Uber CEO surprised after Wired reporter pays $51 for a 2.9-mile Uber ride
businessinsider.com
businessinsider.com
I would have called him on that. "Hey, can we look up this exact trip and see exactly how much of that went to the driver, then?"
Sure it's a majority but I think "vast majority" is a bit of a stretch.
Fast forward a bit, not long ago I checked lyft for a ride to the library for the youngster, it's 1.8 miles - that was $14 at the time (rates have risen since then apparently) -
so $28 (without tips) to and from the library for under 4 miles, not quite what the wired reported paid, but that was already too rich imho.
Interestingly, there is a pattern here with most "sharing" services - far more than just rides: AirBNB and VRBO are now postively rapacious in their pricing. What was once decent pricing 5-6 years ago would now make Shylock blush with embarrassment...
Genuinely curious. In Europe, I just book a ride in the app, get brought to my destination, say goodbye to the driver, the service's price is automatically charged on my bank account, and I go on with my plans.
It does ask for a tip (between 0.50 € to maybe 4 € or so, if I recall correctly) and a rating if you are looking at the app. So maybe give 5 starts as a way to help the driver if they were good and there is some free time to kill. But as far as I know, most people just ignore it and dismiss any extra dialogs after the trip.
Are you from the US, and would you say that the culture of almost-mandatory tipping in bars & restaurants also applies for services like Uber?
but being the US watching this tipping thing unfold the past 10 years especially has been quite interesting.
There was a time when only a few held their hand out, hotel bag carriers, bartenders, food waitresses and strippers mainly.. I think starbucks really pushed tipping into more regular spaces as a whole, and 'influencer' youtube / insta 'models' - and the like have it all extra cool and extra normal..
Now in the 2020's it's common to see people paint thier venmo Id on thier car with 'just got married / graduated / send me a money/drink via cashap.. etc.
It's been exacerbated the adding of 'add a tip' on payment devices at places (like starbcuks) and during check out for ordering pizza via web portals.. then you see stories where the pizza place is using door dash instead of their own drivers and places keeping tips..
The rideshare apps ask for a tip at the end of the ride and people worry that tipping or not affects' their rider rating, and there are many people who do not understand that uber drivers are not paid like a regular salary or hourly wage.
to see it's added effects - do a news search and see the dozens of 'door dash' (and similar) drivers who demand money when delivering food, beg for money, throw the food, decide to eat it - or otherwise ruin food deliveries because the tip was not high enough -there's been a lot.
(one recently cussed at a guy for tipping 30% on an order because the driver felt like the house the person was at was so nice that they should have to tip more)
It's a thing with all these gig-workers doing all these things hoping for a tip so bad because they are not making enough money to pay bill and do car (and proper human) maintenance.. There have been several news stories about 'tipping fatigue' that explain it a but here recently as well.
Tips requested via digital payment portals at places that have no cashier / wait staff..
It's hitting a boiling point where people are stopping using services where it's asked - and that's adding to other pressures.
1 - the unexpected pause / payment not completing makes the customer freeze up and get a panic / anxiety that their card is not working / flagged (publicly) as insufficient funds.. they may not get their needed drug before other important things of the day.
2 - worry about the delay affecting other people in line, extra stress.
then they figure out the delay is caused by a new 'give the person staring at you from 2 feet away extra money question.
now everyone can tell if you add a tip or hit zero / skip..
and you may have to see this same person the next day, and repeat.
These types of payment anxiety things can hit at POS even without a tip us screen.. best buy adds a 'confirm address' screen and then a donate to kids learning screen.. two extra stops on what could be a zero stop process.
officedepot asks if you want cash back (admittedly this is a common thing that has been a thing at grocery stores and the like for a long time) - but then decline extra warranty insurance? - then email or print a receipt? then dang the receipt takes forever before it starts printing -
all these bad UX issues - it's parts of the problem.
