Tipping Uber drivers
 

I recently took my first ever Uber trip. I used Uber Black mainly because I had my SO with me. The ride to the airport cost around $120, which is comparable to a taxi fare for that route.

As it was my first trip, I asked the driver a few questions about Uber and how the payment system worked, etc. He made a point of telling me 3 times that tips are not included in the fare. At the end of the trip I tipped him $20.

From reading on here, it appears that a lot of folks do not tip Uber drivers. I'm not trying to start a philosophical debate and I know that tipping is a personal decision, but I am curious to understand the norm on this as compared to say a traditional taxi. Obviously, this is more relevant in areas (such as the US) where tipping is more common.

Thanks in advance.

I've used Uber a number of times (but not Uber Black). I've never tipped the driver. I think one of the attractive features of the service is convenience - no cash needed. Since you can't tip via the app (which I believe is by design), having to have cash on hand negates the convenience a bit.

Soccerdad1995, you should have a receipt in your email. Reply to it and say the driver misled you into handing over $20 cash. Ask Uber to refund $20 to your credit card.

Uber is a cashless experience. Tip is not customary for UberX/Black/SUV/LUX/RUSH/EATS/anything except UberTAXI. For UberTAXI, Uber will add 20% of your meter in a separate line item to your fare. That's the tip.

I only ride black, have taken over 800 trips and have never tipped. My passenger score is 4.9.

I feel for the drivers since Uber is basically screwing both of us (increasing their commission to 25% while raising prices for me), but I take it enough to get the same guys multiple times a month, so whatever.

I don't carry cash and will never tip outside the app.

+1

The whole point is that everything is cashless. Uber is also clear about this on their site:

https://help.uber.com/h/1be144ab-609...5-b9c7de5ec073

Tipping Uber drivers
 

No tipping with uber. You can tip with Lyft.

Once people starting to tip, drivers will be expecting it - bad trend.

Agree with all posters above. You should absolutely report the driver.

My car died a year and a half ago and I have used Uber since. I will tip when the driver carries my groceries into my house, but not otherwise. The drivers seem pleasantly surprised with the tip. Tips are definitely not expected here.

I'm going to go against the grain with the previous posters and say this:
I was an Uber driver a few months ago. I had numerous people ask me about tipping. I clearly stated to them, Uber says tips are not required. I had people say to me, I thought tips were included in the fare. I clearly stated to them its only for UberTaxi and not UberX. People who asked me these questions often left me a tip, they insisted.

I'm going to disagree with the fact that you should email Uber and request your money back. As OP stated, you made a personal choice and the driver likely appreciated it.

It is a personal choice to tip or not to tip, but I think it's rude to ask Uber to refund you the money. I'm not sure what the policy is but that money could be taken away from the driver on his weekly check AFTER they took the fees away from him. I've read Uber has done this to others.

Honestly, drivers appreciate tips and rate you higher. Many drivers, not including me will rate based on tips. I only rated low if you messed with the car or insulted me.

In 15 or 20 rides, I've only tipped on two occasions, when the driver went above and beyond at my request. Once picking me up at Love Field, before that was allowed (I dropped the pin outside the airport, then called him with my actual location); and once when he agreed to take me via on the scenic route, which was local streets, both slower and less mileage that the regular highway route.

I consider giving a 5* rating to be a tip. @:-)

Part of the problem is that Uber straddles the independent contractor/employee line. (I am aware of the California ruling today.) In general, one does not tip a business owner. Uber drivers are presented as having their own business, not as Uber employees. Uber makes it clear to customers in their marketing materials that tipping is NOT part of the model, not that a tip is included in the fare. In contrast to Lyft, there is no provision to add a tip to the fare.

While I love Uber, this may be a case of Uber trying to have it both ways. Market a cashless, no tip service to customers and allow drivers to believe that tipping is appropriate by not outright forbidding tips.

It also may be that there are different expectations in different cities.

Do you realize that giving a driver a 4 or below is considered a 'fail' for the driver? If a driver's average rating is below 4.6, a driver can get de-activated from driving, must take a course, paid out of their pocket to get reinstated. Did not happen to me, but I've read it has happened to others.

