Let’s say you’re an Uber Eats driver, and you get a new delivery offer. The offer says “$10, includes expected tip.”
You’re close to the restaurant, and the customer isn’t too far away, so you accept the order. All goes well.
But a few hours later, you review the order and find that the final payout dropped to $4!
The app says, “The estimate was $10, including an up-front tip, but the customer reduced the tip after delivery.” Ouch!
A classic tip bait. From $10.14 to $3.44. Credit nat_7 on Reddit
Congratulations, you’ve been tip baited. It’s a frustrating phenomenon that happens to Uber Eats drivers when customers tempt them with a tip only to take it away after the order is complete.
Are you worried about tip baiting? Read on to see what it is, why it happens, and if there’s anything you can do to avoid it.
What is tip baiting on Uber Eats?
Tip baiting is when a customer enters a tip when they place the order, then removes the tip after the order is complete.
On Uber Eats, drivers see an upfront payout estimate before they accept an order request. The estimate includes some or all of tips left at checkout. In other words, delivery drivers can see if you tipped.
Customers can change or remove the tip up to one hour after the order is complete. So the driver is expecting at tip based on the estimated pay, but the final payout is lower than than the estimate.
An Uber Eats driver may accept an order with a $10 estimated payout only to see later that the payout dropped to $4 after the customer removed the tip.
When a tip is reduced, the earnings statement for a delivery will say “the customer reduced the tip after delivery.”
When the tip is completely removed, the earnings statement only shows the original estimate. It does not mention anything about the customer reducing or removing the tip.
Below is an example of a typical tip bait. The driver initially saw an offer for $10.10, but was ultimately only paid $5.50 after the customer removed the tip.
From $10 to $5. Ouch. Credit Pauly-B on Reddit
How long does it take for tips to appear in driver earnings?
Customers have one hour to add, adjust, or remove their tip. Tips typically appear on the delivery earnings statement around one hour after the delivery is complete.
There can be other issues that cause tip delays, but most tips will appear after one hour.
Some drivers immediately check their earnings after a delivery and get upset when the payout doesn’t match the estimate. Make sure to wait at least one hour to see the final payout.
How to get compensated when customers remove your tip
Uber may pay you some or all of a removed tip if you contact support and complain that you weren’t paid the correct amount.
You may need to escalate or ask for a supervisor. Politely but firmly insist that Uber did not honor the upfront price.
You may be compensated $10–$25 to make up for the tip bait.
Drivers report that this method works, but success isn’t 100% guaranteed. If you’re upset about a tip bait, it’s worth trying.
It worked for this driver: “Just keep saying you got an incorrect amount. They will keep transferring you till you get to a manager of some sort and he/she will credit you with 15$ of an apology and will report that account. Happened to me 2 weeks ago”
But it didn’t work for this one: “Most of the time they won’t do anything though. I’ve been tip-baited about half a dozen times and never received compensation”
Why do customers tip bait?
We could not reach any perpetrators of tip baiting for comment, so we’ll have to try to do our best to dive into the mind of a baiter.
A few reasons come to mind: Customers might change their tip because they were unhappy with some part of the service.
It could have been the problems with food quality, a long wait time, or their experience communicating with the delivery person.
A more cynical take is that dishonest customers tip bait on purpose to get faster service. These savvy users know that a high up-front tip will get them better results, so they dangle the tip only to pull it back once the order has arrived.
I believe that most customers change the tip to express frustration about something from the delivery experience, even if it’s not the delivery person’s fault.
It seems more rare that a customer knows enough about the system to tip bait intentionally to get better service at a discount.
Unfortunately, drivers end up taking the blame for issues that may have been caused by the restaurant or factors out of their control.
Customers are discouraged from lowering your tip
When customers lower their tip after a delivery is complete, the Uber Eats app now asks why they are changing their tip. There is also an easy option to keep the original tip.
The reminder may not completely eliminate tip baiting, but it’s a step in the right direction.
This alert might help customers think twice before lowering a tip
More examples of tip baiting on Uber Eats
The payout below dropped from $10.67 to $2.67. That’s less than $3 for 21 minutes of work. This driver would not have accepted the order if the up front estimate was only $2.67.
Credit natalie1518 on reddit
Baited at $7.97 dropped to $4.14. Not a pretty sight.
Credit Afraid-Maintenance60
How common is tip baiting?
It’s easy to find examples of tip baiting online, but it’s just as easy to find comments from drivers who say it’s not a very common experience.
Many drivers go hundreds or even thousands of deliveries without being tip baited.
This thread on Reddit has a few replies from drivers who say that tip baiting is actually quite rare.
You can understand why frustrated drivers rush to the internet to share screen shots of a tip bait. When you get burned, you want to share your story.
The opposite of tip baiting: When tips increase
The ability for customers to change a tip after the order can have positive consequences too. Some drivers experience the opposite of a tip bait, which is when the tip actually increases.
