UBER makes a change that could bring a massive loss of users, although it is meant to improve to a certain extent the conditions in which drivers work. Those from UBER have confirmed today that they will allow customers to offer tips for drivers who transport them between various locations, the application will include a special button for this.
During its years of operation, UBER refused to introduce a button that would allow drivers to be tipped, but as of today, it seems that the strategy has changed. Faced with the constant complaints of drivers who say they are poorly paid, those at UBER will introduce the possibility of leaving a tip for the driver, if a customer is satisfied with the ride.
To begin with, only drivers in three American cities will be able to collect tips from customers who use UBER, but by the end of July all drivers in the world will be able to enjoy this. From this point, the relationship between the customer and the UBER driver will change radically, because most will expect tips, just as taxi drivers expect after each ride.
UBER introduces tipping for drivers
One of the main reasons why I started using UBER instead of classic taxis is the lack of this expectation to offer a tip after each ride. The lack of that moment when at the end of the ride you have to take the money out of your pocket, give it to the taxi driver and either he tells you that he has no change, or he hands you the money back with a stick, waiting for the offering, the problem that UBER lacked.
Unfortunately, things will change, and UBER drivers will have the same expectations as taxi drivers for races, although the differences between a regular taxi and an UBER car are not colossal. In Romania, you have a very high chance of going to UBER with Logans similar to the taxis, and the cars from UBER Select are not so select in most cases.
"Tipping is available in Seattle, Minneapolis and Houston as of today. We're starting with only 3 cities so we can create the best tipping experience for you and your riders. We'll be adding more cities over the next few weeks, and will make tips available to all US drivers, by the end of July 2017. Of course, Uber service fees are never deducted from your tips."
If we add here the fact that you are still expected to leave a tip, the UBER experience will not be any different from the classic taxi. I expect UBER drivers to start leaving bad reviews for customers who don't leave a tip, and from here the whole idea of UBER will become just a bad joke, at least that's what I think will happen in Romania in the future.
The new function will also be introduced in Romania, probably in 2018, and the following changes could come along with it:
- reducing the cancellation period of the races to 2 minutes;
- charging of waiting periods;
- all route changes made on the road are added to the total cost;
- a surcharge for transporting children.
