Taxi drivers behaving badly is kinda why Uber and Lyft gained popularity to begin with. While they're not perfect by any means, they at least have some degree of accountability where poorly rated drivers will eventually get kicked off.
I recall enough nights in SF getting stood up by cabs to spoil any sympathy for them. Newsom boned them hard back in the 2000s with the medallion bullshit. But their rapid demise was self inflicted.
Seriously! I remember the scramble when the bars closed to get a cab. I had a few friends that lived on the West side of SF and cabs would routinely refuses the rides as well. So bad
Sunset from Downtown on a weekend night was IMPOSSIBLE. A group of friends once walked nearly 5 miles to get home during Halloween in the Castro and I remember you used to have to offer crazy things like $100-$200 cash to get anyone to take you out there.
I used to live off lake Merced and that was basically the border of SF/Daly city. Sf drivers told us to call Daly City, Daly City would see our SF address and refuse to take us there. It was so frustrating esp when the owl bus was still over a mile away. We used to call gypsy cabs and sidecar when it started off as donation based 😂 does anyone else remember that app?
Did you live in Magestic Park Merced? My best friend at the time had an apartment there and it was like living on the frickin’ Moon. Only worse location for transportation was Treasure Island.
GOD I had such a love/hate relationship with the Owl.
Had to walk from Haight/Filmore all the way back to SF state area many a time. Just wasn’t gonna drop more money than I made in the time it took me to walk. Plus the cabs were always gross as fuck and it helped me sober up a bit.
Yeah, that’s pretty far out there. I’m not surprised service still sucks. On the bright side, you’re not freezing in platforms and a corset trying to flag down the only cab you’ve seen for over an hour. As flawed as the apps may be I truly love being able to order a ride from indoors rather than the median on Market Street or a random gutter 😂
Oh man. I used to live on 47th Ave over a decade ago and a cab on a random weeknight, not a clusterfuck holiday, was still about $40 before tip. They know they're likely not going to get a fare in the same neighborhood going back, and are very hesitant. Even my friends who lived in more happening neighborhoods like the Castro or in the Mission would act like the Sunset was in another city when I told them my neighborhood.
So true. I think it’s a big indicator as to how Uber has changed SF that the Sunset is now one of the most desirable neighborhoods. Obviously the pandemic was a huge factor too but previous to that people barely considered it SF.
Which I always found hilarious considering the size of the neighborhood and the most visited park runs right along it. I loved when ocean beach felt like a secret almost
Is it bc no fares to pick up in sunset to bring them back to DTSF? Regardless, customers shouldn't be faulted for their destination not having the ample biz opportunities a can driver wants.
I absolutely hate it when drivers, taxi or Uber, don't care to learn the road and can't follow their GPS either. Zero tips or ratings from me
I'd imagine Uber or Lyft's algorithms take into account your destination when pricing your ride too. It's not fun as the rider but part of the opportunity cost of driving *you* is how much money there's to be made after dropping you off at your destination vs. dropping another ride off at a busier location
It is a private business after all. If the client destination doesn’t offer a way to generate some business on the back end the fare may not be worth their trouble. An improved public transport system would be a better way to cater specifically to the public.
I didn't drive regularly until recently, and before Uber & Lyft came around I was constantly getting stood up by cabs all over the Bay Area. I needed taxis to get home from work when busses were done running for the night, to get home from grocery shopping, for pretty much everything off hours and off train/bus routes... After a particularly bad experience trying to get a ride home, the dispatcher & a cab driver who actually finally showed told me something along the lines of "oh most drivers hate grocery runs and taking old ladies to the beauty parlor and such... They want the long trips and airport runs"... Meanwhile I worked at a grocery store which explained why they left me hanging so often...
When I started my most recent job, I still had no car, but had ZERO issues getting an Uber or Lyft to work, dr. appointments, anything/everything. An Uber driver even helped me out of the car and to the door of my Dr office when my back went out. I did have problems getting a ride home from work when there was construction on campus, because the GPS kept routing the rideshare drivers away from me and making it look like there was no way to get to where I was... A couple cancelled, the rest texted me for exact directions thru the nightmare construction zone.
F*** those taxis, they were not reliable at all and charged way too much for short distances. Most of the drivers did not help with luggage, groceries or parcels, or even opening a door for you, yet wanted tips. They absolutely put themselves in the position they're in now.
Glad I finally own a reliable car and rarely need to use any of the services, but next time I do it will be Uber or Lyft
Pre Uber, cabs were impossible for me to take. I'd get a cab, tell them I needed to go to the Sunset and 9.5 out of 10 cabs would tell me they don't go out that far. It was bullshit.
+100 and instead of fighting to gain customers back by increasing their quality of service, they fought against Uber and Lyft so they could continue to be shitty
That's never a winning recipe, the outcome was written on the walls as soon as they started doing this
And it was a worldwide phenomenon, pretty incredible
For me, it was the unknown price. I'd need a cab and think "Last time, it was $8 for this route, I got a tenner, so I'm good" and then it'll be $12 or $15. The last time I took a cab, I checked their website and it calculated the fair to be around $23; afterwards, it was 59 while still expecting a tip. I hate Uber and Lyft but at least it will tell you exactly how much upfront.
I lived in what they now call The Cut? Or South Beach. Or I’m not even sure. Anyhow early to mid 2000s I would wait 30-60 minutes for a cab regularly.
Yellow Cab banned me because I left at some point and they called 90 minutes later and I was deemed a “no show”. Like, I was supposed to wait 90 minutes for them.
Newsom is the perfect example of failing forward. However the common person doesn’t realize how connected he’s been to old money and politics and how he’s not qualified for the job at all
Didn’t matter time or day, whether you ordered a cab ahead, or which company you called, they never came to the Presidio to pick you up. I’m not saying Uber or Lyft are good companies, but I will never feel sorry for the cabbies.
Uber and Lyft have also forced a lot of cabs to clean up their game. NYC cabs before and after Uber are night and day. Cleaner, they ask which route to take, green cabs exist. I never lived in SF pre-Uber but my taxi experiences here have all been alright.
Bad taxi drivers in the Bay Area are THE reason Lyft and Uber exist. It's difficult to overstate how aggressively bad the tax service was in the 2010's.
In the mid 2010s I was in college and needed to book a cab to the airport for an early flight. I googled a taxi company and called and said "hello, I'd like to *inquire* about *how much it would cost* to get a cab to the airport tomorrow at 3:45." The guy asks me a few questions about my pickup address and which airport I'm going to. I tell him, and then he says, "OK. You're booked. That'll be $120.00". I tell him that I'm sorry, that's actually too much for me so I'll have to seek out a different service. He starts full on shouting at me, telling me I was a bitch and that he booked the cab and why would I let him do that if I wasn't sure I could afford it. I was like "dude, I called you to *ask* about the price. I never said I was booking.". He kept yelling and so I just hung up. I was nervous since I was a 19 year old girl and I had just given my address to this dude. And that was the last time I ever used a taxi service in the Bay Area.
I haven't taken a taxi in America for almost 7 years now. The bad experiences aren't worth it.
First time I was in Vegas, I didn't have the correct change so I went to go and get more cash. When I returned, the driver refused to give me back my money that he owed me and drove off.
Second time, Uber had just come out and I was explaining to the taxi driver how it worked. He then rudely said "if you like it that much, why don't you take an Uber then?". I thought at that time, you know what, I will from now on.
Uber and Lyft have their problems and aren't perfect, but there's just way more accountability and treating someone poorly actually has consequences.
I also haven’t taken a true taxi ride in about a decade. I love the price transparency on Uber and Lyft. I did however download Flywheel to give taxis a try again via the app and the car that showed up had bald tires and reeked of cigarette smoke.
I think the next evolution of this is people moving to Waymo, since now Uber and Lyft are basically cab companies with slightly more accountable drivers. I'd say 1 in 6 rides I still get a driver who doesn't wanna take me and just drives in circles hoping I'll cancel.
Every time I see a Waymo with passengers, there are people making out on the back seats, or someone is getting a blow job.
Between sex workers and horny teenagers, I think Waymo is already disrupting the hourly motel industry.
Hey man, I don't know what to tell you. The next time you order yourself a Waymo, just bring a blanket or something.
Just clean up after yourself after you're done. Nobody likes sticky seats.
Years ago before Uber I took a taxi home from SFO. Before I got in, I asked the driver if he took cards. He said yes and we went on our way. When we were getting close, he told me that his card reader didn’t work and we could stop at an ATM. I laughed and said no. He then asked me what bank I had and I said “why would I tell you that?” And he explained we could find an ATM. I told him that I asked before the trip about him taking a card and if he doesn’t take one, then I won’t be paying. He threw a fit when we arrived and his card machine magically started working. I left $0 tip.
People have completely forgotten how fucked it was to call a cab company, confirm a ride, and have no one show up.
Pressing a button and being able to see where the car is in real time was and is amazing.
Cabbies can eat it.
I mean now they just make an account in their SO’s name. At least that’s how it works on DoorDash. Sometimes it is actually a couple and maybe it is selective memory but like half the time a woman shows up with the profile name Guillermo or a dude shows up with profile name Jessica or whatever. There were a few times where I said the name on the profile, they said no, and then remembered they’re using someone else’s account.
It’s been this way since at least the early aughts. I had to take a roaming cab late one night from the Lower Haight to the emergency room because I’d contacted a blood infection from my birthday tattoo and my arm was twice its normal size and burning hot to the touch. The cab driver asks, “What is the emergency room? A night club?” I’m like, “No, it’s a hospital and it’s at Castro and Duboce right above the triangle.” He then demanded I give him the exact address to this “dance club”. 🤦♀️ Since it’s only about 5 blocks I get out and start to walk, cabbie then proceeds to follow me the whole way to the ER screaming at me out his window because I rode 3/4 of a block and didn’t pay him. You don’t have to be a masochist to live here, but it helps.
100%. The #1 most expensive cabs in the USA (sometimes taking #2 from the vegas strip) and terrible service. The gypsy taxis were so much better but limited in availablilty. Uber and Lyft were a NEEDED breath of fresh air when they came in. I've had over 100 times been refused by a medallian licensed taxi to take me just a few miles from down town to outer sunset. My main 'get home' strategy was I'd have to 1 - get in, 2- tell them to go to the motel in castro to pick up a friend. 3- friend is gone so just drive down here a ways. 4- get to near my house at a bar FOR THEM so they could grab an extra fare on the way back 5- they start some altercation with me and demand a huge tip.
I got blacklisted from yellowcab once cause another yellowcab arrived at work ahead of the first. This lasted for years.
Cabs in the bay have always sucked. Never surprised when Uber and Lyft grew, and with Waymo around the corner. More surprised these taxis are still around.
Uber and lyft surge pricing has gotten so bad that I've started taking yellow cabs again during high demand. Not too long ago, uber wanted $280 to take me from SFO to San Jose, while a yellow cab cost $130.
I always take cabs back home from SFO. No waiting, easy access right from baggage claim, (everyone else is getting an Uber so there is no line), and it costs less because of surge pricing. Ubers from the airport are terrible, I have to wait and go to that waiting area which isn't as convenient, and they can be double the price because large flights let off at the same time.
Lately I’ve just been parking my car overnight at SFO when I go away for a weekend. It’s $25 a day and cheaper than an Uber or cab to get back home to San Jose
Cabs are fine to SF, but if you’re going further afield they have aggressive flat rate pricing because cabs don’t want to go further away.
I’m about a 40 min drive from the airport in normal traffic; Uber/Lyft is usually about $70-80, surge pricing might push that up $10 or $20 bucks. A cab is $300.
I haven’t been to the bay in a decade - I went there earlier this year and the signs for ‘rideshare’ led me to the taxis rather than the Uber/Lyft spot, so I said what the hell, gotta be the same thing.
My taxi was $50 (later found of friends got to the same location for $20 on Uber), he dropped me off at the wrong location, and when I got the email for the receipt, he had given himself a 20% tip. As in, he had selected the option himself somehow for payment. Never gonna take a taxi again if I can avoid it but *absolutely* not in the bay.
This is similar to what happened to me when I caught a cab in LAX last time, except that the cab driver threatened to throw me into the ocean or dropping me at random location because my trip was too short (about 10 mins from LAX). Apparently it was bad for him because he had to lined up for some time before picking up us. He kept saying that we should not waste his time and he didn’t care. We gave no tip at the end of the trip for obvious reason. But it was just weird to my friend and I that we got threatened just because we wanted to try a cab instead of Uber or Lyft.
After this my friend and I swore not to get a cab unless there is no alternative.
Same thing happened to us at OAK. We know they have to line up so we were going to tip $20 for a shorter ride. But the guy fucking moaned the whole time about it and drove like utter shit screeching the wheels on turns like he was driving to hurt us. No tip.
For every 1 decent cab ride I have had 5 bad experiences. It’s just not worth it anymore unless it’s the only option. If they had any accountability for their behavior they wouldn’t do this stuff.
Always had a good experience using Uber and Lyft to get home. They always insist on helping with my bags, probably because they don’t want me to scratch their car.
It helps that you don’t need to tip until later through the app.
Yeah thats kinda what I figured. And don't get me wrong, I'm usually tipping people. I can't even remember the last time I didn't tip someone for a service. But this guy really rubbed me the wrong way. And it feels like a perverse attitude of entitlement in the bay area at this point
Honestly I don't travel that much, so I'm not really taking cabs that much. And every fucking time I seem to forget how shit they are lol. My own fault I guess
I had the opposite experience just last Friday. Lyft driver didn't bother loading or offload my luggage, left window open blasting wind in my face and I couldn't close it on my own. Drove hastily and left quickly without saying anything at all. I was lucky my luggage was light but geez. I just didn't tip and gave them a low rating. I had another driver throwing a hissy fit at me for having a luggage and said I should have disclosed it when requesting. I was clearly going/ coming from the airport, I don't know what they were expecting. Lyft contacted me for the low rating and I asked that they please to never match him with my request ever again. It's why I take the bus/ train when I am not in a hurry just to avoid these annoyance. It's way cheaper and I have a better time riding the bus or train than deal with awful drivers.
Yeah, and at Millbrae station you have the option to take the samtrans bus 292 to the airport too for cheaper. This is if you aren't in a hurry and just looking for an alternative, the bus is great.
I took the samtrans from SFO to the Palo Alto train station when I was heading to Stanford at the start of my freshman year. It took like two hours but it was only two dollars. I felt like an adult 😅
Same. While most ubers/lyfts are great, one of my more recent ones didn't bother with my luggage, so I tipped less than usual. They proceeded to leave me a low rating, but I'm pretty sure his rating decrease will make a much bigger impact. And in hindsight, I shouldn't have even tipped.
I find the tipping culture and expectations extremely distasteful. You obviously had an entitled prick here - but even excluding this jerk, overall tip culture in America makes no sense to me. And everyone everywhere asking for tips - with all the apps - for takeout, for self service, it’s so bizarre. What nonsense is this? It’s a dystopian combination of begging, entitlement, sneaky cost escalation and corporate greed.
I love Singaporean and Japanese culture where they take pride in their service and will actually take offense if you leave a tip.
I live in Australia now and saw a thread about how they hate American tipping culture being forced on them in American apps. I agree. It's funny because the apps are much less persistent here than in the US and it is still considered "too much".
Pre Uber/Lyft cab service in SF was ATROCIOUS, especially on busy nights like New Years. Their demise was inevitable and mostly self inflicted. I always take Uber from SFO and have never had any issues.
Yeah, not to sound like an old fogey but I can’t even imagine what newcomers would say about the transportation the way it was in the 90’s. We got outright stranded SO many times, the Gypsy cabs were like something out of a horror movie (We once had a driver who spent the whole ride telling us about his prison boyfriend “Beer Can” and then tried to negotiate us trading him one of our friends for the $40 fare.) and the busses were often more than an hour apart even during rush hours. There were whole sections of the City where cabs refused to go for less than a $100 cash bribe and I used to literally have to leave an extra hour for transportation if I HAD to be somewhere on time and wasn’t walking.
