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How Software in Half of NYC Cabs Generates $5.2M a Year in Extra Tips

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21–30 of 226 posts

Re: How Software in Half of NYC Cabs Generates $5.2M a Year in Extra Tips

#21
post #13

I usually just manually type "1.00" or "1.50" as tip for a short city fare (under $15), And "5.00" for a long trip (airport). I guess I'm cheap. I would also be interested in a histogram of raw tip amounts to see if people cluster at 1.00, 1.50, or 2.00 as well. We could even bucket by fair sizes. It would also be very cool if we had metadata on the credit card, for example, do corporate cards tip a lot better than c…

>>Presumably company-paid travel leads to better tips.

Companies I've worked for have mandated the tip size (15% both places) that they'll allow for reimbursed travel, although I'm not sure how universal that is.

Re: How Software in Half of NYC Cabs Generates $5.2M a Year in Extra Tips

#22
I thought this was a pretty blatant cheap trick the first time I saw it (similar to restaurants putting tip calculations on bills from 18-25% (which are usually post-tax no less!!)) and on the occasion I am in a cab always punch in "Other," or best option pay cash. Automatic deduction for cabbies who often tip themselves and hand you less change without asking - give me my change in full and I'll tip you, thanks.

To add a data point on tipping amounts I would say I usually tip 10-15% for a good cab ride or less for a bad one, or even zero if the driver "screened" my fare (common from yellow cabs in Queens - keeping the doors locked and asking where you are going before letting you in, which is illegal) or takes unnecessary routes, blatantly excessive slowing to hit red lights, etc. I might venture into 20%+ for a good service ride to/from an airport.

Restaurants I stay around 15% for fair or better service, 20% for good, much less than 15% requires the server to be noticably rude or inattentive. Sometimes I do feel like an outlier or cheapskate as the "norm" service for anything feels like it has become 20%, which I find a little ridiculous. I won't not tip because I don't "believe" in the culture of tipping, because all I would be doing is hurt mostly decent workers; at the same time I won't default to a high tip for average service just because other people are doing it. I try to find a middle ground.

Re: How Software in Half of NYC Cabs Generates $5.2M a Year in Extra Tips

#23

Is a 20% tip the norm for cabs? I don't live in NY and don't take cabs often, but I would just assume tipping would be similar to eating out in the US (10% for bad service, 15% norm, and 20%+ for good service). Anyone care to weigh in? Also I always heard how "cheap" taking a taxi was in NYC. That's why people did it all the time. But looking at his example fares ($40+), that doesn't seem cheap to me, in fact quite u…

> I would just assume tipping would be similar to eating out in the US (10% for bad service, 15% norm, and 20%+ for good service) It's actually 15% for bad service and 20% for normal. Kinda strange that tipping has been inflated from the standard 10-15% the past decade or so.

How do you define what it "actually" is?

The 10,15,20% is still what I hear. Perhaps it differs based off where you live in the US? I've lived in CA (both northern and southern) and the norm is generally accepted to be 15%.

Re: How Software in Half of NYC Cabs Generates $5.2M a Year in Extra Tips

#24
post #2

I find tipping culture really confusing. How is it that when your plumber saves the day and gets your leak fixed (saving you expensive flood restoration costs) you pay the price on the invoice, yet for a car ride from A to B it's worth paying 20% to 30% over the invoice price? Compare that to buying a new vehicle where, regardless of how knowledgeable and spectacular the salesperson is, you are considered to be getti…

I think that the standard rationalization is that waiters and taxi drivers provide a subjective service. A good waiter will refill your drinks often, make sure you have everything you need, etc. A good taxi drive will get you someplace faster than a bad one, will know shortcuts and longcuts, and understands patterns of traffic to avoid them. A plumber, on the other hand, typically performs a pretty objective job, sho…

  > A good taxi drive will get you someplace faster than a bad one, will
  > know shortcuts and longcuts, and understands patterns of traffic to
  > avoid them.
A good taxi driver optimizes the ride in order to maximize their fares. The more runs a driver can make between downtown and the airport, for example, the greater their income will be. Besides which, if tips impact the route the driver takes then passengers ought to tip up-front to avoid being "taken for a ride". And if the tipping percentage is to reward efficient driving, how would someone unfamiliar with the city (or drunk, or blind, or ...) know whether they got ripped off or not? Doesn't this ultimately result in tipping someone in order to prevent unethical behavior?

