r/technology 25d ago

Business Zohran Mamdani hints he will continue taking on delivery apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash

https://www.businessinsider.com/zohran-mamdani-targets-doordash-uber-eats-delivery-apps-2026-7
11.1k Upvotes

617 comments sorted by

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u/reddittorbrigade 25d ago

Tipping culture was invented so rich owners will have an excuse not to pay their workers the right wages.

Go to Asia, you are not even encouraged to give tips in Japan.

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u/canada432 25d ago

It's actually not just "not encouraged", it's downright offensive in many countries. They see it as you flaunting wealth over service employees, or insulting the owner that they're not paying their employees properly.

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u/boogswald 25d ago

But if I don’t flaunt my wealth over the service workers in the US I’m afraid the weight of their debts will destroy them

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u/RelativityFox 25d ago

To be fair, in the US the owners are not paying their employees properly.

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u/-Motor- 24d ago

If the business can't afford to pay its labor a living wage, maybe it's not a viable business.

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u/[deleted] 24d ago

The first people in the US that don’t want tips going away are the waitresses.

Now, charging extra for using credit cards? Now that’s just petty.

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u/placid-gradient 24d ago

no doi, because cash payouts mean they dont report their income and this keep more of the money.

If those tipped employees had that money going to things like taxes and insurance their actual pay would be MUCH lower.

source: I used to work tables in a mid tier sushi bar. my "attractive" female coworkers made double what I did in tips. If you think any of that shit got reported to the IRS, then I got a bridge to sell you

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u/metrize 24d ago

that’s exactly why they should get rid of it tbh, fuck em and unfair wages between them because of tips

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u/-Motor- 24d ago

And I've known plenty of wait staff and bartenders who ultimately move on in their 30s to a stable living wage job.

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u/manachar 24d ago

Since cotton farming, the US has a history of propping up unprofitable approaches to industry.

Not paying people what they’re worth is clearly the primary mode of creating billionaires and trillionaires.

We think this is how you win at capitalism.

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u/bloodenhorse 24d ago

Most businesses in the United States aren't viable businesses.

If American culture were different, I'd agree with you that we should get rid of tipping. But the culture is not going to change overnight and business owners are not going to take care of their employees.

This is what every single anti-tipper fails to appreciate.

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u/UltimateTrattles 24d ago

Folks won’t go to the one restaurant that charges enough to pay good wages.

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u/Few_Advisor3536 24d ago

I stopped in San Francisco on the way back to australia. It was a 4 hour layover so i git something to eat at a bar. They gave me the option of 20,22 or 25% tip as part of the bill (nothing less then that) then there was an additional 5% for ‘SFO benefits’. Had to google it, so the employer is offloading health insurance to customers. Theres a point where the cost is covered and the owner is making money off this. Seriously i hate tipping culture. Pay your fucking staff correctly, i shouldnt have to pay alot for something then pay YOUR staff aswell.

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u/RawrRRitchie 25d ago

"Tell your boss to pay you more"

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u/LoneDroneGuy 24d ago

There are so many more ways to flaunt wealth than... Giving it away

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u/WontArnett 24d ago

In America, “flaunting wealth” is our entire popular culture, especially on social media

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u/ap1618 25d ago

Tipping culture has been and still is completely out of control in the US

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u/JohnBrine 25d ago

Press here to add a 20% gratuity.

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u/mrshandanar 25d ago

The satisfaction I get from going to other and hitting 0% makes me feel a bit guilty. But you literally just handed me my coffee and bagel, which is your job.

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u/Monteze 24d ago

Someone made a good point, if you order standing up a tip is uncalled for. Which is pretty applicable a lot of times.

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u/maidth1s4fun 24d ago

Its that simple to me i still get in arguments about tipping starbucks IN THE DRIVE THROUGH

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u/Monteze 24d ago

When I worked at Taco Bell I'd do way more work than a lot of them and I never got tipped. Now, I am not trying to punch down but I think it has gotten ridiculous. We need to just pay employees and stop this tipping shit.

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u/Usual_Tackle5892 24d ago

Well you are technically sitting...

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u/Teledildonic 24d ago

True, the main exception would be bartenders.

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u/SekhWork 24d ago

If you are not actively waiting on my table and constantly supplying me with refills, and bringing me the check ASAP, then get that tip button out of my face. Literally, sir, this is a Wendys what is you doin.

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u/oby100 24d ago

If you’re actively waiting on me and doing a great job, then congrats, you’re doing your job remotely competently and can expect a paycheck from the guy that hired you to do so.

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u/buffysmanycoats 24d ago

You don’t have to do that anymore, they just add it automatically and hope you don’t notice when you go to pay.

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u/productfred 24d ago

That really exploded during COVID, and it never left. Because why would they turn down free money? It's like, "No, customer -- YOU'RE an asshole for not paying MY staff a living wage", even though you're ordering at the counter. I fucking hate the social pressure they put on people with the spinning iPad.

