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Lyft has a good solution for this, in that they prompt you to give a tip through the app at the end of the ride. More and more they're seeming like the (at leas

Lyft has a good solution for this, in that they prompt you to give a tip through the app at the end of the ride. More and more they're seeming like the (at least marginally) more ethical and sane ride-sharing app.

acheron 10y ago
But tipping sucks. That was one of the reasons Uber was better than Lyft in the first place. Then some assholes sued and now Uber drivers are allowed to ask for tips. Nice job breaking it, hero.
- haney 10y ago
  I'd argue it's easier to not tip when you have the option to tip in the App. If you're transacting with cash the driver knows if / when you aren't going to tip them. It'd be next level aggressive to sit and watch if you tip the driver on the app before you get out of the car. Personally, I'm fine to tip since the normal barrier to tipping for me is having cash, but either way in app tipping seems to make things easier.
  - roywiggins 10y ago
    I like being able to choose whether to tip once I'm out of the car, cash-free, no time pressure. Sometimes a driver does really deserve a tip, and I like that Lyft facilitates it.
- hughes 10y ago
  What I like about the Lyft tipping model is that allows you to decide the (optional) tip after you have left the ride - when the driver says goodbye, they have no idea if you will or will not leave a tip. Removing the on-the-spot pressure of tipping and the immediate human response makes it feel like a very different experience. It makes me feel truly generous when I do tip, but I also know that my personal rating does not depend on that decision in any way.
  - chetanahuja 10y ago
    Right on. I use Lyft and frequently leave tips when I feel the driver and my ride experience has been great. I also think the tipping experience is much more friendly to both the driver and the passenger (compared to say, a usual taxi ride) and I've rarely, if ever, had an unpleasant experience with Lyft. I used to rarely use Uber (more outside bay area) though I did have Uber installed on my phone. But I uninstalled Uber a few weeks ago as I was feeling more and more uncomfortable with Uber's corporate behavior and their CEO's personal and political reputation. This was even before the latest spate of allegations of sexual harassment and other bad publicity. I don't think I'll ever install Uber app again... the tipping policy being just one of the many reasons for that decision.
- lemmsjid 10y ago
  I always hated tipping because I had to have cash on hand. I always appreciated how Lyft lets you leave a tip electronically. Now when I use Uber I make sure I have cash on hand so I can tip the driver. Why? Because I think their rates are too low, and I can afford to help someone who pleasantly moved me from Point A to Point B. I don't blame other people for not tipping, because maybe they have neither the cash nor the inclination. But I will continue tipping. Lyft is better than both taxi and Uber in this scenario because you can choose to tip after you get out (that said, I always do).
- slater 10y ago
  Why does tipping suck?
  - whistlerbrk 10y ago
    People shouldn't need to beg for money in order to have a stable income when they are already working regular hours. The cash flow problems it creates for individuals and the awkward social dance it makes is problematic for everyone. No one likes two prices, they want to know what they are paying ahead of time everything included, any extras/feeds/charges/gratuities make for a bad customer experience
  - syntheticnature 10y ago
