# How will this work with Flat Rates and Eats?



## dt126 (Jun 28, 2017)

I'm kind of curious to see how the whole tipping process will work when using Uber on Flat Rates and also with UberEats and UberRush. I have my own thoughts about how this could affect the use of this service, but I'm curious to hear what some of your drivers think and also what is happening with the app in the test markets that now have tipping. It seems like tipping is going to move towards the taxi model based on a percentage of the fare - probably 20%. I'm hoping the app will let us input a default tip % and automatically add it to rides so I don't have to waste time dealing with it each ride. Here are my comments/questions:

Flat Rates
When we're riding on flat rates, we currently have no idea what our $6.99 ride actually should cost. That information is not included in the app. Tipping as a percentage is always based on the pre-discounted cost. For example, if you have a coupon for a free entree and that entree is $30, you add the $30 to the bill before calculating the tip. We're going to need this information in the app in order to calculate the tip so is this now happening in the test markets with in-app tipping? Unfortunately, it really runs counter to the whoel idea of a flat rate program and I don;t think that Uber will keep this going much longer as it creates a much more complicated scenario for riders to think about. Currently, on flat rate we don't need to worry about surges. When not on flat rates, if our $14 fare has surged to $35 that is an important factor as to whether I take Uber, Lyft, Taxi, or drive myself. With tipping, it now becomes an important factor again as my $6.99 ride might really be a $15 ride once I add the 20% tip onto that $35 surge rate. I know many people who drive or take transit to work and they have started using Uber during these flat rate months. They are making the calculation that a 2X per day $6.99 (or $2.99 Pool) ride is a better alternative than paying $20 for parking or an additional 20 minutes round trip on transit. By adding tipping, the whole thing shifts back from a fixed, known cost to a completely variable cost and it's going to affect ridership once tipping a set percentage becomes the "standard" just like it has for taxi's. 

UberEats
A delivery is different than a ride in that you don't spend 10-30 minutes in a car with your driver. I really hope that tipping on UberEats and UberRush (we use both services) takes the form of a fixed dollar amount (maybe $2 or $3 per delivery). If it goes as a percentage, I think it will kill these services especially in expensive urban areas. In our office, we used to order lunch from one of several restaurants with online ordering portals. We'd take turns driving to pick-up (2 people, one waits in the car and the other runs in). In about 1/2 of these restaurants, there is no interaction, the food is already in a bin sorted by name. When UberEats started to come into our market with some free delivery promo's, we got hooked and started to use it instead and continued to do so (probably 3-4 days per week). The $5 delivery fee was less than the value of our time to make the pickups. With percentage tipping, the calculation will be very different. With a 20% tip, that $5 delivery fee could easily increase to $25 to $30. At that rate, we're going to go back to the old way of picking up lunch ourselves. We just can't afford that much extra money 3 or 4 times per week. 

Comments?


----------



## Uberfunitis (Oct 21, 2016)

I don't see the flat rate as a discount or a coupon but as the actual price that has been agreed to for the ride in exchange for me paying something upfront. This is where it gets odd because we really have two separate systems going on. Uber and the rider have agreed upon a given price for a ride, that price has no impact on what Uber and the driver have agreed to as compensation.


----------



## dt126 (Jun 28, 2017)

That's the reason I started this thread. For tipping to work, there needs to be clear expectations from both the customer and service provider. Everyone know the "expected" percentages in restaurants and taxi's and porters and such are tipped per bag. From the press and forums I've read, it seems like drivers want tipping to be similar to taxis. This makes the whole Flat Rate program impossible specifically because the rider and driver view the same trip as two completely different costs (sometimes 300% to 500% more expensive). I really want to hear from some of the drivers, ideally someone in the few test markets before Uber rolls this out system-wide.


----------



## Uberfunitis (Oct 21, 2016)

dt126 said:


> That's the reason I started this thread. For tipping to work, there needs to be clear expectations from both the customer and service provider. Everyone know the "expected" percentages in restaurants and taxi's and porters and such are tipped per bag. From the press and forums I've read, it seems like drivers want tipping to be similar to taxis. This makes the whole Flat Rate program impossible specifically because the rider and driver view the same trip as two completely different costs (sometimes 300% to 500% more expensive). I really want to hear from some of the drivers, ideally someone in the few test markets before Uber rolls this out system-wide.


The first misconception is that anything has changed. There is a tipping option in the app but tips are still not required or expected on an Uber


----------

