RIDEGURU
Robert Paulson (RPaulson)
Ride Apprentice
Driver in NYC. Uber and Juno, used to drive Yellow
560 DriverActivity
Posts by RPaulson
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Uber Posts Its Largest Quarterly Loss - Is this good or bad?
Can someone who knows this stuff help me decipher if this is good or not? 14% increase in revenue but … -
Can you deduct and write-off a lease payment if you drive for Uber? (as a business expense)
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Can I use a leased vehicle to drive for Uber?
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Can you book Uber two days in advance?
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Can I rent/lease my car out to other people so they can make money for me?
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Lyft Driver Referrals is Bullsh*t
You know those Uber and Lyft ads where they offer bonuses for referring other drivers? Of course, you have. They … -
Yes, Uber Sucks, And Let Me Explain Why (from Taxicab Depressions)
People ask me a couple of times per week about Uber, and if I think they will someday significantly impact … -
What is "Rider Fees"? How come no one can tell me what it is?
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Is Uber Profitable or Losing Money?
I don't understand anymore. This article says they are now profitable in the USA http://fortune.com/2016/02/18/uber-profitable-us/ This article says they are … -
Experts: Uber's Self-Driving is not ready for prime-time.
Well, here it is. It's the ONE thing everyone mentions when it comes to self-driving cars. SAFETY. If they can … -
Stop STEALING my iPhone charger cables!!
You think I wouldn't notice? It is totally messed up that you take my iphone cables. Sure, your phone's battery …
Featured Answers by RPaulson
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I actually want new drivers to take this as an advice. Don't pick up crappy riders. Cancel immediately.
This technically isn't cancelling a ride mid-ride, but I went to the mall to go pick up this woman on a Thursday night. There was some traffic and some confusion as to which exit she was waiting. When I pulled up, she started berating me for being late and started to nag. I knew this would be a $5.00 1-star ride. So you know what I did? I told her to get out of the car and cancelled it. Don't need this crap.
Why is this a good advice? Because if you don't start the ride, those crappy passengers cannot give you a 1-star rating.
I'd hate to say it but yeah, this is a thing. Some drivers come near your location, stop a block away around a corner, and wait for the time to come, usually 5 minutes, and then cancels to collect the fee. In order to make sure you guys don't connect, the driver may even ignore your messages. How harsh.
Then to add a cherry to the top? The rider will request again, and the request will go to that lazy driver. (Some people say there's an algorithm where this doesn't happen, but the jury is still out on that one.)
Why do they do this? You may argue that drivers would want to drive rather than sit and collect small fees. That may be true but some fares are not worth taking. For example
Many drivers do not feel bad about this because time is money, and they did spend the time waiting for you. Yeah, not sure if that's legit.
We accept whatever you give us. No driver is entitled to it, and whatever you feel is appropriate will be appreciated.
If you receive a great service, yes, please do tip. If not, don't. I think we should all keep it simple.
We are at an interesting place right now in terms of defining the concept of tipping for future generations. I mean, at somepoint in history, someone or some trend made tipping waitresses the social norm and they started to expect it. and restaurants started to count on it so they stopped paying higher wages.
We are about to define this now as a culture. It looks like we are headed towards accepting the tipping concept for rideshares?
One time I picked up this dude near a hotel by Twin River Casino. He asked me how much cash I had. "Uh oh" I thought to myself.
Then he said "If you give me all of your cash, I will give you the same exact amount in the app. You get to keep all of the tip, right?"
Gambling problem? Yep. I declined and explained to him that we have to pay tax on tip, so it wouldn't work out in the end.
That sucks, man. It's the old "I will only be a few minutes at a fast-food trick." That's happened to me multiple times. Gotta be careful when to say yes to those.
Taxi driver for many years
Another line is ,"I must have tapped the wrong buttons. Sorry."
Ooooh, the old trick. I've had passengers try to pull this on me multiple times. Such weak attempts to avoid paying the whole fare. I have had one who cancelled immediately after I started the ride.
I don't know how this word got out among the passengers that they can get away with this. Perhaps it can work in some situations, but I keep my app open and in front of my face the whole time, so if anything happens, I would know immediately.