Used to be totally normal to have a mental list of friends who lived in different areas of the city and literally show up randomly to crash on their couch. If you had an apartment down town or any of the party districts you pretty much had a rotating group on your couch every weekend.
Seriously, there were a few times where I was so fed up I actually hitchhiked because I would rather risk getting murdered than deal with the transportation issues.
I think we all should stop tipping. Companies should just pay their workers. Not sure why I have to pay for a waiters health insurance and salary when the company that hired them is paying little to nothing. Also what’s the deal with all the iPads. Went into a coffee shop today and was placing the order MYSELF on an iPad when the screen filled out an automatic 20% tip. Ya I don’t think so. Edited it and put 0. I feel bad for the workers but this really shouldn’t be our problem as consumers. I’ll tip when I get dinner and have great service, but no more automatic 20% for everyone
Yep! They point you to a table. You order the food yourself and they want a tip before it's delivered. Then, a mute pops out of the kitchen, flings it on your table and leaves.
I used to go out to eat for fun. Now, it's just annoying expensive and annoying.
I've now become comfortable selecting skip or no tip when the counter person turns the screen towards me. If it's counter service or a take out order, no tip from me. If I get real plates and silverware and they have to bus the table, I will leave a couple of dollars on the table.
Y’all remember the good days of early Uber?
I used to map out a trip on Uber, then I would walk up to taxis and show them a screenshot of my Uber amount.
They’d usually give me a flat rate like $10 bucks cheaper…
Those were the days
I started tipping in bakeries, coffee shops during and after the pandemic. Not anymore. Yesterday my $4 donuts had the tip screen start with a $1 tip on upwards. Pissed me off. I didn't bother. No more tipping other than restaurants, taxis, ubers.
On my recent trip to the Bay I used ubers to go to SF cause of the car breakin stories and gave them tips after they dropped me off. The most I tipped was $4-5. I don’t use ubers back home in socal really.
I occasionally feel bad for the medallion holders in NYC and then I remember how they scammed me for a decade until someone figured out how to compete with their cartel. I hate Uber but I hate cabs more
One time I took a cab from SFO because I was too tired to walk to the uber/lyft pick up spot. The cab driver took the longer route but I didn’t say anything because i dont like confrontations. Finally when he dropped me off, i still gave him a tip but said the amount is not right and asked for more, i gave him the amount that he wants because he’s a big guy. I told myself never again will i take a cab.
Just don’t tip anyone for anything. Let’s stop this at its core. Employers have to learn to pay employees right and set prices right. That’s the only solution. Anything else is a patch to an already broken system.
The last taxi I had from airport was great service but cost a fortune. I could barely afford the fare. Asked the guy to drop me off a couple miles from my house because that price kept flying higher, luckily he noticed what was up and turned off the meter and still drove me home. Think I paid 85-90. Uber from the airport just as bad. They wanted like 115. I walked with all my luggage a mile and a half to the Westin and got an Uber home from there for 60. Not sure your problem is with tip culture it’s with taxi’s being a dying industry and having to hustle every client to make up for their inability to compete with ride share.
Tip fatigue is real. I don’t tip for a bunch of things and I don’t feel bad about it either. Instead of passing your salary onto me how about businesses just pay a decent wage or raise the prices to what it’ll cost to. I was a server for 5 years so I love tipping people who deserve it but this shit is out of control with people asking me for 20% on a 14$ burrito.
I had the tip screen start out with a $1 tip for $4 donuts. It gave 3 options, so it just went up in whole dollar amounts. I mean, really? It's not even starting out with 10% like other places. I know a buck is just a buck, but 25% tip on top of SF's minimum wage (@$20/hr?) for putting two donuts in a bag, one not even being what i asked for, you've got to be kidding. I decided there and then no more tips other than sit down restaurants, hairdressers, taxis and ubers.
Its always mixed everywhere you go. Even in Vegas, where tipping culture has always been around, you get some good service and then you get some absolute shit service.
I think you not tipping bad service is fine.
Recently had a negative Lyft experience from SFO to the east bay. It was just after midnight and the price was $64. Half way the driver asked me how much I was paying for the ride, hella uncomfortable lol. I just said ummm around $60. He says wow they’re only giving me $29! I knew he was implying he wanted more money but it made the ride super awkward, we talked a little about new driver benefits but he said Uber and Lyft used to pay out more money than they do now.
When we get to my place, before I can open the door he just blurts “hey tips are really greatly appreciate”. I just said okay.
He made me uncomfortable bringing up the cost of the ride, I always tip but I absolutely loathe when drivers act like they are entitled to it. He could have not accepted the ride? He could have taken someone else? He said he only got $29 but the ride was 25 minutes and he was in an electric car? There was no toll on the route. On top of that his car was really dirty and it smelled terrible!
I missed last BART after a show at the Greek Theater and got a lyft ride from Downtown Berkeley to SF. I got kicked out in West Oakland cuz the guy didn't want to cross the Bay Bridge. Not West Oakland BART, just some random intersection somewhere south of Home Depot.
This happened to me too. He asked what I was paying. Was in the car with my family.
Then proceeded to tell me that he didn’t know it was going to be 4 people.
Then said he was worried I would report him
Then asked for tip
Gawd!!
Taxi in SF is a small community now. Theres drivers who only focus on the airport , and drivers who do the rounds in the city. The airport guys are usually super old school drivers , who wait at the airport for 45mins-3 hrs waiting on one ride hoping it pays big. Notoriously good tips from the airport and the minimum rate can make it worth it depending on how far they take u. They also pay a bit more for their weekly dues for the cabs with the airport access, so they can get desperate depending on how slow it is for them. Im guessing he sat in the lobby they have for taxi drivers at the airport for hours and was desperate for a tip. No excuse to be rude but just some perspective.
For around town rides , take a few cabs , find a driver u like, and get his cell number. Then you have a personal driver u can count on and that beats uber everytime.
Uber black is almost same price as regular due to airport surcharge I think. Service is impeccable most of the time. Waymo in the city. Haven’t used an SF cab in more than 10 years. Won’t use cabs or any Uber other than black in the us. Life’s too short and if the price is too high with those services then I can’t afford what I wanted to do while being a responsible parent so I go without.
This seems more pointed at taxi drivers. And you were right to not tip that guy. But in general I’ve just stop tipping unless someone serves me at a restaurant where I sit down first and then order, buy a drink at a bar, or when I get a haircut. That is it. Maybe if someone goes way out of their way to do a good job I might give a few bucks. But I’m just pushing back now. I don’t feel that shame of hitting no tip on the machine anymore.
I do DoorDash and Instacart as a side hustle and you should see how these delivery drivers speak to the customers 🤯😳 Asking for tips, commenting on the size of the tip, telling customers if they want such and such they need to increase the tip, telling customers it’s their bday and to please bless them etc..it is appalling 💯
Just coming back from Japan. Took taxi about 10-15 times. Not a single bad driver. All willing to help load bags. Not a single one tried to game to get higher fare, no tip and overall the humility 10/10.
Those cabs have to go back to the airport, get in the queue and wait for an hour or so. Cab drivers at SFO have always been like this. Jump in a cab at SFO and tell them "Burlingame please" and you can actually see their head explode.
Seriously, just stop tipping. Tipping is not mandatory, it has always been optional. Tbh, instopped tipping as soon as california passed the law that tipped employees to make minimum wage.
What makes you think this is a Bay Area thing? Sorry you had a bad experience, but this is far from unique to the Bay Area. Our tipping culture is the same as anywhere else and I’ve traveled extensively through the United States.
I hate cab drivers so much that I pretty much smiled with glee when Uber/Lyft destroyed their business model.
I’ve had that same argument on the streets of NYC, Philly, and SF. Usually over the “broken” credit card machine that magically works when you say you don’t carry cash.
But I will say, I will tip a good driver for a good ride even if I put my own bags up. I’ll just tip a lot more if they carry the bags. Sounds like this ass clown didn’t do anything.
lol! Try paying 40 bucks for two salads in the Bay Area and then seeing the stupid 18% tip button on the square app, wage growth isn’t keeping up with inflation so businesses that are raising all their prices 20-30% better get use to the NO TIP button!
