You have a right to refuse to be recorded. I have a right to refuse you service.
Dashcams offer us evidence in case of an accident or a false report from a rider. Although I'm sure you are a nice person, I personally would not feel comfortable turning off my dashcam and recorder to give you a ride because in this instance, if ANYTHING does happen it would look EXTRA suspicious because I turned my dashcam off; which to a jury may look like I intended to commit a crime (regardless of whether I did or not).
Depending on the driver, and how you ask, I think most drivers would still give you a ride.
I think this is a thought provoking question, and I could write a whole article on it. As drivers, we like to talk about how much we would change at Uber. However, that perspective would probably shift considerably once we were in the CEO’s shoes and facing an IPO for a company like Uber (with$220million + on the table for myself).
If I hadabsolute power as Uber’s CEO I would immediately increase prices and rate cards between 33% – 50% and limit the number of drivers entering the platform. I would focus on making the service better by having drivers who are better trained, know the streets, with nicer cars, and stronger background checks. I’d also consider pushing or requiring new drivers (for POOL and UberX) to have hybrid/electric cars so their operations costs are realistic enough to make a living on the platform.
A lot of this would be tackling the ops costs of our drivers. No longer accepting idiots who try to do UberX or UberPOOL with a Mercedes C300 and then complain about the costs to drive! Higher pay and lower costs result in an actual profitable business. From there, I work to expand the business from a healthier footing.
This would probably be very unpopular with investors and affect the valuation of the company in a negative way, since this strategy ultimately pulls back from the goal of making transportation “flow like water” to everybody and it hurts the network effects of having an almost unlimited supply of cars and drivers on the platform.
I would combat that though with a heavy focus on Jump, a dockless pedal-assisted bikeshare company that Uber recently acquired. These bikes (and similar products) would be a the future in making transportation and mobility accessible to everyone. In the long term, the bikes would likely be a lot cheaper than drivers and offer a higher profit margin by taking the driver and their expensive car out of the equation. As a driver myself, I would be glad to pass off these short-distance, minimum fare rides to the bikes. I would also continue investing heavily in autonomous vehicles because that’s just the future.
That’s pretty simple to say online. I guess that’s why I’m not the CEO of anything
Well this one is new for me because I’ve never heard of Uber doing this for someone. Sure, I can understand banning drivers who abuse it or do it fraudulently, but the driver in this post says Uber has approved all of his cleaning fee requests. So is Uber blocking him from charging for any more puke cleaning fees?
I reached out to Uber for comment on this, and an Uber spokesperson said they review every cleaning fee request, and if a request is found to be fraudulent that they will deny it and potentially deny future requests. However, if the cleaning fee is “paid out” then the driver can continue to submit requests. That doesn’t answer this person’s question so much though. So basically, it’s still a mystery to me!
Our very own Will Preston was on the San Diego news a year ago because he“Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Puke”by basically charging over $1,100 in cleaning fees via actively seeking pukers (so he could charge the cleaning fee).
Now that I think about itthough…it’s like…a lot less work to clean up puke than it is to drive for 10 hours…maybe I should start hunting for pukers too…
I’ve kicked a few people out of my car over the years. I used to drive in a college town (Santa Barbara) and had to kick students out almost every night. Here’s what gets you kicked out of my car:
Walk up with an open container (open alcohol).
Trying to load more than four people in my car. I wait until you all awkwardly squeeze into my car though before telling you to get out because I enjoy watching everyone’s face in my mirror when I point out the obvious.
If you touch me. Period.
Say racist or bigoted things while thinking I’ll agree with you because you’re rating me.
If your destination is too far/not possible (across the bay bridge from SF to East Bay at 7 a.m.).
#5 is no hard feelings and I feel bad, but it turns my entire shift into taking you to the East Bay for about $20. The big problem comes on the return trip. After I drop you off, I have to wait in line for 2 hours without earning anything (even with Fastrak). I lose A TON of money and my landlord doesn’t accept kindness as a form of rent payment.
If you do #1 – #4 than you can go play in traffic while blindfolded for all I care.
Perhaps most importantly though, is that some people need cash TODAY. They need it for rent, for medicine, food, or perhaps a suit for a job interview. Most of the money “lost” while driving for Uber comes in the form of depreciation on our cars. So even though a driver may know they’re losing money in the long run, they also know they can prevent a calamity TODAY by driving some more and extracting the equity from their car.
Secondly, most people actuallydo quit driving. In fact, according to page 10 of this Uber-partneredstudy, 68.1% of brand new drivers will quit in just 6 months!
But again, many of us drivers are just stuck for now. We have elderly family members who need taking care of, kids, finicky diseases, etc. Some of us are sole breadwinners. So we can’t just “stop driving” and go down to the job store and pick up a six-pack of better paying jobs or we would!
I stick around because I love cars, driving, and talking to strangers when I shouldn’t. I also find this whole industry intriguing.
A $1 – $2 dollar tip is perfect for most Uber rides and makes a big difference in the drivers earnings and day. If you take the driver into the middle of nowhere then consider a $10 – $20 tip since they will have a long unpaid drive home.
The ride was bad: $0
Standard ride: $1
Good ride / conversation: $2 – $3
Made a stop: $1/minute you held the driver up (we get paid about 15 cents a minute otherwise).
We (drivers) are paid the same and we do not know whether you have it or not. We generally like these passes because it's more volume for us and we get paid the same.
