling about how far the cab ride was and how he needed more," she says. "It turned me off. I use Uber now."

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