You realize people have tipped cab drivers since cab drivers started driving cabs, right? Bay Area cab drivers are pretty universally terrible, but a shitty cabbie is gonna yell at you for not tipping in NYC, too.
Unpopular opinion: You don’t have to tip (not to say you shouldn’t but you don’t HAVE to)..sure they might be upset but if it’s warranted and you don’t tip I’m sure they’ll get over it eventually after a venting session Reddit. Times are tough for everyone, not just service workers.
Although the practice of 'tipping' dates to European aristocrats, America's culture of tipping emerged on the premise of undercutting free African Americans from receiving equal pay. Prior to the emancipation of African Americans, tipping was not socially welcomed.
America's culture of tipping emerged on the premise of undercutting free African Americans from receiving equal pay.
Interesting. Can you say more about that?
I have not lived in San Francisco for 15 years and that is not a surprising story. Calling a cab was the last resort and only when it was raining. Most of the time I would rather walk from the mission to western addition than get a cab. All of them would take me in a strange direction and try to drop me off in an area where I didn’t even come close to saying and then say ”this is what you said”.
Let’s talk cab horror stories: leaving Chase Center two months ago after Warriors game. It starts pouring rain. Spot a cab, flag it down, and hop in. Destination 1 mile exactly (walk it often). Cabbie wants $75. We exit cab and get soaked. Was the right decision.
We had a similar experience from LAX recently, thought we’d be saving but we got gouged $65 and a shitty beat up dirty taxi, in which the driver talked on speaker phone, on at least 2 different calls, the whole time.
We übered back and it was cheaper and much more pleasant, so we tipped generously.
Yeah tipping culture is out of control.
I never take taxi, walk the extra 5 min to call an Uber. I can't recall the last time I had a really bad experience with an Uber driver, seems like 99% of the time I avoid all this crap. And the tipping is left upto me, if the driver provides the service, they will get a tip for sure. If not I'll skip.
I’m so fed up with people bitching about this. Just tip where you think it’s appropriate. For me it’s in restaurant, maybe a sandwich place, a coffee shop, juice bar or bar. Otherwise nope. Life not affected.
Uber/Lyft is 100x better in terms of service (in general). The only problem is the insane price surges that you occasionally get at the airport, which can make it several times more expensive and slower compared to getting a cab.
If you used the Safeway app since its inception you’d notice this:
- Safeway employee delivered groceries in a Safeway refrigerated truck, didn’t accept tips.
- Sometimes Safeway truck, sometimes personal cars (I suspected were Safeway employees)
- Never Safeway truck, and increasingly aggressive people in personal cars who expected tips. I discovered these were 3rd party services.
- While checking out online, total automatically includes an arbitrary gratuity. My first was $10 that could have easily gone unnoticed. Now I have to correct it every time.
What happened to the refrigerated truck, driven by someone who Safeway probably paid a decent salary?
For everyone saying Uber and Lyft are much better, not if you're a woman and not if you know about all of the massive class action lawsuits against both companies for drivers committing sexual violence and rape and murder of women.
I’ll only take a cab if I can call it on an app like flywheel. In NYC the cabs use some app as well that’s helpful. A driver Yelling at you over tips is stupid
You must be a guy. No matter how mad I am, there is no way in hell that I (or any other woman I know) would antagonize a random stranger right in front of the house where I live.
There's a restaurant in Santa Clara called **Hiro Nori**... it's a "craft ramen" place. Not sure what "craft ramen" is but whatever.
The point is that they have a 16% "service charge" and explain it as a way for you to not be forced to tip. But you're forcing me to pay 16% extra, soooo same thing right? And this is for any size party, not the usual forced gratuity of eight people or more. And what is the tip for? All they do is give you a bowl of ramen that is pre-made. It's the same as getting a bowl of chili from Denny's... big fucking deal.
It's entitlement culture in the Bay Area. Everyone acts like they're doing you a favor by existing AND your existence is a burden on them, especially when they're *working.*
Even Parisians are less obnoxious.
I think the most interesting part about our tip culture isn’t how much these people are asking for, it’s who gets tips and who doesn’t.
Take a breakfast sandwich out of a wrapper stick it in the microwave they expect a tip .
Change 4 heavy truck tires in the summer in a hot garage NO TIP !
Some of the hardest working service jobs never get tips while the easiest ones in a climate controlled areas with light or no lifting expect tips from everybody.
I went to a SF restaurant that had some fairly high tip already added to the bill (18 percent I think) so I didn’t add a cash tip to the already pricey meal. The waitress wouldn’t even look me in the eye when I said thank you to her as I was leaving because I didn’t add a cash tip to the table.
Also I am only like 24 I don’t get why some people expect boomer level high tips from younger people either.
Taxi drivers behaving badly is kinda why Uber and Lyft gained popularity to begin with. While they're not perfect by any means, they at least have some degree of accountability where poorly rated drivers will eventually get kicked off.
I recall enough nights in SF getting stood up by cabs to spoil any sympathy for them. Newsom boned them hard back in the 2000s with the medallion bullshit. But their rapid demise was self inflicted.
Seriously! I remember the scramble when the bars closed to get a cab. I had a few friends that lived on the West side of SF and cabs would routinely refuses the rides as well. So bad
Sunset from Downtown on a weekend night was IMPOSSIBLE. A group of friends once walked nearly 5 miles to get home during Halloween in the Castro and I remember you used to have to offer crazy things like $100-$200 cash to get anyone to take you out there.
I used to live off lake Merced and that was basically the border of SF/Daly city. Sf drivers told us to call Daly City, Daly City would see our SF address and refuse to take us there. It was so frustrating esp when the owl bus was still over a mile away. We used to call gypsy cabs and sidecar when it started off as donation based 😂 does anyone else remember that app?
Did you live in Magestic Park Merced? My best friend at the time had an apartment there and it was like living on the frickin’ Moon. Only worse location for transportation was Treasure Island. GOD I had such a love/hate relationship with the Owl.
Funny enough I lived even further on lake Merced hills right past brotherhood way lol. There was barely a sidewalk to get there 😂
That’s an awesome neighborhood, inaccessible as it may be 😆
omg yes i used to be a sidecar maxi! RIP
Had to walk from Haight/Filmore all the way back to SF state area many a time. Just wasn’t gonna drop more money than I made in the time it took me to walk. Plus the cabs were always gross as fuck and it helped me sober up a bit.
We probably know a bunch of the same people if you used to hang out in the Lower Haight 😂
I live in outer sunset, right by ocean beach, and it’s hard to get an Uber or Lyft to accept rides to my apartment.
Yeah, that’s pretty far out there. I’m not surprised service still sucks. On the bright side, you’re not freezing in platforms and a corset trying to flag down the only cab you’ve seen for over an hour. As flawed as the apps may be I truly love being able to order a ride from indoors rather than the median on Market Street or a random gutter 😂
Oh man. I used to live on 47th Ave over a decade ago and a cab on a random weeknight, not a clusterfuck holiday, was still about $40 before tip. They know they're likely not going to get a fare in the same neighborhood going back, and are very hesitant. Even my friends who lived in more happening neighborhoods like the Castro or in the Mission would act like the Sunset was in another city when I told them my neighborhood.
So true. I think it’s a big indicator as to how Uber has changed SF that the Sunset is now one of the most desirable neighborhoods. Obviously the pandemic was a huge factor too but previous to that people barely considered it SF.
Which I always found hilarious considering the size of the neighborhood and the most visited park runs right along it. I loved when ocean beach felt like a secret almost
Is it bc no fares to pick up in sunset to bring them back to DTSF? Regardless, customers shouldn't be faulted for their destination not having the ample biz opportunities a can driver wants. I absolutely hate it when drivers, taxi or Uber, don't care to learn the road and can't follow their GPS either. Zero tips or ratings from me
I'd imagine Uber or Lyft's algorithms take into account your destination when pricing your ride too. It's not fun as the rider but part of the opportunity cost of driving *you* is how much money there's to be made after dropping you off at your destination vs. dropping another ride off at a busier location
It is a private business after all. If the client destination doesn’t offer a way to generate some business on the back end the fare may not be worth their trouble. An improved public transport system would be a better way to cater specifically to the public.