In my experiences, a driver with a rating of 4.6 or below should not be driving for one of a variety of reasons. I know of people who cancel at 4.7 or below.

yep. That's why I consider 5 a tip. It says: you did a great job, thanks, you get paid.

I always tip Uber drivers.

I don't tip, unless there's a specific reason where I felt the driver has gone above and beyond. I in general dislike the forced tip culture, and think that tips should be reserved for excellent service.

I have spent some time as an Uber driver as well, never expected a tip, and only on occasion received one. If a customer asked me if a tip was included, I would say no but mention that it wasn't necessary. If they still wanted to tip, great. I think in the beginning Uber had some sort of language that would lead the customer to believe a tip was included in the fare (untrue, at least for X), but that's been cleaned up.

I like uber because the payment is all handled by the app, automatically. If I have to start pfutzing around with currency, its a problem.

More than a problem. It defeats one of the major benefits of the service: a totally automated paid experience. @:-)

To me that's Uber's huge advantage over Lyft, where tips appear to be expected.

Expecting me to will drive me away from using the service.

Tipping Uber drivers
 

I tipped a driver for the first time yesterday. Folded his MPV seats to collect stuff at IKEA and helped me load and unload the stuff.
Actually used him as a "delivery guy" as he was following me as I was driving too.

And perfectly reasonable...sounds like the guy went "above and beyond" and this is the perfect reason to give a tip.

There was a time when UberX rates were high enough (for the drivers) for Uber's cashless approach to work. Most markets have had their X rates cut at least in half (or more) in the past 2 years or so.

I think on longer fares ($50+), tipping may not be as important as the driver will make some $$$ ... but especially on short-haul minimum fare runs, riders need to seriously consider tipping. A $4 minimum fare that takes a driver half hour of their time nets him or her about $2.40 after Uber's safe ride fee and commission. A $2.40 run for half hour of their time, before any expenses (maint, gas, loan). When the minimum fares were $10, different story.

Your example seems a bit extreme. In the major metropolitan areas, I've never had an uber further than 5 minutes away. Even if the driver was 10 minutes away, you'd run through a minimum fare in 2 miles (less if there's waiting time).

There's no way a driver would spend a half hour on a $4 fare - maybe 15 minutes. And in that case, I would consider tipping. However, the driver shouldn't expect it as it's part of the job. Like any business, you're going to get some great customers and some bad ones too.

This ^^^

For me:

5 is a perfect ride. Water & chargers provided if it's Uberblack. Air conditioning offered, no crazy music playing. Automatic 5 if they have the Spotify thing worked out (which I've done once out of 200 rides so far).

4 is a good driver with small problems. Car is dirty, air conditioning not offered, no water or chargers (or even a substandard vehicle) with black, they have screamo/Metallica/obscene rap playing (which has happened multiple times with no regard to what I might want to hear as a passenger)

3 is LOUD music, filthy vehicle, stained seats, unbearably hot with no effort to accommodate, driver doesn't understand that they must follow the pin for pickup and typed address to drop off

I also do not tip when taking Uber. The whole convenience aspect as the cashless system, all paid thru the app. And since most of my Uber rides are for business expense, it makes it a lot easier for reimbursement. If I have to use cash for a tip, then it complicates the expense report a whole lot more.

I recently did just take my first Lyft ride and I feel like yeah...tips were expected. Maybe it's just me, I mean the driver didn't say a word about it in particular but he did talk about how little they get/how prices are cheaper than Uber.

Still enjoyed the experience, And I really don't mind tipping, But I prefer to do so at my own discretion and appreciate how uber REALLY doesn't push tips.

Uber says that tip is included in the fare. I agree with the other poster that you should report the driver who misled you. How do you feel about restaurants who include the tip in the check, but don't make it clear and thus do get a double tip from some patrons?

You are quite strict with 5s and loose with a 3 star rating.

Seems like everything on there seems reasonable to dish a 3 rating.

1) Loud music - inconsiderate to the passenger
2) Dirty vehicle
3) Unwillingness to accommodate passengers desired temperature
4) Inability to follow directions (though this is subject to user error as well)

Tiger, I had issues with pickup until I started just throwing in the address instead of dropping a pin, which has eliminated 90% of my pickup issues.

Actually most rides I've had are 5s. I start at 5, and as I notice shortcomings, the rating starts to fall. I would say 70% of the time it's a 5 star ride.

