Rideshare Central
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Newest Posts
  • Resources
    • Driver Advice
      • New Driver Tips
      • Before You Start Driving
      • Uber Driver App Walkthrough
    • Vehicles
      • Lyft Car Requirements
      • Maven Gig Rentals
      • Lyft Rental Cars
      • Lowering Maintenence Costs
      • Best Cars For Uber & Lyft
      • Used Car Buying Tips
    • Uber & Lyft Taxes
      • Uber & Lyft Tax Deductions
      • An Accountant’s Intro To Rideshare Taxes
    • Lyft & Uber Driving Guides
      • City Driving Guides
  • Driver Promos
    • Rideshare
      • Lyft Sign Up Earnings Guarantee
      • Uber Sign Up Bonus
      • Via Driver Sign Up
    • Delivery
      • Doordash Driver / Dasher
      • Postmates Driver / Courier
      • Caviar Courier
      • Instacart Shopper
      • Uber Eats (Uber Delivery)
  • Customer Promos
  • Products
    • Dashcams
      • Best Uber & Lyft Dash Cams
      • Best Uber & Lyft Dashcams Under $100
    • Accessories
      • The Best Mileage & Expense Trackers
      • Best Phone Mounts For Uber & Lyft Drivers
  • Rideshare Insurance
    • Rideshare Insurance Guides
      • Rideshare Insurance – 50 State Database
      • Rideshare Insurance Guide For Uber & Lyft Drivers
      • State Rideshare Insurance Info
  • About
  • Contact
  • Search
  • Menu Menu

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.

Will tipping on Uber become a reality?

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.

Tags: legislation, regulations, tipping, uber
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail

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

Next Post: Drive With Lyft in Gary Indiana.

copyscape
You might also like
Lyft Sign Up Bonus Uber is covering up its misogyny and diversity problems. It’s time for CEO Travis Kalanick to step aside.
Houston Uber Lyft Driver Guide Houston Lyft & Uber Guide
Uber app best rider features Some Features Of The Uber Rider App Explained
Judge deals Uber another setback in Waymo case.
Uber & Lyft Driver Harassment Passengers Harassing Drivers – Uber and Lyft’s General Response — or Lack Thereof
In South Carolina, Uber Drivers Have To Break The Law To Accept Tips.
 

Popular Posts

WORK PROFITABLY - SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

Posts & Resources

People Are Reading

Sign Up Offers

  • Lyft Rider Promo
  • Lyft Driver
  • Fiverr
  • Doordash
  • Postmates
  • Instacart

Disclosure

Some of the links on this site are affiliate links. Rideshare Central may be compensated if users click on our referral or affiliate links and sign up for a service or purchase a product.

View our privacy policy.

© Copyright 2019 - Rideshare Central
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
Scroll to top