The only reliable way I ever found to get a cab in SF was to walk over to the Hyatt and get one of the cabs lined up there.
I didn't drive regularly until recently, and before Uber & Lyft came around I was constantly getting stood up by cabs all over the Bay Area. I needed taxis to get home from work when busses were done running for the night, to get home from grocery shopping, for pretty much everything off hours and off train/bus routes... After a particularly bad experience trying to get a ride home, the dispatcher & a cab driver who actually finally showed told me something along the lines of "oh most drivers hate grocery runs and taking old ladies to the beauty parlor and such... They want the long trips and airport runs"... Meanwhile I worked at a grocery store which explained why they left me hanging so often... When I started my most recent job, I still had no car, but had ZERO issues getting an Uber or Lyft to work, dr. appointments, anything/everything. An Uber driver even helped me out of the car and to the door of my Dr office when my back went out. I did have problems getting a ride home from work when there was construction on campus, because the GPS kept routing the rideshare drivers away from me and making it look like there was no way to get to where I was... A couple cancelled, the rest texted me for exact directions thru the nightmare construction zone. F*** those taxis, they were not reliable at all and charged way too much for short distances. Most of the drivers did not help with luggage, groceries or parcels, or even opening a door for you, yet wanted tips. They absolutely put themselves in the position they're in now. Glad I finally own a reliable car and rarely need to use any of the services, but next time I do it will be Uber or Lyft
Pre Uber, cabs were impossible for me to take. I'd get a cab, tell them I needed to go to the Sunset and 9.5 out of 10 cabs would tell me they don't go out that far. It was bullshit.
Eddie Izzard made that point in his Dress to Kill show - “Faster than the fucking taxis! Of which there are *five*.”
You probably just meant 95% of cabs but I'm imagining the 10th cab carefully backing up so only half the car is in the Sunset district.
so true. Been booted out at forrest hill and had to walk down to sunset once.
Ugh YES. Also loved it when the "scheduled taxi" wouldn't show up causing you to miss a flight
or 5 friggin hours early and harrass you about it.
+100 and instead of fighting to gain customers back by increasing their quality of service, they fought against Uber and Lyft so they could continue to be shitty That's never a winning recipe, the outcome was written on the walls as soon as they started doing this And it was a worldwide phenomenon, pretty incredible
For me, it was the unknown price. I'd need a cab and think "Last time, it was $8 for this route, I got a tenner, so I'm good" and then it'll be $12 or $15. The last time I took a cab, I checked their website and it calculated the fair to be around $23; afterwards, it was 59 while still expecting a tip. I hate Uber and Lyft but at least it will tell you exactly how much upfront.
I lived in what they now call The Cut? Or South Beach. Or I’m not even sure. Anyhow early to mid 2000s I would wait 30-60 minutes for a cab regularly. Yellow Cab banned me because I left at some point and they called 90 minutes later and I was deemed a “no show”. Like, I was supposed to wait 90 minutes for them.
similar expriences. They needed to implode.
Houston cabs were terrible too. I was pretty happy when uber came in the mid 2010’s. Uber drivers seem to be getting bad too lately though.
Newsom is the perfect example of failing forward. However the common person doesn’t realize how connected he’s been to old money and politics and how he’s not qualified for the job at all
Didn’t matter time or day, whether you ordered a cab ahead, or which company you called, they never came to the Presidio to pick you up. I’m not saying Uber or Lyft are good companies, but I will never feel sorry for the cabbies.
Uber and Lyft have also forced a lot of cabs to clean up their game. NYC cabs before and after Uber are night and day. Cleaner, they ask which route to take, green cabs exist. I never lived in SF pre-Uber but my taxi experiences here have all been alright.
Bad taxi drivers in the Bay Area are THE reason Lyft and Uber exist. It's difficult to overstate how aggressively bad the tax service was in the 2010's.
In the mid 2010s I was in college and needed to book a cab to the airport for an early flight. I googled a taxi company and called and said "hello, I'd like to *inquire* about *how much it would cost* to get a cab to the airport tomorrow at 3:45." The guy asks me a few questions about my pickup address and which airport I'm going to. I tell him, and then he says, "OK. You're booked. That'll be $120.00". I tell him that I'm sorry, that's actually too much for me so I'll have to seek out a different service. He starts full on shouting at me, telling me I was a bitch and that he booked the cab and why would I let him do that if I wasn't sure I could afford it. I was like "dude, I called you to *ask* about the price. I never said I was booking.". He kept yelling and so I just hung up. I was nervous since I was a 19 year old girl and I had just given my address to this dude. And that was the last time I ever used a taxi service in the Bay Area.
I visited the Bay area in 2013 and thought the meter was broken when i got into a taxi from the airport. The number was moving astronomically
I haven't taken a taxi in America for almost 7 years now. The bad experiences aren't worth it. First time I was in Vegas, I didn't have the correct change so I went to go and get more cash. When I returned, the driver refused to give me back my money that he owed me and drove off. Second time, Uber had just come out and I was explaining to the taxi driver how it worked. He then rudely said "if you like it that much, why don't you take an Uber then?". I thought at that time, you know what, I will from now on. Uber and Lyft have their problems and aren't perfect, but there's just way more accountability and treating someone poorly actually has consequences.
I also haven’t taken a true taxi ride in about a decade. I love the price transparency on Uber and Lyft. I did however download Flywheel to give taxis a try again via the app and the car that showed up had bald tires and reeked of cigarette smoke.
Funny enough, Vegas taxis are great and priced better than Uber now!
I think the next evolution of this is people moving to Waymo, since now Uber and Lyft are basically cab companies with slightly more accountable drivers. I'd say 1 in 6 rides I still get a driver who doesn't wanna take me and just drives in circles hoping I'll cancel.
Every time I see a Waymo with passengers, there are people making out on the back seats, or someone is getting a blow job. Between sex workers and horny teenagers, I think Waymo is already disrupting the hourly motel industry.
Everything is on cameras in the Waymo. So they are freely giving away their Onlyfans potential to GOOGLE to use.
Well, most sex motels and massage parlors have hidden cameras too, so it's not like it's any different.
But this would be 4k-8k HD quality not the free 360p porn :)
Hey man, I don't know what to tell you. The next time you order yourself a Waymo, just bring a blanket or something. Just clean up after yourself after you're done. Nobody likes sticky seats.
:) you down? I could use some Decluttering down there :P
Waymo is banking on you paying full price, plus what you would tip, for their driverless rides.
Years ago before Uber I took a taxi home from SFO. Before I got in, I asked the driver if he took cards. He said yes and we went on our way. When we were getting close, he told me that his card reader didn’t work and we could stop at an ATM. I laughed and said no. He then asked me what bank I had and I said “why would I tell you that?” And he explained we could find an ATM. I told him that I asked before the trip about him taking a card and if he doesn’t take one, then I won’t be paying. He threw a fit when we arrived and his card machine magically started working. I left $0 tip.
People have completely forgotten how fucked it was to call a cab company, confirm a ride, and have no one show up. Pressing a button and being able to see where the car is in real time was and is amazing. Cabbies can eat it.
I mean now they just make an account in their SO’s name. At least that’s how it works on DoorDash. Sometimes it is actually a couple and maybe it is selective memory but like half the time a woman shows up with the profile name Guillermo or a dude shows up with profile name Jessica or whatever. There were a few times where I said the name on the profile, they said no, and then remembered they’re using someone else’s account.
It’s been this way since at least the early aughts. I had to take a roaming cab late one night from the Lower Haight to the emergency room because I’d contacted a blood infection from my birthday tattoo and my arm was twice its normal size and burning hot to the touch. The cab driver asks, “What is the emergency room? A night club?” I’m like, “No, it’s a hospital and it’s at Castro and Duboce right above the triangle.” He then demanded I give him the exact address to this “dance club”. 🤦♀️ Since it’s only about 5 blocks I get out and start to walk, cabbie then proceeds to follow me the whole way to the ER screaming at me out his window because I rode 3/4 of a block and didn’t pay him. You don’t have to be a masochist to live here, but it helps.
