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Uber Tipping – Do You Tip Uber Drivers?

August 30, 2018/in Blog, Riders & Customers/by Hannah

Uber Tipping — Do You Tip Uber Drivers?

Uber is a top competitor in the rideshare world and one of the most popular choices for new and experienced riders alike. While the company’s offerings are incredibly convenient, there’s one aspect of the rideshare service that’s still confusing passengers—tipping.

Do you tip Uber drivers? Should you? Well, the answer isn’t as straightforward as most riders imagine. Fortunately, you can skip the guesswork because this guide outlines every you need to know about Uber tipping.

What You Need to Know About the Uber Tipping Policy

Prior to 2017, there wasn’t a convenient way to tip drivers. In fact, the rideshare company seemed to have a fairly strong stance against tipping. This situation caused a lot of tension between drivers and the company as well as pressure from many local municipalities who demanded Uber add a tipping policy.

Historically, riders that wanted to reward exceptional drivers had to do so in cash. Since most individuals don’t use cash on a regular basis, it created a lot of frustration. Many drivers also felt uneasy about carrying cash for long periods while working.

Fortunately, Uber heard the concerns of riders and drivers alike and launched an in-app solution. Now, you can easily tip your Uber driver directly from the app. The Uber tipping policy prevents all cash transactions while ensuring passengers can still show their gratitude. Plus, all of the additional earnings go directly to the driver.

To Tip or Not to Tip — The Age-Old Rideshare Question

Even with the Uber tipping policy in place, the additional step is not a requirement. As a result, riders still face the age-old rideshare question: Do you tip Uber drivers? In short, yes.

When you visit a restaurant, you probably don’t think twice about leaving a tip – you just do it. The same sentiment should be applied to rideshare industry because drivers work as contractors. The operators not only miss out on a reliable salary, but they’re also financially responsible for all their operating expenses, like fuel and vehicle maintenance. The additional earnings they receive from tips helps cover these costs without dipping into their per-ride earnings.

With that said, not every occasion calls for a tip. Occasionally, you may experience subpar service on your trip. Do you tip Uber drivers when this situation occurs? Maybe. There are a variety of things to consider before making that decision. Here’s a closer look at how to determine if tipping is appropriate or not.

Do You Tip Uber Drivers?

Not all Uber trips are created equal, so it’s likely that you’ll end up dissatisfied with an on-the-road journey at some point. To decide if your driver deserves a tip in this situation, consider the circumstances. While operator rudeness will definitely eliminate your gratitude for the service, an unexpected traffic jam is out of your driver’s control.

Here are a few reasons to tip:

You arrived safely to your destination without any serious issues.
You received a display of excellent customer service.
Your driver treated you with kindness and respect.

Here are some examples of when it’s okay not to tip:

The driver was incredibly rude.
You felt unsafe during your journey.
The drive made inappropriate comments.

Unless your trip falls in the latter category, then your driver most likely deserves the extra nod of appreciation. Regardless of how much you decide to pay, the additional earnings remind the contractor that they’re valuable, which helps the industry maintain its best drivers. It also provides an incentive for the operator to go above and beyond for their customers, which, in turn, benefits you.

Do You Tip Uber Eats Drivers?

Rideshare isn’t the company’s only service with a tipping option—you can also select to give a tip in the Uber Eats app. Do you tip Uber Eats? If you haven’t in the past, you should consider it.

As with their rideshare counterparts, delivery drivers are providing a valuable service. Customers get to avoid going out, sitting in traffic, and battling the crowds at the restaurant. While your delivery driver handles those dreadful tasks, you get to relax in the comfort of your own home. When you look at it that way, Uber and Uber Eats drivers definitely deserve a bonus for their service.

How Much Should You Tip Uber Drivers?

