RIDEGURU
Angela Taylor (RedANT)
Ride Scholar from Seattle
1072 Rider DriverActivity
Posts by RedANT
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The Uber driver app in the Google Play store has a rating of 4.4/5 stars. I posted a comment/rating on Google Play:
Me: "If drivers have a 4.4/5 star rating, Uber calls us failures and deactivates us. Why is this rating acceptable or different?"
Uber: "Hi RedANT. This doesn't sound right. We want to take a closer look into this for you. Please send a quick note to t.uber.con/drivercontact so we can connect."
(Needless to say, I did NOT contact them with my real information)
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Old system:
$25 trip @ 2x surge = Passenger pays $50 (driver made approx 65% of the total = $32.50, and Uber/Lyft made approx 35% of the total = $17.50)
New system:
$25 trip @ 2x surge = Passenger still pays $50 (Driver makes 65% of $25 = $16.25 + a $2.50 fixed "surge" = $18.75 earned by driver. Uber/Lyft collect the balance of $50 - $18.75 paid to driver = $31.25 = approx 63%) Driver pays for 100% of their car payment, insurance, gas, and maintenance. Uber/Lyft does nothing but change policies and adjust app settings to increase their share. Passengers get fleeced.* Please note that all numbers are approximate, and will vary greatly depending on the area you're in.
** Driver pay was previously paid based on a per minute rate + mileage rate + surge multiplier.
Pay is now based on a per minute rate + mileage rate + a flat surge fee that is a fraction of the former multiplier payout. This change effectively increases Uber and Lyfts share of the fares significantly, taking money out of driver pockets and increasing company revenue. Regardless, I'd bet that Uber and Lyft will still post huge Q1 losses as they head into their respective IPOs.
This is why drivers are pissed. (And rightfully so)
The only problem I see is that if this is implemented like other rideshare "innovations," it's going to be painful to organize, and it'll leave little room for drivers to cherrypick their rides.
Lyft Logic 101
If you can't turn a profit in your core business, why not expand into new areas where expenses are high and margins are thin.
Uber and Lyft don't like us because they're greedy and they want a bigger piece of the pie. Investors want returns, so the "obvious" financial move would be to increase profits by taking more from drivers, or eliminating us altogether. What idiots.
If these companies quit trading their profits for "market share," and stopped using drivers as a piggy bank to fund foolish ventures like autonomous vehicles, they'd both be in much better financial shape.
Go ahead and eliminate your drivers. That may increase their margins another 40-50%, but the 5,000% increase in expense for vehicle purchase, vehicle maintenance, insurance, upkeep and insurance will skyrocket and put them both out of business in months. If they can't turn a profit with broke-as-hell drivers paying all the bills, what makes them think that taking those expenses on themselves will make things better?
In my market, Uber for hookers is known by another name... LYFT. Even though they only make up 1/3 of my ride requests, they're also responsible for 80% of my hooker runs.
Short of video footage, it's all really a matter of what he said vs what she said.
Unfortunate things sometimes happen, but having only heard one side of this story, I'm reserving judgement and not going to throw the driver under the bus without proof.
FWIW, being "in your fifties" is irrelevant. People need to taker personal responsibility for their safety. If the entails being locked in the backseat of a black cab on future rides, I fully support them.
"Personal Power Zones" are as much of an improvement as Uber's flat rate surge. It's an improvement for the company, but horrible for the drivers.
Customers still pay Primetime rates, this just allows Lyft to keep the majority of the proceeds for themselves.
You need to order a NON-SHARED ride.
Shared rides give you ONE seat and no guarantees for luggage storage. (and especially not multiple bags) If a Toyota Prius pulls up with three people already inside, you're going to be hard pressed (and extremely hated) if you delay everyone as you try to squeeze all of that into the car. Don't do it.
Generally, the threshold is 4.65
Unless you're actively trying to be deactivated, that shouldn't be hard to avoid.
You had no idea? Drivers pickup drunkards from bars after last call. Have you ever dealt with an unknown and unidentified drunk in your back seat of your car, demanding information, telling you where to turn, and where to go, grabbing you and being rude? Do a YouTube search. It's full of videos documenting attacks on drivers.
Am I angry? Yes. I'm angry because people come here and start conversations that paint all of us as criminals. In most cases we're the victims, not the aggressor. By all means, if you're feeling threatened by this age 60+ disabled great grandmother with a flawless 40+ year driving record, I encourage you to move back to black cabs where you can find a "better" 20 something migrant behind the wheel. Good luck.
You're going to file a police report because someone didn't want you in their PRIVATELY OWNED VEHICLE? The vehicle is their personal property, and if they order you out and you refuse, you're trespassing. You fail to understand the difference between rideshare and taxis, and think that the two are identical. They're not.