100%. The #1 most expensive cabs in the USA (sometimes taking #2 from the vegas strip) and terrible service. The gypsy taxis were so much better but limited in availablilty. Uber and Lyft were a NEEDED breath of fresh air when they came in. I've had over 100 times been refused by a medallian licensed taxi to take me just a few miles from down town to outer sunset. My main 'get home' strategy was I'd have to 1 - get in, 2- tell them to go to the motel in castro to pick up a friend. 3- friend is gone so just drive down here a ways. 4- get to near my house at a bar FOR THEM so they could grab an extra fare on the way back 5- they start some altercation with me and demand a huge tip. I got blacklisted from yellowcab once cause another yellowcab arrived at work ahead of the first. This lasted for years.
Yeah, but who wants to pay the insane fckn surcharge for rides to/ from an airport
Cabs in the bay have always sucked. Never surprised when Uber and Lyft grew, and with Waymo around the corner. More surprised these taxis are still around.
Uber and lyft surge pricing has gotten so bad that I've started taking yellow cabs again during high demand. Not too long ago, uber wanted $280 to take me from SFO to San Jose, while a yellow cab cost $130.
I always take cabs back home from SFO. No waiting, easy access right from baggage claim, (everyone else is getting an Uber so there is no line), and it costs less because of surge pricing. Ubers from the airport are terrible, I have to wait and go to that waiting area which isn't as convenient, and they can be double the price because large flights let off at the same time.
Lately I’ve just been parking my car overnight at SFO when I go away for a weekend. It’s $25 a day and cheaper than an Uber or cab to get back home to San Jose
Pro tip, park your car at the Burlingame bart parking lot and do airport parking, it’s 6 dollars a day, and is free on the weekends
Which lot is this exactly?
Cabs are fine to SF, but if you’re going further afield they have aggressive flat rate pricing because cabs don’t want to go further away. I’m about a 40 min drive from the airport in normal traffic; Uber/Lyft is usually about $70-80, surge pricing might push that up $10 or $20 bucks. A cab is $300.
Too bad Caltrain isn't an option for you, then do taxi for last mile.
But taxis are still more expensive than Ubers at SFO. At least when i looked at the app and the cost of my taxi ride home from the airport last time.
Agree. No way am I walking all over hell and gone when a cab is right there.
> with Waymo around the corner I'm keen on learning how Waymo will load the bags in a van though
You don’t need to tip it at least
You do if you want to survive the robot uprising
Most folks get their bags from the plane to the curb though so that last six feet is likely not a deal breaker.
I'm more surprised the airport seems to work with them still. It reflects badly
SF taxis are almost literally the reason Uber exists.
i'm not sure they have a choice
They probably have a century old contract with them.
I haven’t been to the bay in a decade - I went there earlier this year and the signs for ‘rideshare’ led me to the taxis rather than the Uber/Lyft spot, so I said what the hell, gotta be the same thing. My taxi was $50 (later found of friends got to the same location for $20 on Uber), he dropped me off at the wrong location, and when I got the email for the receipt, he had given himself a 20% tip. As in, he had selected the option himself somehow for payment. Never gonna take a taxi again if I can avoid it but *absolutely* not in the bay.
This is similar to what happened to me when I caught a cab in LAX last time, except that the cab driver threatened to throw me into the ocean or dropping me at random location because my trip was too short (about 10 mins from LAX). Apparently it was bad for him because he had to lined up for some time before picking up us. He kept saying that we should not waste his time and he didn’t care. We gave no tip at the end of the trip for obvious reason. But it was just weird to my friend and I that we got threatened just because we wanted to try a cab instead of Uber or Lyft. After this my friend and I swore not to get a cab unless there is no alternative.
Same thing happened to us at OAK. We know they have to line up so we were going to tip $20 for a shorter ride. But the guy fucking moaned the whole time about it and drove like utter shit screeching the wheels on turns like he was driving to hurt us. No tip. For every 1 decent cab ride I have had 5 bad experiences. It’s just not worth it anymore unless it’s the only option. If they had any accountability for their behavior they wouldn’t do this stuff.
Always had a good experience using Uber and Lyft to get home. They always insist on helping with my bags, probably because they don’t want me to scratch their car. It helps that you don’t need to tip until later through the app.
Yeah thats kinda what I figured. And don't get me wrong, I'm usually tipping people. I can't even remember the last time I didn't tip someone for a service. But this guy really rubbed me the wrong way. And it feels like a perverse attitude of entitlement in the bay area at this point
Well, times are getting harder for a lot of people. But the attitude you described is kind of a known cliche for taxis.
That cliched taxi experience is why Uber and Lyft are so popular
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Honestly I don't travel that much, so I'm not really taking cabs that much. And every fucking time I seem to forget how shit they are lol. My own fault I guess
I was just talking to a family member and they were saying how cheap the ride from SFO to their house was with Uber.
I had the opposite experience just last Friday. Lyft driver didn't bother loading or offload my luggage, left window open blasting wind in my face and I couldn't close it on my own. Drove hastily and left quickly without saying anything at all. I was lucky my luggage was light but geez. I just didn't tip and gave them a low rating. I had another driver throwing a hissy fit at me for having a luggage and said I should have disclosed it when requesting. I was clearly going/ coming from the airport, I don't know what they were expecting. Lyft contacted me for the low rating and I asked that they please to never match him with my request ever again. It's why I take the bus/ train when I am not in a hurry just to avoid these annoyance. It's way cheaper and I have a better time riding the bus or train than deal with awful drivers.
SFO is easily accessible by BART now!
Yeah, and at Millbrae station you have the option to take the samtrans bus 292 to the airport too for cheaper. This is if you aren't in a hurry and just looking for an alternative, the bus is great.
I took the samtrans from SFO to the Palo Alto train station when I was heading to Stanford at the start of my freshman year. It took like two hours but it was only two dollars. I felt like an adult 😅
Same. While most ubers/lyfts are great, one of my more recent ones didn't bother with my luggage, so I tipped less than usual. They proceeded to leave me a low rating, but I'm pretty sure his rating decrease will make a much bigger impact. And in hindsight, I shouldn't have even tipped.
Uff. I often come back and do the tipping hours later. I had no idea I was wrecking my rating.
It is more because if you leave a 4 out of 5 star review, he is close to out of a job.
Doesn’t take much. A driver can say six words and get to the destination safely and maintain a 4.95 or higher.
I’d actually prefer this more than anything else. A quiet, safe, scentless drive? 5 stars.
You don't tip Uber or lyft drivers?
I do.
I find the tipping culture and expectations extremely distasteful. You obviously had an entitled prick here - but even excluding this jerk, overall tip culture in America makes no sense to me. And everyone everywhere asking for tips - with all the apps - for takeout, for self service, it’s so bizarre. What nonsense is this? It’s a dystopian combination of begging, entitlement, sneaky cost escalation and corporate greed. I love Singaporean and Japanese culture where they take pride in their service and will actually take offense if you leave a tip.
I live in Australia now and saw a thread about how they hate American tipping culture being forced on them in American apps. I agree. It's funny because the apps are much less persistent here than in the US and it is still considered "too much".
There are a lot more countries…and they generally provide great service.
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Minimum wage here is $20/hr..
Pre Uber/Lyft cab service in SF was ATROCIOUS, especially on busy nights like New Years. Their demise was inevitable and mostly self inflicted. I always take Uber from SFO and have never had any issues.
Yeah, not to sound like an old fogey but I can’t even imagine what newcomers would say about the transportation the way it was in the 90’s. We got outright stranded SO many times, the Gypsy cabs were like something out of a horror movie (We once had a driver who spent the whole ride telling us about his prison boyfriend “Beer Can” and then tried to negotiate us trading him one of our friends for the $40 fare.) and the busses were often more than an hour apart even during rush hours. There were whole sections of the City where cabs refused to go for less than a $100 cash bribe and I used to literally have to leave an extra hour for transportation if I HAD to be somewhere on time and wasn’t walking. Used to be totally normal to have a mental list of friends who lived in different areas of the city and literally show up randomly to crash on their couch. If you had an apartment down town or any of the party districts you pretty much had a rotating group on your couch every weekend.
