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New York Plans To Force Uber To Add Tipping Option (theverge.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the hat-tip dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission announced a proposal today that could force Uber to finally allow riders to tip drivers within its app. The full proposal will be introduced in a few months and would require "car services that only accept credit cards" to let passengers tip with their cards in the app, according to The New York Times. "We have not seen the proposal and look forward to reviewing it," an Uber spokesperson told The Verge. "Uber is always striving to offer the best earning opportunity for drivers and we are constantly working to improve the driver experience." Cash tips have long been a part of a New York City cab ride, and Uber hasn't explicitly stopped riders from tipping its drivers in cash. But the touchscreen interfaces of New York City taxis allow riders to tip a driver even when paying with a credit card. Uber's app, meanwhile, has never had a similar option for including credit card-based tips.

69 of 140 comments (clear)

  1. Even the Drunk Ones? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I think not!

    1. Re:Even the Drunk Ones? by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 3, Informative

      If anything, the law should not encourage tipping at all, rather than effectively making it obligatory. I.e. put servers, drivers, bartenders, etc under the same wages as everybody else (be that minimum wage or otherwise,) and make tipping a thing of the past. Also make it illegal for any business to automatically add a gratuity to your bill, i.e. the total price is baked into the menu/advertised price rather than effectively adding a 15% below the line fee.

      Oh and while I'm here, slashdot's web designers are somewhat retarded as of the last few months. Seriously, and ad that takes up 1/3rd of the page? Who thinks of this shit? And now to make things worse, the user pane scrolls with the page when reading the comments, so you have to scroll heavily just to read the comments. The first dumbfuck idea can be fixed with adblock, but the second dumbfuck idea requires outright disabling javascript just to make the page readable.

    2. Re:Even the Drunk Ones? by btsfh · · Score: 1

      Oh and while I'm here, slashdot's web designers are somewhat retarded as of the last few months. Seriously, and ad that takes up 1/3rd of the page? Who thinks of this shit? And now to make things worse, the user pane scrolls with the page when reading the comments, so you have to scroll heavily just to read the comments. The first dumbfuck idea can be fixed with adblock, but the second dumbfuck idea requires outright disabling javascript just to make the page readable.

      Or you could take the 5 seconds required to hit options in the userbox and disable slashboxes. It's still a stupid design idea, but if you're on a site claiming to be news for nerds, spending 30 seconds looking for tweakable widgets seems like a reasonable expectation.

    3. Re:Even the Drunk Ones? by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 1

      I already have that turned off, it doesn't do anything.

    4. Re:Even the Drunk Ones? by cayenne8 · · Score: 2

      If anything, the law should not encourage tipping at all, rather than effectively making it obligatory. I.e. put servers, drivers, bartenders, etc under the same wages as everybody else (be that minimum wage or otherwise,) and make tipping a thing of the past.

      You might want to consult with all the waiters and bartenders before you do this.

      Back in the day when I waited tables and slung drinks, I *really* liked the tipping system. I was able to shmooze a good living while in school.

      I would dare say good servers would wish to keep the system currently in place as that if you are good, you can make WELL above min. wage on a regular basis.

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    5. Re:Even the Drunk Ones? by btsfh · · Score: 1

      So apparently it works for the one article you are looking at, but save doesn't actually save anything. Always nice to see a site become even less relevant and useful D'oh!

    6. Re:Even the Drunk Ones? by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      Oh and while I'm here, slashdot's web designers are somewhat retarded as of the last few months. Seriously, and ad that takes up 1/3rd of the page? Who thinks of this shit? And now to make things worse, the user pane scrolls with the page when reading the comments, so you have to scroll heavily just to read the comments. The first dumbfuck idea can be fixed with adblock, but the second dumbfuck idea requires outright disabling javascript just to make the page readable.

      When I just open up a page and read it, the ad stays up and then goes away quickly.
      When I middle-click a link to open in a tab, and then I come back a little later to read the tab (I do this all the time -- go through the main slashdot page and open all the stories first, then go through each tab), then I've found that the javascript that controls the ad breaks and the ad stays up permanently; I have to reload that tab to get things working again.

  2. NO! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    That will remove a greatly competitive feature of Uber. That's gonna jack up the prices by 15%.

    Let's not forget: driving for Uber is 100% volunteer.

    1. Re:NO! by ruir · · Score: 2

      That is the idea. Someone bought up legislation to make Uber less competitive... It does take it to be very imaginative to understand what is going on.