Face your fears, fight the anxiety. This isn't a situation to stress over. There are much bigger battles to fight.
> drivers who demand money when delivering food, beg for money, throw the food, decide to eat it - or otherwise ruin food deliveries because the tip was not high enough -there's been a lot
Woah. That's so crazy that I'm not sure what to say.
Clearly when the whole culture and wages are built on expecting and paying tips, the thing stops being a nice gesture for a good service (what I believe is the original concept of tipping) and becomes an unspecified but essential part of the actual price of things.
My first thought was that where I live, services such as taxis and delivery have traditionally been tipped too, but tipping has always been something you do in person: you would ignore whatever app and give the actual rider a couple bucks. Notice the "a couple bucks": tipping here is I'd say hardly ever a function of the price, even in restaurants. Maybe 1 or 2 € per person on a run of the mill place, if the food and service have been good.
Nowadays (during last decade) I feel maybe companies started to tell their employees to not ask for tips. It's been ages since a delivery guy stands in my door with a stare and an attitude clearly telling that they're waiting for a tip; they just leave your stuff, say thanks, and leave quickly without dragging the exchange a single second longer than needed.
In many places around here - waitress/waiter staff get paid $2.13 / hour with the expectation of decent tips.. in some cases a place will bump up your pay to $7.75 / hour if you didn't get enough tips (and many places have been caught stealing all or parts of tips for the managers or owners regularly) -
When I drove with lyft a couple years ago, I tracked it and after gas / taxes it amounted to about $6 per hour (most people do not understand it that way, I still hear ignorant people claim 'I can make $100 a day with X' (If someone will just lend me money to fix my brakes) )
The so called living wage around here is more than $21/hr.
So lots of people live in uncomfortable situations, have anxiety about no health care coverage or other safety nets.
Another problem I see a lot in the US is jealousy of the class differences - all sorts of people have a skewed idea of what other people have and what they deserve - it's only gotten worse since the social justice 'mostly peaceful protests' - and the defund police / publicizing the corporate policies of not stopping shoplifters.
That's all reinforcing this skewed thinking. It's a mess.
Uber was able to heavily subsidize their operation for a while and a few drivers got rich until money ran out. Probably a win for the environment to be honest.
In Aus, there have been talks (or potentially action) on giving gig economy workers additional rights regarding sick leave and annual leave etc. All of these things increase the costs to doing business, akin to what Taxi's would provide their own workers.
I know for a fact that Deliveroo (meal delivery service) in Australia closed due to the costs associated from doing business in Australia. Funny when its based on a Kangaroo.
I'm not saying this is why in this case, but if your ride sharing prices start going up this might be part of the reason. There is a cynical part of me as well, but I'll push it to the side for the sake of the argument.
In 2020, Uber Eats dominated Australia’s food delivery market with a 59.7% share. In the same year, Deliveroo held 17.5% and Menulog 12.1%.
However, by the end of 2021, these numbers had changed slightly. Uber Eats’ market share dropped to 52.9%, Menulog gained market share with 19%, and Deliveroo lost market share, holding just 11.7%
With a dramatically decreasing market share, it’s unsurprising that Deliveroo decided to call it quits.
The reporter who thinks they were ripped off, without taking public transit?
or
The driver who got a decent payout driving in one of the most expensive cities on earth?
More so, even if the driver received more in absolute terms per trip (e.g. in some other $60 fares, the driver received $30-32), the increased price due to Uber’s cut results in less people riding and less total fares. Then, even if the driver makes more per trip, they’ll make less over all.
Funnily, the government of São Paulo thought the dynamic price was not fair and then created an Uber competitor without that feature called Mobizap. It seems like it hasn’t been going very well because when it is more expensive than Uber, users will take Uber instead. And when Uber is more expensive, drivers will not be available in the competitor, so the app never matches the number of users and drivers.
Uber at these prices and with such slow pickups is not better than a cab.