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Uber is adding trip type preferences, more driver destinations, and long trip notifications for drivers. The changes come as tips to Uber drivers have hit $50 million:
"This week, we're going to hit $50 million dollars in tips for drivers," explained Uber's U.S. and Canada manager Rachel Holt. "We launched the tipping effort in three cities two months ago, but we didn't roll it out all over the U.S. until the middle of July. So we're really, really excited just to see how well that feature has done in just a short period of time."
That $50 million is a lot in context: Lyft has had the feature for years, and hit just $250 million in tips in July. Drivers have made around 200,000 phone calls to support, Holt says, since Uber introduced 24/7 phone service, and on average they reach an agent in less than 30 seconds. Eighty-five percent of drivers have said they're satisfied with the experience.
The new changes today are focused on adding more flexibility to the experience. If you're not super familiar with the driver experience, these might sound mysterious, but they're actually pretty straightforward, and each emphasizes greater freedom in how drivers manage their day.
Pay your Uber driver well, because Uber won't.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by TheRaven on Sunday August 27 2017, @09:50AM (1 child)
I couldn't agree more. The thing I hate most about visiting the US is that it seems that businesses are pathologically incapable of telling me how much something is going to cost. The price listed doesn't include tax, that will be added when you get to the check out (and, of course, the tax rate isn't listed up front, you're expected to know exactly what the tax rate is. In some places, there's a separate city and state sales tax, so you have to know both, and they're both fractions of a percentage point, so you have to do a fairly complex calculation in your head). Then you find out that you actually just paid for parts, labour isn't included. Or, rather, it is for some of the staff, but not for others. For example, in New York, it's illegal for a restaurant to pool tips with the kitchen staff, so you're paying the kitchen staff out of the quoted price but you're paying the front-of-house staff out of tips.
With Uber, it's even worse because they have a reputation system for customers. Don't pay the correct unspecified amount? You might find that no one is willing to be your driver next time.
sudo mod me up
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 27 2017, @09:29PM
The thing about not including sales tax in the price in enshrined in law (at least in some states). The law I remember seeing said it was allowed only if the "tax included" notice was at least as large font size as the price itself (needless to say, this would make the notice much larger than the price), but the details likely vary by state. My understanding is that there's two main parts to it: