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You must admit, at least some of the responsibility lies with the driver, his personality and the service he provides.

I've had 6 rides today. 4 included a tip. Of course it's not like that every day for me, but it's not phenomenally unusual. If I were tip hungry I'd examine myself before I took a measure that was tantamount to holding out a cup on a street corner!
 
Haha make a voodoo doll with a sign that says riders that don't tip. Then when end the trip put a pin in the doll and look them right in the face. Then say i bought this doll in x which is on a 3 hour time delay.
 
BS less than 10% of uber x drivers tip because they have to bring cash ahead of time if they plan to tip. What's demanding is the low class of riders these days. Having a tip sign is the only way to inform people the tip is not included and uber takes over 25% of the fare.
I got a square, now pax says I would tip but I have no cash, no problem I can swipe your plastic, or my paypal is X just have them list as gift so they can't reverse it.
 
I noticed some increase in tips after putting a sign "Tips are great" on the can in the middle console. Most have been sneaky $1 tips. Some have even dropped coins!
One of my younger PAX stole my tips out of my tip cup last weekend. Very sneaky since I drive stick and it was right under my shift. I keep under $20 in there but still..........................

Yes I reported it and no, no response from Uber.
 
Admittedly my experience level is just getting started, and I may be having "beginner's luck"...but my three best tippers so far have been the very *problem* riders that some people refuse to accommodate. One was a guy who announced after we started for his home that he needed to stop at his bank on the way (and he left the anchor bags in my car like others have warned me about ). One was a guy and his young daughter who, as I discovered when I arrived at the address, had just come out of a grocery store with a cart full of bags. The last one was tonight, four really drunk party girls who at the last minute just a mile from the dropoff point persuaded me to hit a Taco Bell drive through.

In all three cases these people tipped me HUGE, putting a big smile on my face, making all my extra effort well worth it. (and it wasn't really a lot of effort, none of them abused the privilege by making me wait an inordinate amount of time, this was really cake)

(still, I am working on ways to avoid getting into these situations as I know this kind of luck can't last, but I can't help wonder if my attitude when I see the situation that's unfolding has something to do with their propensity to tip.)
 
I drive a new Mercedes, black-on-black. I have unlimited carwashes at my local full-service car wash and I keep the vehicle immaculate. I offer free wifi if the passenger needs it. I know the area in which I drive, as I've lived here for over 30 years and I take pride in my driving and navigation skills. The Uber app agrees that I give a smooth, safe and efficient ride. I maintain a professional demeanor, but I can be a good conversationalist and I posses a good sense of humor. I know when to keep quiet and when to engage. I exit the vehicle and open the door whenever I can. I personally load and unload passenger luggage, every time. I'm well-groomed and well dressed whenever I accept passengers. My star rating is usually well above 4.9, which is no easy feat here in the jaded San Francisco / Silicon Valley area.

In my last several hundred uber rides, I can count the number of tips i've received without even having to remove my shoes. I couldn't bring myself to soliciti tips with a sign. I'm not even comfortable accepting gratuities. I think ridership and even total income would fall significantly if tipping became de rigeur, however, I feel that I must be doing something wrong if you guys are getting tips on two thirds of your Uber rides and I'm running at less than one out of twenty.

What do you suggest would be my failure here? How can I become the kick-ass Uber driver that you obviously are? Should I get some of those little breath mints or perhaps some chilled designer water? What is your secret?
I don't think that "Official GS Daisy Vest" in your attached file image would help. :confused:

Offering "extras" during the ride will only raise the standards that pax will expect on their next ride, which in return becomes a base. What if your WiFi goes out and you pick up a pax you had before that used your WiFi? Now that pax will think you did not offer the same amenities as the last time, and may not give you a tip as you did not meet their expectation as you did previously.

Mints, candy, water, foot massage... WHY?

Look, it doesn't matter what YOU do in regards to receiving tips. Uber has already brainwashed riders into believing "tips are included" in the fare.
 
Yikes! I had my receipt screenshot for my daughter's girl scout vest in the clipboard and it must've inadvertently been pasted inline when I fumbled with the text quote system. Never encountered one like that before and it confused me a bit, despite my background as a developer. I'm the worst when it comes to interfaces of a technical nature, and I usually just have my wife figure out how to do things like programing the coffee maker or to figure out how to utilize features on my smart phone etc. Sadly, I've become like my father, old and feeble and easily confused by confounded gadgets and such.


Anyhow, thanks for the lecture and all, but I was just using irony as a literary device for the braggart who made claims of getting tips on 66 percent of his rides. I don't think it's possible to receive as many tips where I drive, but I don't live in an inhabited theme park, like he does. Most of my Uber tips have been from tourists, so I can see how Reno drivers would make out a lot better than we do here in the SFBA.

I wouldn't hand out freebies, and I understand the shaping of expectations, but the wifi thing has been great in that it's what I wanted in my car in the first place, so that my kids can use their tablets and it's paid off big-time in that it sparked discussions that have led to a very lucrative Oracle DB consulting gig and more than one resume request. I drive Uber Select and the wifi thing has gone over well on some of the longer rides, particularly with the tech executives who ride from the affluent suburbs up into SF or down to San Jose. Maybe one in ten long distance riders actually needs the wifi, so the bandwidth consumption is negligible. I certainly wouldn't drive pool and allow the unwashed plebeian classes to update their devices and sync up their cloud accounts on my dime.
 
Before: No tip sign, almost no tips.

After: Tip sign, slightly more than almost no tips. Some talk of tips.

I had one nice Uber rider touch/adjust the tip sign but did not tip. She worked at the Dairy Queen and was a college student.

Lyft started about two months ago in Erie and at least four riders have said they prefer Lyft so they can tip and they did so. Lyft ride volume still low versus Uber.
 
If you want tips go be a waitress and work for $2 an hour + tips

Part of the reason people like Uber is they don't have to tip. I would only expect a tip if I help with groceries or luggage in the trunk.
 
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