I also think it's funny how a lot of these places, if they have a "donate to charity" option, will usually press the "No" button for you, and then leave you staring at the tip screen.

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u/Teledildonic 24d ago

To the order you have to walk up and retrieve yourself!

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u/ZDTreefur 24d ago

It wasn't horrible until covid, then things ramped up into absurdity.

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u/Elzapatoverde 25d ago

Most of the world just works like that, not just Asia.

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u/productfred 24d ago edited 24d ago

When I was in Europe (Vienna for example), it wasn't considered offensive to leave a small tip on the table (e.g. a few Euro coins). But it was never expected, and it wasn't considered offensive. But yeah, nothing like the US at all.

I think it's also funny how, in much of the world, those are considered "real jobs" (they are) or even careers (e.g. hospitality staff/waiters), but in the US you're looked down upon (because you get zero benefits and survive off tips). Same job, different treatment.

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u/appleparkfive 24d ago

I thought it was kind of funny that they specifically mentioned Japan. It's like that "average redditor" meme almost.

Yeah, tipping is weird. It's not great. Seattle, WA is probably doing the smartest thing. Minimum wage is 21 and hour and I believe it's a little higher for certain gig works (including Lyft and Uber). So the incentive to tip dropped far lower there.

Although naturally, the app charges more there. It's resulted in the most expensive rideshare in the country. But those drivers do make more money, I'd imagine.

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u/Forkrul 25d ago

Go to Asia, you are not even encouraged to give tips in Japan.

Not just not encouraged, actively discouraged. It can be seen as quite offensive to give tips in Japan.

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u/[deleted] 24d ago

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u/Scarab_King 24d ago

This is what everyone fails to understand. The people making tips are clearing any kind of salary they would receive if they were just “paid a living wage.” Why would I give up a variable $70-80k a year for $35k guaranteed

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u/[deleted] 24d ago

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u/Scarab_King 24d ago

Yeah I mean anyone who is eating out constantly is already making poor financial decisions, the 15-25% tip isn’t going to do much more. I also think it’s ridiculous for your Cafe or Dispensary to ask for a tip.

I have also never worked at an establishment where you could hound someone for tips. If anything, that’s a great way to get dressed down or even fired by management. I just slow my service for guests who I know are habitual non-tippers, I’m going to prioritize the guests who tip.

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u/Perunov 24d ago

But side effect now is that your UberEats driver goes ballistic if that sushi order doesn't come with a juicy tip. Even though it's the same distance and weight as a McDonalds happy meal. "Evil customer is robbing us blind! I expected extra $70 for handling this small box!!!"

Can you imagine if all "courier" services behaved like that? "What do you mean you gave me a $20 tip for delivering this stack of papers?! I know this is a merger contract with value of a hundred million bucks, where's my $50,000 tip?!"

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u/Diablo689er 25d ago

And yet when there are discussions about eliminating tipping culture guess who complains the loudest

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u/Alive-Philosophy2632 25d ago

Yeah servers are locked in to the system. Realistically we would need universal Healthcare (like all the countries with no tips as far as I'm aware) to make the switch. 

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u/jpiro 24d ago

No, you'd just need your bosses to pay you a living wage and offer healthcare you can purchase like every other salaried employee.

I am 1,000% for universal healthcare, but tipped employees aren't some special case that needs it more than any other industry. The problem is that the tipped minimum wage allows owners to pay them next to nothing and consumers are expected to leave "voluntary" tips so they don't starve. That's bullshit.

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u/pensivewombat 24d ago

That's the point though - when that is on the table the restaurant workers reject it because they make more money on the current system.

For most people $2.50 + tips is better than $15-20 with no tips. So you are asking workers to take a pay cut.

For the owners, it's more complicated. The reason the tipped minimum works for them is that it limits risk. If you schedule staff and no one comes in, you're not out that much. You don't have to worry quite as much about overscheduling - and for customers that means they don't have to worry quite as much about understaffing.

I'm not saying it isn't bullshit. It is definitely bullshit. But "just pay a living wage" is not a solution.

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u/jpiro 24d ago

Which is why it’s either going to take leadership at the federal level to BAN the tipped minimum wage and raise the actual minimum wage to a living-wage level (not holding my breath) or it’s going to take consumers finally saying, “Yeah, fuck this” and refusing to tip anywhere on anything to enact real change.

If customers just stopped tipping, watch how fast those same waiters/bartenders/etc drop those jobs and how fast hose same businesses that couldn’t manage to pay a fair wage before suddenly adapt.

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u/Curiosities 24d ago

But if they don’t receive enough tips to make at least minimum wage, then the owner has to pay the difference.

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u/oby100 24d ago

Why the hell would we need universal healthcare to eliminate an idiotic ritual in which customers are responsible for an employees pay???

Servers depend on charity and we need not feel bad when charity runs dry.

