RIDEGURU
Frank Pressly (fpressly)
Ride Apprentice from Greenville, SC
Video te ego audiam vos ego sentio tibi. - Cat herder - Uber/Lyft 3000 rides
4088 Rider DriverI have been a ride share driver for almost three years. While I like the ride share concept, I truly hate it's implementation and the way Uber and Lyft have so little regard for their work force. I am for the little guy. I seek to right injustice and speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. It's usually the ones you find hardest to love that need it the most. Please enjoy my opinion and if you like (or even if you just welcome the effort), an upvote is a digital pat on the back and is most appreciated. I invite you to read my other comments and upvote them as well. Thanks
Activity
Posts by fpressly
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Do Uber/Lyft drivers have to carry carry commercial insurance?
Commercial insurance is not necessary; but, may be purchased if desired. Commercial insurance is bought from agents who specialize in … -
Who in your opinion are the bottom feeders of the ride share experience?
I have to say there is one class of people I can't stand. While I understand what they are doing, … -
Ok, when I call an Uber and it’s empty, do I sit in the front with the driver, or in the back alone?
First stop should be the cultural police. Depending on what country you are in and your culture, is it appropriate … -
Things you should you never say to an Uber or Lyft driver?
“I’ll tip you in the app...” which is almost always a lie.“Hurry Up, I’m late for my …”. If … -
Sir, Sir what are ten life hacks you can give me that will get me ahead if I carry them out with discipline, " said the young pax to the wizened Uber driver.
If you do these ten things, you will die a contented person. They take no prior training. They take no … -
What are the three best reasons to work for Uber?
Top three? I can’t think of a top one. When you drive for Uber you are basically liquidating the value … -
As a driver what are some of the dumbest questions or comments a pax has made?
Not Really -
What can your riders do to make your life a little easier?
Make themselves readily findable. Help the driver to find them quickly and easily by text or calling. Treat the driver … -
If I am stopped by a police officer with a radar gun. Can I ask him to show me the speed I was going on the radar? What are my options?
Not Really -
Why has the issue of tipping for RideShare become such a fixation and under appreciated topic by the public?
What is it in the public's mindset that has set the stage for such a bruhaha over tipping RideShare drivers? … -
I am moving off the beaten path with a gripe about Hewlett Packard!!
I have owned Hewlett Packard printers for most of my adult life. Sure I have tried others, but seem to … -
What is the meaning of ‘out for delivery'?
Not Really -
What do you do with your time while you wait for the ping?
I've been at this for a few years now and I still look for new and interesting ways to make … -
Does it make sense to buy a (used) car for Uber?
That is the ONLY thing that makes sense. A new car would be ruined by the mileage you run up … -
Riders, tell me about the best driver/experience you ever had with a ride share. What made it so good/special?
Riders, I would be interested in hearing about all the best of the best rides you have experienced. What made … -
You drivers that have been doing this for a while and have thousands of passenger trips, do you believe people are mostly good or mostly bad
I am disappointed in what I have seen in terms of the quality of people who use ride share transportation. … -
As a ride share driver, what is your worst nightmare?
Being wrongly accused and not having proof to the contrary. With dashcam and two other hidden cameras and five audio … -
As a driver or passenger, have you experienced any thing during a rider share experience that REALLY made you angry? I mean ready to pop mad!
Not really! -
What do they not tell you about being a Uber/Lyft driver?
What they don’t tell you… Well for one thing, that I would have a constant crick in my neck from … -
All you clever drivers, any ideas on how to make the connection/pickup process smoother or more foolproof?
Uber tends to place the pin at the rear entrance of most addresses. Savvy riders place the pin advantageously. Autofill …
Featured Answers by fpressly
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I disagree with the majority here. In my opinion, WHO is able to use the ride share platform is ultimately up to the ride share company. How well they vette their drivers is ultimately up to them and they therefore are responsible/liable for selecting poor/incompetent drivers. How qualified/skillful someone is as a driver, their mental state, whether they have the correct insurance and whether vehicle is safe are a myriad of factors that a ride share driver should be denied access to the platform for. Any good lawyer could make hay with just one of those arguments. The fact that someone is not an employee, is just one facet of this gem. In an accident involving a ride share situation, the fact that the driver is a driver, the rider is a rider, the vehicle is in use for this purpose and the fact that all these factors come into play at one time are all things entirely controlled and made to come about by the ride share company. We could not be in this situation, at this moment in time, without the ride share company's ultimate control and participation. The ride share driver may not technically be an employee and the ride share not an employer; but, they are undeniably in a partnership in this enterprise.
