Uber rolls out in-app tipping

Your comments have been crossed into incivility frequently in a way that violates the site rules. We ban accounts that do this repeatedly. Please edit such bits out of your posts to HN.

Instead, please be respectful and assume good faith when disagreeing, regardless of how wrong someone else may be. Even if you don't feel you owe better to them, you owe it to the community not to damage the commons.

We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14600765 and marked it off-topic.

The more you know... I assumed you were in California, but not because of my perception of your attitudes, just because this is HN and a vanishing proportion of people here I think are not from Bay area.

Thanks for engaging me here. I certainly don't tip my mechanic or my nurse's aide, but next time I'm getting blood drawn, I'm going to remember this conversation.

It is absolutely cultural, and it is arbitrary. I also don't know why I would tip more if the beer simply costs more. I tend to tip bartenders somewhere between $1/trip and $1/drink. This is a completely arbitrary standard, that I set with no review by anyone, and adhere to sometimes, depending on the number of "ones" I happen to have on my person at the time.

> I tip the same even if they don't keep my water glass full. I don't believe such a minor "annoyance" as asking for more water (which its not an annoyance) requires a dock in pay.

I don't mind having to ask for water, but I do notice when a server has a habit of showing up at my table just as my glass has been emptied. I consider it exceptional service when I can see there's also a lot of traffic, and yet my glass remains filled. I also notice if a long time passes and I don't see my server, and doubly so when my glass has already been empty for a while. You have to set the bar somehow!

> My transaction is between Uber and I and should not be between Uber's employees and I

That's a principled stance that I understand on some level, however I could not make this distinction in my own personal life. If it is factually true that Uber treats the drivers as full employees, then it is a fact that has only recently been settled as a matter of law. The bus driver and the train conductor are equally worthy of my gratitude, but they don't have a tip jar. The mechanic and the nurse's aide are great examples of how arbitrarily we draw the line, too. Thanks again for engaging.

That's the opposite of what I want. I leave a tip because I want to reward good service. When good service is provided regularly, I want to see it rewarded regularly. Making it harder to tip reduces the frequency with which good service is rewarded directly. You literally said "make tipping harder."

I want to tip when I've been provided exceptional service. I don't really want you to make it harder for me to tip. Show me a study that says, making it harder to tip statistically results in higher wages, obviating the need to tip!

I don't want to have an awkward conversation where I ask the driver if it's acceptable to hand over cash as a tip, when all signs seem to be pointing to "no, tips are not considered a usual part of this exchange." I may want to leave a tip! The transaction is not a cash transaction, so exchanging cash is unusual. Now I have to carry cash to complete an otherwise totally digital transaction.

I expect a way to leave a tip as part of my transaction, if you don't want to leave one then don't leave one! Or, drive yourself!