Uber tipping?

Jim K

Jim K

Final Approach
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Did my long solo xc yesterday, and met my brother for lunch. The fbo crew car was out, so I downloaded uber and it worked out well. In googling uber vs lyft, I came across all kinds of articles about how if you don't tip your uber driver, you're a jerk. Apparently they make like $10 an hour, which isn't terrible for a set your own hours, sit on your butt in the a/c side job, but I wouldn't do it. Driver was a friendly young guy, we had a nice chat, so I did add a tip. Between that, the food, gas, and airplane, was about a $450 burger.

Question is: do you tip when you take an uber? How much?
 
I’m a jerk
 
Tipping is sham..... I'd rather pay a bit more on the rates, menu, whatever than have some sort of societal pressure to pay extra for a job they are already being paid to do. We don't tip our UPS driver, nor the gas station guy.... Or even the burger flipping McyD's guy. I don't like tipping at all. But I do, and usually 20%.... Don't want those tip-shamers to come along, ya know...
 
Uber drivers don't make any fixed amount. They receive a portion of your fare of which there is no straight ratio. Uber takes a third of the fare (and can be as high as 60% in some of the surge situations). The fare is roughly mileage based, so it's impossible to directly map that to an hourly rate. They get no money when not driving a fare. In slow traffic, they're mot making what wuold be minimum wage even while actually carrying a fare.

Yes, I tip them. They're facing a real issue in California. It may be the first place where the sham of these people being independent contractors comes to a head.

Neither your Uber driver nor most cab drivers have any option to set the rates.
 
I tip Uber 15-20% depending on what dollar amount buttons pop up on the tip page.
 
MauleSkinner said:
Do you tip cab drivers?
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Well, I've taken exactly as many cab rides as I have uber rides. In that case, the guy loaded enough bags to fill the trunk of his 400,000 mile town car, so he earned it.

In this case I was by myself with no bags, and standing on the sidewalk waiting for him.

That's why I ask....I don't get out much.....
 
I'm not sure why the pushback on the "contractor" status of drivers. It seems to me they set their own hours, use their own equipment, and have no direct oversight. They don't exhibit the "care, custody, and control" standard of employees.

It does seem like uber takes too much of their rate, particularly in surge scenarios. But hell I'm no expert!

-G
 
I tip them 15-20% depending on service - especially when they get out of the car to help me with my bags.
 
If they load my bags and give me good info about the city like attractions and restaurants I’ll tip.
 
Uber started with no tipping, part of the overall convenience. Ask for a ride, get in the car and get out - driver paid automatically. Lyft had tipping from the beginning. Uber shifted to a tip option, add it in after the ride in the app. Still fairly easy to do. When I was travelling for work, was a very frequent Uber user. Tipped something unless driver was a tool. Tipped more if some value add (local info, let's go a slightly different way that saves time etc.).

Without getting into whether or not drivers are fairly paid, I wish they had kept the "no tip" policy. Not that I don't want driver to make $$ or am cheap, but a big benefit for Uber over a cab was the convenience. I remember in the early days of being able to pay with a CC for a cab, constantly getting grief from drivers about using it.
 
I tip them because I know their company is operating on the depreciation of their vehicles.

Once they figure out they can’t replace the lost value of the car with what they’re being paid, they won’t drive for a ride share any more.

There’s a business reason cab companies had fleets if half million mile Crown Vics. They weren’t exactly high margin profit makers even at that.

And I’d rather ride in someone’s late model Jetta that the payment is eating them alive, while they think they’re making money — than an old Crown Vic.

None of my cars qualify to drive for a ride share and are all paid off long ago when they did qualify.

Both Uber and Lyft are a scam to make some execs of the “tech” company money in similar ways to a multi-level marketing scheme. Build an app, hand people less money than it takes to operate and depreciate their fleet of other people’s vehicles, claim to cover drivers and passengers with questionable insurance, ignore state laws requiring real commercial insurance... pocket the difference.

Yeah, I’m tipping anyone who hasn’t figured it out yet. My sister is in that crowd, and also will sell you some essential oils for your medical ailments. LOL.
 
denverpilot said:
I tip them because I know their company is operating on the depreciation of their vehicles.

Once they figure out they can’t replace the lost value of the car with what they’re being paid, they won’t drive for a ride share any more.

There’s a business reason cab companies had fleets if half million mile Crown Vics. They weren’t exactly high margin profit makers even at that.

And I’d rather ride in someone’s late model Jetta that the payment is eating them alive, while they think they’re making money — than an old Crown Vic.

