Uber Eats tip baiting is one of the more frustrating parts of delivering for Uber Eats, and if you deliver for Uber Eats regularly, it’s something you will likely have to deal with at some point. Indeed, you’ll find countless threads online of drivers complaining about tip baiting.
So what exactly is tip baiting? In short, it’s when the customer changes their tip after the driver has delivered the order. The reason this can happen is that Uber Eats allows customers to change their tip up to one hour after their delivery is completed.Â
In this post, we’ll take a closer look at what Uber Eats tip baiting is and discuss why it might happen and what you can do to prevent it from happening to you.
What Is Uber Eats Tip Baiting?Â
Tip baiting is when a customer leaves a tip with the intent of enticing a driver to accept their order, then removes the tip after the order is delivered. By doing this, the customer gets their order delivered to them quickly and saves money by not tipping.Â
Uber Eats drivers are paid per delivery, so the decision to accept an order is based on the expected payout from Uber Eats. While Uber Eats drivers can’t see exactly what a customer tipped when accepting an order, they can get a sense of what the customer tipped by the expected payout. A low expected payout likely means the customer left no tip, while a high expected payout means the customer likely left a good tip. As a result, drivers are more likely to quickly accept orders from customers that left good tips.Â
The reason tip baiting works is that Uber Eats allows customers to remove their tip for up to one hour after the order is delivered. Customers do not have to give a reason for removing or lowering a tip. They can simply do so within the Uber Eats app and the driver won’t know until an hour or so after the order is completed. As a drive, you’ll only know the tip was changed or removed by looking at the earnings screen.
There are some circumstances when a customer might have a legitimate reason to change or remove the tip. If a driver is rude to a customer, for example, it can make sense for a customer to punish the driver by removing the tip. Or if a driver is obviously multi-apping and taking strange routes that lead to long delays, it can make sense to punish the driver and remove the tip.
But most of the time, a customer changing a tip after delivery is simply tip baiting. Either that or they are blaming the driver for things outside of their control, such as missing or incorrect orders, or long delays because the restaurant was slow or busy.
Tip Baiting Doesn’t Exist With DoorDash Or GrubhubÂ
Unlike Uber Eats, DoorDash and Grubhub both do not allow customers to change their tips after the order is completed. As a result, the payout you see as a driver is the payout you will receive.Â
This is in contrast to Uber Eats, which doesn’t show drivers the actual payout, but rather the “anticipated” payout.Â
There are other apps that can also suffer from this tip-baiting issue. Instacart, in particular, is another app that allows customers to change their tip after the delivery is completed. However, after some media coverage about this issue, Instacart did make it clear that they would deactivate customers that consistently tip-baited shoppers. Uber, on the other hand, has never addressed tip baiting.
What Can You Do About Tip Baiting?Â
Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do about tip-baiting as a driver. One thing I can say is that the vast majority of orders will pay exactly what is expected. I’ve only been tip-baited a handful of times in the 6+ years I’ve been delivering for Uber Eats. In my experience, probably 95% of orders will pay exactly as expected.Â
If you see a particularly high-paying order, I would still accept it (assuming it makes sense for you – i.e. it’s going in the right direction, the distance is correct, etc). While very high-paying orders could be potential tip-bait orders, it’s not worth second-guessing yourself and rejecting those orders under the assumption that it could be a tip-bait.
The only other things you can do is provide good customer service, deliver orders on time, and do your best to make sure orders are accurate. Most of the time, if your tip is lowered, it’ll be because something happened that the customer is blaming you for. Sometimes, they might be right to blame you. Other times, it might have been something out of your control.
One of the things I notice a lot of drivers forget is the drinks. It’s easy to forget drinks because they’re usually not put in the same bag as the rest of the order. Restaurants often forget about them too, so if all you do is take whatever is handed to you without looking at what the order is, you’ll probably miss the drink. When I’m delivering for Uber Eats, I always double-check the order in my Uber Eats app to make sure I’m not missing a drink.
Final ThoughtsÂ
Overall, tip-baiting is a problem, but one that I wouldn’t worry about too often. Yes, it can happen. And yes, it sucks when it happens. But for the most part, when you see the expected payout for an Uber Eats order, you can usually work under the assumption that you will receive that payout. The vast majority of customers are not going to tip-bait drivers.
I hope this post was helpful. Please feel free to leave your thoughts about tip-baiting or share your experiences.
More Recommended Ebike/Scooters
Check out these other ebikes/scooters I've had the chance to do a review for:
- GEN3 Outcross Bike – The GEN3 Outcross is a solid, affordable fat tire ebike that does a good job of doing what I need it to do. It works great for city riding, giving me a smooth ride in all conditions. It’s works really well as a winter ebike since the fat tires give it good traction over snow and ice. Check out my GEN3 Outcross Review.
- Himiway Escape Bike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
- Espin Sport Bike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
- Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
- Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.
More Recommended Investing App Bonuses
For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:
- M1 Finance ($100) – This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account. Check out my M1 Finance Referral Bonus – Step-By-Step Guide.
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- US Bank Business ($750) – This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, since there are no direct deposit requirements. In addition, you can open the Silver Business Checking account, which comes with no monthly fees. Check out how to earn this big bonus here.
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- Fifth Third Bank ($225) – This offer is limited to customers in the following states: Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia, and South Carolina. If you don’t live in one of those states, you won’t be able to open an account online but you can still open an account in-branch if you happen to be visiting a city that has a branch. This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, especially since there are plenty of data points showing what will trigger the direct deposit requirement. In addition, you can open the Fifth Third Momentum Checking bank account, which comes with no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements. Read my guide on this bonus here.
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Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.
Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.
Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:
- SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $250 if you complete a direct deposit.
- US Bank Business. US Bank is currently offering new business customers a $750 signup bonus after opening a new account and meeting certain requirements.
- M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account.
- DCU. Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) is a free, nationwide credit union that I recommend to readers for two reasons. First, DCU has a $20 referral bonus if you open a free DCU checking account with a referral link. Second, DCU has a savings account that gives you 6.17% interest on your first $1,000.
- Personal Capital. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.
Feel free to send Kevin a message here.
Uber eats is garbage. Out of my first four deliveries only 1 actually left the tip, and I’m not slow or multi apping.
That hasn’t been my experience, though I did just get my first tip baiter today. Of the recommendation of a YouTuber who is a delivery driver, I’m going to follow up with customer service and see if they’ll fix it. Here’s hoping.