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Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

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Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#361

Post by madeofpalk »

vmarsy wrote: post #215
madeofpalk wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, this is the problem when an establishment bucks the local trend and becomes a "no-tip restaurant" exception. Go to a country where hospitality staff are paid a 'fair' amount and customers aren't expected to tip and this problem goes away.

Indeed this problem goes away. A new one pops up though: mediocre service, such as having to ask many times for refilling the tap water bottle or get condiments, and struggling to get the waiter's attention in general.

Coming from a country that doesn't enforce tipping, I have not found a noticeable lack of customer service compared to the US. In fact the opposite - I find service at restaurants in the US to be noticeably fake and insincere.

I'm not sure why you don't think that tips are the only incentive for businesses to have good customer service. Places with poor waitstaff drive customers away, and that restaurant goes out of business or the waiter's fired.

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#362

Post by roel_v »

brandonbloom wrote: post #133

I'm only a little surprised that nobody has suggested this, but: If the driver does something shady, just get out of the car. Immediately. Don't even give them the opportunity to apologize for it. I've had drivers call ahead to ask where I'm going. I just hang up on them, cancel the ride, then order another ride. While I'm in the car with a new driver, I report the incident using the in-app system and, on many occasi…

Never used Uber, what's the problem with someone knowing where you're going? Doesn't the app tell the driver before they pick you up? (Well I guess not, or they wouldn't call you...)

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#363

Post by roel_v »

martinko wrote: post #356
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…

Wow that eerily reminds me of the s02e01 of black mirror. No way am I gonna optimize my behavior to get some higher 'rating'.

What in this list would you do differently? I'm probably a weirdo with insufficient empathy, but I have a hard time imagining how a civilized person would behave otherwise.

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#366

Post by aeontech »

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…

> I prefer a UX as close to "type destination, arrive, done" as possible, which Lyft's whole tipping deal needlessly impairs.

I wonder if you used Lyft a long time ago, because I don't even notice the tip screen until next day sometimes. When I leave the car, my phone is in my pocket, or I'm already doing something else on it, so I do not see the tip screen until I happen to open the app next time. Dismissing the tip screen is a single tap with or without leaving a tip, so it's never been a usability concern for me.

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#367

Post by seanp2k2 »

ukd1 wrote: post #308
tlrobinson wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of hundreds of rides in SF I've never had a driver ask for a tip.

ditto

Only dozens of rides here but in half a dozen cities around the US and not one asked for a tip. I've seen the polite-ish tip jar once. I don't typically carry cash but if I did I would have thought about it.

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#368

Post by seanp2k2 »

hueving wrote: post #339
blahedo wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it's not even customary This is thoroughly false. It is so customary in the US that it has been baked into the minimum wage laws: in general, the federal minimum wage is $7.25, but for waitstaff and some other "tipped" jobs, the minimum wage is less than a third of that, at $2.13. The whole system is completely appalling, but that doesn't change the fact that in a lot of places the waitstaff is effectively subcontr…

You left out the part where they are still guaranteed minimum wage if they don't get enough tips.

Try working at a restaurant and actually getting them to pay you that. They don't.

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#370

Post by [deleted] »

Moru wrote: post #360
Shalle135 wrote: post #349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand that they count on it as salary, it's the same with the Uber drivers - they don't make enough so they depend on the tip. Either way it's not acceptable - if they can't support themselves on the wages they have they should demand higher wages from their employers who equally raise the cost of the product.

And pay tax for it as is the social contract for all other wages...

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