RIDEGURU
Leonard Girsh (LG-PA)
Ride Apprentice from Southampton, PA
810 DriverActivity
Posts by LG-PA
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How low is too low (Passenger rating)
Had a Lyft request last night for a long ride. As I was pulling up to the train station in … -
Rideshare Insurance for Drivers
In time for the Thanksgiving I want to share with all of you my Rideshare Accident Checklist.I put this … -
Lyft’s scheduled ride passenger no show cancellation fee or lacke thereof
Second time in 2 weeks I scooped up a scheduled ride, was sent the ride. I arrived 5 minutes prior … -
Do lower ratings for drivers come predominantly from Pool/Shared rides vs. regular or spread is about the same
Any drivers able to pinpoint a trend of which type of rides hit drivers with lower ratings? i suspect pool/shared … -
Is anyone experiencing and issue wuth Uber not reimbursing drivers for all tolls?
Hi, Three times in the past three weeks I had to call Uber to complain that I was not reimbursed … -
Never ending Phone Mounts
Hi, Not sure if other drivers are blowing through phone mounts as frequently as I did, so I decided to … -
Driver survival Kit
What essential items do drivers have in the cars to help make rideshare driving easier?
Featured Answers by LG-PA
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On Uber platform Drivers have to rate passenger right away when ending the trip, so no way for the driver to know if passenger tipped or will tip, thus no ral way to penalize passneger for not tipping. On Lyft passenger can be rated up to 24 hours after the trip. If passnger did not tip on a long ride I usually go in and rate them 4 stars or less if they did something crazy like brough a child and did not bother buckling them in or bit their nails and left clippings on my floor
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Also, many students from Rider University go home on Fridays, so if you hang out by campus right off 295 you will most likley be shuttling them to Hamilton Train Station and that is not a bad ride on the highway,
even if you have to run right back to the university to grab more.
After Rider runs dry up, after your last drop off at Hamilton, head over to Love's Travel Stop in Bordentown, Friday is when long distance truck drivers go there (because of new regulations where they can only drive so many hours), park their rigs and often need rides home which could be miles away, and Bordentown in General has some riders. Hope this helps for Friday planning
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on Lyft there is a Scheduled Ride section (sort of like a job board) it displays avaialble scheduled rides probably with pickup somewhere within 10 mile radius of where you are at the moment of looking at that screen. On this screen you will see pickup and drop off locations and approximate fare, so that is an instance where drivers can see destination :) and of course in Destination filter mode, while you can't see destination exactly you do have an idea of general direction since ou are the one who entered the destination filter :)
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I decided to read up on this a bit.
So it looks like The FCC is aware of such problems and even set up a "Jammer Tip Line" for people to let the bureau know about people who may be selling or using a jammers.
Found here:
https://www.fcc.gov/general/jammer-enforcement
There is an app to help identify if a jammer is being used, here
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microcadsystems.serge.jammerdetector&hl=en_US
It appears to only work on Android
A quick search on line also revealed that there are Jammer detectors out there, such as on this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmXsKCEeP4o
Nipping in the ass a few of the assholes using them and reporting to FCC will hopefully help.
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When requesting pool one has to specify number of riders, driver confirms that at pick up on the screen. This enables the system to plan as to whether driver can pick up another couple or only a single passenger.
I had the happen to me. Rider requested pool for 1, but there were two of them at pick up.
I tried changing to two (system told me to make the rider add the second passenger (their friend)
it is $0.11 more for their friend, so I see why rider stated 1 initially vs. 2. (a lot of money - understandable), eventually she changed to 2, and almost immediately got an add-on passenger for a couple, since system figured I should have 2 more seats available. But for example if the same cheap passenger #1 requested pool for 2 but showed up with 3, and I did not force her to change, my next stop for the couple would not enable me to pick them up. SO it is driver's responsibility to ensure number of riders getting in matches the number Uber was told will get in the car. the screen to change number of riders is right in front during pick up.