None of my cars qualify to drive for a ride share and are all paid off long ago when they did qualify.

Both Uber and Lyft are a scam to make some execs of the “tech” company money in similar ways to a multi-level marketing scheme. Build an app, hand people less money than it takes to operate and depreciate their fleet of other people’s vehicles, claim to cover drivers and passengers with questionable insurance, ignore state laws requiring real commercial insurance... pocket the difference.

Yeah, I’m tipping anyone who hasn’t figured it out yet. My sister is in that crowd, and also will sell you some essential oils for your medical ailments. LOL.
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Same is true of every pizza and Chinese delivery driver out there, except they can drive a beat up piece of crap and the customers don’t mind.

I see it as doing them a favor by not tipping them so they figure it out quicker.
 
I've heard that argument before, but I find it hard to believe that all these drivers are just too dumb to do some simple math and figure out that they are actually losing money for their time. Were talking about millions of drivers here, not a few scatterbrains. Maybe its true...
 
George Mohr said:
I've heard that argument before, but I find it hard to believe that all these drivers are just too dumb to do some simple math and figure out that they are actually losing money for their time. Were talking about millions of drivers here, not a few scatterbrains. Maybe its true...
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About the only thing I’m certain of is that people are stupid. A person might be smart, but people are overwhelmingly stupid.

Look at how common maxed out credit cards are.
 
I tip unless the driver is surly or unfriendly.

As far as depreciation goes, most of the cars seem like they are depreciated already. ;) Also depreciation is something that is a future effect, when you go to sell the car. You get paid for driving in the present.
 
flyingron said:
...Uber takes a third of the fare (and can be as high as 60% in some of the surge situations)....
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If you tip through the app, does the company take a percentage of the tip?
 
George Mohr said:
I've heard that argument before, but I find it hard to believe that all these drivers are just too dumb to do some simple math and figure out that they are actually losing money for their time. Were talking about millions of drivers here, not a few scatterbrains.
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A fair point but I can shoot it down with three words. Multi-level marketing.
 
Palmpilot said:
If you tip through the app, does the company take a percentage of the tip?
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They say it goes directly to the driver.

Juliet Hotel said:
I'm glad I don't work for you if you think $10/hr is a good rate for a job that requires use of your own car and your own gasoline.
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Obviously they're making more than that gross. The articles I was reading claimed that was net, but who knows how they calculated that.

I looked at it once, and I couldn't figure out how you could beat the depreciation on even a cheap car. I farm for a living, so I'm very sensitive to what depreciation does to my net worth statement every year..... also why I drive a 1997 Chevy pickup...

Frankly, I wouldn't care if they showed up in vw rabbit... actually I think that would be more fun than the clean, comfortable, almost new fiesta I rode in.

The other thing I can't figure is how these companies can be hemorrhaging so much money. Their expenses are some software and some servers....maybe if they'd stop blowing it on electric air taxis they could turn a profit.
 
Jim K said:
...The other thing I can't figure is how these companies can be hemorrhaging so much money. Their expenses are some software and some servers....maybe if they'd stop blowing it on electric air taxis they could turn a profit.
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RIght?!
 
Jim K said:
They say it goes directly to the driver.



Obviously they're making more than that gross. The articles I was reading claimed that was net, but who knows how they calculated that.

I looked at it once, and I couldn't figure out how you could beat the depreciation on even a cheap car. I farm for a living, so I'm very sensitive to what depreciation does to my net worth statement every year..... also why I drive a 1997 Chevy pickup...

Frankly, I wouldn't care if they showed up in vw rabbit... actually I think that would be more fun than the clean, comfortable, almost new fiesta I rode in.

The other thing I can't figure is how these companies can be hemorrhaging so much money. Their expenses are some software and some servers....maybe if they'd stop blowing it on electric air taxis they could turn a profit.
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Why? The owners are getting rich.
 
Salty said:
Same is true of every pizza and Chinese delivery driver out there, except they can drive a beat up piece of crap and the customers don’t mind.

I see it as doing them a favor by not tipping them so they figure it out quicker.
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Yeah you want a $2000 Subaru like my daily driver for that job. Then you can make money. Many personal finance groups point out that if you want to drive as a side gig, driving food around is the way to go. Food doesn’t complain much, throw up in your car during the bar let-out “surge”, and there are almost no requirements for age or condition of the car. The thing can be held together with bondo and bailing wire to drive food.