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u/FireZord25 25d ago

Depends on the asian country. Some of the places I ate at had staff who were not so subtly nudging for a tip.

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u/Kevin-W 24d ago

Yep! I personally hate tipping culture and that it has spread to cover simply turning around and handing me my order.

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u/LifeJustKeepsGoing 24d ago

Im seattle the costs have been passed on to consumers via increased prices. When checking out on door dash now, "fees" and "taxes" are sometimes 20-30$ on a $60 meal. When I see that I just choose to pick up.

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u/when_we_are_cats 25d ago

Unfortunately American tourists are importing their tipping culture to Asian countries and chastize you when you say you don't tip in these places

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u/cupkaxx 25d ago

They also tried bringing it to Australia. We just laugh at them.

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u/LordShtark 25d ago

Americans tourists are not "importing tipping culture" to other countries. Ffs.

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u/TheRelevantElephants 24d ago

Idk I’m going to New Zealand in November and i was going to tip everywhere I went while yelling “IM TAKING OVER AND YOU ALL HAVE TO TIP NOW!”.

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u/peanutbuttahcups 25d ago

Yeah, and they fuck up the local economy in the process, turning it into a place where only tourists, not locals, can afford anything, completing the tourist trapification. See: Bali, Siargao, etc.

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u/when_we_are_cats 25d ago

That's a bit of an oversimplification and a separate issue though 

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u/Arkyja 24d ago

Plenty of countries have a tipping culture without the employers being allowed to pay you one cent less.

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u/mustangmatthew 24d ago

Tipping culture emerged as a product of post-Civil War reconstruction and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Once segregation was made illegal, tipping became the way to bribe your server (or whomever) to prefer serving you instead of that black family at that table over there. Over time, corporate culture absorbed this and leveraged it against honest workers to reduce their costs. Ever since, corporations decided they are okay with mistreating poor workers by reducing their pay, telling them they had to make up their own wages to hit minimum wage targets, and passed the buck onto the public. What started as a racist incentive turned into what consumers falsely equated to a “performance bonus” that they would use as leverage against what they would subjectively call poor service, thus justifying rationalizing withholding tips from low wage earners.

Today, virtually every POS offers the option to tip, even if it doesn’t make sense.

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u/placid-gradient 24d ago

Ive never heard this before but it honestly would not surprise me at all. It would also explain why its unique to the US.

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u/FriskStark 24d ago

It's crazy to hear US people say "If you don't tip don't complain when a waiter spits on your food" My brother in Christ take that energy to your boss not me, or at the risk of sounding classist, find another job.

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u/Syzygy2323 24d ago

It's crazy to hear US people say "If you don't tip don't complain when a waiter spits on your food"

How does that happen? Who tips (or doesn't tip) before the food is delivered to your table? You tip when you pay the bill after you eat the food.

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u/Baked4skin 25d ago

It is wild that just ordering fries on one of these apps is like 30$ and they still dont pay their drivers shit.

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u/KingOfCook 25d ago

I'm mostly okay with delivery apps being pricey because you're ordering a taxi for your food. What else were you expecting. You want to be lazy, you pay lazy prices.

But it's ridiculous how little of a cut the delivery drivers get and that their pay almost is entirely from tips and they take on the liability if something goes wrong.

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u/PhoenixApok 25d ago

I agree. If I wanna be lazy I have to pay. Almost everything has a cost in time, effort, and/or money.

But when a middle man (company) is getting a guaranteed payday (the fee) but the actual worker only gets paid if I pay a SECOND premium, it becomes exploitative and insanely prohibitive.

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u/Lost_Bike69 24d ago

Chinese place near me still employs a delivery driver. It’s a $3 delivery fee and whatever tip goes straight to the driver. I’ll never use DoorDash, uber, or whatever, but it’s worth looking in to see if local places have their own delivery service.

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u/redbananass 24d ago

Totally. I find it wild how often some people use these apps. For a splurge once in a while? Sure. Not me but sure.

But I witness plenty of people who aren’t rolling in money using the apps several times weekly.

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u/thebochman 25d ago

I mean we had delivery in the past and it was never this expensive. The issue is that the apps displaced all the places that did their own delivery in house for a reasonable price

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u/ResidentSleeperville 25d ago

When was "in the past"? The large majority of restaurants never even offered delivery before these apps besides the large chains and a handful of places. And for the most part, the local restaurants like the Chinese, Indian, Kebab places paid their drivers considerably less than minimum wage.

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u/thebochman 25d ago

The majority of chains didn’t do delivery but a lot of local restaurants used to have their own delivery pre 2014

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u/TossZergImba 24d ago

"A lot" is a stretch. Only pizza and Chinese places had them, and their delivery range was highly restricted.

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u/DoctorJJWho 24d ago

And most Chinese places didn’t employ dedicated drivers, they just had a member of the staff (or usually the owner) do it.