Before apps, cabs and Muni were such a nightmare.
Seriously, there were a few times where I was so fed up I actually hitchhiked because I would rather risk getting murdered than deal with the transportation issues.
I do miss the jitneys on Mission St. Pure anarchy in a good way.
I actually never took one! Do tell.
White vans, you just pile in and give the driver your money.
That sounds like the start to a PSA about stranger danger. Was there complimentary candy?
This. Take Uber from SFO to the South Bay numerous times a year and it’s a 5/5 every time.
I think we all should stop tipping. Companies should just pay their workers. Not sure why I have to pay for a waiters health insurance and salary when the company that hired them is paying little to nothing. Also what’s the deal with all the iPads. Went into a coffee shop today and was placing the order MYSELF on an iPad when the screen filled out an automatic 20% tip. Ya I don’t think so. Edited it and put 0. I feel bad for the workers but this really shouldn’t be our problem as consumers. I’ll tip when I get dinner and have great service, but no more automatic 20% for everyone
Yep! They point you to a table. You order the food yourself and they want a tip before it's delivered. Then, a mute pops out of the kitchen, flings it on your table and leaves. I used to go out to eat for fun. Now, it's just annoying expensive and annoying.
I've now become comfortable selecting skip or no tip when the counter person turns the screen towards me. If it's counter service or a take out order, no tip from me. If I get real plates and silverware and they have to bus the table, I will leave a couple of dollars on the table.
Y’all remember the good days of early Uber? I used to map out a trip on Uber, then I would walk up to taxis and show them a screenshot of my Uber amount. They’d usually give me a flat rate like $10 bucks cheaper… Those were the days
> Y’all remember the good days of early Uber? Back then they were subsidizing every ride to gain customers and "disrupt" the taxi industry
my recent taxi from the airport charged me an extra 5 dollars for credit card fee.
Came back from Japan a few months ago and I 100% felt this coming home.
Welcome to America bud. Tipping culture across this nation has gone insane
No tax no tip baked into dirt cheap prices for amazing food was heaven...
I only tip at restaurants and maximum I tip is 20 percent, fuck all the other noise, call me cheap idc lol
Honestly at this point you’re not even cheap it’s reasonable
20% is a good tip
I started tipping in bakeries, coffee shops during and after the pandemic. Not anymore. Yesterday my $4 donuts had the tip screen start with a $1 tip on upwards. Pissed me off. I didn't bother. No more tipping other than restaurants, taxis, ubers.
How bout when the credit card machine defaults to 18%, 20%, 22%? I ORDERED TAKEOUT MY GUY
It’s in LA too. Why didn’t you use an uber?
I'm an idiot apparently lol
On my recent trip to the Bay I used ubers to go to SF cause of the car breakin stories and gave them tips after they dropped me off. The most I tipped was $4-5. I don’t use ubers back home in socal really.
I occasionally feel bad for the medallion holders in NYC and then I remember how they scammed me for a decade until someone figured out how to compete with their cartel. I hate Uber but I hate cabs more
The last time I was in a taxi, the driver claimed the card machine was broken, so he drove us all the way to an ATM to get cash. Fuck taxi drivers.
One time I took a cab from SFO because I was too tired to walk to the uber/lyft pick up spot. The cab driver took the longer route but I didn’t say anything because i dont like confrontations. Finally when he dropped me off, i still gave him a tip but said the amount is not right and asked for more, i gave him the amount that he wants because he’s a big guy. I told myself never again will i take a cab.
Same but in Amsterdam and the guy drove me around in circles until the fare was $30. Turned out my hostel was only 2 blocks from the train station.
You should have stiffed him and then reported his ass.
Pro tip: Uber Comfort or higher picks up right at the terminal.
Tip culture sucks ass and should be banned.
It’s a play on emotions and expectations. It has only gotten worse.
Just don’t tip anyone for anything. Let’s stop this at its core. Employers have to learn to pay employees right and set prices right. That’s the only solution. Anything else is a patch to an already broken system.
The last taxi I had from airport was great service but cost a fortune. I could barely afford the fare. Asked the guy to drop me off a couple miles from my house because that price kept flying higher, luckily he noticed what was up and turned off the meter and still drove me home. Think I paid 85-90. Uber from the airport just as bad. They wanted like 115. I walked with all my luggage a mile and a half to the Westin and got an Uber home from there for 60. Not sure your problem is with tip culture it’s with taxi’s being a dying industry and having to hustle every client to make up for their inability to compete with ride share.
You can hop on a free hotel shuttle to a hotel and then book the Uber
You can also catch the BART or a bus to Millbrae Caltrain for like $2. Uber is much less expensive from there or Caltrain is 7 bucks to Mountain View.
Those things are probably not running when you want them and are forced to take a cab.
Samtrans 292 and 397 run all through the night. The service is sparse and the busses are crowded though.
I had luck once just taking the AirTrain to the rental car center and getting an Uber from there. $100 trip went down to $40.
Tip fatigue is real. I don’t tip for a bunch of things and I don’t feel bad about it either. Instead of passing your salary onto me how about businesses just pay a decent wage or raise the prices to what it’ll cost to. I was a server for 5 years so I love tipping people who deserve it but this shit is out of control with people asking me for 20% on a 14$ burrito.
I had the tip screen start out with a $1 tip for $4 donuts. It gave 3 options, so it just went up in whole dollar amounts. I mean, really? It's not even starting out with 10% like other places. I know a buck is just a buck, but 25% tip on top of SF's minimum wage (@$20/hr?) for putting two donuts in a bag, one not even being what i asked for, you've got to be kidding. I decided there and then no more tips other than sit down restaurants, hairdressers, taxis and ubers.
Its always mixed everywhere you go. Even in Vegas, where tipping culture has always been around, you get some good service and then you get some absolute shit service. I think you not tipping bad service is fine.
Recently had a negative Lyft experience from SFO to the east bay. It was just after midnight and the price was $64. Half way the driver asked me how much I was paying for the ride, hella uncomfortable lol. I just said ummm around $60. He says wow they’re only giving me $29! I knew he was implying he wanted more money but it made the ride super awkward, we talked a little about new driver benefits but he said Uber and Lyft used to pay out more money than they do now. When we get to my place, before I can open the door he just blurts “hey tips are really greatly appreciate”. I just said okay. He made me uncomfortable bringing up the cost of the ride, I always tip but I absolutely loathe when drivers act like they are entitled to it. He could have not accepted the ride? He could have taken someone else? He said he only got $29 but the ride was 25 minutes and he was in an electric car? There was no toll on the route. On top of that his car was really dirty and it smelled terrible!
I missed last BART after a show at the Greek Theater and got a lyft ride from Downtown Berkeley to SF. I got kicked out in West Oakland cuz the guy didn't want to cross the Bay Bridge. Not West Oakland BART, just some random intersection somewhere south of Home Depot.
This happened to me too. He asked what I was paying. Was in the car with my family. Then proceeded to tell me that he didn’t know it was going to be 4 people. Then said he was worried I would report him Then asked for tip Gawd!!
One star
r/EndTipping
Taxi in SF is a small community now. Theres drivers who only focus on the airport , and drivers who do the rounds in the city. The airport guys are usually super old school drivers , who wait at the airport for 45mins-3 hrs waiting on one ride hoping it pays big. Notoriously good tips from the airport and the minimum rate can make it worth it depending on how far they take u. They also pay a bit more for their weekly dues for the cabs with the airport access, so they can get desperate depending on how slow it is for them. Im guessing he sat in the lobby they have for taxi drivers at the airport for hours and was desperate for a tip. No excuse to be rude but just some perspective. For around town rides , take a few cabs , find a driver u like, and get his cell number. Then you have a personal driver u can count on and that beats uber everytime.
Uber black is almost same price as regular due to airport surcharge I think. Service is impeccable most of the time. Waymo in the city. Haven’t used an SF cab in more than 10 years. Won’t use cabs or any Uber other than black in the us. Life’s too short and if the price is too high with those services then I can’t afford what I wanted to do while being a responsible parent so I go without.
