RIDEGURU
DrJill SM (DrJill)
Ride Apprentice from Washington, PA, USA
Less Stress = Better Health
81 DriverI drive for rideshare when I do not have clients in my stress management clinic or in my PTSD clinic. Driving meets two goals for me: Meeting lots of interesting people and making sure my budget balances when clinics are slow. I am a proud grandma of a grandson and a granddaughter - love to trade kids stories. I have a hobby of 18th Century Living History [French & Indian War time period] and I weave lace and ribbons and shawls for that time period. Also, I am an excellent hearth cook - good stuff comes out of my black kettles.
It is not worth it! No tip and most times the drive is significant enough you make $3 to $6 per hour. Definitely not worth it. Would rather drive people.
As I am severely and dangerously allergic to dogs, I will not take any animal. I have medical documentation from 2 MDs that Uber has on file, I explain to a rider with a critter my allergy is so severe that they will need to call 911 within 2 minutes - and maybe a tow truck if I could not breathe and run into a tree or telephone pole. They all refuse to enter my vehicle and I do cancel to save them the cancellation fee which smoothes the ruffled feathers or fur.
Not seeing the destination rip off in Pittsburgh, PA yet. Hope I do not as I can not switch over to Lyft due to a law suit regarding the ADA of 1990 -- So to work I need to have destination for the end of the day so that I can pick up the grandchildren from school on time.
Does anyone know where to check in the Uber app to learn if my city is part of the 30% cut for destination mode? I do need to use destination mode so that I am not taken in the wrong direction as I need to pick up grand children at a specific time. I have not found any notifications in app to say so for Pittsburgh, PA. Anyone know how to check if my city is affected?????
I only use destination mode at the end of my day when I need to pick up my grand children after school then log off. If this decreased pay hits here in Pittsburgh, I will be refusing a lot of riders. Like I will show up and if they are going the wrong way, just cancel them and tell them why AND ask them to complain to Uber that drivers are being penalized for using destination mode and that they have to wait AGAIN for a ride. Maybe if riders complain Uber will listen.
This is the main reason that I only drive the morning rush hours and lunch time. I stay away of the potential crime issues and driving barfing drunks that way.
Problems finding parking at restaurants, then waiting and waiting for orders in restaurant, then driving through heavy traffic to delivery and get no tips. Not only that but in the Pittsburgh, PA area many homes are actually up 30-50 steep steps from the street and the folks ordering will not come even half way to meet you. If you have asthma like I do, then you get hollered at because the food is cold, late etc. I need a couple rest breaks and inhaler uses to get to the door. So definitely not worth the hassle.
Not worth the time and effort.
Accept the order, drive to restraint, wait for order [not getting paid]. Get the order and drive to the delivery [now getting paid], try to find a place to park and get the stuff to the door [getting paid]. Usually all for $5-7 and it can take over 30 minutes to do. The last one I did was a large food order that I had to wait 20 minutes for -- then when I got to the house there were 36 [no I am not kidding] steep steps up to the front door. I called and asked if they could come down for it as it was 90 degrees out and I had asthma. They said no they needed me to bring it up. It took me a long time as I had to take two rest breaks to prevent asthma attacks. When I got to the door I found the order was for a couple of college age jocks! I am in my late 60's with asthma, you think they could have met me half way. What did I get for this $8 and a complaint that the food was cold because I took so long. After that experience NEVER will I do food delivery. At least Uber makes it optional to take food or not. and I am a definite NOT. Not enough money to make it worthwhile and hazardous to my health.
UBER needs to have better background checks - no question about it. But, if the guy had no priors recorded then UBER is not liable. IF he had prior issues then UBER would have some responsibility as they hired him. But what about the friend of the drunk female? She put her friend in an UBER Line in a very intoxicated condition and was not there watching over her. Ladies don't get that drunk and NEVER trust an intoxicated friend to keep you safe. There are weirdos everywhere.
I do not know either! Guess we are old.
I gave a 3 star one time for a dad feeding a child in a bucket car seat "cheese puffs" to keep him quiet. His wife was playing with her phone in the front seat. When they got out the car was a mess with crumbs and crushed spitty "cheese puffs" . Wife balled the dad out good, but I still had the clean up. So 3 stars.
I gave a 1 star rating to a guy and his buddy who got in my car and refused to set destination in the app [that was 2 years ago before it was mandatory to do so.] wanted to tell me how to go. The buddy was a nice friendly conversational type. The guy with the app got all wound up and started swearing at me, pounding on the dashboard and console and swearing a lot yelling. I asked him twice to cool down and behave or I would have to ask him to leave. With all the pounding and threatening gestures and screaming and swearing, I was quite concerned for my safety. He did not calm down and his buddy could not get him to cool down. So I pulled up on the side of the road where the weeds were cut to allow for a bus stop waiting area and told them to get out. The buddy helped him out or I would have swiveled in my seat and used my feet to push him out. I had to drive about 1/2 mile to get turned around to get back into the city and when I passed by they were still yelling and shaking fists at each other. I was so glad to be away from nasty guy.
I would have given another bunch of guys a 1, but they were so rude and nasty that I threw them out within 1 block so I did not charge them - just cancelled the ride.
I have been driving for 3 years for Lyft and Uber so that is not really that bad. But, then I do not work into the evening for the drunk runs.
I am late [after making me wait 5 minutes at pick up spot] could you hurry a bit?
The other one is how old are you? I choose not to color my hair and have been gray for a long time.