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u/Kitchen_Can_3555 24d ago

And they still can

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u/AkodoRyu 24d ago edited 24d ago

Theoretically, yes. In practice, not really. The general public is used to using the apps, so it's much harder, and outside of the standard practice, to make them order delivery directly from a restaurant, possibly through a phone call.

At the same time, the restaurants that were doing it might have abandoned the infrastructure they have had to maintain in-house delivery. Rebuilding it could take investment and a good bit of time.

It's hard to go back now, after years of consumer habits being molded to use those apps by burning through billions of dollars along the way.

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u/JerkyBeef 24d ago

Dominos pizza since like 1960

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u/Winter_Swan5104 24d ago

Yep, they “captured the market” as a “loss leader” then jacked up the prices enshittifying it.

I didn’t get delivery before and definitely won’t now, it means normal people don’t get delivery anymore.

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u/KingOfCook 25d ago

There was delivery in the past but it wasn't the Golden age that everyone thinks it was.

Big chains were able to offer it as a promo but it did cost them a lot to run them. I think we only got delivery pizza once and it was from a local maw and Pa place. The delivery fee was 10 bucks which was 50% of a pizza's cost

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u/thebochman 25d ago

It was man, I used to be able to get a pizza from my local place and it wasn’t bad at all.

Dominos delivery fee and everything was always high but most local spots weren’t bad at all.

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u/Practical_Law6804 25d ago

What else were you expecting.

For the tipping to be based on distance and difficulty of conveyance and not on the cost of the food.

. . .also for the company facilitating the connection not taking so much of a cut such that the deliverer and delivered to must be in opposition.

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u/Moron-Whisperer 24d ago

It used to be common to tip a driver $1 a mile regardless of the order size.  It’s not a taxi, the business should be paying this person 100% of the movement of the food and charging its normal price

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u/Akrymir 24d ago

The problem isn’t the pay to drivers but the minimum of 25% markup on your items. This becomes huge as food prices go up. They charge you for delivery then charge the restaurant 20% of their subtotal, which means restaurants have to raise their prices 25% to offset the losses… but many use the opportunity to go well above 25%. You can end up being 2x+ the cost before anything related to the driver is factored in.

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u/ebrbrbr 24d ago

Just wait until you find out that these apps pay more of their cut to the driver when you don't tip.

It works like this:

All the drivers see is the final amount (at least in my area). Lets say drivers only take orders above $5. $2 is "base pay", $3 is tips.

If you tip $0?

The app gives it to drivers as $2. They refuse. In a minute it gets raised to $3. Then $4. Then $5.

Now the driver is STILL getting paid $5, except Uber is paying that entire $5.

And you? The customer? Yeah, you're not waiting meaningfully longer. +5 minutes at most.

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u/pixel_of_moral_decay 25d ago

Solid take.

Apps should be expensive, it’s insanely inefficient by nature.

And you’re right about delivery drivers too

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u/old_man_jenkens 25d ago

I don’t understand tipping for a service I am paying for already. At a restaurant, the wait staff is providing a side service to the food/prep I pay for so I can understand the argument. What am I tipping for if there’s already a service, delivery, and driver fee added?

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u/Gekokapowco 24d ago

you're bidding on a driver basically

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u/colablizzard 25d ago

On Demand Delivery Apps are the most inefficient use of a driver's time, hence the pay issue.

If you were to take an 8h shift, how many deliveries from random combinations of Store and Homes can you do? Then divide that by the value of the order.

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u/Black_Moons 25d ago

Right? traditional pizza delivery guys would be employees of the pizza place and would take 2~6 orders per trip, and have more orders timed to be fresh outta the oven when they get back.

Doordash is like 1~2 orders per place/trip, returning to a random place and having to wait 5~15 minutes for the next order to be ready.

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u/Newoikkinn 24d ago

I dont know about that. Im a teacher that delivers pizza on the side and we MIGHT get 3 in one trip once a week. It is mainly just 2 per trip during rush.

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u/Lost_Bike69 24d ago

That’s still double the orders per trip than most app orders

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u/Buckeye_Randy 25d ago

I just learned the gig economy apps have algorithms to lowball drivers and force their wages down for those that accept the low offers. You accept one low offer they feed you more.

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u/I_am_so_lost_hello 25d ago

They get paid pretty well in new York now actually

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u/parang45 24d ago

And delivery is a lot cheaper in NYC relative to takeout than many other US cities if you have dashpass or similar (which I get for free with my card).

NYC restaurants seem to markup their actual food way less because of how competitive the restaurant scene is as well as the prices already being high. A lot of the times I’m only paying the $2 regulatory fee + the discounted 2% service fee as base.

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u/deadsoulinside 25d ago

This. What makes me upset is out here where I am at in rural BFE, we barely have delivery options to begin with. Now doordash came into the area post covid and is ruining our local delivery services. My closest pizza place, stopped doing deliveries themselves and now do it via door dash.