A taxi is a regulated transportation utility that you contract with to transport you from one place to another. If you contract a ride, they're obligated to transport you to your destination. In consideration for that responsibility, they're allowed to be hailed from the streets, have distinct vehicle markings and coloring to distinguish themselves, and usually have more options for payment, like cash. (They're also usually more expensive, which is why people have migrated towards rideshare instead)
A rideshare is nothing more than a requested carpool. You request a carpool ride via the app, Uber send that request to a driver, and if the driver is willing to carpool with you, they accept and pick you up. As a carpool, drivers aren't obligated to follow your routing demands, or to deal with your luggage, or do any of the other crap you people demand. They do it at will, and if you step over that line, they have every right to terminate the trip.
As a part time driver, I'd absolutely terminate a trip and demand that unruly passengers exit the vehicle when they show disrespect towards me. Further, I find it grossly offensive that people feel it acceptable to label rideshare drivers are potential criminals because of our occupation. Professional stereotyping at its finest. FWIW, I may drive for Uber, but that doesn't mean that I should be treated as a criminal, nor should unproven claims be levied and judgement made without substantiating evidence.
If you people really don't feel safe, why are you using Uber? Price? You're jeopardizing your "safety" to save a little money? People use it because it's generally less expensive, and it's usually much faster to get a ride. (i.e., it's more convenient)
By all means, go back to black cabs. It's time rideshare companies purge the service of disrespectful riders who profile all drivers as violent criminals, and who would rather pay higher black cab prices anyway.
"Uber driver" doesn't mean that we're dangerous, criminal persons, and I detest any insinuation to that effect. I'm an age 60+ disabled great grandmother, grandmother of six, and mother of two. I've driven since receiving my driver's license in 1975, and have been in ZERO accidents and have received ZERO tickets in the subsequent 44 years. If you think that I'm a danger, please just order a taxi.
Sorry Pinocchio, but re-posting this story under a different account doesn't make it any more credible. If you want honest opinions, please try to be honest with the other posters here.
https://ride.guru/lounge/p/accident-after-been-dropped-off-at-incorrect-location
My guess is that you're really a disgruntled cab driver who thinks that destroying the image of Uber drivers will push them back into your backseat. (and pad your wallet)
If you think you're safer in the back seat of a taxi, I encourage you to return to that. My guess is that after you've been price gouged and long hauled in a car where you're locked in the back seat behind a glass partition like a criminal in the backseat of a police car, that you'll revisit your hatred for rideshare drivers.
Remember: Drivers are MUCH more likely to be victimized by passengers.
Chasing ANY rideshare promotion is a losing proposition. It always has been, and always will be. UberPro was simply a ploy to get people to do for "status" what they didn't want to pay us for . The kicker is that to qualify, you have to have a high acceptance rate and low cancel rate, and the only way to do that is to take the undesirable, money-losing runs anyway.
If you want to chase that carrot, I offer you my sincere best wishes. I don't think I'll qualify again until I raise my acceptance rate approx 20% and lower my cancel rate a pew percentage points.
Wait wherever is most convenient for you, although that may impact the number of runs you get if you live outside of town.
I'm approx 13 miles north of downtown Seattle/Amazon land, 30 miles north of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, 15 miles south of Boeing/Paine Field Airport, and 20 miles west of Redmond/Microsoft, so this area is a good mix of runs to either airports or major regional employers.
I have everything ready to go before I start waiting, so when the ping comes in, I grab everything (all next to me in my office) and head out the door. I'm in the car in under 2 minutes, so it really has a negligible effect on travel/wait time. (no more than waiting at a long stoplight, etc)
The days of driving around between runs are long gone for me. I wait at home until I get pinged, I do the run, then return home and do other things while I wait. I weed out most of the bad runs using destination filters, and it actually works pretty good.
Last week I was online for approx 30 hrs total. I did a total of 45 rides, and not counting Uber's "driver appreciation bonus" I grossed $803 on Uber and $170 on Lyft. $973 Gross over 30 hrs (much of it spent at home) isn't a bad weekly income.
That definitely looks like a decent app. Unfortunately it looks like it's only on the east coast. 😒
As far as the strike thing on the 8th, my apps will be off even though Seattle isn't participating. (That said, I also have to admit that I'll be in Hawaii next week, so I was going to be offline anyway)
"Premium" refers to what Uber charges the rider, and has little to do with any significant driver earnings increase.
As a general rule, anytime I see "premium" in the ping info, it's an automatic decline. 9/10 times the ride is far away, but with a short trip distance. The only exceptions for me are *maybe* if in addition to the the premium notification I also see a 60+ notification. (But I'll call to confirm their destination)
For normal requests, I cancel any pickup more than 9 minutes away.
Regular in Seattle STARTS at $3.69 /gal with premium topping $4 in some areas. This is out of control, and cuts deeply into drivers "profits."
https://pics.me.me/need-about-tree-fiddy-treefiddy-the-succubus-s03e03-47060863.png
Pricing and fare transparency. I want to know what I'm going to pay so I can make an informed financial decision before committing.
"Saying names" is but a game to make the paranoid and/or stupid feel safer.
I'm not playing it.
Passenger tells me their name for their security, I verify that this is the correct person to allow into my car, and we move forward from there. If the blatantly obvious clues like vehicle description, pictures and license plate numbers aren't enough, them pursuing the ride is a waste of my time. Cancel and move on.