RIDEGURU
Kristen Janet Kim (KristenJanetKim)
Ride Apprentice from San Jose, CA
319 Rider DriverDriver for Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, HopSkipDrive, Kango, Zūm
Activity
Posts by KristenJanetKim
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Commercial Rideshare Insurance
I’ve been getting a number of requests for rides off-platform, so I’m curious about commercial rideshare insurance. I want to … -
Explaining the rating system
I came up with this. What do you think? 5⭐️ Keep this driver on the road. 4⭐️ Driver … -
Driving for multiple apps
All of the “experts/gurus” say to do both Uber and Lyft, but I say sign up for as many apps … -
Women Rideshare Drivers Unite
This is a shout-out to all of the women drivers out there. I’d like to know how you go about … -
Kid Rideshare
Hi, I’m new to the forum. One of the reasons I was invited by the CEO is because I drive …
I have seen DoorDash deliverers on a bike with delivery bags on their backs. But some of the distances are very far away. You’d better be in good shape! I suppose you could use a scooter or motorcycle as well.
Yes, you have to have an in-person interview and go through either an individual or group orientation before you can start driving. You also have to successfully complete some online tests. You are driving people’s most treasured possessions, their kids!
I’ve figured that I average $20 per ride driving kids. I average less than $15 per Uber/Lyft ride, $10 per DoorDash delivery, and $6 per UberEats delivery. Consequently, I do very few deliveries, but I still do 1-2 a month to show that I’m still around. DoorDash was my only option after I got into an accident last year, and my car was in the shop for 4 weeks. I prefer to think of earnings per trip than per hour, because you have slow periods.
I drive for Zūm, HopSkipDrive and Kango. I find I drive less, drive less at night, and still make about the same as driving more hours for Uber and Lyft. I still do Uber and Lyft, but only on weekends and when school isn’t in session. I am a public school teacher, so I’m used to, and prefer to drive kids. I don’t like dealing with drunks. I’ve only had one poorly behaved kid ever. All of the other kids are as quiet as a church mouse, or they are great conversationalists.
I don’t know why; all I know is that I read that in the materials for new drivers. My guess is that a parent complained about it, so it was banned.
I actually have a lower passenger rating than driver rating. I’m at 4.86 with Uber, 4.93 with Lyft, but 4.48 with Uber as a passenger. I don’t know what my rating is as a Lyft passenger. One possible reason for my low Uber rating is that I have requested rides for a few friends and acquaintances on my account and did not ride with them. My low score hasn’t affected me in getting rides, though I drive way more than I ride. I’d be deactivated if I had my passenger rating as my driver rating. At this point, I’m not worried.
I currently have 95%. The app says you need to maintain 85% in order to keep delivering with UberEats. Pay is lousy. I average $6 per delivery (vs. $10 per delivery with DoorDash). But the advantage is the trips are usually short and it’s a good way to get to your Quest bonus faster, not to mention it’s a restroom break. Plus I’ve discovered a lot of great restaurants for myself this way.
I often check my ratings right after a passenger gets dropped off. I got it immediately after the ride ended and it was my first 3-star rating.
Less than half of my passengers rate me. I have given every passenger 5 stars, except for 1. He got 4 stars because of his attitude.
I got 1 star at the end of July when I had to end a ride early because the destination filter failed to give me a ride going my direction. I went from 4.86 to 4.85. Today I just went back to 4.86, but it took over a month for me to go back up by 0.01! Less than half of my trips are rated. I have a 4.92 with Lyft, but I also have fewer trips. I want to get back up to at least 4.9 with Uber.
The current system of rating is so flawed because passengers don’t understand it. I even gave a driver 3 stars once because he had a hard time finding me in spite of calling me. This was before I became a driver. Now I realize it’s often not the driver’s fault because Google Maps or Waze may take the driver to an alternate entrance, or may have the wrong address to begin with.
I have given everyone 5 stars except one person. That person had an attitude and was “upset” because I didn’t have Uber Music set up, where his playlist will automatically start playing when he steps into the car. At the time I didn’t know what that was. I think I have it now, but nobody has asked about it since. I still gave him 4 stars. I do have an aux cable, which has only been used a few times.
LOL! Why can’t the rating system be like UberEats, thumbs up or down? Thumbs up, you would want that driver or passenger again. Thumbs down, no. Then the driver would need to maintain a minimum percentage of thumbs up to stay active. For UberEats it’s 85%.
Yeah, if all you ever got was 4 stars, you would be deactivated.
There are a lot of reasons a passenger may give 1 star. I got 1 star because a passenger was 5 minutes late to work and blamed it on me. It was also a Pool with 2 other passengers on board. I also got 1 star because the destination filter failed to give me a ride going my direction. I had to ask the 2nd Pool passenger to get another Uber because he was going the opposite direction I was. I had a kid ride scheduled and you can’t cancel a kid last minute. I bet the guy got another Uber within minutes. I also got a fare adjustment because he probably complained and asked for a refund.
Another time I got a police officer as a passenger. It was literally a 1-mile ride. I got 3 stars from him. The only mistake I made was not turning in the correct driveway for his hotel. I corrected it. Nobody was in any kind of danger. I felt that was an unfair rating.
Minimum pay is $16 with Zūm and HopSkipDrive and $20 with Kango. These are typically for rides 5 miles and under. Distance and time increase the pay, and when a last-minute driver is needed, they will often double or triple the pay. Allow about a month to be cleared to drive because of the fingerprinting and more extensive screening. I get rides every day (weekdays) because I pick up the same two girls from school. There are fewer evening rides and even fewer weekend rides. The most I made on one kid ride was $71 (Santa Clara to San Francisco), and I did it two consecutive days.
I’m also part time. I put the food in zippered insulated bags in the restaurant, which prevents the smells from getting in the car. I have cup holders for drinks, and less than half of my orders include drinks. I take the zipped bag out of the car to the customer. I also carry air freshener, so my car never smells like food. I avoid places with difficult parking, such as San Francisco. South Bay (San Jose) has less of a parking issue for delivery pick ups. I was hit while doing a DoorDash delivery. The other driver’s insurance covered 100% my car repair and rental car. I currently have a lawsuit pending to recover lost wages, since I couldn’t drive for the other apps while using the insurance-provided car. I could only do DoorDash for 3 weeks, and I made significantly less than passenger rides.
I only have 1 phone. Kid rideshare always has pre-scheduled rides, so you only start using the app when you leave for pick up. If I do DoorDash, I only do DoorDash because you have to select a territory and a time slot. You can pause it, but if you pause for more than 35 minutes total, your shift automatically ends. You can start It again, but sometimes the territory is full and not accepting more drivers. So Uber and Lyft are the only apps that would be simultaneously on. When I get a request for either one, I immediately turn the other one off.
Uber and Lyft are always the ones in the media. The kid rideshare companies are so much smaller and I’ve never seen anything in the media about their profitability, only about their existence. One of the supervisors at Kango told me she used to work for another kid rideshare company that is no longer operating. HopSkipDrive recently expanded to Denver after just being in the S.F. Bay Area and L.A., but that still doesn’t say anything about their profits.
Like I said in my previous comment, it does not say that they’re looking for women drivers only. I think men tend not to apply for a number of reasons. They may not like or want to deal with kids, they don’t have experience working with kids, which would exclude anyone, men and women, and the peak hours are before and after school on weekdays. There is very little evening and weekend activity.