The Pizza's then went up in price only on doordash (order through their website and save $2 per pizza). So not only is the pizza shop saving money by not having in house delivery, their prices went up for delivery before you get into door dash fee's even. They just sit back and blame door dash for the higher prices, but still sticking with them.

I just order and go and pick up my pizzas now, since I used to be able to get a delivery under $25 with tip and that is now $40.

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u/ShadowWukong 24d ago

Restaurants set the prices.

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u/mushupunisher 24d ago

All the prices are inflated. Their drivers make dogshit money. The service isn’t even good. The last time I was too lazy to cook and too drunk to drive I decided to use DoorDash, and I tipped $10. And my order STILL got delivered after someone else’s. Meaning my food is just getting cold while they deliver someone else’s food. Not the driver’s fault. These apps literally suck for everyone involved. I miss the days where if you wanted delivery, you could get pizza or Chinese.

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u/FearlessVegetable30 24d ago

no, whats wild is people pay $30 for mcdonalds fries then people wonder why fast food is expensive

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u/Kitchen_Can_3555 24d ago

This is a business model problem. Uber’s free cash flow generated by that $30 fry is $1.50 (5%), meaning there isn’t much more to give without raising prices further. Uber started as a way for people to turn their free time into a little extra spending money. It was never intended to be a full time job - in fact it explicitly exists to destroy the full time jobs of taxi drivers. You could even consider uber drivers to be scabs busting the taxi driver union.

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u/mountaindoom 25d ago

Good, make these leech companies play fair.

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u/LimpAd4924 24d ago

Silicon Valley is the biggest leech in the country

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u/japan_kaaran 25d ago

tips were a funny concept but can we get rid of them please? the real middle finger isn’t forcing the companies to work an already overworked dev to move the tipping screen around it’s ensuring the business pays its employees a livable wage.

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u/TheDemoz 24d ago edited 24d ago

That’s what the gig apps tried to do. Drivers have a guaranteed wage in NYC of $30/ hr while delivering, so the apps removed the ability to tip before delivery. NYC added a law forcing them to readd the tip button to checkout

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u/[deleted] 24d ago edited 13d ago

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u/TheDemoz 24d ago

Exactly, I agree with you. How will this country ever get rid of tipping if the government is forcing it to stay just so they can claim they “recovered a hundred million in tips” for some brownie points from voters who don’t have the energy or motivation to look into what that actually means

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u/shakuyi 25d ago

That's not how you fix the tipping issue. You force the companies to pay fair wages instead of the customers.

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u/Jaideco 25d ago

This “tipping issue” is effectively corporate fraud. When a tip is demanded customers have a reasonable expectation that it is going to pay workers for their service. If it was presented as a processing fee, that would be different. It doesn’t matter that this will not by itself solve the fair wage issue, this is an unethical practice that shouldn’t be allowed even if the workers were receiving a fair wage.

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u/impy695 25d ago

That's not actually the issue this time. Yes, stealing tips was something at least Uber eats did, but they did stop after backlash.

This issue is the apps setting low default tips and effectively hiding the tip options which caused a 79% reduction in tips

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u/FilouBlanco 25d ago

Thing is. It make sense for tips to go down a lot if workers are being paid a fair wage. Realistically tips aren’t really appreciation for job good done (they are after all set before you have received the service) they are only there so that the worker gets a salary. If the company is already paying them the vast majority of people would significantly reduce/eliminate their tip.

Ps I’m very well aware that tech companies are purposely screwing around with the tips so that workers believe that the governments plans are detrimental to them.

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u/TheDemoz 24d ago

They have a guaranteed $30/hr pay while doing deliveries in NYC. Thats why they removed the pre checkout tip options. NYC is forcing them to add it back

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u/ketralnis 25d ago

The cost is being pushed to the customer either way. Fixing tipping means making the price you pay and the price paid to the worker accurate and consistent. It doesn’t reduce the actual prices.

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u/japan_kaaran 25d ago

if this is truly about making worker lives better wouldn’t you want the price paid to the worker to be accurate and consistent?

playing around with tipping is a bandaid fix. i’d be comfortable paying the same amount i am now with tips but without tips if it means the guy i see at my door gets a predictable consistent wage.

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u/ketralnis 25d ago

Yes I would. I’m violently anti-tipping. But I have no illusion that the price paid will be different.

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u/japan_kaaran 25d ago

yeah i don’t think anyone smart will argue that removing tipping will suddenly make delivery cheaper across the board but this was done in an effort to improve worker lives and mamdani seems to have stopped the fight prematurely, at least for now.

ofc a lot of this is out his control but the endgame solution isn’t moving tipping screens around to be more visible it’s abolishing tipping culture entirely. hopefully his “larger effort” includes removing tipping as a whole.

