[HN Gopher] People don't want to tip their Uber and Lyft drivers
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People don't want to tip their Uber and Lyft drivers
Author : rntn
Score : 19 points
Date : 2024-02-18 19:21 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.businessinsider.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.businessinsider.com)
| moose_man wrote:
| Because of the surcharges going to Uber and Lyft. It feels like
| you are already paying extra. It's not rocket science.
| phendrenad2 wrote:
| Good. Upfront pricing and predictable wages are a good thing.
| People underestimate how much mobility drivers have. If nobody
| tips, drivers will go work for McDonalds or Walmart until either
| (1) tipping resumes or (2) base fares go up.
| leosanchez wrote:
| Do people tip Uber drivers outside US ?
|
| AFAIK it's not a common practice in my country
| bhaney wrote:
| > A 2019 study of 40 million Uber rides found that 16% of rides
| received tips
|
| > Sixty-one percent [of US adults] said they [tipped] for taxi or
| ride-hailing services
|
| hmm
| anon84873628 wrote:
| An explanation for the seeming discrepancy could be that the
| non-tippers take more rides. This would make sense, for
| example, if there is a population of people who take Uber very
| frequently (say to commute in a city) and don't usually tip.
| Perhaps precisely because they use the service so frequently
| and don't want to pay extra, or because they see the variation
| in driver quality and want to reserve tips for the best
| service.
|
| Whereas infrequent riders (say to and from the airport) are
| more likely to tip universally.
| abhorrence wrote:
| Could easily be that the 39% of adults that don't tip take an
| outsized portion of the rides.
| RandomBacon wrote:
| Both can be true at the same time.
|
| rides [?] rideRs
|
| If the group that does not tip takes significantly more rides
| than the group that does tip, then this makes sense. It also
| makes sense that people who use the service more might be less
| likely to want to pay more for each trip (tip on top of the
| ride cost), whereas people who almost never use the service
| might be inclined to tip each time.
|
| Also, those statistics are comparing different things. One is
| about Uber, the other is about all taxis and ride-sharing
| services.
| tmnvix wrote:
| Could it be that the first statistic relates to global rides?
|
| I tried to find out by following the links to the study but was
| unsuccessful.
| bhaney wrote:
| The link-chain from the article 404s, but the paper is
| relatively easy to find [1].
|
| Appears to also be US-only. I'm assuming the same connection
| that other replies are mentioning - that a non-tipping
| minority of the rider population represents a
| disproportionately large majority of rides. I only found it
| interesting because of how easy it is to broadcast either
| perspective depending on the response you want. Individuals
| and media reports can pick and choose between "a majority of
| people tip" and "less than 1/6th of rides are tipped" and be
| factually correct either way while giving off entirely
| different impressions.
|
| [1] https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w26380/w
| 263...
| presidentender wrote:
| It is possible that the sixty-one percent tip for a vanishing
| but nonzero minority of rides.
| jmakov wrote:
| Can I as a customer also get a tip froma company?
| MichaelRo wrote:
| I have a strong aversion to ride sharing services after several
| encounters with dubious drivers (like one wanted to beat me coze
| I didn't have cash and also was unwilling to let me withdraw from
| an ATM, had to call the police to resolve the dispute). So fuck
| Uber / Lyft / Bolt, I'm taking regular taxi service, the one that
| requires a hard to get license so drivers have some incentive to
| behave if they are to keep it. Not that they can't switch sides
| and go ride sharing but these two worlds are like vampires and
| werewolves, don't usually mix.
|
| And yes, I tip drivers, regardless if regular taxi or ride
| sharing, that's the decent way to behave. Otherwise get a f**
| bus.
| notavalleyman wrote:
| I'm curious about the anecdote you shared -
|
| 1. You don't pay cash on those apps you mentioned - afaik all
| save a card number on file. It wouldn't make sense that you
| could climb into an Uber and then complain that you forgot to
| bring cash?
|
| 2. On ride-sharing apps, typically you as the passenger can
| very easily change the destination mid-ride. If you decide to
| swing by an ATM, you can do that in the app, and the driver's
| GPS is seamlessly updated. Typically you dont verbally ask the
| driver to take you somewhere off-route.
|
| It sounds like you were really unreasonable in this scenario,
| but perhaps the cash/card situation is different where you
| live?
| LeafItAlone wrote:
| > It sounds like you were really unreasonable in this
| scenario
|
| Given your unresolved questions, how can you come to this
| conclusion?
| notavalleyman wrote:
| Because in the absence of any exculpatory information, the
| user described climbing into a rideshare (whose driver has
| every reason to expect digital payment) - and then telling
| the driver the ride won't actually be paid, unless the
| driver deviates from the app GPS. And, furthermore, not
| leaving the person's vehicle without police intervention.
|
| It really doesn't even matter about the card and ATM and
| whatnot - if the user felt they were entitled to a free
| ride to the ATM, against the driver's will, to the extent
| that the cops needed to get involved - then the passenger
| is totally out of order.
| Wytwwww wrote:
| > You don't pay cash on those apps you mentioned
|
| IIRC in some countries cash is/was an option.
| orphea wrote:
| > that's the decent way to behave.
|
| That's what a multi-billionaire companies like Uber want you to
| think. The world has plenty of countries where people don't tip
| their taxi drivers and it doesn't make them indecent.
