this post was submitted on 01 Nov 2023
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The issue with calling it tipping is a tip is for a service that was provided and earned it. If you're paying before anything that's just a fee. Nobody is a victim drivers sign up and can leave and those who don't agree with the rules can stop using it.
That's not the definition the IRS uses. If DD called it a "fee", they would have to count it as corporate income and tax it before paying it out to the driver.
Whatever you "tip", passes through DD untaxed. It never shows up on DD's books; it goes straight to the driver's income.
From the driver's perspective, we have to maintain more than 70% Acceptance Rate to remain in the highest tier. If we fall into the lowest tier with a 50% Acceptance Rate, virtually all orders we see are untipped and long distance. In my area, we call it "eating shit" when we have to accept loss-generating orders just to maintain ratings.
What really pisses me off is that an untipped order gets offered to every driver in the area. I need to accept 4 orders to maintain my rating after refusing 1 untipped order. There's 10-30 drivers active in my area at any one time. A single untipped order anywhere in the area fucks up the ratings of every driver active during that time, and 10-30 drivers need a total of 40-120 orders to unfuck the damage caused by that one non-tipping asshole.
Uber is worse: I often see the same shitty order get passed around to every driver multiple times, fucking up my rating with them every time it comes around.
This is why Instacart's model for shoppers is better. You see the orders pop up and have a chance to accept them. The mileage is shown. There is no timer or "acceptance rate" bull. I've seen orders with high items, high mileage and low pay sit for hours on the marketplace.
Had a 13 mile delivery to the middle of nowhere, with an unpaid 13 mile return. For that round trip, I get to deduct $16.38 in mileage on my taxes. DD paid a $3 delivery fee.
If DD wants to keep paying these shit fees and rely solely on tips, they need to stop counting tipless orders against driver acceptance rates and completion rates.