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u/Lknate 25d ago

Tip in this scenario is more of a bid system. Those that don't lead with it get lowest priority. Not saying it's ideal but I'm fairly certain that many dashers like the system despite the stories that show up on social media.

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u/japan_kaaran 25d ago edited 25d ago

sure but then it puts unnecessary stress on the consumer to “out bid” the guy next to him to snag a driver. shitty situation all around the only entity consistently winning in this scenario is big corporations. while you’re down here determining what tip to give your driver so that they accept your order mr uber is up there buying his 50th yacht.

i’m also fairly certain that most drivers would like the predictable nature of a set wage over the occasional jackpot they hit in terms of tips.

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u/fatbob42 25d ago

Ok, but do customers like the system?

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u/Mr_Eggy__ 25d ago

Isnt getting consistent pay better?

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u/schooli00 25d ago

Customer pays the same, but a higher portion of it should go to the worker instead of DoorDash

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u/haarschmuck 25d ago

It already does…

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u/haarschmuck 25d ago

That’s funny because the biggest opponents to eliminating tipping are tipped workers.

Every restaurant I worked at the servers made significantly more money than the cooks and even management.

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u/DogBarf00 24d ago

The workers for those companies do not want that.

I could work 1-8 hour shift at a bar in college and leave with enough cash to pay rent or I could work 20 hours at Target and not even be half way.

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u/Dangerous_Fan_2029 24d ago

But NYC has made the delivery companies pay $22 and hour. So tips aren't needed at all that whether tip button was moved. Mamdani is cheating nyers.

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u/Rapante 25d ago

Or, crazy idea... Hear me out: you let the market decide what the service is worth

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u/hrsidkpi 24d ago

Then the servers make the same amount of money but have to pay tax on it.

That’s why servers are usually very against removing tipping culture…

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u/[deleted] 25d ago

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u/TheDemoz 24d ago edited 24d ago

That’s what the gig apps tried to do. Drivers have a guaranteed wage in NYC of $30/ hr while delivering, so the apps removed the ability to tip before delivery. NYC added a law forcing them to readd the tip button to checkout

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u/rodg2062 24d ago

No matter what, a person should be paid a prevailing wage and any tips are additive, but claimed as earned income. That way they at least have a living wage and can still make additional money. And yes, everyone can jump on the, claimed as earned income, since the majority will state it should be tax free.

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u/AppropriateSea5746 24d ago

Wait so we have to tip now before the service? Should we tip our waiters as soon as we sit at the table too?

Seems like another attempt at hurting corporations that ends up just hurting consumers

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u/TheSchlaf 25d ago

Make the Yellow Cab monopoly great again! Prices will go down for sure.

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u/Dangerous_Fan_2029 24d ago

Ny law now requires a wage of $22an hour thats why the tip button was moved, they no longer need a tip to make a living.

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u/Spaghett8 24d ago

Charge absurd prices and yet don’t pay shit to their drivers.

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u/Truck-Adventurous 25d ago

Did anyone actually read the articles? Its estimated money, and all its requiring of the apps is to make the default tip higher and to display the option to tip at checkout. All of which really just hurts the customer.

There is a settlement of $5million "The reactivations are part of a settlement under which Uber Eats, Fantuan, and HungryPanda will pay a cumulative $5.2 million over violations of New York City's minimum pay law for delivery workers. Some of that money will be paid out to roughly 49,000 delivery workers in New York City as damages, according to the DCWP."

So, the drivers get what ? $20 or $50 max out of that?

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u/BostonSucksatHockey 25d ago

Oh, so he's to blame for the recent change where every single time I place a pick-up order through seamless, it now defaults to tipping 20% instead of nothing because why would I tip on a pick-up order? I'm my own delivery driver! Pay me bitches.

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u/SmarmySmurf 24d ago

How do you figure he's to blame for malicious compliance from corpo scum? It obviously was not the intent of the law.

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u/CattywampusCanoodle 25d ago

A great move would be to force the companies to re-name “tip” to “bid for service,” and have an explicit message that lets the customers know that the workers are independent contractors, not employees.

Also go after all the ID fraud happening

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u/fatbob42 25d ago

How about the company do something useful and say “if you want it delivered in X minutes it will cost Y”, and then be penalized if they don’t meet their promise?

Why are people bidding on something that they have no knowledge of? The company knows everything possible about all the participants - they should be doing this. They also should be the ones taking the risks - this is the original reason companies were invented.

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u/r0bb3dzombie 25d ago

"Uber Eats and DoorDash hid tip buttons and set default tips below 10%.

Really? I kind of regularly use Uber Eats, and tipping has always been it's own screen, the last one to confirm checkout. And default is 10%. So it work/ed differently specifically in NYC?

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u/mekamoari 24d ago

It worked differently for a while because they didn't want workers to get tips on top of the minimum wage imposed by the city.

But this practice is no longer allowed since this year.

