Tough Task for Next Uber Leader: Mending Fences With Drivers

I've tipped using Uber and not tipped using Uber based on the quality of the experience. Had one ride in D.C. where the driver was terrible, no idea how to navigate in traffic, thought we would crash for sure, no tip. Most rides if they pick me up, are polite, good drivers, clean car, I'll tip ~20%. Because I am getting good service I think a tip is warranted.

My last three experiences with Uber. One driver who had never been over the George Washington Bridge before -- scary ride. One driver who had never driven to JFK before and barely spoke English -- one of the scariest rides of my life. And finally and no joke my account hacked by Russian hackers. Google this online. It is a real and major problem with Uber. I shut down my account. No more.

If Uber drivers are indeed independent contractors, owing their own small businesses, then tipping is not only inappropriate, it is an insult to them. All tips should be returned,with appropriate wrathful indignation.

Tipping is not the solution to anything.

Uber cut drivers rates 50% from late 2014 through 2015. Cars were purchased based on lies. The driver population lives week to week. Uber management philosophy is churn and burn. Shame on the poor for not having your insight.

Uber insinuated, Trumpingly inferring that a gratuity was included in the fare. The Uber below market fare model is a fraud built on the backs of the working poor.
Shocker. No one cares.

Some of these comments are so upsetting. You tip your waiter. You tip your pizza man. You don't want to tip your Uber driver? Please explain the logic in that. This is not public transportation. All car services expect tips and when you are driving at a rate of .90 a mile and even less in other markets a tip is greatly appreciated.

Charge what you think is a fair price. Share with your drivers a competitive wage. Don't expect me to make up the difference.

I disagree with building tips into the app. The option to tip in cash is always there, and I do it if deserved. A huge part of Uber's appeal was no tipping - this move is as dumb as Trav was.

Tipping is an almost exclusively American argument because you don't get paid a living wage as is the case in the est of the Western world. Add to that no universal health care system and a poorly funded and operated public education system and you end up with a seething mass of resentful citizens. There is no pressure in the UK, Europe, Australia or New Zealand to tip because they have all of these social systems in place that are sadly lacking in the US. As a frequent visitor I am constantly amazed and appalled by the aggressive expectation to tip in the US; then I remember - the poor individual in front of me is being ripped off by their employer and their own government. Having paid for the product or service I am also expected to subsidise the underpaid worker. Everywhere else in the Western world, access to a living wage, universal health care and good public education are viewed as rights for all.

A big part of the draw of Uber for me as a customer was NOT having to worry about tips -- it's all included, or so they say. I would much rather they raise their rates 10-15% and pay their drivers more instead of making tipping part of the equation.

You don't mend fences with the drivers. You fix the problems and avoid as many as possible going forward. They will see the change and either like it or leave. Others will replace them and then the company moves forward.

We've spent years now wringing our hands about how to fix past wrongs. Well in business, you don't, you fix the issues and move on. If there are legal issues from those wrongs, you deal with them, otherwise, move on.

Or, folks could just take the bus like regular people.

Has Uber considered bringing in John Scully as the new CEO? I hear he's available....

Uber "mending fences" with drivers"?

Isn't that akin to plantation owners "mending fences" with their slaves, or Dracula masters "mending fences" with their indentured servants, or sweatshops (like Trinagle Shirt Factory) "mending fences" with their badly-treated staff.... AFTER the fire?

When a driver hires on as a contractor to Uber they go in eyes wide open. If you don't like the wages, stop driving. Passengers are rude? You've made a poor career choice. Uber assigning you to Uberx when you drive an UberLux car? Maybe you should drive a taxi or better yet create your own app and start your own company. Theres a simple solution to get back at the man. Stop doing his bidding.

“Drivers are by far our most important partners,” Mr. Schildkrout said.

No, Mr. Schildkrout. Since Uber is no more than a dating website with an App, your customer is you most important partner. How you share the profits between you and your drivers is your business, but don't ask me for a contribution.

instead of just the tipping option, why isn't Uber letting drivers keep more of the ride cost? That, more than tips, would guarantee happier drivers.

I always tip, in cash -- but wouldn't it be nice if the fare was enough to actually support the driver, and the creepy power game of tipping was just taken out of the equation? Honestly, I would gladly pay more. It would be worth it.

The proliferation of the tip jar is getting ridiculous. Now I'm expected to tip a cashier for ringing up my coffee or even now at some bodegas?

I assume this mostly serves to replace taxed wages with tax-free cash tips, so I suppose Uber drivers won't get that illegal subsidy if reimbursed electronically.

But it's still backwards move in my opinion--build the tip into the price and we all are better off.

