Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I don't use Uber because it's the cheapest, I use Uber because it's the most convenient, and I don't have to deal with the hassles of hailing a cab, and dealing with shady cab drivers who refuse to accept credit cards, or take me on a long tour of the city.

Ever major city has alternatives to Uber which can be summoned just as easily. I'd suggest using one of those as they likely pay their employees higher wages and offer the same service and convenience that Uber does.
 
Do you tip your grocery store cashier, mechanic, mail carrier, pilot and doctor too? Because they are all performing services for you.

I tip where it is expected, such as at a restaurant or when having food delivered because I'm not a prick. But the point is, I shouldn't have to. All that should go away and be replaced by their employers paying a decent wage. Instead, now we are expanding tipping to services that didn't used to have them.

Oh, you don't tip taxi drivers? 'Cuz last time I checked, I'm a decent human being and tip taxi drivers. I've even tipped black car drivers. Just because it's somebody in their private car doesn't mean we're "expanding tipping to services that didn't used to have them."
 
Totally agree tipping needs to be gone. I don't care, I'll pay an extra 10-15% on top for the service instead, then you pay your employee. I think the bigger issue is that people who are waiters specifically love the current system because in decent restaurants, they can absolutely make bank. If the restaurant offered them $20/hr (without tips) many waiters and bartenders would be losing a ton of money.

That being said, I don't plan to change anything about how I use Uber. If I get really awesome service from someone and I feel they went above & beyond, sure I'll tip them a bit extra. Otherwise for just normal arrival at location, I don't think it's warranted today when it wasn't yesterday.

I would prefer that tipping would go away, but it isn't going to and its (mostly) not the employees that like the current system. Tips mean an employer can pay people less, period, so they have no incentive to change the system.

It's been awhile, but I've been there and it's hard to be polite while someone treats you like trash. I wouldn't want their job if 20% was automatically added in. So I tip.
 
Tipping needs to go away, not be expanded. I'm tired of subsidizing businesses who are too cheap to pay their employees a decent wage.
That's not really how this works...

Uber can't afford to pay drivers more. They're already losing money. If they raise wages, then that means YOU pay more. Guaranteed more. But with tipping, it gives you the option to pay more for good service. If you don't want to tip, then it doesn't matter.

I've driven for Uber before. It's barely even worth it with tips. It absolutely isn't worth it without.
 
Oh, you don't tip taxi drivers? 'Cuz last time I checked, I'm a decent human being and tip taxi drivers. I've even tipped black car drivers. Just because it's somebody in their private car doesn't mean we're "expanding tipping to services that didn't used to have them."

Where did I say I don't tip taxi drivers? I do, although I can't remember the last time I took a traditional taxi anywhere.

One of the great things about Uber was it was the anti-taxi. It was simple to get a ride, fares and routes were transparent, it was completely cashless, which meant no worries about a "broken" credit card reader, and above all, no tipping. Uber should pay their drivers better, if they have to raise rates, fine. But it shouldn't be up to me to choose some arbitrary amount to pay the driver.
 
  • Like
Reactions: S G
Where did I say I don't tip taxi drivers? I do, although I can't remember the last time I took a traditional taxi anywhere.

One of the great things about Uber was it was the anti-taxi. It was simple to get a ride, fares and routes were transparent, it was completely cashless, which meant no worries about a "broken" credit card reader, and above all, no tipping. Uber should pay their drivers better, if they have to raise rates, fine. But it shouldn't be up to me to choose some arbitrary amount to pay the driver.

1. "Was simple to get a ride"
Still is
2. "Fares and routes are transparent"
Still are
3. "Completely cashless"
Still continuous to this day
4. "Broken credit card readers"
None
5. "No Tipping"
That is still an option
 
  • Like
Reactions: aristobrat
Tipping is a lousy system. It provides a lack of consistency for the service provider (driver, waiter), a lack of transparency as to the true price for the customer, and general confusion as to when to tip and how much.

Service providers deserve to make a fair wage, but that should be priced into the stated cost of the service. Having that fair wage reached by each consumer making an individual decision about how much to pay is good for nobody.
 
You're using UBER which means you're opting for the cheapest service option. If you believe employers should pay a decent wage, you shouldn't be using UBER. You can't have both.

This is absurd. Of course a person can use Uber and still prefer that Uber pay its drivers living wages. There is no inconsistency whatsoever between those positions.
 
  • Like
Reactions: abunawas
The tipping argument has two sides... One is being argued greatly here; customers shouldn't subsidize cheap business owners....