    2. Re: NO! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Has it occured to you that the american system of prostituting yourself for tips is wrong and that the companies should pay their employees fairly instead of relying on the state or the customers to allow them to survive?
      I love you country, where civilisation means the law of the jungle: every man for himself, only the strong will survive. Not surprising for a country founded by christian nuts and where a sociopathic selfish bitch like Ayn Rand is revered as an intellectual role model.
      Do your fucking job properly without needing me kissing you lazy ass with a tip to get what I pay for.

    3. Re:NO! by tsqr · · Score: 2

      Let's not forget: driving for Uber is 100% volunteer.

      While driving a cab is, as everyone knows, involuntary servitude.

    4. Re:NO! by stephanruby · · Score: 1

      That's gonna jack up the prices by 15%.

      If tipping is done like in the Lyft app, then you're tipping after you've already left the car so there is actually less pressure to tip.

    5. Re:NO! by Swave+An+deBwoner · · Score: 1

      Probably someone thought up the idea to capture the income tax that is due from the tip that is otherwise hidden when it's paid in cash.

      So Uber is "more competitive" now because any tips their drivers receive are not taxed (unless the drivers are exceptionally honest about reporting). This will make Uber "less competitive" because it places them on the same footing as the other NYC taxi services that have a place for tips on the credit card payment screen.

    6. Re:NO! by AthanasiusKircher · · Score: 2

      If tipping is done like in the Lyft app, then you're tipping after you've already left the car so there is actually less pressure to tip.

      This is one of the things I tend to hate about cab tipping, as opposed to other services. (Tipping in general is of course annoying too; I wish people were actually just paid reasonably for their services.)

      Anyhow, in most services, you tip as you are leaving the transaction (or the service person is leaving). In a cab, particularly if you are paying by card, you're often forced to tip before you even get out of the car -- frequently handing back the credit card thing to the driver, where he prints out your receipt with tip listed and hands it to you. If you have bags in the trunk or whatever, will the driver treat you the same if you don't tip well? And even if you wanted to tip in cash, it's awkward, because you generally do the transaction in the car for payment before those final parts of service are rendered (opening your door, taking out bags, etc.) -- and if you don't tip until after all of that is complete, the driver may be thinking you're a cheapskate because you haven't tipped already.

      It's really awkward.

    7. Re: NO! by EzInKy · · Score: 1

      Has it occured to you that the american system of prostituting yourself for tips is wrong and that the companies should pay their employees fairly instead of relying on the state or the customers to allow them to survive?

      I take it you don't believe in the concept of "earning your keep" then, or that your compensation should be based on the perceived value of the service that you provide?

      --
      Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
    8. Re:NO! by marka63 · · Score: 1

      Which is a argument for getting rid of tipping altogether. Here in Australia we don't tip taxi drivers. That doesn't stop the driver helping with the bags etc. at the end of the trip.

    9. Re: NO! by EzInKy · · Score: 1

      Actually I am totally for a UBI that covers all the basic needs of survival. I also believe that traditionally tipped workers should be paid the same minimum wage as non-tipped workers. If you want more than the basic minimum though, yes, you should earn it.

      --
      Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
    10. Re:NO! by jonwil · · Score: 1

      As long as Uber doesn't make it mandatory to tip (and isn't forced to by new regulations or laws) and as long as they dont make tipping difficult to avoid or otherwise do things to make tipping seem like its required or something then I dont see the problem with allowing people who want to leave a tip via the Uber app to have a way to do that.

    11. Re:NO! by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 1

      It's a great way for Uber to hide the real price and convince consumers the prices are cheaper than what they'll actually pay.

      --
      Support my political activism on Patreon.
    12. Re:NO! by GNious · · Score: 1

      That will remove a greatly competitive feature of Uber. That's gonna jack up the prices by 15%.

      Let's not forget: driving for Uber is 100% volunteer.

      Odd, I'd think it would go the other way - Uber would assume drivers in NYC are being tipped, and therefore reduce their pay and consequently fare. ... OK, it's Uber, they'd prolly not reduce the fare, but the pay? hell yes.

  3. They even do that online now.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I was buying something online and they started adding an automatic tip there, too. You know, just in case I wanted to blindly click 'next' and not think about tipping them. Also, if you get tips, they can legally pay you less than minimum wage, so long as tips make up the difference in pay. Not sure that applies here, but who knows.

