Here in Salt Lake I have never been asked for a tip.

In general though, I've found Uber experiences to vary significantly by region. In Salt Lake, I usually sit in the front seat, drivers are chatty, and the whole thing feels like "someone giving you a ride". In NYC, by contrast, I mostly sit in the back (a lot of the time the driver will block off the front passenger seat), drivers don't tend to talk, and the whole thing feels like a cab ride.

In fact, I would guess that many Uber drivers in NYC are/were taxi drivers.

NYC requires Uber drivers to be licensed as "TLC" drivers (taxi and limousine commission) - so yeah, they are exclusively professional drivers who would usually normally be working for a car service.

Interesting! That somewhat defeats the purpose of Uber, doesn't it?

It might be in really tourist-heavy areas like Vegas and Orlando (where my bad encounters have been).

You're definitely an outlier. In San Francisco, tips are sought more than 10% of my trips.

I've never had a driver ask for a tip in the bay area. If one were to, I'd give a 1-star rating and write in "asked for tip" as the reason. If that's unacceptable behavior I'll stop using the service rather than join the under-the-table tipping game.

Maybe I just look too grumpy, but I use Uber fairly regularly on longer rides, and sometimes on shorter ones, and I've not once been asked for a tip in SF.

Sorry but your 10% number is just impossible to believe in San Francisco. I've ridden Uber multiple times weekly for years and managed a couple sales people who also used Uber under our business account (in aggregate several hundred rides) and I've never once heard of such a thing until just now reading this article.

Gender may play a role here. I (male), too, have never been solicited. My girlfriend uses uber much less frequently, but has had it happen a few times.

In Chicago it may not quite be 10%, but it's close. Both confirmed by my own experiences and a random office poll. General consensus is "it's getting bad fast".

I've stopped taking Uber for this reason for those "marginal" trips where I might be tempted for the convenience vs. public transit. I see tip begging no different than being asked for change on subway, and if I have to potentially deal with it either way I'll just take the cheaper option.

I've been using Uber (mostly UberX, after it was launched) in SF since mid-2012, and have easily taken at least 1000 rides. The closest I've ever had to a tip solicitation was one single ride when there was a (tasteful) tip jar on the front seat center console.

Frequent Uber user on East Bay. No tip pressure felt on any of my rides.

I had a guy who implied that he'd like a positive rating. Only one out of many.

I realize that EB and SF drivers probably stick to their preferred areas. I'm not disputing your experience, only adding my own.

Out of hundreds of rides in SF I've never had a driver ask for a tip.

ditto

Only dozens of rides here but in half a dozen cities around the US and not one asked for a tip. I've seen the polite-ish tip jar once. I don't typically carry cash but if I did I would have thought about it.

Clearly, at least in this thread, I'm the outlier. Interesting.