RIDEGURU
You have a right to refuse to be recorded. I have a right to refuse you service.
Dashcams offer us evidence in case of an accident or a false report from a rider. Although I'm sure you are a nice person, I personally would not feel comfortable turning off my dashcam and recorder to give you a ride because in this instance, if ANYTHING does happen it would look EXTRA suspicious because I turned my dashcam off; which to a jury may look like I intended to commit a crime (regardless of whether I did or not).
Depending on the driver, and how you ask, I think most drivers would still give you a ride.
Yeah it's really difficult to call this rideshare anymore. I prefer to refer to it as Ride-Hail nowadays.
I think this is a thought provoking question, and I could write a whole article on it. As drivers, we like to talk about how much we would change at Uber. However, that perspective would probably shift considerably once we were in the CEO’s shoes and facing an IPO for a company like Uber (with $220 million + on the table for myself).
If I had absolute power as Uber’s CEO I would immediately increase prices and rate cards between 33% – 50% and limit the number of drivers entering the platform. I would focus on making the service better by having drivers who are better trained, know the streets, with nicer cars, and stronger background checks. I’d also consider pushing or requiring new drivers (for POOL and UberX) to have hybrid/electric cars so their operations costs are realistic enough to make a living on the platform.
A lot of this would be tackling the ops costs of our drivers. No longer accepting idiots who try to do UberX or UberPOOL with a Mercedes C300 and then complain about the costs to drive! Higher pay and lower costs result in an actual profitable business. From there, I work to expand the business from a healthier footing.
This would probably be very unpopular with investors and affect the valuation of the company in a negative way, since this strategy ultimately pulls back from the goal of making transportation “flow like water” to everybody and it hurts the network effects of having an almost unlimited supply of cars and drivers on the platform.
I would combat that though with a heavy focus on Jump, a dockless pedal-assisted bikeshare company that Uber recently acquired. These bikes (and similar products) would be a the future in making transportation and mobility accessible to everyone. In the long term, the bikes would likely be a lot cheaper than drivers and offer a higher profit margin by taking the driver and their expensive car out of the equation. As a driver myself, I would be glad to pass off these short-distance, minimum fare rides to the bikes. I would also continue investing heavily in autonomous vehicles because that’s just the future.
That’s pretty simple to say online. I guess that’s why I’m not the CEO of anything
Well this one is new for me because I’ve never heard of Uber doing this for someone. Sure, I can understand banning drivers who abuse it or do it fraudulently, but the driver in this post says Uber has approved all of his cleaning fee requests. So is Uber blocking him from charging for any more puke cleaning fees?
I reached out to Uber for comment on this, and an Uber spokesperson said they review every cleaning fee request, and if a request is found to be fraudulent that they will deny it and potentially deny future requests. However, if the cleaning fee is “paid out” then the driver can continue to submit requests. That doesn’t answer this person’s question so much though. So basically, it’s still a mystery to me!
Our very own Will Preston was on the San Diego news a year ago because he “Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Puke” by basically charging over $1,100 in cleaning fees via actively seeking pukers (so he could charge the cleaning fee).
Now that I think about it though…it’s like…a lot less work to clean up puke than it is to drive for 10 hours…maybe I should start hunting for pukers too…
This one was asked by a passenger.
I’ve kicked a few people out of my car over the years. I used to drive in a college town (Santa Barbara) and had to kick students out almost every night. Here’s what gets you kicked out of my car:
#5 is no hard feelings and I feel bad, but it turns my entire shift into taking you to the East Bay for about $20. The big problem comes on the return trip. After I drop you off, I have to wait in line for 2 hours without earning anything (even with Fastrak). I lose A TON of money and my landlord doesn’t accept kindness as a form of rent payment.
If you do #1 – #4 than you can go play in traffic while blindfolded for all I care.
Ahhhhhh I always love this question! It’s kind of like Scrooge McDuck asking “Why don’t you just stop being so poor!?”
For starters, most of us don’t lose money. On average, we probably make about minimum wage. This changes city-by-city, by car, by driver, etc.
Perhaps most importantly though, is that some people need cash TODAY. They need it for rent, for medicine, food, or perhaps a suit for a job interview. Most of the money “lost” while driving for Uber comes in the form of depreciation on our cars. So even though a driver may know they’re losing money in the long run, they also know they can prevent a calamity TODAY by driving some more and extracting the equity from their car.
Secondly, most people actually do quit driving. In fact, according to page 10 of this Uber-partnered study, 68.1% of brand new drivers will quit in just 6 months!
But again, many of us drivers are just stuck for now. We have elderly family members who need taking care of, kids, finicky diseases, etc. Some of us are sole breadwinners. So we can’t just “stop driving” and go down to the job store and pick up a six-pack of better paying jobs or we would!
I stick around because I love cars, driving, and talking to strangers when I shouldn’t. I also find this whole industry intriguing.
Here’s How Much To Tip Your Uber Driver:
A $1 – $2 dollar tip is perfect for most Uber rides and makes a big difference in the drivers earnings and day. If you take the driver into the middle of nowhere then consider a $10 – $20 tip since they will have a long unpaid drive home.
We (drivers) are paid the same and we do not know whether you have it or not. We generally like these passes because it's more volume for us and we get paid the same.
Depends on city and the duration of the trip. Rates are different for each city.
I think I got about $3.50 of that six B