Originally Posted by
Miami305
Sigh.
Ok fellas.
You're right. Uber drivers are all doing this as a side hustle by choice, earning a few bucks to supplement their massive primary incomes.
Do yourself a favor and actually talk to a driver here or there. I've met more than my fair share who are really working their tails off to make a living. Yes they may be replaced by computers one day, but that doesn't mean they don't have a family to support right now.
They also voluntarily signed up to work in a system that has no method of tipping in it, and is advertised as entirely cashless system, so shouldn't expect tips as a result. To me, that sounds like the drivers fault for getting into a system that doesn't yield what they expect. (And I've known a couple of people that have driven for uber, none of them still do, largely because they found it wasn't worth what they were earning.)
I don't know how long you have as a passenger to rate the drive, but the obvious answer to this blackmail by the drivers is to wait until they've rated you, and if you can determine that your rating went down because you didn't tip, rate the driver a 1. It's far more critical that the drivers maintain the higher rating, because they'll get kicked out if it goes too low, so if enough passengers made a stand and did this, maybe the drivers would get the message.