I've been driving for a long time, so I don't get mad at this stype of stuff. Sort of find it cute. I just pull over to the side, and ask if they cancelled. (to which most claim they don't know what happened) Then regardless of the answer, I ask if they want to get out or continue. They usually say, "continue", so I have them re-request. 100% of the time, so far, I received their request back. (closest drier, and I have good ratings)
The sweet thing? I end up making more money because they have to pay the initial flagdrop again.
I actually want new drivers to take this as an advice. Don't pick up crappy riders. Cancel immediately.
This technically isn't cancelling a ride mid-ride, but I went to the mall to go pick up this woman on a Thursday night. There was some traffic and some confusion as to which exit she was waiting. When I pulled up, she started berating me for being late and started to nag. I knew this would be a $5.00 1-star ride. So you know what I did? I told her to get out of the car and cancelled it. Don't need this crap.
Why is this a good advice? Because if you don't start the ride, those crappy passengers cannot give you a 1-star rating.
This is one of those things I already knew but makes me angry when I start thinking about it. Thanks for stressing me out.
It's the perception. The non-surge fares are way too low to sustain a successful career, to the point that they are losing money unless they get tips. That's how slim the margins are.
I am a driver, and I can say that this depends on where you drive as a driver. If you work in the city and taking many short trips, the per mile rate really doesn't add up and I hear you don't really get paid. (People are less likely to tip on a $5 ride, especially due to a large portion of that being a booking fee that goes entirely to Uber.) Then you are often stuck in traffic which diminishes your per minute rate. It's tough.
I drive in the suburbs, but in populated and busy areas such as the mall, where the trips are much longer. My trips are more like 5 to 10 miles, and those definitely do work out much better. and ironically, I get paid more tips in the 20~30% range.
Let's see how well Didi pays out in the US market. Am I crazy or it'l be one penny higher than Uber's. LOL.
Well, in most cases, the driver wants the fare and not the minimum fare or the cancellation fee. Unless they are really busy and buried in lots of rides and long ones too, they would rather carry you somewhere than leave you on the curb.
So, hopefully this crappy idea posted by this OP is not a rampant thing.
It's been a little while I signed up but I do remember seeing webpages on how to get started, tips on how to make money, etc. They seemed overly forward in trying to help like sending text messages and showing you where to use the help. I remember it being more like a passive training, where you ask for more info, if you can't figure it out yourself.
Probably trying to lower the barrier of entry It costs them a lot of money to recruit each driver, ya know.
Hellz no. Where did you hear this?
It's true that drivers hate them wish passion. but if they are downrating you, that's wrong.
Basically all my customers get 5s automatic. Just sit down and take a ride. Even when a customer was rude or curt with me, I usually give a 5, as long as they just took the ride like a human being. They aren't expected to make conversations. They aren't expected to be nice. They are expected to sit and be transported.
When the riders are rude, maybe they just had a bad day. Come on.
Only very few times I have given low stars and that's when the passener either damaged my car or verbally attacked me.
You'll get two 1099s. 1099-K for their driving services and a 1099-MISC for any other payouts You pop those numbers into TurboTax and you are good to go.
I actually use TaxCut. I find it easier to use and less buggy IMO.
I believe the Uber Assist waives the Uber fees from what I remember.
If you are an UberXL, you can bump up to UberXL rate, regardless of the passengers.
If your car qualifies for an UberXL, even if your rider requests an UberX, you can be matched up. That's fine. When that happens, if you make a request to Uber that there were more than 4 passengers, they will usually adjust the fare up to UberXL rates.
No, I don't do it. I swear.
Many Uber drivers do carry jumper cables, at least those experienced ones who may have been in the taxi business. Driving is our job and we spend a lot of time in cars. It makes sense to have a few items in the car, you know? I also carry a blanket, cat litter, emergency bag of food and water.
Uber Eats is horrible. It's worth it only if you aren't getting enough rides.
You have to also remember...during meal times are when the drivers are the busiest, people going places to eat! Obvious, right? So we'd rather be driving passengers than fetching food for people.
nope, i uber but not gay. i uber gaily though.