I had a Lyft ride today where the driver had a check engine light on, ran 3 stop signs at full speed, and had their high beams on the entire time. I tipped him well.
My quandary is should I report this person as a terrible driver, or give them a pass because we’re all struggling to make the ends meet? This was in a pretty dense neighborhood.
Gig work is tipped work. If they don’t tip, the driver worked for free.
The gig company “pays” the drivers a pittance, but it largely just covers a portion of the owner-operator’s expenses. 100% of the net profit comes from tips.
There are a handful of municipalities with unique laws which do not fit this model; but outside of those areas, that is straight up how it works.
Now, should the driver be reckless? No, that should be reported. But stiffing them won’t change anything.
Hold on. They flagrantly endanger the passenger’s life (not to mention others) multiple times and should expect a tip?
The business model incentivizes it by not paying a wage. This is an example offer:
This isn’t even the worst one I’ve seen today, and I only do this part time for extra money.
By all means, report safety issues. Get the bad driver canned. But if you stiff the driver too, and you knew the business model of the service you used, then you’re just further incentivizing the bad behavior.
You’re saying this like it’s universally true everywhere