Why are Las Vegas cabbies so weird about tips?

[fluorescenthippo]

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Had this experience two times this weekend. The cab fare was like $6.60 or $6.80 and I handed the cabbie a $10 and asked for two dollars back; both times I got a little speech from the cabbie about how hard he worked for his money and wound up parting with an extra dollar. It wasn't like I was representing myself as a high-roller; there were no discussions about my wins/losses in the poker room or anything like that and I was dressed/acting just like some normal low-key schlub. What gives?

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this happened to me almost exactly. $6.20 for a ride from the venetian to the bellagio or something. i gave him a 10 and wanted 2 back and he got all pissed. them i finally gave it and said fine just 1 back.

[MiltonFriedman]

"The average cab ride is probably ten minutes and there's very little the cabbie can do to change the experience, ... '

I have one question, what big city do you take a hundred 10 minute cabrides in annually ? Take the subway or fork over a decent tip to the guy who makes your life a little less subterranean, while burning gas money waiting for you to ride and throw him that big $1.20 you think is adequate.

[Dids]

The next time there's a tipping thread and some european almost ruins it by not mentioning that they're european, I'm banning him into next week. Christ.

[Your Mom]

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does anyone know if vegas cabbies keep the whole fare or if they have to give a percentage back to the cab companies?

in nyc cabs pay a fixed rate for the day to the company for rental of the car/medallion. so every dollar they earn in fares they keep.

i am under the impression that this is not the way it works in every city, so please correct me if i'm wrong.

it seems to me that if drivers only keep a small percentage of their fair (or are even earning an hourly), tipping a larger amount makes more sense.

for example, in a city where cabbies don't pay a flat fee for the day and instead kick up 75% or so of fares, when i get an $8 ride, tipping $2 instead of $1 increases what they earn on the trip by 33%. in nyc that extra dollar makes much less of a difference to the driver (11%).

at least in nyc, drivers would do ok still without tips.

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The way the system works should be irrelevant as far as tipping goes.

[MiltonFriedman]

How long do you think he waited for you in line ??? Give him the change next time.

So what if he got you from the Venetian to the Bellagio for $6.20 on the meter, isn't the ride worth $10 to you ?

[DcifrThs]

i usually tip 20-30% on taxis. not exact but for anything in the 6s i'd leave 8-9 bucks, just like you.

seems like the cabby's in vegas are just good at annoying you into giving more money. if a guy in NY tried that on a 6.40 fare i'd be like "2 back please"

i'd imagine i'd do the same thing in vegas, however, i haven't encountered that type of cabby yet.

Barron

[ohead]

I'd have a really hard time working out how much to tip etc if I ever went to america, here in Sweden its pretty rare that you tip taxi drivers etc, you can tip a small amount at a resturant if you want but they wont get pissed at you if you don't, I suppose the standard salary is alot higher here or something like that.

I find these threads really interesting cause if I ever go to vegas I don't wanna look like a freaking cheapskate in front of people I know.

[ceczar]

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The way the system works should be irrelevant as far as tipping goes.

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i disagree. in both systems it costs you the same, but clearly it affects the driver unequally. stiffing a driver entirely makes a huge difference to the driver in one system and has a very small effect in another. relatedly, if waitress wages went up to $7/hr it would be reasonable to have nyc standard tips go back below 20%

[Maple Leafs]

I had a cabbie in Vegas spend the entire trip telling us how bad he had it, how everyone tips the dealers and the maids and the doorman but never the cabbie. How the guy who puts your suitcase in the cab's trunk gets a bigger tip than he does, etc. He even told us it was his birthday.

When we got there, the meter was $9.50. I gave him a $20 and he says "thanks", and I'm like "um, how about some change, bud?" He honestly looked like he was going to hit me. It turns out he thought I'd given him a $10. He was pretty cool about it afterwards, but for a minute I really thought I was going to spend the night in his trunk.

[captZEEbo]

seems that everyone balls hard. I'm going to assume that everyone that doesn't ball hard is embarrassed and doesn't post. I don't understand the logic of people though. "what's the difference for an extra buck or two". BECAUSE AN EXTRA BUCK OR TWO CAN BUY ME STUFF! Just b/c you blow money and probably don't shop around for purchases, order used books, etc, doesn't mean everyone that tips 15% it a nit that hates humanity.