Oh and food recipients actually tip, unlike some riders. (The thread helps point that out. Ha.) Especially in bad weather or around holidays when suburbanites don’t want to drive to get food. And they’ll feel really good giving it to the crappy car driver. “Man, that guy is busting it to make his life better!” Meanwhile the $40,000 pickup sits at home in the garage. Hahahaha.

George Mohr said:
I've heard that argument before, but I find it hard to believe that all these drivers are just too dumb to do some simple math and figure out that they are actually losing money for their time. Were talking about millions of drivers here, not a few scatterbrains. Maybe its true...
Click to expand...

Listen to the rationalizations of someone making $40K a year as to why they need a brand new $30,000 car sometime.

It’s not about the math. They don’t DO the math. Cash is flowing and they don’t run a P&L statement on the business that includes replacing the car. “I’m going to buy new cars every few years anyway. And everyone has a car payment. I’m saving money because I have a lease!”

Not kidding. This is my sister talking above. We’ve tried to explain to her that her lease has a mileage limit on it, and she’d better look at what the per mile rate is that she will owe at the end for the excess miles.

She’s not stupid. She just doesn’t care. She wants a “safe car” and if that means always being in debt to a car company, so be it.

She seems to forget that we rode in the back window of a Ford LTD once, as far as “safety” goes. LOL! Grandparents hit the brakes we fell to the floor.

But even her rationalizations are weak compared to new moms. Listen to their excuses for buying new minivans and SUVs they can’t afford, sometime. Impressive rationalizations with not a single tie to their budget. If they even had one.

But the number one new car rationalization is:
“I deserve it.”

There wouldn’t be a nationally syndicated “financial” show with the first two steps of the plan being...

1. Save $1000 emergency fund.
2. Write down your debts from smallest to largest and start paying them off.

... if the majority of Americans were doing the “simple math” you mention. And yeah, it truly is simple math. Spend less than you make, save for a rainy day, give generously. All simple principles, but so are, eat healthy, diet, and exercise.

Anyway... if y’all want me to report back when my sister turns in the lease and makes it go upside down... she may have already done that, I haven’t asked, she’s not on the first lease...

Now there ARE some folks making real businesses out of Uber and Lyft. Stuff like Unser Black where the number of drivers is limited and people buy fleets of black Suburbans around here and staff them with immigrant drivers... something fishy going on in those but I haven’t figured it out yet.

There’s little discreet fleet numbers on the back of them like you’d need for a staff that has to find theirs in a parking lot in the morning ... but no DOT numbers, etc. The drivers don’t own them.

I’m guessing a scam where someone leases them to the driver for the day. But that driver wouldn’t be an Uber Black driver, so I bet they’re driving under someone else’s login. Which probably makes all the insurance and such, null and void.

But that theory doesn’t work because the companies have added driver photos, to go with the supposed vetting of backgrounds, now that the lawsuit against Lyft for sexual attacks on female passengers is going forward.

So like I said, haven’t figured it out yet. But haven’t really dug into it. Maybe Uber is contracting whole companies for those around here now?
 
My wife runs the Uber app and she's a lot nicer than I am so we are probably tipping.

That said, I've posted my opinion on tipping in other threads before. I do not see why I should be financially responsible for giving people extra money if their job doesn't pay them well enough. If you're not making enough then why do it? Tipping ought to be a thank you for a job done especially well, not a mandatory obligatory thing. That's just bad customer service to pawn that off on the customer.

As for people not being able to figure out if they're making or losing money... wow. I can't disagree because I've seen it too. I guess it's true that they don't teach that skill in school, you'd think it wouldn't be hard to figure out but whatever. Maybe High Schools should be spending more time on essential life skills and a little less on prepping for standardized tests and college.
 
cowman said:
Maybe High Schools should be spending more time on essential life skills and a little less on prepping for standardized tests and college.
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I used to say this too, but then I realized this is all third or forth grade math. The problem isn’t knowledge, it’s in applying it.

Heart disease kills more people than anything else in the country. We all know how to avoid it.

It’s a behavior problem. Not a knowledge problem. As long as its “cool” to bankrupt yourself or make yourself a wage slave, 80% will do it and 20% won’t, roughly.

And the 80% will scream and holler that the 20% has unfair advantages.

Apparently self-control is an unfair advantage. 80% of millionaires in this country inherited nothing and started from nothing. A significant number don’t have a college degree. They work from Jan-May just to pay their taxes, and they still got rich.

Perhaps that new car you’re driving Uber at night in, setting hundred dollar bills on fire in depreciation over three years before you buy a new one... is part of your problem... but yes, you work hard and you “deserve” it.

