So… what’s the point of acting nice towards the rat raiders?

[TantamNamPai]

They still tried to rob me, albeit more politely.

 

[valkyr42]

They still tried to rob me, albeit more politely.

they fuck off for three entire days

 

[Animefan666]

I think it unlocks Christmas content and if you earn their trust before getting into the ship, they dogpile Jack/Jill and Feruze, automatically winning the fight, but no rewards or fun time.

 

[TheShepard256]

It adds 11 to your reputation with them, making it by far the fastest way to increase it (successfully offering them Milk to avoid combat gives +6, Oral gives +4, and getting a donation from them for being poor (i.e. less than 2k credits and no gemstones in your inventory) gives +5). Getting 100 reputation is necessary to befriend them, which makes them friendlier and unlocks the option to skip the Feruze fight (which, in turn, locks you out of the Shield Aug Bracers she drops and fucking her at that time). Their Christmas content unlock at 50 reputation.

 

[Theron]

...locks you out of the Shield Aug Bracers she drops...

She also drops them after the fight on Dhaal, which isn't skippable.

Note: You can't increase your reputation until they know who you are, which only happens after a certain number of fights. Avoiding combat via bribes prevents it.