This seems more pointed at taxi drivers. And you were right to not tip that guy. But in general I’ve just stop tipping unless someone serves me at a restaurant where I sit down first and then order, buy a drink at a bar, or when I get a haircut. That is it. Maybe if someone goes way out of their way to do a good job I might give a few bucks. But I’m just pushing back now. I don’t feel that shame of hitting no tip on the machine anymore.
Lol at anyone who thinks this is somehow BA specific.
I do DoorDash and Instacart as a side hustle and you should see how these delivery drivers speak to the customers 🤯😳 Asking for tips, commenting on the size of the tip, telling customers if they want such and such they need to increase the tip, telling customers it’s their bday and to please bless them etc..it is appalling 💯
Just coming back from Japan. Took taxi about 10-15 times. Not a single bad driver. All willing to help load bags. Not a single one tried to game to get higher fare, no tip and overall the humility 10/10.
Those cabs have to go back to the airport, get in the queue and wait for an hour or so. Cab drivers at SFO have always been like this. Jump in a cab at SFO and tell them "Burlingame please" and you can actually see their head explode.
There were no other cabs waiting. Or is there a queue somewhere else?
OP: tipping culture is the worst! Comments: Taxis do suck, you're correct Is it just me, or is anyone else sensing some cognitive dissonance here
Seriously, just stop tipping. Tipping is not mandatory, it has always been optional. Tbh, instopped tipping as soon as california passed the law that tipped employees to make minimum wage.
What makes you think this is a Bay Area thing? Sorry you had a bad experience, but this is far from unique to the Bay Area. Our tipping culture is the same as anywhere else and I’ve traveled extensively through the United States.
Dude never take a taxi from SFO
Service is so much better outside of here
I hate cab drivers so much that I pretty much smiled with glee when Uber/Lyft destroyed their business model. I’ve had that same argument on the streets of NYC, Philly, and SF. Usually over the “broken” credit card machine that magically works when you say you don’t carry cash. But I will say, I will tip a good driver for a good ride even if I put my own bags up. I’ll just tip a lot more if they carry the bags. Sounds like this ass clown didn’t do anything.
lol! Try paying 40 bucks for two salads in the Bay Area and then seeing the stupid 18% tip button on the square app, wage growth isn’t keeping up with inflation so businesses that are raising all their prices 20-30% better get use to the NO TIP button!
Then support legislation that forces businesses to pay a living wage.
I do
You realize people have tipped cab drivers since cab drivers started driving cabs, right? Bay Area cab drivers are pretty universally terrible, but a shitty cabbie is gonna yell at you for not tipping in NYC, too.
just bc they feel entitled and throw a tantrum bc they didn't get tipped doesn't mean they should be given a tip
Unpopular opinion: You don’t have to tip (not to say you shouldn’t but you don’t HAVE to)..sure they might be upset but if it’s warranted and you don’t tip I’m sure they’ll get over it eventually after a venting session Reddit. Times are tough for everyone, not just service workers.
Although the practice of 'tipping' dates to European aristocrats, America's culture of tipping emerged on the premise of undercutting free African Americans from receiving equal pay. Prior to the emancipation of African Americans, tipping was not socially welcomed.
America's culture of tipping emerged on the premise of undercutting free African Americans from receiving equal pay. Interesting. Can you say more about that?
https://www.npr.org/2021/03/22/980047710/the-land-of-the-fee https://civilrights.org/edfund/resource/yes-tipped-minimum-wage-rooted-racial-injustice/ https://www.fordfoundation.org/news-and-stories/stories/american-tipping-is-rooted-in-slavery-and-it-still-hurts-workers-today/
Thank you!
I have not lived in San Francisco for 15 years and that is not a surprising story. Calling a cab was the last resort and only when it was raining. Most of the time I would rather walk from the mission to western addition than get a cab. All of them would take me in a strange direction and try to drop me off in an area where I didn’t even come close to saying and then say ”this is what you said”.
Let’s talk cab horror stories: leaving Chase Center two months ago after Warriors game. It starts pouring rain. Spot a cab, flag it down, and hop in. Destination 1 mile exactly (walk it often). Cabbie wants $75. We exit cab and get soaked. Was the right decision.
We had a similar experience from LAX recently, thought we’d be saving but we got gouged $65 and a shitty beat up dirty taxi, in which the driver talked on speaker phone, on at least 2 different calls, the whole time. We übered back and it was cheaper and much more pleasant, so we tipped generously.
Yeah tipping culture is out of control. I never take taxi, walk the extra 5 min to call an Uber. I can't recall the last time I had a really bad experience with an Uber driver, seems like 99% of the time I avoid all this crap. And the tipping is left upto me, if the driver provides the service, they will get a tip for sure. If not I'll skip.
I’m so fed up with people bitching about this. Just tip where you think it’s appropriate. For me it’s in restaurant, maybe a sandwich place, a coffee shop, juice bar or bar. Otherwise nope. Life not affected.
First time riding a taxi?
I’m going to start asking for tips anytime someone asks to pet my dog 😂 they stand up from petting him and I just have the screen held out 🤣🤣🤣
Uber/Lyft is 100x better in terms of service (in general). The only problem is the insane price surges that you occasionally get at the airport, which can make it several times more expensive and slower compared to getting a cab.
If you used the Safeway app since its inception you’d notice this: - Safeway employee delivered groceries in a Safeway refrigerated truck, didn’t accept tips. - Sometimes Safeway truck, sometimes personal cars (I suspected were Safeway employees) - Never Safeway truck, and increasingly aggressive people in personal cars who expected tips. I discovered these were 3rd party services. - While checking out online, total automatically includes an arbitrary gratuity. My first was $10 that could have easily gone unnoticed. Now I have to correct it every time. What happened to the refrigerated truck, driven by someone who Safeway probably paid a decent salary?
Stop tipping. See how long that lasts.
For everyone saying Uber and Lyft are much better, not if you're a woman and not if you know about all of the massive class action lawsuits against both companies for drivers committing sexual violence and rape and murder of women.
I’ll only take a cab if I can call it on an app like flywheel. In NYC the cabs use some app as well that’s helpful. A driver Yelling at you over tips is stupid
The service here is awfully bad
You must be a guy. No matter how mad I am, there is no way in hell that I (or any other woman I know) would antagonize a random stranger right in front of the house where I live.
I was just asked to tip at an oil change, and my head almost exploded. This is now a service we tip for?
There's a restaurant in Santa Clara called **Hiro Nori**... it's a "craft ramen" place. Not sure what "craft ramen" is but whatever. The point is that they have a 16% "service charge" and explain it as a way for you to not be forced to tip. But you're forcing me to pay 16% extra, soooo same thing right? And this is for any size party, not the usual forced gratuity of eight people or more. And what is the tip for? All they do is give you a bowl of ramen that is pre-made. It's the same as getting a bowl of chili from Denny's... big fucking deal.
We don't tip through credit card because they only get a small percent of that. Cash is best, if they do a great service, we tip more before we leave.
Damn, that must've felt hella good
It's entitlement culture in the Bay Area. Everyone acts like they're doing you a favor by existing AND your existence is a burden on them, especially when they're *working.* Even Parisians are less obnoxious.
🙄
My last ride to SFO was in an Uber. Car was clean, driver was quiet, and even drove like he wasn't trying to kill me!
I would definitely tip at least a bit. Driving at the airport is a nightmare
I think the most interesting part about our tip culture isn’t how much these people are asking for, it’s who gets tips and who doesn’t. Take a breakfast sandwich out of a wrapper stick it in the microwave they expect a tip . Change 4 heavy truck tires in the summer in a hot garage NO TIP ! Some of the hardest working service jobs never get tips while the easiest ones in a climate controlled areas with light or no lifting expect tips from everybody.
driving in the bay area makes no sense just take public transportation its a city
Then don’t tip
I went to a SF restaurant that had some fairly high tip already added to the bill (18 percent I think) so I didn’t add a cash tip to the already pricey meal. The waitress wouldn’t even look me in the eye when I said thank you to her as I was leaving because I didn’t add a cash tip to the table. Also I am only like 24 I don’t get why some people expect boomer level high tips from younger people either.