The missing side is: Service is generally of lower quality in non-tipping cultures, to my experience.

Obviously not all the time, but I think the average level is lower. Wait staff isn't rushing over to fill up a water glass or check on your meal when they know there is no incentive to do so...

Of course there are exceptions and people who would do a great job no matter what, but I've experienced this countless times to the point where I'm happy to have a lower base price and add in some extra for good service.
 
Do you tip your grocery store cashier, mechanic, mail carrier, pilot and doctor too? Because they are all performing services for you.

I tip where it is expected, such as at a restaurant or when having food delivered because I'm not a prick. But the point is, I shouldn't have to. All that should go away and be replaced by their employers paying a decent wage. Instead, now we are expanding tipping to services that didn't used to have them.

If someone was to take my groceries to my car yes. Some tip their mail carries, I don't. When I had to have my roof patched last minute I tipped the guy. When I had my new application installed, I tipped...
 
F**k tipping. It's a curse. Thank God most countries don't have a demand culture for tips. Just pay people properly.
 
The missing side is: Service is generally of lower quality in non-tipping cultures, to my experience.

Obviously not all the time, but I think the average level is lower. Wait staff isn't rushing over to fill up a water glass or check on your meal when they know there is no incentive to do so...
I wish that were true, but in my experience, it's not. Waiters know that they are pretty much getting the same tip regardless because it's expected. Maybe they gain or lose a couple %, but most people I know tip a standard 18-20% no matter how good or bad the service, precisely because they know that waiters/taxi drivers/etc. don't get paid a fair base wage and need those tips to survive.

Put another way, tipping has become so ingrained that it's lost its original function. It's now just a fixed but hidden cost and NOT an extra little acknowledgement of superior service, and its power to incentivize that superior service is likewise gone.
 
The tipping argument has two sides... One is being argued greatly here; customers shouldn't subsidize cheap business owners....

The missing side is: Service is generally of lower quality in non-tipping cultures, to my experience.

Obviously not all the time, but I think the average level is lower. Wait staff isn't rushing over to fill up a water glass or check on your meal when they know there is no incentive to do so...

Of course there are exceptions and people who would do a great job no matter what, but I've experienced this countless times to the point where I'm happy to have a lower base price and add in some extra for good service.

Yes, but even that is no true since after a while even bad servers expect a 15% tip no matter how well they perform.
 
  • Like
Reactions: abunawas
I pay Uber for a service, and they pay the drivers... there is NO WAY I'm gonna give out extra shekels to the driver. The only tip ill give the driver is to get a better job.

Cmon dud dont be cheap n penny digger and give poor ppl some help..
 
  • Like
Reactions: ThaRuler
That's not really how this works...

Uber can't afford to pay drivers more. They're already losing money. If they raise wages, then that means YOU pay more. Guaranteed more. But with tipping, it gives you the option to pay more for good service. If you don't want to tip, then it doesn't matter.

I've driven for Uber before. It's barely even worth it with tips. It absolutely isn't worth it without.
Uber tried to drive taxis out of business by undercutting them on price. I guess now we know that business model isn't sustainable.

Basically, If Uber can't afford to pay their drivers more and the service is not making money, the service can not continue in it's current form. That is how capitalism works.

Taxis are heavily regulated in most places for a reason. Why is Uber not subjected to the same regulations?
 
I'm not sure how Uber is implementing tipping, but on Lyft the driver receives the tips received over a week in a single transaction. The tips are not associated with the rider, for the very reason you outlined. (It's the same for the rating: the driver cannot see the rating left by any specific rider, just a rolling average.)

Is anyone on here driving for Uber that can share how tips are being handled?

Drivers must rate every passenger immediately after each ride before ending the trip and accepting a new ride. So the driver will have no knowledge of whether or not they were tipped until well after giving a rating.
 
This is absurd. Of course a person can use Uber and still prefer that Uber pay its drivers living wages. There is no inconsistency whatsoever between those positions.

Not agreeing with the actions of a company and then supporting it by giving them money, is a strange way to show your disagreement with how they run things. Generally people choose to vote with their wallets, which is why many don't support Walmart by shopping there or boycott a certain brand based on their actions.

What you're suggesting is like disagreeing with Trump's actions and comments but vocally supporting him anyways.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Peter K.
Tipping needs to go away, not be expanded. I'm tired of subsidizing businesses who are too cheap to pay their employees a decent wage.

You are paying the employee one way or the other. You can have a $50 dinner and tip a great waiter $20 or you can have a $70 dinner and have a waitron. Math is the same in each case. Service might be a tad different. Of course, maybe in your case, you'd have a $50 and just stiff the waiter to teach the restaurant owner a lesson. Yes, that'll teach 'em!