Below, this driver was pleasantly surprised to see that the $9 estimate increased to $17.
Credit DanSensei on Reddit
The driver below started the order expecting $32 and received $77—one for the record books.
Credit Slight-Salt-1578 on Reddit
How can drivers avoid tip baiting?
Tip baiting will remain possible as long as Uber Eats includes tip info in the upfront estimate and allows customers to change their tip after the order is over.
One potential way to avoid tip baiting and bad ratings is to cancel on an order that is going poorly.
If a customer is upset or unreasonable before you even have their food in hand, you can cancel to avoid a bad rating and a tip reduction.
An even worse end to tip baiting would be if Uber stopped including tips in the estimated payout. You can’t get baited if the tip info isn’t there in the first place!
In the past, drivers only saw the base payout from Uber and didn’t see any upfront tip information at all. It’s always better to get as much info as possible before you accept an order, so it’s best if Uber continues to share estimated tips.
More reading for Uber Eats Drivers
BarackObama says
The OBVIOUS solution here is for uber to track the Tip Bait.
If a Customer has 90% Tip reduction, then drivers will see this and stop taking deliveries to a customer with a rating that low. Simply dont publish it until a customer has 5 deliveries. Then 1 tip reduction will not affect it.
Nydia says
Nah I’m absolutely getting tired of this tip baiting game .. and it’s not about poor service I have a 96% rating and just started with Uber about a mth or two and I make sure ti be fast friendly and efficient.. i do grub hub to and Uber really needs to do what grub hub does grub hub does not wait to post tips once u make that delivery it’s automatically put in ur earnings which is the only way tip baiting would not be a possibility … gas is to high to be delivering anything for $2.50 I just took a order for $9.27 had to pay a toll to get to the person and boom I only got $3.44 out that like horrible that’s y grubhub is way better I do a job for 10 I get 10 automatically no worries about tip baiting smh Uber eats is horrible with this tip nonsense if they offer a certain amount n I grabbed that order why on earth would u allow the customer to lessen it if clearly we have the option to pick what orders we want to do smh and that’s what we agree to as pay for that order that’s like ordering fast food and saying here’s 2 dollars for pizza pie eff your 13 dollar price .. lol
Dee says
I just assume the food delivery platforms are “for profit” over “customer and driver”. Though I get the best tips from Uber customers, ( consistently $9-$12. and at least 3-4 $15 tips / week and 5 or more $20 tips\ month), there is still no way of knowing if uber steals part of my tips. I’m work 18-20 hours/ week. I accepted less than half my offers with Uber Eats. Doordash is a whole new ballgame. Accept less than 10% of their scrappy orders. Just choose which crook you wanna drive for PROFIT is their ultimate business mmm model, NOT YOU or the CUSTOMER. So don’t be surprised when you vote either ☺. Same with politics.
Lauren says
Uber is stealing our tips. There are plenty of recent articles online about the new pay structure.
Ajith says
totaly agree. they steal our money. now they not showing there money also
DC says
You may be a bit incorrect in the assumption that ALL the less than expected amounts are baits. I have discovered, like in one of your examples, that “the estimate for this trip was..” is just that. Many times, we are so used to just banging the screen to accept an “amount” we aren’t careful to read whether a tip is attached. So, as in your example….that trip estimate probably showed as 7.97 when the driver took it…assuming there was a tip. But since there wasn’t, that 4.14 is their actual payout. If you were to look at the “paid to Uber” service fee and customer fees….you will find that other $3.
I have a theory that this is a PLOY Uber uses to get people to accept untipped orders. They know drivers aren’t paying attention to that small print on the offer screen and are accepting “amounts” visible. Bottom line is ALWAYS DOUBLE CHECK AS TO WHETHER THE OFFER SAYS “INCLUDING UPFRONT TIP”. There’s really no need at this point to even take untipped offers because it is RARE that a customer is going to tip AFTER delivery.
Austin says
If you don’t want to tip appropriately, go and get the food yourself.
Todd gakk says
I focus on the the doordash orders… those are guaranteed to pay what they are advertised as or more… only take an uber eats if it is 2 miles away. It’s too risky to go further for no tip
Sharmel says
I delivered an order with uber eats yesterday. The customer said she put a 20.00 tip on the order. She gave me a copy of the order showing the tip. Uber said she didn’t tip. I was payed 8.35 for the delivery. Today I looked at the order and they deducted 2.00. So it pays 6.35. They are stealing our money.
Josh says
I got increase in tips on 90% of my orders because I do thank you cards as well as some other things to help and no joke I get anywhere from 60 to 90% of my orders I get an increase tip after delivery with at least one to two tips a night that are about $20 plus some where in the around a month a go it stopped completely .. I don’t get any anymonyre !!! I’ve been doing this for over a year !! Wtf is going on!?!