  4. Re:fuck tipping by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    This is pretty much the way things are done in Germany. You might leave a Euro or something for your server (trinkengled, literally drinking money) but that's it. I agree, this forced tipping is a joke. You should pay people what they're worth (higher wages and the associated higher product costs) and not force tipping. Nothing quite grates me like being expected to tip, at that point it may as well be part of the price of the product/service because it's no longer optional.

  5. just another tax by turkeydance · · Score: 1

    that's a tip

  6. Re:fuck tipping by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Some places actually write the tip into the bill. You do not have the option to not pay or even to change the amount. It's bullshit.

  7. As a non-US resident... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    As someone visiting the US, the main appeal of Uber for me was not having to deal with tipping.

    Tipping in restaurants was confusing enough, but trying to figure out what I was meant to tip a taxi driver, on top of whether the fair itself was legit, it was a nightmare.

    I know culturally support for the tipping model of service industry over there is strong, but as someone who comes from a country where tipping is non-existent (base wages are just higher), not only did I feel tipping added no value to my experience (service was not better), I actually feel it made it worse.

    1. Re:As a non-US resident... by bcboy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It's freaking horrible for US residents, as well. I just want to buy a service, I don't want to try to work through the calculus of how well the driver performed, how much I value it, how much the driver deserves, and how much social aggression I'll face if the driver thinks they've been shorted. I just need a ride. I don't need a passive-aggressive douche pressuring me to tip well on my way to the airport.

    2. Re:As a non-US resident... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      The last time I took a New York Taxi, as I paid the fare, the driver reminded me I have to give him a tip. So the tip I gave him was to drive more carefully so he doesn't run into the back of the car in front on the Grand Central Parkway, delaying my journey to the airport by 10 minutes, and to get in lane for the I-678 so he isn't almost forced into the concrete divider by other drivers who don't take kindly to arseholes trying to cut the queue.

    3. Re:As a non-US resident... by quantaman · · Score: 1

      As someone visiting the US, the main appeal of Uber for me was not having to deal with tipping.

      Tipping in restaurants was confusing enough, but trying to figure out what I was meant to tip a taxi driver, on top of whether the fair itself was legit, it was a nightmare.

      I know culturally support for the tipping model of service industry over there is strong, but as someone who comes from a country where tipping is non-existent (base wages are just higher), not only did I feel tipping added no value to my experience (service was not better), I actually feel it made it worse.

      I'm pretty sure that's the idea behind this proposal, to make Uber less appealing to consumers by re-introducing the tip.

      Not that I'm remotely a fan of Uber, but stunts like this help me understand their appeal.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    4. Re:As a non-US resident... by oic0 · · Score: 1

      We hate it. It's pushed and perpetuated by business that want to pay their workers less while getting to advertise lower than actual prices.

    5. Re:As a non-US resident... by cayenne8 · · Score: 1

      I don't want to try to work through the calculus of how well the driver performed, how much I value it, how much the driver deserves, and how much social aggression I'll face if the driver thinks they've been shorted. I just need a ride. I don't need a passive-aggressive douche pressuring me to tip well on my way to the airport.

      A good rule of thumb.

      Tip 20% of the total bill.....

      There...done....easy.

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    6. Re:As a non-US resident... by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      It's third grade multiplication: meal cost * 1.2

      20% is for really good service. 15% is the "standard," and less than that if you really got treated poorly.
      15% isn't hard to calculate either. What's 15% of $35? Well, it's 10% ($3.5) plus half that ($1.75) = $5.25. Sometimes I'll round up a little bit to get easier mental numbers, your call.

  8. stupid interference by mattack2 · · Score: 1

    I actually think it's reasonable to force Uber and similar services to follow the same rules as taxis in various areas.. (But really, the better solution is to REMOVE some of the rules from taxis, though I realize that screws over those who own the valuable medallions.. So maybe phase in the rule changes over time.)

    This seems really stupid though. I would just purposely tip $0, just like I do now on the starbucks app!

  9. Tipping by manu0601 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    From a non American, tipping seems weird. If worker's income is too low, why lawmaker prefer to enforce tipping rather than minimal wage increase?

    1. Re:Tipping by EzInKy · · Score: 1

      Because a minimal wage increase in this case would ignore performance? I'm all for UBI and such, but some people just perform better than others when providing service. Should those peoples excellence not be rewarded?