In any even, the real scandal with Uber is that they are basically selling rides at a loss subsidizes by cheap venture financing, all to win market share in the long run--it's potentially anti-competitive behavior. However, even if Uber drives out its competitors in the short term, I personally don't see how it can erect permanent barriers to entry to fend up new entrants when they inevitably raise prices. I think they really are banking on self-driving Ubers coming online in the next decade.

Uber's year:
1) insult drivers
2) openly discuss a driverless future
3) get sued by Google on the grounds the head of your autonomous vehicle division ripped off Google's technology and face a future where your driverless car program might get shut down
4) find ways to encourage driver loyalty to stay with Uber

"... Uber made a quieter change that could represent another momentous shift for the company. On Tuesday, the company announced that passengers would soon be able to tip their drivers through the Uber app."

NO, NO. NO!!! I'm going back to taxis!!!!

I only use Uber( or Lyft) when I travel for work and don't want to rent a car. But I always tip, in cash, the same way I would if using a licensed taxi service. And I tip more if the driver is helpful with luggage, or especially speedy to arrive on a chilly day, or its a really short trip on a rainy day. Who doesn't do this? Their parents didn't raise them right...

Our family has *never* used Uber, despite rafts of coupons and other incentives to try them. It's not that Lyft is so great, but that we didn't want to support Uber's well-known toxic culture. Even with Travis Kalanick's "resignation" as CEO, he is still a member of Uber's Board and still holds majority voting control of the company. Anyone expecting rapid change is likely to be disappointed, since the culture and style of any company's leader tends to permeate a company through its hiring process. That's why their HR supported the abusive "high performer" in ignoring Susan Fowler's grievances. I'm quite sure that there are hundreds of mini-Kalanicks throughout the company's management, as evidenced by the recent firing of 20 of the worst offenders. All that we can do is to avoid using Uber and to encourage our friends and acquaintances to do likewise. Pass it on.

To date, I've only used Lyft, even though I also have the Uber app. Why? Concerns about Uber's culture AND the fact that I could not use the app to tip the driver. The drivers for both companies work very hard and deserve to be recognized. Uber's plan to allow tips is a good step.

Changes suggested in "new uber" fall short. As a rider, I would be more concerned not with whether I can pay a tip in app, or my rating as a passenger!!(duh!), but my safety, the driver's driving record, that the driver is not an ex con, and state of mind and being while driving me (did he use drugs or is suffering a hangover from a night of partying?), and insurance coverage should I be in an accident.

The fundamental flaw in Uber or Lfyt for that matter is that drivers don't fundamentally drive for a living, and hence don't act like their livelihood depends on it. Many do, I am sure, but as a rider, each time I take a ride, I don't want to worry about it, I don't wanna bet my life on it, and hey, who is really driving you?

Yes, I do tip my yellow city cab drivers happily.

I've taken no fewer than 10 Uber and Lyft rides in the past week. Every driver worked for both Uber and Lyft. The drivers seem happy to have the chance to make money, work for themselves and have a flexible schedule. These ride services are great and only getting better. Uber's number one job is not to screw it up.

Water and snacks! Seems a driver should sell these, not give them away. Though that would be a taxation nightmare.

The problem with driver tips is that it becomes a way for the driver to extort more money for the ride by threatening to give you a bad rating if you don't pay.

Great, another thing I have to worry about tipping for.

Can we just get a 10% price hike and get it over with?

Uber needs to address their customers as well. Too many Uber cars are dirty (like a cab), the drivers have been smoking in the car before picking up the ride and they play music (sometimes offensive) that I have to tell them to turn off. On top of that many UberX drivers have no idea where they are going. The experience has deteriorated to the point that I now take cabs as often as Uber. They are becoming just another taxi service. Ugh.

They should still include the tip in the rate, just pay the drivers more. The best part of Uber was not having to worry about anything except being a pleasant passenger and saying thank you when you left the car.

Wrong.

The first task for Uber's next CEO should be trying to figure out how to make a profit. Because let's not forget the fact that despite it's lofty $70 private equity valuation, Uber LOST almost $3 billion dollars last year.

And given the nature of its business model, it doesn't have any obvious path to profitability. There are no barriers to entry (which is why it faces competition in almost every single market worldwide that it competes in), and the only way to increase revenues is to raise fares, which will cause a decent percentage of customers to defect.

Or to put it another way....anybody remember Groupon?