Once you determine your trip experience calls for a tip, you’ll need to figure out the right amount. The two main factors to consider in this process are the total trip fare and the quality of the service you received. Typically, it’s standard to tip between 10 percent and 20 percent in service-related industries. Here’s an example with a $20 fare:

Acceptable Tip Amounts

Fair Service – 10 percent: 20 X .10 = $2
Good Service – 15 percent: 20 X .15 = $3
Great Service – 20 percent: 20 X .20 = $4
Amazing Service – 25 percent: 20 X .25 = $5

If you’re not sure which level your trip falls into, match the tip amount to the number of stars you chose for the rating. One star would equate with poor service, so no tip is needed. A five-star trip would match up with the “excellent” category, so 20 percent is appropriate.

While a couple extra dollars may not seem like much, it adds up quickly over the span of a driver’s shift. If the amount you calculated is close to one of the app’s suggested tips, you can simply tap the appropriate amount. However, the preset options are often on the lower end of the scale, so you may want to enter a custom total. Remember: You can always increase the tip amount to however much you want if the standard percentages don’t feel like enough.

How to Tip Uber Drivers

Uber made the in-app tipping process incredibly simple. Follow these steps:

1. Rate Your Driver

Once your ride is over, the Uber app will prompt you to rate your driver. Choose your rating to move onto the Uber tipping process.

2. Choose the Tip Amount

Next, you’ll choose the tip amount. The app offers three suggestions automatically so riders can click and go.

2a. You can also enter a custom amount at this step.

3. Process the Tip

Finally, review the selected tip amount and tap “Done.”

If you’re on a tight budget the day of your trip or you’re simply in a hurry, the Uber tipping policy allows riders to go back and add it later. Simply go choose the ride from your trip history and apply the correct amount. However, the cut off time is 7 days, so try to do it as soon as possible.

The same process applies for Uber Eats tipping. After you receive your order, you can rate your delivery experience and choose the tip amount. Just like regular Uber, Uber Eats only allows tips to be applied for seven days after your service.

Do You Tip Uber?

Uber’s tipping policy ensures riders have the chance to show their gratitude for excellent service. It also serves as an incentive for drivers to go the extra mile—no pun intended—and provide the highest quality of customers service. In the end, everyone wins.

If you haven’t tried Uber yet, be sure to save on your ride with our Uber promo code.

In South Carolina, Uber Drivers Have To Break The Law To Accept Tips.

May 29, 2017/in Blog/by Dave

If you drive for Uber in South Carolina, apparently you can put a tip jar in your car, but don’t call it that.

Thanks to a little-noticed provision in state law, it’s illegal in South Carolina for drivers who freelance for the ride-hailing apps Uber and Lyft to accept cash. And since Uber doesn’t allow electronic tips, the only option is to skirt the law.

One more reason Uber needs an in-app tipping option.

Source: Post and Courier

Why Uber is against tipping on Uber.

April 24, 2017/in Blog/by Dave

Why is Uber so against tipping?

Uber doesn’t allow in-app tipping on Uber. New York City and California are trying to change that. Now, if Uber wanted to be smart about it, they would just add in-app tipping like Lyft has had for years. That would make the pending California legislation and New York City regulations moot, while increasing driver morale. Uber has said it does not want to add a tipping option because it would:

take away from the seamless nature of the app,
allow biased customers to punish drivers from certain groups,
encourage drivers to concentrate in wealthy areas to get bigger tips.

Let’s break those reasons down.

Even with a magnifying glass, you won’t find a tip option in the Uber app.

Tipping on Uber – The seamless Uber experience

Even with a tip option, the app would still be seamless, because it would be an option. Customers would not have to tip, but they could if they wanted to. Currently, customers don’t have to rate the driver, and many don’t. But Uber doesn’t think the rating system interrupts the seamless Uber experience. Why is tipping any different? All Uber would have to do is add a tip screen after the rating screeen. Still pretty seamless, no?

Tipping on Uber – Customer Bias

Another reason Uber gave for no tipping is that customer bias would lead to some groups of drivers getting tipped more than other groups of drivers. To translate, there are bigoted people in the world, and some of them use Uber. My response is that you shouldn’t punish drivers by removing the tip option entirely, simply because certain members of your user base are racist. Perhaps a better solution would be to add a tip option, while simultaneously educating Uber customers about cognitive bias and racism.