      --
      Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
    2. Re:Tipping by manu0601 · · Score: 1

      ...and cause a production crisis because poor workers cannot afford to purchase the produced goods.

    3. Re:Tipping by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Minimum wage does not counter performance incentives. You can still have both.
      I still occasionally tip in Europe. Occasionally. When the service warrants it, not every frigging time because otherwise the person doing their normal job in a normal way can't make ends meet.

      Not everyone is exceptional.
      Non exceptional people need to survive too.

    4. Re:Tipping by EzInKy · · Score: 1

      How good the service can get for the waiter to get a huge tip?
      Does he have to go full monty?

      Not spilling my food and being prompt and pleasant is generally enough.

      The waiter will earn less than the flirtatious waitress, have you any doubts about that?

      Since I nearly always dine with an intimate guest, flirting would subtract quite a bit from the standard tip.

      The black waiter will get stiffed?

      On the other hand, a flirty black waitress may get more. I do have a thing for women of color.

      All you are promoting is discrimination, shaming underpaid people and excusing slave wages because we need to reward excellence Lol ... What does that even mean? Nobody said not to reward excellence, we said minimal wages should enable people to live decently like human beings!

      What happens when automation replaces waiters and waitresses?
      Put the poors against a wall and shoot, just because they were asking for bread they could not afford? Problem solved, right?

      All among the reasons I firmly support a UBI.

      --
      Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
    5. Re:Tipping by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      If you want to tip people you can do it the old fashioned way with cash and do the math in your head if it's important to you. Tipping is actually about letting the diner take punitive action against service workers who don't provide service. If I get shit food and shit service then I don't leave a tip because no one involved deserves it. They deserve to get less money if they don't do their job. Ideally they would get no money, and someone else would get the job, but half-measures are better than no measures.

      I tend to tip at 15% for competence and 20% for anyone who goes even slightly above and beyond the call (however slightly) but I am totally willing to drop a penny for an asshole patrol.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    6. Re:Tipping by fuzznutz · · Score: 1

      he waiter will earn less than the flirtatious waitress, have you any doubts about that?

      Since I nearly always dine with an intimate guest, flirting would subtract quite a bit from the standard tip.

      One time my (now ex) wife and I stopped at a Cracker Barrel off the highway while on a trip. The waitress gave ME the best service I ever had. She was friendly, attentive and prompt. My wife couldn't even order. The waitress wouldn't even look at her or acknowledge she existed. I had to order everything she got. I thought it was hilarious, but my wife was furious. She gave me a warning in no uncertain terms that I was forbidden to leave so much as a penny tip. She failed to see the humor when I explained a tip was deserved because of how wonderful my service was.

      Looking back on things, I have to wonder if the waitress didn't secretly know my wife and was getting back at her for something she had done.

  10. Whenever I hear that phrase by rsilvergun · · Score: 3, Insightful

    it sends a chill down my spine. Not because I'm afraid of the government (the government paid for the cancer treatment & research that kept a close family member alive) but because everytime I've heard it it's been followed by tax cuts for the rich and screwing the poor. If you hear that phrase run, don't walk, to the voting booth and throw whichever bastard politician used it out of office. They just tipped you off on whose side they're really fighting for...

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
  11. Instead of tips by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    how about cracking down on illegal miss-classification of hourly workers? Enforce your minimum wage laws while you're at it.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:Instead of tips by PrimaryConsult · · Score: 1

      FWIW they recently (and surprisingly quietly) raised the minimum annual salary for overtime exemption from a paltry $23,660 to $47,476 as of December 1st. Still laughably low, but a step in the right direction. Complete text. Also notable is the number is now pegged to a calculation with an automatic update every 3 years.

      So people making less than that now have a cattle prod to get a raise.

  12. Re:fuck tipping by Kjella · · Score: 1

    Some places actually write the tip into the bill. You do not have the option to not pay or even to change the amount. It's bullshit.

    Legally I'm pretty sure you can refuse to pay it if you make a scene, but yeah... 99% won't do that. If they pick a percentage/sum by default I think they should be forced to advertise prices with that service fee though. As long as they're honest about what the total will be, they can call it whatever they want.

    --
    Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  13. Re:fuck tipping by C0R1D4N · · Score: 1

    If this were Reddit, you'd be gilded. No one who has replied to you has caught the reference it seems.