If Uber and Lyft adds competition (but not congestion) and forces taxi cartels to improve, then I'm all for it. But like most "gig economy" companies, you have an enormous workforce of "contractors" treated unfairly. Yes, customers want lower prices, but I also think I have a reasonable expectation from Uber of following local laws, respecting a passenger's right to privacy, and a happy employee/contractor. Uber failed to deliver on that, and as a resident of Manhattan, I'd rather step outside and hail a taxi--even if it's more expensive.

Why is no one addressing the fact that Uber is a criminal enterprise?

It's fake value in stock land and investors being involved does not change this fact. Heroine dealing is lucrative should we allow someone to open a "heroine startup" and use the internet to sell and move it then ask for investors?

This needs to be addressed openly criminal corporations should not be allowed to exist let alone be traded on the stock market. Every single investor should lose their investment and then some in penalties.

How about Uber actually paying its driver-employees with a commission on each dollar plus benefits? As long as Uber and other taxi companies (conjunction intended) use the lease-hire method, drivers will always be shortchanged and desperate for the next fare. Uber could also submit to regulation and be a responsible citizen-company. Do I seriously think they will? No, but that's the tragedy of today's work place

Supposedly, Uber rates were a bit higher than most taxi's because it included a service charge to the driver big enough to make up for the no-tipping policy.
How likely is it that Uber will drop their rates now that tipping is the customer's responsibility again?
Are we supposed to tip more during surge pricing?
There is one area where I agree with management. Tipping is a friction point, and it was nice not to have to worry about it as a customer.
By all means, pay the drivers more. Uber is making plenty of margin to afford it.

Uber should adopt Google's mantra - Don't Be Evil. It would suit them well.

Instead, it seems the company is doing a great job of biting every hand that feeds them. The VC's are angry about the negative press coming out of the exceedingly toxic corporate culture. Drivers feel exploited and scammed. And as a passenger, I feel like Uber consistently creates policies that undermine the customer experience (i.e., there should be a cancellation fee that PASSENGERS receive if drivers cancel a trip after more than two minutes - it happens!).

Just don't be evil, Uber!

I enjoyed not having to worry about tipping. This ruins the Uber experience for me. It seems that Uber is passing the responsibility of keeping the drivers happy onto the customer. I'm ready for a better app from a better company.

As an Uber driver my interaction with the company has been dehumanizing. I am nothing but a commodity to them while to (most) riders I'm a human being with a brain, a heart and, not incidentally, with their lives in my hands.

There is a fundamental disconnect between how riders and drivers see the service, and how the company sees the service. This is by design. The last thing Uber wanted to do under Kalanick is open the can of worms of viewing drivers and riders as human beings instead of numbers on a spreadsheet. This dehumanization of their customers and workers is at the core of their success, it has been weaponized and monitized. Have a problem with a passenger? Send an email and get back an infuriating succession of canned responses. Don't want to drive a passenger 5 hours outside the service area? Well, since you don't know the destination until you start the ride you have to cancel the ride and watch the disgruntled rider give you a one-star rating. And about those ratings: Maintain a 4.7 out of 5 Stars of get fired. And if your rating starts to slip because of riders with unreasonable expectations, try handing out free bottles of water and snacks of your $4 trips.

Humans can't survive in a job that denies their humanity, and no company in history has survived with this much contempt for their workforce. Since driverless cars are 10 years out by most estimates, Uber will fail if they don't fundamentally improve the way they treat their workforce.

Uber needs to incentive higher-end models, too. I have a spare BMW on lease that sits around in a parking garage downtown, and I've ruminated the idea of just driving for fun downtown.

However, in a smaller market, and not really wanting to be a shuttle for businessmen from the airport, there isn't a market for higher end cars. If you're not in L.A, etc, it feels like you're boxed out in a race to the bottom with Lyft.

They should pay their drivers a better wage without depending on the largesse of the passengers to make up for corporate greed.

If they cared about their drivers, they would conform to clear and established labor laws.

They don't.

The study that says that the real cost of a ride is being subsidized by the venture capital investing community to the tune of over 50%. As a part time driver in an affluent suburb of NJ I will tell you that they could easily raise the rates and people will pay it. In the burbs the cabs are notoriously late and offer a bad product and people have bought the rideshare experience hook line and sinker.
They need to raise rates. Most people I'm afraid will still nor tip as they have been told by Uber for years it's included which is one of many lies they have perpetuated. Tip your driver if they are doing a good job people.

Beyond the minimum requirements for the company to continue to profit, Uber doesn't genuinely care about drivers or their cars, let alone accept responsibility for them.

Uber is waiting patiently for driverless cara. Today's drivers are expendable operators of the capital (vehicles) that Uber doesn't want to buy or maintain.

Uber is in the business of sales and finance, its not a transportation company.