Occasionally I may have 2 separate passengers already in the car, pool up to my next pool pick up, to find party of 4 who requested a pool, I roll down window and tell them basically I can't fit 10 pounds of passengers into my 5 pound car. I also ask them if they selected pool? knowing already they did and tried to cheat system. I ask them how many passengers they put in during request? (knowing they put in for 2 as system wuld not even let you pool as an option if you have 4 passengers in the single party. (because it would no longe be a pool if you r party of 4 took up all seats) of course the passenger claims they put in 2. Anyway I ask them to cancel, they do not want to cancel because they do not want to get hit with $3.75.
The point for me talking to them is not only to educate them, but to also milk time, so if they do not want to cancel themselves, by time I am done talking to them 2 minutes are up and I just hit NO SHOW and cancell myself, so I can collect my fee. Last thing I need is to drive to them for 5-10 minutes and not even get the NO SHOW fee, because the cheap asses were to cheap to book regular pool.
I do not do many pool rides anymore because of this hassle and dealing too much with cheap asses who request pool, do not tip (for most part), drag my ratings down (I bet the other two passengers in my car already would leave a lower rating because it too longer) and then cheapskates try to beat the system even further by trying to save $0.11 by not declaring all people in their party, find another driver :)
Oh yes all that on top of Uber paying drivers less per mile and minute for doing a pool ride vs. regular. So more work (more hassle) = less pay - makes total sense :)
Long pick up premium possible is displayed to driver when a request comes in for a fare that is say 15 minutes away, but it will only pay the extra pennies after driver drive a threshold distance which maybe 10 minutes, thus the remaining 5 minutes of the trip to get the passenger after driver eats the expense of driving first 10 minutes. The distance varies by market but long pickup premium fees are fairly low.
Many passengers openly insist Waze is used for GPS as it updates real time with traffic, etc and re routes around accidents, etc.
I had a lady in car who asked?! If I use Waze for GPS when she got into the car.
i answered Yes, turns out her intent was to guide me entire 1 hour long ride with her barking instructions to me from back seat using Waze in her phone, (if I was not using Waze)
No wonder her rating was 3.6 ;)
Would that apply to Greyhound bus drivers and Train operators?
I realize in the car a passenger can set up a driver by throwing the bag under the seat, but fingerprints would show otherwise, still no fun for driver in this situation. Drivers pass background chack, though I realize a very water down one, but I would imagine Police would primarily suspect the passenegr who will act nervous vs. drive who has not hing to hide. Hopefully driver has a dashcam that looks in and out
No worries at all!
Forums like this, where drivers and riders share tips and traps are very good to learn what works for both (drivers and riders)
I am always happy to read tips other drivers post and implement them to try out. They just become additional tools in my driving aresnal, such as to look out for scams where riders will try to cancel a ride mid-trip (this makes me a smarter and more alert driver). I had a scammer this week who dropped a pick up pin just outside the airport and then called me to say he was in terminal B, Guessing he avoided an airport pick up fee. This is illegal but I did not catch on to it right away, will be smarter next time. So the more tips shared the better we all become. I fo example do not carry nor offer water, snacks, etc. If a passenger needs a napkin I have some tucked away in the back pocket of passenegr seat. I use them to clean windows. If they need a charger I offer them my as my phone is always at 100%. My rideshare phone is iPhone and personal is LG so I have both typs of chargers in the car. I try not to go out of the way too much as it may seem as I am trying too hard. Just give them a safe ride to their destination and chat wit them if they want to. I stick to basics :)
I just updated my previous post for clarity:)
Let m eknow if it makes sense
Wes,
You stated "And oddly enough, sometimes it's what I would have thought as the least likely of individuals that do it. The poor and downtrodden i have found are much quicker to make snide remarks when you would have thought it would be the wealthy and privilidged"
the picture on below link (right side of the picture) will show you why you had the experience you did :) where the (The poor and downtrodden i have found are much quicker to make snide remarks) vs. the wealthy and privilidged
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1OpnjuQyv2wKMqCpYqX76xPX_PDUrrMDR
Hi,
You state: "Obviously I have trips to these neighborhoods which I do drop off but I shut the app off until I get closer to my area".
Why instead of shutting off the apps just leave them on and still slowly make your way out of the area you dislike as you would anyway.
I always leave my apps running in order to get a 45min plus ride (just decline all other requests). If you get a 45 min plus ride it will naturally take you out of the area you were trying to leave anyway.