  14. Re:fuck tipping by AthanasiusKircher · · Score: 1

    If they pick a percentage/sum by default I think they should be forced to advertise prices with that service fee though.

    I'm not sure I've ever encountered a situation where that wasn't the case that a service fee was posted or discussed in advance. If you have a party of over X number of a people at a restaurant (usually 6-8 or more), menus or signs will often say there's a service charge included. If you order room service at a hotel, the menu will generally say X% service charge will be added to the cost.

    However, in an ideal world, posted prices should simply include those fees, rather than designating them separately on top of the price. The only reason I assume they do so is actually to signal that an additional tip isn't necessary, which I actually appreciate given the U.S. tendency toward tipping everywhere.

  15. Get out of the way of willing transactions by psmoot · · Score: 2

    Fer crying out loud, will people please stop getting in the middle of transactions between willing customers and willing sellers?

    I know why the limo lobby wants to do this. They want to make tipping customary so Uber doesn't have a price advantage. But forcing Uber to include a tipping option in their app? No, that's not justified. Uber can put that in if they want, drivers can choose to drive for Uber or not. It's none of the city council's business how the deal goes down.

  16. Bad tip = bad rating? by HockeyPuck · · Score: 2

    If I don't like a driver, and give them a poor tip (or no tip at all), could the driver turn around and rate me poorly on Uber's app?

  17. Great, because more tipping is what we need. by piojo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Great, more tipping. New York can soon have:

    - more sexual discrimination
    - more beauty discrimination
    - more racial discrimination
    - more age-based discrimination
    - more obsequious in-your-business workers

    Tipping sucks. It isn't statistically tied to anything good, particularly better service. To read/listen to more about the negative effects (and correlations) of tipping, the Freakonomics podcast has got you covered: http://freakonomics.com/podcas...

    --
    A cat can't teach a dog to bark.
  18. Sounds like a plan by Gojira+Shipi-Taro · · Score: 1

    I love to tip good service. I don't carry cash typically.One reason I've tended to favor Lyft of late. If Uber adds this it would certainly make me happy.

    --
    "Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
  19. No, the Government did by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    because they built the roads, schools and infrastructure that made it possible. They built the civilization we all enjoy. Private companies didn't build the Internet. They didn't even build the motherfucking rail roads. And they sure as hell didn't build the satellites & ocean wires that make a global telecom network possible.

    For anything more important than a Twinkie if you look closely (hell, not even _that_ closely) you'll find it required an intelligent, organized response and you'll find that response came from a government. Leave people to their own devices and you get a thousand years dark ages. That's not supposition. That's historic fact. Now that said: That cold, hard fact makes people damned, damned uncomfortable. Not sure why. This country was on this.. But I guess nobody likes admitting they're not John Galt.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
  20. This is already a feature by Dunbal · · Score: 1

    When I signed up for Uber, there was a section where you could adjust the gratuity automatically added to your bill. The default was 20% which seems a bit steep, so I turned it down (locally it's 10% in latin america). Why should I have to tip on top of the tip? Or does the American version simply not have this built in feature?

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  21. Paying by credit card... by shameless · · Score: 2

    I don't know what it's like in NYC, but I know that in Boston one of the big advantages of Uber/Lyft is the ability to pay by credit card AT ALL. Whenever one attemps to pay by credit card in Boston the driver will claim this his machine is "broken", and only if you don't have any cash and there's no other option will it magically "repair" itself.

  22. Re:fuck tipping by Cyberax · · Score: 2, Informative

    Actually, no. They don't. Minimum wage for "tipped employees" in California is $2.71 per hour, so if you're not tipping then you are quite literally robbing your server (and kitchen staff).

  23. Re:fuck tipping by ixidor · · Score: 1

    but i just bought your breakfast. you cheap bastard, cant chip in a dollar like everyone else. i know its not what you would normally do, put down the buck.

  24. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  25. Re:fuck tipping by TFAFalcon · · Score: 2

    No, it's their employer that is robbing them.

  26. Re:fuck tipping by Harald+Paulsen · · Score: 1

    And the prices should also include sales tax! If I have to pay it, it should be on the menu / store shelf.

    It feels very backwards having to do math to find out what I actually have to pay. And finding out what the sales tax is when travelling.

    --
    Harald
  27. Why tip some workers and not others? by innocent_white_lamb · · Score: 2

    When did you last tip the cashier in Walmart? Why is her service worth less than the guy who brought you a sandwich? (She probably did more work ringing up and bagging your purchases than the guy did carrying a sandwich from the kitchen to your table.)