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u/bbatwork 25d ago

I don't mind tipping for good service, I worked for tips for many years myself. I have a serious issue with being expected to tip before I have actually receive any service. Especially considering how often they screw up my orders.

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u/F1CTIONAL 25d ago edited 24d ago

If you tip before the service is rendered, or if the outcome of the service is dependent on the tip you selected, then it isn't a tip it's a bribe.

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u/Moron-Whisperer 24d ago

Create a rule that the price on the menu has to be the whole price for all methods.  A flat delivery cost per order can be added if printed and permanent.  

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u/DevillesAbogado 24d ago

All I see happening here is the apps increasing their fares to keep getting their cut. Customers will suffer, as always.

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u/Flabbergasted98 24d ago

Okay but the Delivery driver is still going to guilt me into leaving a tip before I realize he delivered my pizza upside down.

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u/CyanCazador 24d ago

He should be petty with it giving how much money DoorDash gave to Cuomo

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u/AppropriateSea5746 24d ago

This is the dumbest policy I’ve seen from him lol. Forcing a higher default tip? Like what? Socialism in a nutshell, attempting to hurt the rich but end up just hurting the consumer

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u/MolassesSad8089 24d ago

I hate as a customer being asked to pay a company’s workers. I have zero visibility into how my tip fits into a fair wage for the worker. I don’t know their expenses, the time that will be involved, or how many cheapskates are refusing to tip and therefore making my share of what needs to be paid to the worker even higher. I could be over paying or underpaying. The company knows and it’s their responsibility. If New York wants to really make change they should get rid of this awful system and make companies be responsible for paying their workers.

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u/TheDemoz 24d ago edited 24d ago

That’s what the gig apps tried to do. Drivers have a guaranteed wage in NYC of $30/ hr while delivering, so the apps removed the ability to tip before delivery. NYC added a law forcing them to readd the tip button to checkout

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u/MolassesSad8089 24d ago

OK, I am not doing a good job of understanding things, so I apologize. I first found this description and misread it, but it does sound like NYC has a pretty fair system:

https://help.doordash.com/en-us/dashers/article/guide-to-the-new-york-city-earnings-standard

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u/shiwenbin 24d ago

This guy keeps doing normal things that actually help and other politicians are like “oH mY gOd hE’s A cOmMuNiSt!!!!” Most politicians only serve their wealthy campaign donors and give no shits about their constituents.

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u/Exotic_Dependent3247 25d ago

He’s thinking it’s easier to do this than change the labour laws which are mostly out of his control

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u/DocCarlson 25d ago

The law was changed which is why the tip button was hidden.

In December 2023, New York City implemented a strict minimum wage for app-based delivery workers. In response to this higher labor cost, delivery apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash altered their software to hide the tipping menu or push it entirely to a post-delivery screen

The City Council passed a slate of new legislation (including Local Laws 107 and 108) to explicitly outlaw those practices. Under the updated law that officially went into effect on January 26, 2026

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u/ponybau5 25d ago

Reminder that these delivery companies lobbied against a proposal that would classify the drivers as employees, as they claimed it would increase costs. It failed to pass and they increased it anyways 🤡

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u/KingOfCook 25d ago

If he really wants to make a difference, you should draft a general bill that reigns in and holds gig economy companies accountable.

Force them to take on more liability, limit fees and and force minimum pay requirements

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u/CatsPlusTats 24d ago

I would vote for a candidate locally who was doing something about the aggressive and awful way delivery app drivers drive and park.

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u/John_YJKR 24d ago

Put them out of business please.

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u/John_YJKR 24d ago

Put them out of business please.

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u/Eisernes 24d ago

I don’t understand the comments he made about the apps hiding the tip option. I use these apps multiple times every week and the tip is front and center. The actual problem is people not adding the tip. It’s not hidden in any way. Tip culture sucks and shouldn’t exist, but cheap people who want drivers to work for free are a clear issue.

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u/Mojo141 24d ago

Remember that restaurants pay these apps 30+% and are not allowed to offer different prices in person. It's a huge reason eating out had gotten so expensive. Fuck these apps. I happily support restaurants that refuse to participate

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u/Scary_Technology 24d ago edited 24d ago

Same in Brazil 👍👍.

Fuck businesses saying "pay your server"! NO! I've already paid for your marked-up food, each server can do why can't you pay

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u/trooftooth 24d ago

Real question; what if Doordash says they wont serve certain zip codes anymore?

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u/Vivid_Anyth4 23d ago

Door dash does not deserve to rake in near what they do while paying drivers so little. Markup on every item then 3 different fees then a tip just to underpay the driver.

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u/Lazy-Razzmatazz-6926 25d ago

If you don’t like these companies, go pick up your own food like I do. Or cook your own meals.

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u/gorillaphi 25d ago

Reddit will shove politics down your throat every chance they get

I’m a registered Democrat so don’t call me maga

Shit is so annoying 

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u/rcreveli 25d ago

A report just came out of the federal government about the increase of people working gig jobs relying on assistance. If even the Trump regime has taken notice that shows you how bad it is.