| gruez wrote:
| >dubious drivers (like one wanted to beat me coze I didn't have
| cash and also was unwilling to let me withdraw from an ATM, had
| to call the police to resolve the dispute).
|
| Weird, usually the anecdotes to this effect are for taxis, not
| rideshare services.
| tibbydudeza wrote:
| My kid tips 20% (my card) - her rides to college are short so
| there is an issue here with trips being cancelled by the drivers,
| so it is an incentive to get a trip from a regular.
| baxtr wrote:
| I don't think a tip makes sense in this case because the driver
| is already earning money on the ride.
|
| This is very different from a tip in a bar or a restaurant where
| the employee gets paid by the hour and doesn't participate on
| single orders.
| da39a3ee wrote:
| I really really don't want to tip Uber/Lyft drivers:
|
| 1. Taking away the hassle of thinking about the tip is one of the
| major advantages of the technology.
|
| 2. I don't approve of US tipping culture. It shouldn't be up to
| me as Joe consumer to evaluate a professional doing their job,
| and it's patronizing to "reward" people in this fashion.
|
| This should all be built into base compensation. In practice I've
| never left a tip in any of my more than 100 rides.
| tayo42 wrote:
| When these apps launched you couldn't even tip and it was like a
| selling point of using them. The somehow we got guilted into
| tipping on these apps too.
| mianos wrote:
| I used uber and not taxia because there is none of the tipping
| bullshit.
|
| I got a taxi last week and the guy didn't take my card as the
| machine was broken and didn't have change. I only got a taxi as
| the Uber area at the airport was very busy and I would have had
| to wait a while and probably surge charges.
|
| In the end, the taxi was a shitty, dirty car, cost way more than
| I expected and cleaned out my cash. I'll be waiting next time.
| qwerpy wrote:
| Taxis and "the credit card machine is broken" is a tale as old
| as time. Some of the time it mysteriously fixes itself when you
| don't have cash.
|
| I can't decide which I hate more. Taxis for always trying to
| scam you, or Ubers for guilting you into tipping and punishing
| you with a bad rider rating or lack of service if you don't.
| dilyevsky wrote:
| At least where i live (California) they classify drivers as
| independent contractors not employees. There was a whole prop
| about it which got passed and basically groundfathered them in as
| "businesses owners" forever. It is in fact pretty uncommon to tip
| contractors. Like would you tip your plumber? I'm gonna guess no
| ProjectArcturis wrote:
| I tip my hair stylist, who's an independent contractor (mostly
| they rent chairs from salons rather than being direct
| employees). I tip babysitters.
| KoolKat23 wrote:
| But they can set their own price, why tip?
| kgbcia wrote:
| for ubereats , you have a chance to tip upfront which is
| basically a bribery since the company in California can't give
| their drivers a liveable wage. But at the same time,some drivers
| don't want to work shift. The only way forward I think is giving
| shifts whether 6 or 8 hours. But then drivers can't refuse
| riders, they will get vacation pay, etc
| gruez wrote:
| >for ubereats , you have a chance to tip upfront which is
| basically a bribery since the company in California can't give
| their drivers a liveable wage.
|
| From wikipedia: "Bribery is the offering, giving, receiving, or
| soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an
| official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty"
|
| How is tipping upfront any way related to the above definition?
| Or are you just using "bribery" to mean "exchange of money I
| don't like"?
| mikestew wrote:
| _How is tipping upfront any way related to the above
| definition?_
|
| It's not. Then again, few people would disagree with the
| usage above. Why is this so important to you that it's worth
| being pedantic? Do you find the wording of the comment
| confusing?
| gruez wrote:
| >Why is this so important to you that it's worth being
| pedantic?
|
| Because words have meanings, and playing fast and loose
| with words for dramatic effect cheapens it. Next time a
| someone is accused of taking a "bribe", do we know it's
| actual corruption, or someone expressing displeasure about
| the transaction?
| adamomada wrote:
| Why do you consider Wikipedia and Wikipedia only? It took
| 2 seconds to see a different definition that fits from my
| phone
|
| > persuade (someone) to act in one's favour, typically
| illegally or dishonestly, by a gift of money or other
| inducement
| zaphirplane wrote:
| Too aggressive. I wouldn't call it a bribe. Your comment is
| confusing to most People. Bribing is nefarious and/or
| illegal. Like bribe to get out of a fine or a bribe to get
| some government agency to approve Something
|
| This is a fee for service.
| mikestew wrote:
| _Your comment is confusing to most People_
|
| Not my comment.
|
| And maybe not "most" people. I understood perfectly well
| what OP was saying.
| pfannkuchen wrote:
| It's bribery if the quality of service may be influenced by
| the size of the tip. That pretty cleanly fits your
| definition, no?
| mancerayder wrote:
| I don't tip (as much) if there's a big surge pricing, or the guy
| was annoying or rude in some way. Otherwise, if you look at what
| they're taking home that day (sometimes you can see their balance
| for that day on their screens), it isn't so high.
| dre_bot wrote:
| $50 ride that's usually $15 during surge pricing might be a
| reason.
| anemoiac wrote:
| Why can't businesses just charge enough to pay their employees
| adequately and eliminate tipping altogether? Tipping adds
| unnecessary ambiguity and degrades the customer experience.
|
| I have no problem paying higher prices, if that's the solution to
| the problem, but I find the (seemingly) increasing pervasiveness
| of tipping across US industries annoying and feel no obligation
| to tip in situations where it was not traditionally expected.
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