For example, yesterday took a passenger on a 47 mile ride from Trenton Transportation Center (he arrived by Amtrak from VA) to NJ all the way by the Atlantic Ocean. I knew there was nothing I was going to find there, so I started to head back west towards Trenton but left both apps on and in 10 minutes got a request with 45 + banner, ended up taking a passenger to Newark NJ, well now I am by the EWR and it is always busy there. So try this trick next time :) And of course you can always set your destination filters if you do not want to be taken ouit way too far but just want to leave a particular area.
While In Newark flat tire light came on, pulled out two nails from my left rear tire and plugged them with the plug kit, so always carry diagonal cutters and pliers with you so you can pull a nail out and of course a cigarett lighter powered air pump, and tire pressure gage.
Had I not had these supplies, I would not feel comforable driving a passengr on a tire I know is leaking (even if I added air), or on a donut, but by fixing the tire I was able to comfortably grab a passenger in EWR on a destination filter and take him to Princeton, thus sponsoring my way 40 miles towards home:)
As far as Waze I do not have any issues with it ever sending me down one way street. Not sure how drivers use Waze, but I disable voice and turn by turn screens. I only have the map up and the banner on top that tells me in how many miles I am to take my next turn and onto what road.
If you follow the map you can see the contour of the street you are driving on, you can count how many streets more until the one you need, etc.
I guess it depends on what is involved?
Wrapping entire car in some Beer commercials is overboard.
Small banner or ipad with messages I do not think will be an issue
Payment would be in GBP? even for no GB based drivers?
Drove a pair of stoned individuals once, lady stared at me for about 3 minutes from back seat, then stated "You look pretty smart for an Uber Driver"
whatever the heck that means :)
Riders do not generally care which route you take and will most of the time let you decide. Use Waze
you are not obligated to follow uber GPS which sucks. Upfront pricing is not your worry. Intake people from airport and will take turnpike for longer than GPS suggests as it adds maybe a minute or two to the trip but less hassle to be bouncing around in traffic lights. Passenger just cares to get to their destination safe and in good time. If you go longer that upfront pricing the price passenger pays usually does not change Uber will just eat it while you still get paid time and distance. So do not stress out for that at all. You are in this gig to make money for you.
Why are using Uber GPS at all? Waze is the way to go 100% rarely have issues using Waze
Thank you for the great info. He drives in Philly / Bucks and NJ.
he told me yesterday he had a 45min plus ride sent to him on Uber as a Pool. I always wondered if Pool will state if it is a 45 min plus or longer ride. I am sure it is easy for Uber to do as if the first ordering passenger needs to go on pool for a long trip they can splash that banner at us as they do for regular X. And of course if there will be more add on passengers to this string the more the better. I personally would like Lyft to add that to their shared rides. I then would be open to do the 45 plus shared rides as those pay drivers the same as the regular Lyft rides.
i would not accept a 45plus Uber ride as Uber pays us less on pool rides.
lyfts destination feature is typically crappy but it does have a good feature that it shows if anride will be 45 min or more even in destination which I love if I am stuck in EWR area as those rides wtrnd tonget me closer to philly at end of night by at least 40 miles.
Uber destination filter from what I can tell will not tell us if ride will be 45 min plus.
one interesting thing I noticed in NJ is that hot zones still show up as percentages but in Philly it is a set dollar amount.
What market do you drive in/experiencing this issue?
Hi
does uber and Lyft state on their website that 4.6 for driver = deactivation?
was coaching my uncle last night on how to be more efficient driver and noticed his uber and Lyft Driver rating is in 4.3 territory
has several 1’s probably due to inexperience handling pool and shared rides.
probably he is given a free pass as he is a fairly new driver.
first thing I told him is stop accepting all pools and shared. Next, to pay close attention to passenger rating when (non shared, non-pool request comes in) ignore any with 4.7 and below.
passengers,
when a driver accepts your request so you see driver rating? If so do you use this to immediately cancel the ride if say a driver rating is 4.4? Just curious if passengers use rating system in same manner as drivers?