Of course in the case of Uber and Lyft, the driver is not an employee, he or she is an independent contractor. They own the car, pay for the gas, etc. In effect, they are working for themselves. Hard to give yourself a raise. Uber and Lyft are both usually less expensive than a taxi unless surge pricing is in effect. They could raise fares to taxi rates instead of allowing tips, but then many of those drivers might be out of work soon.
 
  • Like
Reactions: spazzcat
Didn't Apple just ban this in China? Strange that Uber are allowed to implement in-app tipping but China are not.
 
Never worked in the service industry I guess. What a shame.

Americans have this weird idea that instead of having businesses pay a decent wage to their employees; it is better to have an optional extra charge on each customer.

how can anybody logically believe that an optional tip is better for employees than a consistent better wage from their employer?

Is it that hard to see that and ameican businesses are swindling public and their employees by pushing tips into higher and higher values in more and more industries?
 
That's not really how this works...

Uber can't afford to pay drivers more. They're already losing money. If they raise wages, then that means YOU pay more. Guaranteed more. But with tipping, it gives you the option to pay more for good service. If you don't want to tip, then it doesn't matter.

I've driven for Uber before. It's barely even worth it with tips. It absolutely isn't worth it without.

You are saying 2 things that contradict themselves.

If you don't want to tip, then it doesn't matter.

I've driven for Uber before. It's barely even worth it with tips. It absolutely isn't worth it without.

In my opinion Tipping and need and then reliance on it as a form of income is not workable.

Having to earn extra random amounts money, from random people to supplement a salary (basically relying on the good grace, wealth of others), is demeaning and not a way to budget your household income.

If Uber cannot afford to do business (pay drivers properly) with their model of undercutting the market and making initial losses (those losses due to investment, which are slowly being recouped anyway over time), then they should not run (or be allowed to run) such a business.

This is the diseased modern day mentality that we are all being programmed, to feel empathy and love for a corporation that cares nothing for the consumer, or it's employees and only it's shareholders. Yet we still want the cheapest prices possible at any cost.

If the fares need to be higher to ensure worker get paid appropriately to meet the standard of living in the region they operate, then make fares higher and not hide behind billions of £'s / $'s investment to soak up the initial losses to then reap the benefits in the long term.

I use Uber because of the convenience and would pay a higher fare (or same as a local company), just because I do not have to call some random Taxi company and be promised a car in 5 minutes, only for it to arrive in 15, or not at all.
[doublepost=1499417744][/doublepost]
You are paying the employee one way or the other. You can have a $50 dinner and tip a great waiter $20 or you can have a $70 dinner and have a waitron. Math is the same in each case. Service might be a tad different. Of course, maybe in your case, you'd have a $50 and just stiff the waiter to teach the restaurant owner a lesson. Yes, that'll teach 'em!

Of course in the case of Uber and Lyft, the driver is not an employee, he or she is an independent contractor. They own the car, pay for the gas, etc. In effect, they are working for themselves. Hard to give yourself a raise. Uber and Lyft are both usually less expensive than a taxi unless surge pricing is in effect. They could raise fares to taxi rates instead of allowing tips, but then many of those drivers might be out of work soon.

This is just the usual manipulation, use and abuse of employment rights / laws. Something that was being addressed in a successful ruling in the UK in October 2016 - that its UK minicab drivers should be treated as employed workers with rights to the minimum wage and sick pay. However, it is unsurprising that UBER have been granted appeal as of April this year.

Do you really buy into the reasoning that - "Uber in London is a mosaic of 30,000 small businesses linked by a common ‘platform’,” ? Also that - “Drivers do not and cannot negotiate with passengers … They are offered and accept trips strictly on Uber’s terms.”

Sounds like an employer / employee relationship to me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: How42
Possibly the cheapest, most pompous low-ball comment I've ever read here. A few bucks to a driver who signed up to provide you a service as a second income or side job who may appreciate a tip? The stark nerve. Really? Karma.

Probably the most delusional comment made by somebody who does not understand how the world works.

Tipping culture is promoted by US service employers so that they can justify paying their employees less and now Uber is doing the same. Uber can now justify that if their drivers make less money, its not their problem. The public can just tip them more.

Tipping is the perfect fraud, because while being a fraud, some employees and some innocent people believe that tipping helps the employees.

It is time that american businesses start paying decent salaries. It starts by people refusing to pay any tips.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.