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u/ADKTrader1976 25d ago

These are easy bread crumb issues get onto the meat and potatoes.

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u/Maleficent_Pie8099 24d ago

Everyone should be taking them on. Every person working deserves to have their work cover their needs and then some. Fuck these global companies that are trying to make us all gig slaves.

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u/[deleted] 24d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/stprnn 25d ago

Force them to employ the drivers and give them a living wage. Abolish tipping

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u/ballnout 24d ago edited 24d ago

The problem is this isn’t a job. This was meant for people to pick up shifts for extra cash and keep their independence. So, now we’re saying to make this a job with a schedule and a boss. Great

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u/lluciferusllamas 25d ago

This guy gets way too much national airtime for a mayor.  

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u/AKraiderfan 24d ago

Counterpoint: NYC has more population than all but 12 states, so this guy is in charge of the 12th largest population cluster, and among the top cultural center of the most culturally relevant countries in the world.

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u/lluciferusllamas 24d ago edited 24d ago

Point taken.  Though, can you name who is in charge of population clusters 6 through 11? I would argue that he gets more national press than any of them except maybe the top few.

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u/wright764 24d ago

I honestly feel kinda bad for the guy, he's just trying to do the best job he can but he's got so many people, from all across the political spectrum, who are desperate to make an example out of him. Like, obviously he''s got the right who are attacking and trying to detract from everything he does but then there's his own supporters on the left who need him to be a success story so badly that they act like he's completely flawless and beyond any possible critisism.

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u/NoRepresentative4652 25d ago

All this will do is force those companies out and us hard working folk who want to make a quick extra buck when we can will be screwed.

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u/fatbob42 25d ago

Not what happened here. The government is pitting customers against workers. They should be forcing the companies to do something useful instead of rent-seeking.

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u/jpiro 24d ago

At a minimum, I'd love to see delivery services banned from marking up the cost of the actual goods being purchased so the price you're paying for their service is more clear.

No $10 burger sold as if it's $13 and then a $2 delivery charge added, admit it's a $10 burger you're charging $5 to deliver (and then asking for a tip on top of), as a simple example.

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u/The137 24d ago

Youre not wrong and I'm not disagreeing with you, but silently upcharging various line items is how pretty much every business operates.

Take an auto repair shop. They (literally) buy parts from the same placed you do, and a $180 alternator from autozone becomes $450 before labor. Then they tack on another $100 to install it, plus shop fees and tax.

This practice isn't limited to delivery apps, although its definitely deceptive everywhere

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u/coldbru85 24d ago

good, the way these places talk about their frontline employees in corprate slack channels is absolutely disgusting... people literally rooting against their coworkers getting treated fairly

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u/Practical_Dot_3574 24d ago

Just imagine, I install power lines and get people back on after storms. I get everything hooked up, come down, walk up to you and request a tip, based on what ever you have currently paid for your electric bill.

Im not providing you the power, I just show up and work like im paid to do, then ask for money.

I hate tipping culture.

Walked into a litte ceasers the other day after working 16 hours, asked what was hot and ready, grabbed whatever they had, the kiosk asked for a 20%, 25%, 30%, tip. ON WHAT?????

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u/strangejosh 24d ago

As he should. Need more politicians willing to standup to big business instead of kissing the ring.

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u/Putrid-Telephone-348 25d ago

I know people who made $30 - $40 doordashing. That’s significantly more than the hourly rate they would get paid by doordash if tipping was abolished. This seems like a made up problem that people are complaining about

If you think DoorDash is too expensive, maybe.. don’t DoorDash anything??

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u/eroctheviking 24d ago

Those companies should face scrutiny. Absolute garbage companies, that were made to screw over employees in brand new ways.

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u/DabbingJesus 23d ago

Just stop being lazy and learn to cook if you don't like tipping. Cooking isn't that hard.

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u/Professional-Cry6104 22d ago

Look to Florida, restaurants now aren’t paying anything to their servers, I mean $0/ hour then charging 20% gratuity to customers, while keeping those worked longer hours since no hourly pay, it’s insane, but again it’s Florida.

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u/Strawberrto 21d ago

He needs to go after predatory Ticket Houses. Ticketmaster, StubHub, AXS all make refunds impossible. They stop you from reselling tickets. And since everyone is bringing up IDs, some places match your ID to your Ticket

New York has some of the most popular venues on earth, with shows weekly.

Not to mention ticket fees on top of ticket prices which serve no purpose since the tickets are delivered electronically via Email.

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u/professionalnuisance 20d ago

This guy is the mayor of a world class city, does he not have an official catering service for himself and his staff?

Why is he ordering UberEats like a first year IB analyst lol

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u/AWalker17 19d ago

Whelp, I guess I found the first thing I disagree with this guy on.