Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

angelinatravels.boardingarea.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

451–460 of 670 posts

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#451

Post by rublev »

lazyasciiart wrote: post #392
Steeeve wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quotes from uber drivers discussing: > I picked up a 4.5 tonight and guess what is was a 4.5 type of ride. 2 stars bucko > 4.5 or below are usually problem passengers in my market > Usually I'll pass on anyone lower than a 4.5. > I check the score and if they are below a 4.6 I text and inform them that THEY need to cancel and request another driver. > 4.6 and below? Sorry about your luck. Let the next Uber driver pic…

> I check the score and if they are below a 4.6 I text and inform them that THEY need to cancel and request another driver. I'm amazed that doesn't backfire. Skeptical, in fact.

This has happened to me so many times, lost like $5 each time.

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#452

Post by lostboys67 »

yladiz wrote: post #409
developer2 wrote: post #391

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're stating that they're not guilty until caught in the act. What percentage of the population do you think scrutinizes every credit card statement line-by-line? Many people would not notice an unauthorized charge on their card. It's merely a matter of scale: some people will notice a single unauthorized charge for $5, while others won't even notice $500. Credit card fraud is rampant, and any company that willingl…

Innocent until proven guilty is a cornerstone of the US judiciary system. So yes, they aren't guilty until caught (proven) because their innocence is assumed otherwise.

Not for employment law in most cases (uk/US derived law) you can be fired collectively i.e. if 1 person in a group is skimming but you cant find which one you can fire every one

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#453

Post by [deleted] »

Canada wrote: post #317
bitwize wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Yeah I do, and of course they claim everyone should give them more money. Since I frequently heard that the new standard is 20% I've reduced my tips to 10%, pretax. If a bill helpfully prints calculations and the lowest option is greater than 15% I will leave less than 10%. 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 u…

[deleted]

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#454

Post by [deleted] »

defen wrote: post #264
bitwize wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I agree that 20% is the new normal. 10-15 years ago, it was 15% for adequate, 20% for excellent (that's my memory of major US cities on both coasts). Tip inflation is real.

[deleted]

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#455

Post by turtles »

wiwofone wrote: post #377
roel_v wrote: post #362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...)

The destination shows up when the ride starts (i.e. you get in the car). Calling beforehand is a an indication that the driver might want to cancel the ride if the destination is "inconvenient" (e.g. from city center to a remote suburb).

This is a big problem with taxi drivers is australia. At 2am you'll be lucky to get a taxi home, because they change over at 3, so they don't like to go 10 minutes in the opposite direction.

I'm glad there is the Uber alternative!

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#456

Post by lewilewilewi »

wpietri wrote: post #280
developer2 wrote: post #267

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…

A hundred years? That's cute. Cabs have been a cash business for 250 years:

http://www.lvta.co.uk/history.htm

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#457

Post by [deleted] »

iopq wrote: post #53

I drive Uber from time to time. I've only gotten a tip once over ~50 rides. A lot of the time the traffic conditions mean that after costs (I assume $0.40 per mile costs for mileage, gas, maintenance, etc.) my hourly is closer to $8 an hour (because after I drive for a while sometimes I need to drive a long way back as well on my own dime), which is below minimum wage. That's not including having to pick up plastic b…

[deleted]

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#458

Post by turtles »

taneq wrote: post #78
iopq wrote: post #53

I drive Uber from time to time. I've only gotten a tip once over ~50 rides. A lot of the time the traffic conditions mean that after costs (I assume $0.40 per mile costs for mileage, gas, maintenance, etc.) my hourly is closer to $8 an hour (because after I drive for a while sometimes I need to drive a long way back as well on my own dime), which is below minimum wage. That's not including having to pick up plastic b…

Maybe you can explain something that I've never understood. I see drivers saying "driving for Uber is terrible and a waste of money". I see them saying "after expenses I'm basically working for free." But they keep doing it . They keep driving for Uber even though they know that they're basically just working for free, in order to make money for Uber. If you take vehicle depreciation into account, you're probably not…

This is not the type of Uber driver I want. I don't want someone complaining about their life choices when I'm paying for an agreed service from A to B.

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#459

Post by elmigranto »

Tips are a way for an owner to scam personnel out of decent salary. There is literally 0 reasons to have it these days. Every issue they were designed to solve either disappeared, easily solvable, or when solved via tipping leads to more significant problems.

Low income? Pay workers more. No one thinks it's a good idea to start tipping, say, teachers.

Can't afford higher salary? Split X% of profits among (smaller) staff. No one sells furniture for 10% less, halving cashier salary and making tips a requirement.

Suffering of preferential treatment of tippers (like giving out seats for money)? Fine or fire offending personnel. Why what effectively a bribe considered okay in these cases?

But no, somehow US culture still decides it's better to move that pressure and responsibility onto the customer provoking conflicts.

Re: Uber Driver Tip-Hustling Schemes

#460

Post by ceejayoz »

mbel wrote: post #255
throw_away_777 wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It really isn't that hard, pretty much you always just tip a standard amount (average tip is 15-20%).

With tax miracullously not included in price, calculating tip and final total is a fun guessing game that you have to play each time you make an order.

> With tax miracullously not included in price

Not to mention being variable on a city, county, state, and industry (hotel tax, for example) level!

Post reply on HN