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I hate tipping for Uber drivers. It has made the rides so much more awkward, where the entire subtext of the (verbal/nonverbal) conversation becomes "what will

I hate tipping for Uber drivers. It has made the rides so much more awkward, where the entire subtext of the (verbal/nonverbal) conversation becomes "what will my tip be".

vinceguidry 9y ago
The alternative is cab service level and pricing. Just like in the restaurant field, where if they price service into the menu, the perceived pricing uptick is enough to make people think restaurant dining is unaffordable. Sure it's worked for one restaurant, but the owner does not intend to bring the practice to his other restaurants. Eventually tipping culture will crop up around ride share services and everyone will know how to be a good citizen in that space, and assholes will be free to be assholes.
- MichaelGG 9y ago
  I don't think so. In Central America (Guatemala), I get a lot of ex-cab drivers[1]. They say the payment on buying a small car to use for Uber is about 1/3rd of their taxi rental payment. Most of them tell me they're earning significantly more. Full time drivers earn 1-2x what a call center worker makes, which is about what a lower-end software dev makes. And all this is after Uber takes a 25% cut (big, but totally justifiable), and rides are about 1/2 the price of taxis. So the alternative is not cab service or pricing. The service can always be superior, just by not having terrible queuing and apps. The pricing should naturally be lower, as taxi companies charge way higher prices. 1: The local cab companies so hilariously mismanaged things they just invited to be destroyed.
  - vinceguidry 9y ago
    I can see it working in lower cost-of-living markets. I was more intending to analyze the US market.
MediumD 9y ago
Yeah, one of big reasons I preferred Uber over a traditional taxi was not needing to worry about how much I'm supposed to tip. I would much rather the driver make a fair wage, than have to figure out what to tip in each different situation.
- to_bpr 9y ago
  Likewise. I read on the Uber Driver's forums that many (the majority, going by the polls) will now be rating riders lower by default and then increasing the rating after a tip has been received. I've since basically stopped using Uber. Between the increased prices since legislation was introduced here in Toronto, the drop in driver quality as more of the taxi drivers move to Uber, the forced surge pricing by colluding groups of drivers and now the expectation of tips it has essentially lost all of its appeal to me. The off-hours public transit, which was once made unattractive by Uber, has returned to being my default go-to for now.
  - MichaelGG 9y ago
    Uber can fix the rating-after-tip issue though - don't allow them to change it on more than a tiny number of rides. It should also be trivial to detect this tip-review-rating.
    - askvictor 9y ago
      Or don't let them see the tips until clearing finances at the end of the week.
- cratermoon 9y ago
  > I would much rather the driver make a fair wage Never in anything I have read about Uber has there been anything more clear than the fact the Uber drivers make a pittance -- nothing near a fair wage.
  - valuearb 9y ago
    I'd like them to make a fair market wage.

I hate tipping for Uber drivers. It has made the rides so much more awkward, where the entire subtext of the (verbal/nonverbal) conversation becomes "what will my tip be".

vinceguidry 9y ago

The alternative is cab service level and pricing. Just like in the restaurant field, where if they price service into the menu, the perceived pricing uptick is enough to make people think restaurant dining is unaffordable. Sure it's worked for one restaurant, but the owner does not intend to bring the practice to his other restaurants. Eventually tipping culture will crop up around ride share services and everyone will know how to be a good citizen in that space, and assholes will be free to be assholes.

MichaelGG 9y ago
I don't think so. In Central America (Guatemala), I get a lot of ex-cab drivers[1]. They say the payment on buying a small car to use for Uber is about 1/3rd of their taxi rental payment. Most of them tell me they're earning significantly more. Full time drivers earn 1-2x what a call center worker makes, which is about what a lower-end software dev makes. And all this is after Uber takes a 25% cut (big, but totally justifiable), and rides are about 1/2 the price of taxis. So the alternative is not cab service or pricing. The service can always be superior, just by not having terrible queuing and apps. The pricing should naturally be lower, as taxi companies charge way higher prices. 1: The local cab companies so hilariously mismanaged things they just invited to be destroyed.
- vinceguidry 9y ago
  I can see it working in lower cost-of-living markets. I was more intending to analyze the US market.

MediumD 9y ago

Yeah, one of big reasons I preferred Uber over a traditional taxi was not needing to worry about how much I'm supposed to tip. I would much rather the driver make a fair wage, than have to figure out what to tip in each different situation.

to_bpr 9y ago
Likewise. I read on the Uber Driver's forums that many (the majority, going by the polls) will now be rating riders lower by default and then increasing the rating after a tip has been received. I've since basically stopped using Uber. Between the increased prices since legislation was introduced here in Toronto, the drop in driver quality as more of the taxi drivers move to Uber, the forced surge pricing by colluding groups of drivers and now the expectation of tips it has essentially lost all of its appeal to me. The off-hours public transit, which was once made unattractive by Uber, has returned to being my default go-to for now.
- MichaelGG 9y ago
  Uber can fix the rating-after-tip issue though - don't allow them to change it on more than a tiny number of rides. It should also be trivial to detect this tip-review-rating.
  - askvictor 9y ago
    Or don't let them see the tips until clearing finances at the end of the week.
cratermoon 9y ago
> I would much rather the driver make a fair wage Never in anything I have read about Uber has there been anything more clear than the fact the Uber drivers make a pittance -- nothing near a fair wage.
- valuearb 9y ago
  I'd like them to make a fair market wage.