If driver accepts then calls the passenger and then cancels if not happy with ride, passenger will have to re request. At this point I am guessing it will go to the next driver in que or sometimes out of que.
i do not see the reason for drivers to actually accept only then to call the passenger to probe them on trip length.
if a ride is 45+ plus it will be part of the request banner.
there are of course acceptions.
for instance in Newark airport in NJ across from NY drivers on staging lot are primarily those registered in NJ, NY with some PA mixed in. Non NY registered drivers do not like to take passengers into NY as we can’t pickup in NY this forced to backtrack empty until we cross back into NJ, so I can see drivers accepting 45+ min ride then calling to see if destination is in NY and if yes cancel.
however I read on either Uber or Lyft site that at that particular airport NY bound trips are sent to NY regustered drivers thus a NY driver in position 5 in que if drivers 1-4 are NJ drivers will be sent a NY bound trip and same for NJ registered drivers on NJ bound trips.
Not sure I understand multiple phone thing though how can it benefit driver, how they can have same driver account running on multiple devices? If different account then that in itself is illegal.
P.S. Drivers calling passengers to probe destinations is actually unethic, but I get it drivers are trying to make a buck and not be stuck in NY (non NY drivers)
i actually recommend passengers immediately after requesting a long trip to contact the driver themselves and find out if driver is ok taking them to wherever they are going.
reason being if you request a long ride (let’s say not from airport) wait for driver to show up for 10 minutes, get in car. Driver starts trip, learns you are going 3 hours away and tells you “Sorry I can’t go that far” so now you waisted 10-15 minutes and got nowhere.
would not you rather learn immediately if the driver that accepted your request will actually take you to your destination and if not request another one immediately.
make sure driver that is not willing to take you isnthe one that cancels the ride in a way passenger does not get hit with cancellation fee.
Are you able to take your phone in and off with one hand from his setup?
I have been using my rig for about 2-3 weeks now and is very convenient for one hand operation
Unfortunately in this world perception is reality.
do you get a lot of requests that after you hit “accept” get cancelled right away?
a year or so ago there was a big study and stink that rideshare drivers discriminated against passengers on certain attributes: names, pickup location, ride type, etc visible during ride request.
But if you really are seeing unreasonable number of cancellations possibly having to do with name on your account that passengers see, perhaps it is time to repeat that study but to measure discrimination against the drivers this time.
Correct. Any tolls incurred during ride and sometimes not incurred but assumed to be incurred by driver to get back to registered home market are charged to passenger and sent to driver without any commission. Most times system functions as intended. But I had 3 instances where tolls were not added to my trip while on major toll road. I get it that most likely the system never charged the passenger for these tolls either. Yes we can call it an honest mistake, but this honest mistake if I did not catch it would cost me real money. I have to take time from driving to calculate toll amount and call uber to get it adjusted which they do very well, but it costs me potential profits as I am not able to drive a passenger during those 5-8 minutes.
really no reason their system should have such missed as ride map clearly shows the road taken.
i even thought that maybe this happens because uber GPS assumes I am taking free road but I use Waze. I ruled it out as there is not really a free road that I could have taken without adding 30 min or so to the ride. They need to get better at taking calls like I made 3 times on same issue especially on same road and fixing it ;)
if drivers are busy calling Uber to get their $5.70 toll reimbursed they are not driving passengers thus causing longer wait times;)
As a driver I would hate for a passenger to rate me 1 Star because in their opinion I look like a bearder terrorist (days when I do not shave) :).
Imagine if that happens, Yes I will never get matched up with that passenger again (which may make them happy) but giving me 1 star will drop my rating visible to everyone. Several passengers like that and I will drop to below 4.6 which is not good.
I wonder if the drivers that rate passenger low just to not ever have to be matched up with that very passenger realize that they are hurting that passenger's chances of being picked up by others, or atl east making their weigh longer as drivers will look at lower passenger rating during ride request with raised eyebrows. Not fair in my book.
I have 4.92 rating as driver on Uber and something like that or higher on Lyft. Uber now let's us see the actual numbers not just percentages.
Out of 500 rated rides (that they take into calculation)
471 - 5 stars
22 - 4 stars
5 - 3 stars
1 - 2 stars
1 - 1 stars
For drivers that do 100's of rides an occasional (undeserved 1,2,3) will not hurt the overall average very much) but for passengers that take a few rides here and there it does. So morale of the post: Drivers do not penalize riders for reasons you would not want to be penalized.
4.3 - 3.5 would be considered super low in my opinion