In legal situations partners are liable. Especially if they are in the drivers seat of the partnership. Of course all of this only matters if the ride share driver is found to be the at fault driver. Otherwise both driver and rider would look to the other drivers insurance to make them whole. If the ride share driver is at fault, he could well argue he was distracted by the rider. This is where a dashcam is invaluable.
Apple has announced the hardware support list for iOS 10, the next version of its smartphone and tablet OS that will be released in beta form soon and in final form later this year. After a surprising stay of execution last year, it looks like Apple is set to stop providing updates for a fair handful of older devices: the iPhone 4S, the iPad 2, the original iPad Mini, the 3rd-generation iPad, and the fifth-generation iPod Touch.
Here's the full list of supported hardware:
All the dropped devices have something in common: some version of the Apple A5 SoC. The A5 has been actively supported for longer than any of Apple's other chips to date; it was originally included in the iPad 2 in March of 2011, the last hardware launched by Steve Jobs before he passed away in October of that year. It later made its way into the iPhone 4S, and it was added to the fifth-generation iPod Touch and the iPad Mini in 2012. The first Retina iPad used a faster A5X variant, and the the third-generation Apple TV used a version with a single CPU core (Apple dropped support for that Apple TV box last year).
Recent iOS updates have made the A5 feel its age and there was a substantial number of features in iOS 7, 8, and 9 that these gadgets couldn't handle, but that's an unheard of level of support in the fast-moving mobile industry no matter what platform you're talking about.
The Apple A6 family in the iPhone 5 and 5C and iPad 4 are the last supported 32-bit SoCs in the iPhone and iPad ecosystem. Presumably iOS 11 will be the first to be all-64-bit across all hardware and devices.
While all of those are great reasons why you may experience various app failures, all of you are missing the most obvious and it happens to me every day. I think now it has improved because the app now tells the waiting passenger that the driver is finishing up another ride and will be with you shortly. Used to be the app would give you another ride while this one was finishing up. It would in effect stack riders. A waiting rider would see the driver moving away from them (which may be necessary to drop off the last rider). After that dropoff, then the driver would flip back to pick up the current ride and they may in fact be the closest driver. Well people with their impatience, would see the movement of the car and cancel because they think the driver is lost or not coming.
Also there can be a lag in the display of vehicle locations. If the car jumps 20 city blocks in a second then you can believe the graphic has just updated and no not that the car has actually flown 20 blocks. LOL Where the driver icon was was where he was ten minutes ago and GPS issues or app issues have just caused a delay in posting movement real time.
However, one caveat. You may only deduct the amount of the lease that is equivalent to the amount of miles/time the leased vehicle was actually used for ride share. You can break that down by one of two ways. Percent of mileage work/personal. Or length of time spent Uber/Lyft vs. personal. If you are out ride sharing, the number of hours you spend vs. the amount of time you make personal runs to the doctor or grocery shopping. The only way the lease is 100% deductible is if you use the vehicle for nothing else and it is parked when not ride sharing.
Uber rolls over people. When you are worth $72 billion you can do that. Trying to out litigate them, is a guaranteed trip to the poor house. You are better off organizing and harnessing the work force with a powerful digital solution and negotiate change.
I disagree with the majority here. In my opinion, WHO is able to use the ride share platform is ultimately up to the ride share company. How well they vette their drivers is ultimately up to them and they therefore are responsible/liable for selecting poor/incompetent drivers. How qualified/skillful someone is as a driver, their mental state, whether they have the correct insurance and whether vehicle is safe are a myriad of factors that a ride share driver should be denied access to the platform for. Any good lawyer could make hay with just one of those arguments. The fact that someone is not an employee, is just one facet of this gem. In an accident involving a ride share situation, the fact that the driver is a driver, the rider is a rider, the vehicle is in use for this purpose and the fact that all these factors come into play at one time are all things entirely controlled and made to come about by the ride share company. We could not be in this situation, at this moment in time, without the ride share company's ultimate control and participation. The ride share driver may not technically be an employee and the ride share not an employer; but, they are undeniably in a partnership in this enterprise.