But you know I can relate to this crowd that does this. I believed these fairy tales about loans and such once. Everyone has done something stupid with money. As Ramsey jokes, stupid with a lot of zeros on the end. Been there, done that.

The ones I really don’t get are the ones who buy things they can’t afford, to impress others. That one... has never been a thing for me. The fashion crowd. They copy cat millionaires who can afford the cars, threads, lifestyles... and all they get is debt and paying for a millionaire’s cars, threads, lifestyles... makes no sense to me whatsoever.

Never once watched the show, but the title ... “Keeping up with the Kardashians”. Ummmm really? Because if you’re working hard enough to do that, you don’t have time to watch that show. Hahaha. But the name always stuck in my head as an example of how the culture sucks a certain very self-conscious and insecure major demographic into a life of payments.
 
I feel that Uber/Lyft drivers make far LESS than $10/hour on average. The big disconnect is that it seems few of them consider the depreciation and additional maintenance they're incurring on their automobiles. I've talked to many of them, and all they factor in is the price of gas. As EVERYONE on this forum well-understands, that's not all that goes into operating a vehicle. In the early days of Uber, the quality of the drivers was really great. Now it's gone down to people that can barely follow a magenta line.

That said, they're doing Uber because either:

  • They have no other marketable skill set (sad), and it's an alternative to unemployment
  • They are semi-retired or retired, and their spouse wants them out of the house
  • They're a cab driver that crossed-over because the cab companies are hurting

I generally tip $2.00 on each ride.
 
MauleSkinner said:
And first or second grade spelling. :D
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Or just a neurological condition making my right thumb jump around today so I rely on the damn autocorrect and a DGAF attitude since it’s not a formal paper or something going to a customer. Hahaha.

Wanna try it? :) Slap a couple of TENS pads for muscle pain to your hand and set it to the slow pulse mode. Hahahaha. We’ll see how you do.

(Note: Not recommended for a capacitive touch screen. It’ll probably blow it up if there’s any path to ground through it or across your body. LOL!)

You get exactly the amount of perfect spelling and grammar you pay for out of me, now. Used to try harder. Definitely don’t care anymore on Internet forums from my phone. Hahaha.

I bought a thumb keyboard for the PC and Mac for the really bad days. It’s a POS but a lifesaver if the pain level, tremors, or whatever decide to pop up on a day with a work deadline.

7311efe7a618904273d64d86d9a57abb.jpg


Save it for someone who types with all lower case, no punctuation, nearly every word misspelled, and no line breaks. LOL.
 
Hahaha and even the keyboard is upside down in the photo. :)

I was admiring the sleepy pup. She’s so cute.

Just grabbed it and shot the photo hahaha.

I don’t think I’ll attempt to use it that way. :)
 
yes i do, 15%-20%

its a great convenience
cashless transaction
i just spent 200 or so to get a $15 crappy food somewhere for no apparent reason ... i figured i can manage another $5-$10 or so
 
How would you not tip someone using his own car to take you somewhere? If I'm going to tip the server walking my food 20 feet from the kitchen to my table I'd certainly tip an uber driver, if I ever use the service. The exception would be if he has his cell out or radio on, then it would all depend on my mood.
 
I always tip Uber drivers. They've almost always been super cool and helpful. I always give them cash so .gov won't have any record of it if the driver so chooses.
 
A brand new, no option Ford Fiesta like the one I rode in, can be bought for under $14000 (which surprised me...I would've guessed at least 20). For easy math, if it lasts 140000 miles before being scrapped (and i bet it would do double that if maintained), that's 10¢ /mile. Maintenance over that time...2¢ should be close, 30 MPG at $3= 10¢. Insurance, misc., lets add 3¢ to get us to a nice round 25¢/mile.

My trip was a bit under $9 for maybe 5 miles. Assume he had to drive 5 miles to get to me, total time 15min. Uber takes $3, gives him $6. I kicked in an extra dollar. 4 trips like that/hour= $28 for 40 miles=70¢/mile.

so driver gets paid 45¢/mile, 40 miles/hour= $18/hour. $14 without the tips. This ignores the financing/opportunity cost of the money, which would add another nickel or so, but I'm assuming he'd have a car anyway. Taxes should be nil as the standard mileage rate is nearly 2x the actual costs. For my driver, a college kids with a cheap car and an hour or two to kill between classes, I can see it. Wouldn't take much more car to eat any profit, though.

This is why it seems like a grey area to me. The waitress I tipped 20% at lunch probably makes $3-4 /hour before tips, and is working a lot harder than the uber driver.
 
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