Re: How Software in Half of NYC Cabs Generates $5.2M a Year in Extra Tips

#25

I thought this was a pretty blatant cheap trick the first time I saw it (similar to restaurants putting tip calculations on bills from 18-25% (which are usually post-tax no less!!)) and on the occasion I am in a cab always punch in "Other," or best option pay cash. Automatic deduction for cabbies who often tip themselves and hand you less change without asking - give me my change in full and I'll tip you, thanks. To…

>I won't default to a high tip for average service just because other people are doing it.

30% and up is a high tip. 20% is not. Life is short. Be the guy/gal who puts smiles on strangers faces. You can do this by taking care of service staff.

Re: How Software in Half of NYC Cabs Generates $5.2M a Year in Extra Tips

#27

I thought this was a pretty blatant cheap trick the first time I saw it (similar to restaurants putting tip calculations on bills from 18-25% (which are usually post-tax no less!!)) and on the occasion I am in a cab always punch in "Other," or best option pay cash. Automatic deduction for cabbies who often tip themselves and hand you less change without asking - give me my change in full and I'll tip you, thanks. To…

> keeping the doors locked and asking where you are going before letting you in, which is illegal)

Just out of interest: do you ever report those cabs?

Re: How Software in Half of NYC Cabs Generates $5.2M a Year in Extra Tips

#28

I thought this was a pretty blatant cheap trick the first time I saw it (similar to restaurants putting tip calculations on bills from 18-25% (which are usually post-tax no less!!)) and on the occasion I am in a cab always punch in "Other," or best option pay cash. Automatic deduction for cabbies who often tip themselves and hand you less change without asking - give me my change in full and I'll tip you, thanks. To…

> less than 15% requires the server to be noticably rude or inattentive.

As an Australian, in a country that doesn't have a culture of tipping, I find it very amusing that you would tip a server who was noticably rude.

Edit: For context as well, tipping is on the rise up in Australia, but only at classier/fancier/modern/hipster places, and the extent of a tip would be to round up to nearest $10 (or note, if paying cash)

Re: How Software in Half of NYC Cabs Generates $5.2M a Year in Extra Tips

#29
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US particularly, tipping is basically just making up for the fact that the person is underpaid. Plumbers are typically very well rewarded for the work they do - restaurant waiters, less so.

I agree. And it's this tacit admission that those workers are underpaid that makes this particularly embarrassing. We can generally agree these people are underpaid (we all generally tip and agree on the reasoning behind it) yet we can't agree to raise the minimum wage to get them a livable income.

Waiting tables and other tip-based compensatory jobs are specifically granted an exception to the minimum wage, so I don't think raising the minimum wage would change anything.

Depending on where you work and how experienced you are, waiting tables or bartending can be very lucrative relative to the amount of education or experience required to do the job. I'll certainly not suggest that a Denny's waiter or a Wal-Mart cashier are not underpaid, but grouping all waiters together and labeling them underpaid is an oversimplification.

Re: How Software in Half of NYC Cabs Generates $5.2M a Year in Extra Tips

#30
post #7
post #2

I find tipping culture really confusing. How is it that when your plumber saves the day and gets your leak fixed (saving you expensive flood restoration costs) you pay the price on the invoice, yet for a car ride from A to B it's worth paying 20% to 30% over the invoice price? Compare that to buying a new vehicle where, regardless of how knowledgeable and spectacular the salesperson is, you are considered to be getti…

In the US particularly, tipping is basically just making up for the fact that the person is underpaid. Plumbers are typically very well rewarded for the work they do - restaurant waiters, less so.

...but don't they get underpaid because they make it up in tips?

Vox said it well with "consumers should not be responsible for paying the incomes of a restaurant owner's employees. "

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