Craig Lambert says
Tip baiting sucks. The customer should be help to the amount originally entered.
I work nights and often times have to wait an excessively long time in the drive-thru (like a McDonald’s, Taco Ball, JIB, etc.) because the lobby is closed. That the food I often times pick up has been sitting out because it is made as soon as the order is received, and I have spent 20-30 minutes in a drive-thru to pick up the order because the line is slow to move, and the restaurant is under staffed.
I try to announce my arrival by calling the restaurant. Half the time, the number listed for the restaurant is for its corporate office. I use Google to get the correct number. Yet, good luck with someone answering the phone! Customers’ dissatisfaction is probably from receiving cold food. Yet, the restaurants are not proactive in correcting the issue. The restaurants seem to not care about timely service and whether a customer receives hot food!
Kim says
As someone who has ordered from DoorDash or Uber eats and tipped well just to have the driver make not just one not two but multiple stops and I end up with completely cold food time and time again, I’m not tipping for that or I’m lowering my tip. It doesn’t mean I’m tip bating it means I’m not happy with the service that you provided. I do not change my tip or my rating if it’s not the delivery person‘s fault.
Ryan says
Yeah, you actually are. The companies directed those extra stops with deliveries before yours. Nothing to do with the driver. Drivers select orders based on the payout, so if you want your order hot and fast, tip high!
Seymore Buttz says
It’s not tip baiting, Ryan. The driver chose to accept additional deliveries after taking the first one, and it’s only then that the other deliveries are given a higher priority by DoorDash/Uber etc. If you knowingly take on additional work that results in food being delivered cold, you provided poor service, and don’t deserve the tip.
I ALWAYS remove the tip if my food is received cold. If the driver can indicate to me that the restaurant gave them the food cold, it would be a different story. If, however, the food entered the driver’s car hot, and I receive it cold, ultimately the driver is responsible for transporting the food in a timely manner and not accepting other deliveries (especially if they’re double-dipping and running stuff for multiple apps).
T Jackson says
@Seymore Buttz
You have no way of knowing if the food entered the driver’s car hot nor cold. So, that’s irrelevant. I 100% agree with Ryan. You should be held to the tip offered, only changing it should you want to give more. Only exception should be no delivery at all or, in a worse case, hours after ordering. Otherwise, you should be made to honor what you originally offered, or don’t offer a tip at all. That’ll be on you when drivers ignore said order.
Also, o, driver’s should NOT be penalized for something the company offers in regards to multi
-deliveries either.
Michael says
Doordash and Uber wats gives customers the option to make your order priority all you have to do is pay like $1.50 more.
UberGrubhubDD driver says
Actually Door Dash, Uber and GH does not always tell drivers it is a stacked order upfront. Especially, Uber..You will see a 21 dollar payout and eagerly take it. Then all of a sudden you see it is 3 separate orders.
Amanda says
Actually your food is cold because it sits on a shelf at the restaurant that’s not warmed up.
Lando says
As a driver I will say usually there’s no way to tell if its their fault or not. Sometimes we have multiple deliveries in high traffic areas and we arent allowed to drop off your food until we have all orders picked up, they wont even let us see your address until all orders are picked up.
Johnny says
It’s not the drivers fault. It’s door dash and Uber eats. They pair orders together without us knowing a lot of times. Drivers always foot the bill. Need to call them and get credit for the order. Never hurt us drivers. We just do what they tell up.
Ash says
I deliver for ubereats and as many others have mentioned most of the time the orders are stacked and we do not know it’s multiple deliveries until we accept. I’m confused as to how it double dipping when the company is the one sending the multiple orders to the drivers. It’s not like the drivers are doing anything wrong besides accepting the company’s offer for more earnings. I believe if you all are frustrated with multiple stops you should express that to Uber and not penalize a driver who is trying to make an honest living. Just my opinion tho
J.E. says
So is the driver supposed to refuse an order which penalizes them or should they take the offer? The driver is there to make money and to provide a service for busy or lazy people. You seem like the latter. Don’t complain or go and get it yourself.
M Mayha says
We have a chain Restaurant, Customer, Driver, Uber eats,
When the customer make an order and he doesn’t pay a tip, then the offer will be too low and the drivers will not accept the order, then the food will stay in the restaurant and Uber eats will pay the restaurant regardless if the food delivered or not, and Uber eats will refund the customer, so what should Ubereats do to avoid these losses, Uber eats will use phishing approach to attract the driver to accept the order then when the driver complete the order, you will give him the actual amount not the attracted amount.
Ubereats using the weaknesses part of the chain whi is the driver.
Do you got it?
I am working with Doordash and Grubhub and never that happened always receive the amount which I accepted or more not less
When I got amount less than I accepted, this type of phishing and scamming
And I know how to get my right in the legal way because I don’t accept for any one scamming me or used me