    --
    If you're a zombie and you know it, bite your friend!
    1. Re:Why tip some workers and not others? by GungaDan · · Score: 1

      "When did you last tip the cashier in Walmart?"

      Good luck with that. Those things wobble but they don't fall down.

      --
      Eloi are stupid, throw morlocks at them!
  28. Re:fuck tipping by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

    Minimum wage for "tipped employees" in California is $2.71 per hour, so if you're not tipping then you are quite literally robbing your server

    Is that actually the case? I'm not sure about California, but several places with similar laws still require that their total income be the normal minimum wage, and if they don't collect enough tips require that the employer pay the difference.

    (and kitchen staff)

    And yet in New York, it is explicitly illegal to share tips with the kitchen staff, though it is permitted to pool tips between front-of-house staff.

    --
    I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  29. Re: fuck tipping by StikyPad · · Score: 3, Informative

    And that's why it needs to be included in the price, the way it is in most of Europe and Japan. Idiots like you believe that tips aren't necessary to earn a living wage, but when minimum wage is halved simply because someone *might* give you more income, that's BS. Tips are essential. Moreover, other customers are subsidizing your tip-free existence, and on top of it, there's a good chance the employees aren't including all of their tips in their taxable income, which means we're all subsidizing them even more. Honestly, that shouldn't be your responsibility anyway, or mine -- it should be the employer's. So yeah, fuck tipping, once it's not necessary. Until then, fuck you.

    --
    https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
  30. Re:fuck tipping by cayenne8 · · Score: 1

    And the prices should also include sales tax! If I have to pay it, it should be on the menu / store shelf.

    It feels very backwards having to do math to find out what I actually have to pay. And finding out what the sales tax is when travelling.

    I"m guessing if one has to calculate the tax and tip to the penny....one likely can't afford to be eating out like that.

    --
    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
  31. Re:fuck tipping by porges · · Score: 1

    Tell you what: in the interest of honesty and the free market, if you're going to go against expectations and not routinely leave a tip, tell the driver/waiter/whatever that right up front.

  32. Government helpers by micahraleigh · · Score: 1

    Sure, people who make software have put together some impressive solutions, but think how much better software would be if politicians were designing it?

    Think of how many killer apps there would be if the app store was more like filing a W2?

    Those government workers are always finding new ways of helping!

  33. Re: fuck tippin by Harald+Paulsen · · Score: 1

    I can afford it without problems, it's more the annoyance. I suppose you would say the same about taxes and fees the airlines tack on to their cheap advertised prices? If you have to know about the final price, you can't afford it?

    Besides, from a report: "For instance, most states exempt groceries from the sales tax, others tax groceries at a limited rate, and still others tax groceries at the same rate as all other products. Some states exempt clothing or tax it at a reduced rate."

    So yeah, having the price you have to pay in advertising and on the sticker would be great. Hell if I know what the local food or clothing tax is.

    --
    Harald
  34. on the page scrolling bullshit by OutOnARock · · Score: 1

    Try this....scroll down until the article summary is somewhat centered on the page.

    Hit Refresh

    IMPORTANT: wait for the full page to load, when the tab's indicator stops spinning or whatever

    Now scroll down and the top ad should not scroll with you.

    The side ad bullshit may take another refresh

    I generally browse the main page and open all the stories I want into separate Chrome tabs in the morning and I get this issue all the time now.

    ...and disabling slashboxes like suggested below doesn't do anything for me either

  35. Re:fuck tipping by kinkozmasta · · Score: 1

    Minimum wage for "tipped employees" in California is $2.71 per hour

    Without considering whether tipping is good or bad this is demonstrably false. From the department of labor, California requires tipped workers to be paid the state minimum wage of $10.00/hour.

  36. Re:fuck tipping by Rakarra · · Score: 1

    How much gas will I use getting to the restaurant? I want that calculated into the bill too.

    Why, do you buy your gas at the restaurant?

  37. Re:fuck tipping by Anonymous+Cow+Ward · · Score: 1

    They have to be paid the normal minimum wage if they don't make up the difference with tips. Now, some restaurant managers will complain, and you could lose shifts, but they can't be paid less than normal minimum after tips.

    --
    Examine even your most deeply held beliefs. Nobody is always right.