I like to think of myself as a generous tipper as I usually give waiters and taxi drivers 20% if they provide decent service. But I don’t like it when restaurants automatically add generous tips. I really despise the new New York City taxi tip options when you pay by credit card. See the image below. As you can see, when you pay by credit card, the options to tip are 20%, 25% or 30%. Thirty per cent?! That’s outrageous. Yes, you can manually input the amount but most passengers including myself are in a hurry and just hit a button to complete the sale. Don’t you think the taxis should be pre-programmed to read 10%, 15% and 20%? Next time I’m going to use Uber.
I don’t think “rip off” is the best word to describe the situation, but it is annoying. It makes it seems as if the taxi drivers are praising themselves with those options.
I was in NYC last night (I rarely get out there) and saw this exact thing. I don’t mind tipping 20%, but I agree that should be the middle or top of the range, not the bottom.
I read this and I regret it. I am filing under #Forget #WhotheF**kCares #StopYourWhining
Taxi drivers world-wide will try to rip off tourists. Most experienced travelers know it. They have all sorts of schemes up their sleeve like taking you the scenic route to your hotel. There are many good comments and suggestions to your post Johnny. You have many options to avoid selecting 20%, 25% or 30%. Don’t be in a rush – take Max’s advice and pay “cash” or Michelle Snow’s advice = “It really doesn’t take too much longer to manually enter a tip other than the ones offered, so if you press a button to save time, you’re paying for that convenience.”
You can also take a few minutes and write our new Mayor Bill de Blasio and ask him “Don’t you think the taxis should be pre-programmed to read 10%, 15% and 20%?,” as you state in your post. Here’s his contact web link:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/static/pages/officeofthemayor/contact.shtml
MZ, Upper Eastside Manhattan
FYI, this was very publicly analyzed and the majority of people choose the manually input tip!
“Public Analyzed”??????????
I prefer to use cash
Can’t you just select NONE? That would solve the problem. Does everyone tip taxi drivers?
It really doesn’t take too much longer to manually enter a tip other than the ones offered, so if you press a button to save time, you’re paying for that convenience.
Gosh 30% really is huge! Here in England, where tipping culture isn’t nearly as prevalent, the taxi drivers are enormously grateful if you tip anything at all!
But your taxis are double NYC prices
But they speak English and really know where they’re going.
Ripoff? That’s a little harsh. From the driver’s perspective, it makes sense for the “easy” options to be the higher percentages. If it bothers you to tip 20 percent or more, just take five seconds to do the simple math for 10 percent, 15 percent or whatever. Nobody’s holding a gun to your head…
So you feel like this is a rip-off, but next time you’re going to use a service that has ridiculous surge pricing? I agree that the percentages are weird (it’s the same thing in San Francisco), but Uber’s not the best solution if you’re trying to avoid being “ripped off”.
The Uber app clearly indicates prior to booking whether the trip is subject to surge pricing. Surge pricing is also rarely in effect; I’ve never seen surge pricing in effect when I’ve booked an Uber. And on the occasions that surge pricing is in effect, good luck trying to find an available taxi.
Surge pricing? Please explain.
Outrageous!!!!!
as you proposed…I emailed the mayor !