In legal situations partners are liable. Especially if they are in the drivers seat of the partnership. Of course all of this only matters if the ride share driver is found to be the at fault driver. Otherwise both driver and rider would look to the other drivers insurance to make them whole. If the ride share driver is at fault, he could well argue he was distracted by the rider. This is where a dashcam is invaluable.
I drive for both Uber and Lyft. The issue of tips has been a sore spot for years. Before Uber began tinkering with the fares and reducing drivers income, tips were not that big a deal as good money was being made by all. When Lyft included tipping in their app, I thought that would improve the picture. However, to the contrary, I have learned that when a rider is not on the carpet as far as giving the driver a tip (cash hand to hand), that they will not tip. After Uber began messing with the fares and significantly impacting the bottom line, they also decided to add tipping to their app.
I do not have tip boxes as they tend to look a little crude and presumptive. However, I do have a small sign on the back of the seats that say, "Tipping is an act of appreciation for a service well rendered." Telling them WHY they should tip, puts the ball in their court. It is then up to them if they think the service was well rendered and if they appreciated it. Cash tips allow the driver to take that into consideration before they rate their rider.
Not Really
A car herder is one who has to challenge improbability for authenticity. N-o-o-o-t impossibility, improbability.
Hmmm... I don't think I have ever had someone call an act of kindness "creepy". I pick up men and women equally. You aren't much of one for exaggeration are you? "Riding all over offering people free rides"? Matter of fact, I have never had anyone call the police. When you see someone walking down the highway in a very remote rural area, it usually means they are in trouble and trying desperately to get somewhere. If I am going that way anyway, what is the harm in asking if you can help? I think you have issues that need professional attention!
Uhm, uh sorry. It's "an" UBER priest. The rules say that if the following word begins with a vowel you must use "an". If the following word begins with a consonant then "a" is correct. With UBER the "U" is a vowel. Therefore, "an UBER priest"... oh so dandy, would be correct.!!
The week of 4th of July last year (2017).
Uber support is dismal. It is a hoax on the drivers of whom 99.99% are hard working, dedicated individuals. Trying to make it in America. Uber would rather spend money on AI and driverless cars than a healthy workforce. Uber is for Uber. If you are of no further value or more trouble than you are worth, you are milk toast.
If passengers can have service animals then aesthetically, if done right, a driver should be able to have a service animal on board. Legally there is no question, if that animal is your service animal, God can't wrest it from you. And if a passenger gives you bad vibe or bad ratings because of that, they are suable (if you have to or want to make that big an issue of it.) I would also post a note in the vehicle.
NOTICE: This animal is my service animal and we are protected under these laws.
29 U.S.C. § 794, over 20 implementing regulations including 34 CFR Part 104 (Department of Education), 45 CFR Part 84 (Department of Health and Human Services), 28 CFR §§ 42.501 et seq.; over 95 implementing regulations for federally conducted programs including: 28 CFR Part 39 (Department of Justice).
49 U.S.C. § 41705, 14 CFR Part 382
42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq., Implementing regulations: 29 CFR Parts 1630, 1602 (Title I, EEOC), 28 CFR Part 35 (Title II, Department of Justice), 49 CFR Parts 27, 37, 38 (Title II, III, Department of Transportation), 28 CFR Part 36 (Title III, Department of Justice) and 47 CFR §§ 64.601 et seq. (Title IV, FCC)
Thank you for understanding.
If anyone wants to get topsy-turvy after you've told them all that. End the ride and put them out and send a message to Uber about the rider violating the service animal laws. Thanks for your upvote.
LOL
With Uber, your rating is based on the previous 500 ratings. Most people do not realize how powerfully a low rating affects your average. If 9% of your riders give you a 1 star rating (that like 1 out of 11) it will drop you to the dread 4.6 star rating (the disconnect rating for Uber). If 200 (40%) of your 500 ratings are 4 star it drops you again to the 4.6 average. Why Uber has their disconnect set at such a high average I have no idea. Anywhere else in society (school, work, sports) a 4.6 (92%) is excellent and it takes a 3.5 or below to constitute failure. Drivers are subject to the whim of the public which is wrong, wrong, wrong.
I really believe this is spillover from Uber origination (which was the Black car service @$100/hr) where excellence and professionalism is expected. Holding Joe Blow @$3-$5/hr, driving a hooptie, to the same standards is ridiculous. Green drivers go to great lengths with snacks and amenities etc. to pursue those 5 star ratings at a cost they do not realize. A water and a pack of crackers/nuts will eat up half your profit for a less than 5 mile ride.