Tipping on Uber – Classism

As for drivers concentrating in wealthy areas, that already happens, and is unlikely to change. The reason is that drivers go where the money is, because that’s where the most Uber and Lyft requests are. In fact, Uber encourages drivers to drive in wealthy, predominantly white areas, on a daily basis.

Every day, across the United States, Uber sends text messages to drivers telling them where to go to find riders. In New York, they tell drivers to go to midtown, In L.A., it’s places like West Hollywood, Santa Monica, and Hermosa. Here in Chicago, I get texts telling me to go to Lakeview and Lincoln Park. Uber has never once sent me a text telling me to go to a middle or working class neighborhood in Chicago to find riders. I also never get texts sending me to predominantly African American or Hispanic neighborhoods. I don’t know how to break it to Uber, but there’s money in Beverly and Morgan Park. If Uber was really worried about an overconcentration of drivers in wealthy areas, they would incentivize us to drive in other areas of the city.

The real reason Uber is against tipping on Uber

I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that the reasons Uber has given for not allowing in-app tipping are mostly bullshit. If the reasons Uber gave were true, they probably would’ve stated that from the beginning. Instead, they said tip was included, demonstrating that they didn’t have anything against the concept of tipping. Once Uber couldn’t tell customers tip was included, the company suddenly developed a whole philosophical opposition to tipping. Quite convenient. In reality, the real reason Uber has resisted adding an in-app tip option is because their exec suite doesn’t think it adds anything to their bottom line.

Unfortunately for Uber, their executives are wrong about that. In addition to improving driver morale, adding a tip option would probably increase driver retention, which has been a consistent problem for the company. Increasing driver retention means Uber would have to spend less money onboarding new drivers. That would save Uber money and improve their bottom line. Moreover, adding in-app tipping would raise the overall service level of Uber. Uber’s exec suite may be unaware, but there’s a saying going around in rideshare circles among drivers who drive for both Uber and Lyft:

I drive for both, but on Lyft, I drive for tips.

In other words, many drivers who drive for both Uber and Lyft, put more effort in when driving for Lyft. That should be reason enough for Uber to add a tip option, and reason enough for any Uber riders out there to give Lyft a try.

Tipping Uber drivers: Will New York and California force Uber to add a tip option?

April 22, 2017/in Blog/by Dave

Is tipping Uber drivers in-app coming to California and New York?

Tipping Uber Drivers has always been a confusing topic, mostly thanks to Uber’s confusing and obtuse behavior . Years ago, Uber told customers a tip was included. It really wasn’t. Then, after multiple lawsuits, Uber stopped saying that. Now, they go out of their way to tell customers that there is no need to tip, or to imply to customers that a tip is included, when it’s still not. The vast majority of drivers disagree and would prefer if riders had the option to tip. We understand why many don’t tip. Uber doesn’t let you tip in the app.

However, if legislators and regulators get their way, Uber may have to start letting riders tip their Uber driver through the app in California and New York City. In California, Assembly Bill 1099, would force companies that accept payments by credit card, to allow their users to tip using a credit card. In New York, the taxi regulator plans to implement rules forcing Uber to allow in-app tipping by this July.

Will this force Uber to allow in-app tipping in other states?

It’s difficult to say. On the one hand, New York and California are such large markets, that Uber may make tipping functionality available in the rest of their U.S. markets. Also, it would be yet another PR nightmare for Uber if they are forced to allow tipping in two states, but still refuse to allow it in other states.

On the other hand, Uber and CEO Travis Kalanick have a history of obtuse stubborness, so who knows? Keep in mind, the legislation still has to pass and the regulations actually have to be issued. Uber can slow that process down. They could also challenge any resulting legislation or regulations in court, so it may still be a while before tipping comes to Uber.

If Uber wanted an easy, badly needed PR win, they would get ahead of the pending legislation and regulations, and add in-app tipping. It would likely help with driver retention and improve Uber’s bottom line, but why would they want to do that? It’s not like they lost $2.8 billion last year or something.

Source:The Boston Globe
Source:The Los Angeles Times

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