I have had at least 50 rides a year with either Uber or Lyft that I have to turn down because they have no car seat. You are lucky to have only 5 rides in 1,000 trips. I have over 5,000 with Lyft and 600 with Uber.
I agree that parents who want an Uber/Lyft driver to drive them and a child with no car seat should have a $20-$25 cancellation. They do not care much about their own children or they would not ask. They need to be hit in the wallet to get their attention. AND if a driver was to get the $20-$25 cancellation fee for refusing to take them they would be more likely to enforce Uber/Lyft rules and State Motor Vehicle Law! As it is some drivers are greedy and want the ride to get the fee and to get the higher acceptance rate and multi-ride bonuses. They do not want to just get the $5 fee they want credit for the ride and the fare.
I will not take these riders and have always reported them to Uber/Lyft. Nothing much happens except I get the $5 cancellation fee. Parents try to say that they don't have a car seat - how is that possible when you can not leave a hospital with a new born and no car seat. Parents say "Never had the problem with drivers before" or "Just going a couple minutes down the road". My response is still no, I will not break the law for you, put my license at risk and my good night's sleep at risk by taking you and your child without a car seat. It is a shame that a perfect stranger cares more about your child's welfare than you the parent does.
Jill Moncilovich
Uber/Lyft driver.
Yes, according to PA and Ohio and WV and VA and NY state laws it is 5 and up to be in a backless booster.
If the parent brings the carseat and the carseat is defective and you get into an accident question. If the car seat is tested after the accident and determined to be defective [check with your rideshare car insurance] then you are not liable for any injury resulting from the defective car seat. However, if you are at fault for the accident you would be responsible for only that part of the issue. Uber and Lyft both have insurance to cover you [after deductable] while you are enroute to pick up or actually driving with a rider. After checking this out with your rideshare insurance [do ask about it ahead of time] you still might want to check with an attorney, just to be safe.
I agree that I never want to be responsible for hurting a child and am amazed that parents either don't care or are too lazy to go in and get the car seat and carry it with them at their destination. Taking the bus is their only other option to travel without a car seat. Note: An infant still in a bucket seat must have that seat to ride on a bus!
The boosters that do not put you liable for car seat failure are the ones that are like a box with armrests that raises the child up so the seat belt fits properly. This type of booster is NOT a car seat and should only be used for a child 5 and up. Anything less than that needs the high back booster or 5 point high back car seat or 5 point bucket seat. So 4 and under no car seat no ride and no the child is not old enough to use my booster.
Dr Jill
First of all Taxi drivers are bound by the same car seat laws that we as rideshare drivers are. No car seat no ride! Their option is to take a bus or call a friend to borrow a car seat.
Second of all most children under age 5 should NOT just be in a backless booster seat. And NEVER purchase a rear facing car seat or a highback car seat or a bucket car seat to lend to riders. They are not considered safe after an accident. Just think if you loaned a seat [not just a backless booster but a real car seat] and you were involved in an accident [regardless of who is to blame for the accident] and the child gets hurt. The parents could sue you for having a defective car seat - remember you loaned it to them! You would lose -- I have had several lawyers look into this and you can use a backless booster for a 5 and up year old. Some kids at 9 require a booster as they are short.
Only offer for loan a backless type booster - the kind that looks like a box with arm rests and seat is padded. Do not ever offer to loan any car seat.
I do think that parents who say "I have never had this problem - other drivers will drive us." are just being lazy and do not want to carry the car seat around at their destination. SHAME on them!
I will not take a child without a car seat and I will not take more riders than I have seat belts for.
The parents of babies, toddlers and those 6 and under who expect me to take them and the child "just down the street" without the appropriate car seat upset me. They just do not want to be inconvienenced by having to cary the seat around at their destination. Well booo hoo - take a bus! I will not break the law or the rideshare policy for them. Most of all I will not risk having some fool hit us and me have nightmares of that sweet child going through my windshield. No never will take them! And Yes I will report them to Uber/Lyft for having asked me to do it.
I do not like anyone eating ANYTHING in my car. I have had folks get in with open mugs of coffee or tea and I have to tell them it is not safe - sudden stop could scald them or me and mess up the car. I have also had a rider offer to share her bagged left over pasta dinner with a companion in the back seat. Also NO WAY! I have told them if they are starving to get out and eat then call for a ride, but absolutely no eating in my car - after all it is my car.
Not too crazy about the very strongly scented body washes or perfums either. I do open the window explaining that I do have asthma and a bunch of very nasty allergies and if they want to arrive safely in a timely manner the windows will be open.
Check out Cargo. You do NOT pay for anything! You do not have to hassle with shopping, finding a container, collecting money. You put the stocked box in your car, riders order through its own app and pay for it within its own app. You get a check of commission, just for having the box in your car and handing out the purchases. You are not handling money - so you do not have any extra cash on you to encourage robbers. You do not buy the box or its contents, Cargo replenishes it as needed. Check out Cargo and see what their program is! Cargo is not in Pgh, but since I registered with them, I will be one of the first to get a box. I can hardly wait.
Yes Uber and Lyft can sell within their cars - there are local rules to obey about this. A way around it is to have cargo sales: that company provides the "box" and a way to order and pay through the web. The box is free to the driver and he/she gets a commission. Some stuff in box is free and some things cost money. Cargo sales covers most of the local rules about permits as it is online ordering. Check it out to see if they are in your city. https://therideshareguy.com/?s=cargo+sales