    While this the restaurant case, not the taxi case, it does give some useful overview aspects: http://jayporter.com/dispatches/observations-from-a-tipless-restaurant-part-1-overview/ http://jayporter.com/dispatches/observations-from-a-tipless-...
  - Spooky23 10y ago
    It makes people feel awkward. Plus some economic mumbo jumbo. Don't pay much mind, it's the HN hive mind trying to rationalize sympathy for underpaid drivers against the libertarian-ish notion that everyone is in a job like a full stack software engineer who can just walk off the job at will.
  - dorfsmay 10y ago
    What job do you do? Would you be OK to have a shitty salary but the possibility to get a tip, for which you don't know the criteria and cannot participate in the negotiation?
  - fernandotakai 10y ago
    because people need to get fair wages instead of relying on tips. the only country i've visited that has tipping is the us. outside the us, people get paid fair salaries and tipping is done when the service is outstanding.
  - ehmish 10y ago
    I prefer the cost of service to be up-front and clearly labeled, tipping obscures the cost
- sebkomianos 10y ago
  Why does tipping suck?
  - wlll 10y ago
    Tipping per se doesn't suck, but it being expected to the point of being all but mandatory does.
- camus2 10y ago
  > Then some assholes sued and now Uber drivers are allowed to ask for tips. Nice job breaking it, hero. err, tipping isn't mandatory. "The assholes" you are talking about are not employed by Uber therefore should be allowed to ask for tips if they want. Remember, Uber "is just an app", or so they say... "The assholes" want to make hands meet, just like you. You might not care about their point of view or their interests but nobody's going to be driving you at loss or with ridiculous margins for much longer. So there is no need to insult people who fight for their rights. Rich and powerful people use the law to their advantage all the time when they don't blatantly violate it like Uber. I didn't see you complain about that, nor call them "assholes".
- jforman 10y ago
  You seem to want to kill the messenger here. If Uber's practice was unlawful, it would've been stopped eventually. And why was Uber's practice unlawful? The "free market" of contractors Uber relies on to drive down costs also allows drivers freedom of speech to ask for tips. Uber can either have an open driver market or they can limit their drivers' speech — they can't do both.
  - arebop 10y ago
    Does it make the farmers' market unfree when it declares a rule that vendors may not purchase their wares (but must grow the produce/animals on a farm)? Does that make the farmers employees of the farmers' market? Without getting into the finer points of law about contractor independence & discretion, it's a bit silly to hold the position that Uber can't regulate the service in any way. In particular, standardizing the terms of the contract to be traded in a given market is a practice even the staunchest of free market proponents accept.
    - jforman 10y ago
      "Does it make the farmers' market unfree when it declares a rule that vendors may not purchase their wares (but must grow the produce/animals on a farm)?" At my local farmer's market vendors are neither contractors nor employees. Vendors rent space and enter into a normal commercial contract, the rules for which are very different. "it's a bit silly to hold the position that Uber can't regulate the service in any way" I'm sorry I'm having trouble seeing your argument here through the huge straw man.
- toomuchtodo 10y ago
  I'm sorry it's harder to take advantage of underpaid service workers now. I'm sure folks will get over it.