So far I've used Uber in

-Tucson
-Phoenix/Scottsdale
-Los Angeles
-Wilmington
-Berkeley/San Francisco
-Rome
-London
-Vienna

Tucson is the absolute worst. I don't think trucks should ever be considered for Uber unless they specifically create a truck service, you are going to an offroad destination/event or the truck is spotless (or a Lincoln Mark/GMC Sierra Denali).

Drivers need to be specifically trained to follow the pin for pickup and dropoff. At the same time, users need to understand that the pin does not always accurately match their GPS location, or that their GPS location may not reflect where they are (especially if cell service is weak). I've never had a problem telling the driver to pick me up at the pin after actually verifying the pin has located ME correctly.

Being customer-focused is what Uber is about. When drivers fall short in any of the areas I mentioned earlier, their rating suffers. I'm not reporting them, I'm just giving them a reminder that things could be better.

So when the owner of a beauty salon/barber/bar (as bartender)/(other stuff where tipping is customary in the US) provides you with a service, and you are aware they are the owner, you don't tip?

You statements seem to be contradictory. You are saying follow the pin while acknowledging the pin may not be where it is supposed to be. (Which I have run into quite a bit on Google Maps.) And how do you verify that the pin that the driver sees is where you are? I've had instances where what I've entered as my location and what the driver sees are totally different; that is a Google/UBER app issue.

The default for the driver needs to be to pickup wherever the pin is.

The rider needs to LOOK at where the pin falls before they confirm the ride (shocker! you can actually move the pin!) Do the cross streets correspond with where you are? Simple move.

The discrepancy between the pin and your actual location lies within your phone's GPS and the cell signal, not Google or Uber. Frankly the concept of "GPS" on an iPhone is total bullsh*t. I wish they would not call it that and instead refer to it as Cellular Positioning System. If it were ACTUALLY GPS then you would be able to acquire your location without a cellular signal, as GPS uses satellites.

At some point, Uber will allow some kind of in-app tipping system similar to Lyft. Until then, I will not tip an Uber driver unless they go above and beyond (for example, I tipped an Uber SUV driver for fitting seven people in his SUV on a trip). Uber specifically says no tip is necessary - drivers need to take up the issue with Uber, not customers. Once Uber says tipping is customary or encouraged, and allows it via the app, then I will tip.

Not true. Google gives directions to a location about a mile away for a place I used to frequent, no matter how it is entered/located/pinned on the map.

They can absolutely acquire your position without cellular coverage. It can't necessarily pull up the background map, etc. (and it certainly can't tell Uber where you are), but cellphones absolutely DO have GPS receivers in them. Most of them also get location information from the Russian GLONASS system, to improve accuracy and provide redundancy.

Me too. I don't always give what I'd give a regular taxi (15-20% in the US), but give because I AM saving money and I appreciate the availability of the service. EVERY time I have done so (mostly Chicago), the driver stops me and says something like, "Oh, you don't have to; it's covered."

I have never had anyone (Uberx or Uber taxi) try to solicit a tip from me, and would 1* them and complain if they did.

Unless I have given a specific address as pickup location, I contact the driver while waiting to make sure he/she knows where I am - which corner of an intersection, on which side of a busy street, etc. With the feature of being able to make contact easily, it's a no-brainer.

(I also think that contact reduces the likelihood that the driver will cancel the trip if he/she comes across another fare closer to where the driver's coming from. I've never had that happen but I've heard complaints from others.)

So I just saw that tipping IS possible on uber.

If you log into your online profile, under Payments it says this at the bottom:

You can then select 0, 10, 15, 20, 25 & 30%.

Just a heads up, this is for UberTAXI only- which is just Uber allowing users to request a taxi through the Uber app. This is not the same for UberX, XL, BLACK, SUV and UberRICKSHAW or whatever new service they are offering these days.

https://help.uber.com/h/8fafa355-c0c...4-b5894004ff33

If one does take UberTAXI, just keep in mind that the rates are based on taxi rates, not Uber. Also, if the driver takes a crazy route, Uber really isn't allowed to modify the fare to reflect a more direct route.

I also do this in big cities/urban areas, especially where pick up may be complex.
And I have had the driver cancel the trip. Which I think you should be able to report.