acheron 10y ago

But tipping sucks. That was one of the reasons Uber was better than Lyft in the first place. Then some assholes sued and now Uber drivers are allowed to ask for tips. Nice job breaking it, hero.

haney 10y ago
I'd argue it's easier to not tip when you have the option to tip in the App. If you're transacting with cash the driver knows if / when you aren't going to tip them. It'd be next level aggressive to sit and watch if you tip the driver on the app before you get out of the car. Personally, I'm fine to tip since the normal barrier to tipping for me is having cash, but either way in app tipping seems to make things easier.
- roywiggins 10y ago
  I like being able to choose whether to tip once I'm out of the car, cash-free, no time pressure. Sometimes a driver does really deserve a tip, and I like that Lyft facilitates it.
hughes 10y ago
What I like about the Lyft tipping model is that allows you to decide the (optional) tip after you have left the ride - when the driver says goodbye, they have no idea if you will or will not leave a tip. Removing the on-the-spot pressure of tipping and the immediate human response makes it feel like a very different experience. It makes me feel truly generous when I do tip, but I also know that my personal rating does not depend on that decision in any way.
- chetanahuja 10y ago
  Right on. I use Lyft and frequently leave tips when I feel the driver and my ride experience has been great. I also think the tipping experience is much more friendly to both the driver and the passenger (compared to say, a usual taxi ride) and I've rarely, if ever, had an unpleasant experience with Lyft. I used to rarely use Uber (more outside bay area) though I did have Uber installed on my phone. But I uninstalled Uber a few weeks ago as I was feeling more and more uncomfortable with Uber's corporate behavior and their CEO's personal and political reputation. This was even before the latest spate of allegations of sexual harassment and other bad publicity. I don't think I'll ever install Uber app again... the tipping policy being just one of the many reasons for that decision.
lemmsjid 10y ago
I always hated tipping because I had to have cash on hand. I always appreciated how Lyft lets you leave a tip electronically. Now when I use Uber I make sure I have cash on hand so I can tip the driver. Why? Because I think their rates are too low, and I can afford to help someone who pleasantly moved me from Point A to Point B. I don't blame other people for not tipping, because maybe they have neither the cash nor the inclination. But I will continue tipping. Lyft is better than both taxi and Uber in this scenario because you can choose to tip after you get out (that said, I always do).
slater 10y ago
Why does tipping suck?
- whistlerbrk 10y ago
  People shouldn't need to beg for money in order to have a stable income when they are already working regular hours. The cash flow problems it creates for individuals and the awkward social dance it makes is problematic for everyone. No one likes two prices, they want to know what they are paying ahead of time everything included, any extras/feeds/charges/gratuities make for a bad customer experience
- syntheticnature 10y ago
  While this the restaurant case, not the taxi case, it does give some useful overview aspects: http://jayporter.com/dispatches/observations-from-a-tipless-restaurant-part-1-overview/ http://jayporter.com/dispatches/observations-from-a-tipless-...
- Spooky23 10y ago
  It makes people feel awkward. Plus some economic mumbo jumbo. Don't pay much mind, it's the HN hive mind trying to rationalize sympathy for underpaid drivers against the libertarian-ish notion that everyone is in a job like a full stack software engineer who can just walk off the job at will.
- dorfsmay 10y ago
  What job do you do? Would you be OK to have a shitty salary but the possibility to get a tip, for which you don't know the criteria and cannot participate in the negotiation?
- fernandotakai 10y ago
  because people need to get fair wages instead of relying on tips. the only country i've visited that has tipping is the us. outside the us, people get paid fair salaries and tipping is done when the service is outstanding.
- ehmish 10y ago
  I prefer the cost of service to be up-front and clearly labeled, tipping obscures the cost
sebkomianos 10y ago
Why does tipping suck?
- wlll 10y ago
  Tipping per se doesn't suck, but it being expected to the point of being all but mandatory does.
camus2 10y ago
> Then some assholes sued and now Uber drivers are allowed to ask for tips. Nice job breaking it, hero. err, tipping isn't mandatory. "The assholes" you are talking about are not employed by Uber therefore should be allowed to ask for tips if they want. Remember, Uber "is just an app", or so they say... "The assholes" want to make hands meet, just like you. You might not care about their point of view or their interests but nobody's going to be driving you at loss or with ridiculous margins for much longer. So there is no need to insult people who fight for their rights. Rich and powerful people use the law to their advantage all the time when they don't blatantly violate it like Uber. I didn't see you complain about that, nor call them "assholes".
jforman 10y ago
You seem to want to kill the messenger here. If Uber's practice was unlawful, it would've been stopped eventually. And why was Uber's practice unlawful? The "free market" of contractors Uber relies on to drive down costs also allows drivers freedom of speech to ask for tips. Uber can either have an open driver market or they can limit their drivers' speech — they can't do both.
- arebop 10y ago
  Does it make the farmers' market unfree when it declares a rule that vendors may not purchase their wares (but must grow the produce/animals on a farm)? Does that make the farmers employees of the farmers' market? Without getting into the finer points of law about contractor independence & discretion, it's a bit silly to hold the position that Uber can't regulate the service in any way. In particular, standardizing the terms of the contract to be traded in a given market is a practice even the staunchest of free market proponents accept.
  - jforman 10y ago
    "Does it make the farmers' market unfree when it declares a rule that vendors may not purchase their wares (but must grow the produce/animals on a farm)?" At my local farmer's market vendors are neither contractors nor employees. Vendors rent space and enter into a normal commercial contract, the rules for which are very different. "it's a bit silly to hold the position that Uber can't regulate the service in any way" I'm sorry I'm having trouble seeing your argument here through the huge straw man.
toomuchtodo 10y ago
I'm sorry it's harder to take advantage of underpaid service workers now. I'm sure folks will get over it.