This rating system is best described as a non-zero-sum game. Cooperation is usually analysed in game theory by means of a theory called the "Prisoner's Dilemma" (Axelrod, 1984). The two players in the game can choose between two moves, either "cooperate" or "defect". The idea is that each player gains when both cooperate, but if only one of them cooperates, the other one, who defects, will gain more. If both defect, both lose (or gain very little) but not as much as the "cheated" cooperator whose cooperation is not returned. If rider and driver collaborate and give each other 5 stars, everyone is happy. If the rider "defects" and gives the driver a 1 star rating to get back at them or to try and scam a free ride they are cheating the driver and the purpose of the system. If the driver in turn gives the rider a 1 star rating to get back at behavioral issues, they are also cheating the system of clientele. If both rate each other 1 star. Nobody wins. Thank you for your upvote.
I don't believe in giving anyone a 1-star rating. If I were not happy for any reason I would give no rating at all, talk with the driver about my concerns and if I am not comfortable doing that I leave a comment in the written comment section. This informs the driver without affecting their score or their livelihood. You don't drive as RedAnt do you?
I was travelling abroad and called for an Uber in Rome. In Italy there is no UberX or UberXL as they are all high end cars rolling under Uber Black. My pickup was a brand new BMW 7 series. The driver was a short stocky Italian woman. I think the only English she knew was Thank you and Welcome. Everything I asked was answered, “Welcome, Thank you” or “Thank you Welcome”. Never mind etiquette, this woman had it going on.
On her left was an Ipad she was playing Texas Holdem on. On her right was an Iphone connected by bluetooth to her radio speakers and blaring Elvis tunes that she was singing to. Under the Iphone was an ashtray overflowing with butts and one hanging on her lip. She seemed to be talking to herself so I imagine she had a phone conversation going on through her bluetooth earpiece. On top of all that, she had both hands going either crocheting or knitting something. Every time we stopped at a light or in traffic she would grab the needles and knock out a few stitches. At first I was little perturbed, mainly because of the smokiness of the car. Then I thought “hey, when in Rome…” The woman didn’t miss a poker hand, a song, a puff or a stitch in the thirty minutes it took to complete the ride. Talk about multitasking. Thanks for you upvote.
If you are camera shy, I think you are out of luck on this one. There is no doubt we are entitled to some expectations of privacy; however, this is a public place (just like on a subway or public bus). The driver is not recording YOU. The driver is in fact recording a space. The fact that you move into that space does not entitle you to change that space or the fact that it is being recorded. You entering that space willingly infers consent, particularly if the camera is clearly visible or signs clearly announce the video/audio recording of the space. The purpose of the recording is to document the space as to who entered it, what they did and what happened to them as a result. You have the right to not be recorded and can stop that at any time by leaving the space (canceling the ride and getting out of the car). It is kind of like a surveillance at the back door of a building. If you walk by on the sidewalk into the field of vision of the camera, do you have the right to tell the owner of the building to turn off the camera because you don't want to be recorded. Nah. I don't think so. The purpose of the documenting video is to show the fact that you were there.
The driver has the absolute right to video the space. Not only from a liability standpoint but also to provide security and for the protection of the driver and rider. No rights you have in this arena supersede that.
I don't know. I think SHE was the one to show restraint (someone practically screaming in your face is over the top). However strongly the man felt about it, there are rules in society as to how we address each other. Especially for the lamest of reasons that the driver said, "because she said she was in a hurry without acting like she was in a hurry?" If the woman was being put out because of some obnoxious behavior I could see someone showing out; but, the woman just kept her cool asking where she had to go to get where she was going. The driver is one who got on a rant and lost sight of what the issue really was about when he is so caught up in what he thinks is his "right" to treat another person poorly. The vehicle is the drivers but the rider was there by invitation. Would you treat someone poorly in your home just because it is your home and you can do whatever you like? I think I have to side with the rider on this one.
If he had killed the woman with kindness in the first three sentences he would have told her the current address, point out where it was the woman was going and said the ride is over and then just sat. The driver did not defuse the situation; but, in fact escalated it. Bad move all the way around.
Other than chasing the rates up and down and trying to undercut the competition, both Uber and Lyft need to figure out some other ways for the drivers to make money. Here are a couple of ideas.
I think it is only fair to charge extra per body beyond the contract rider. A $2-$3 tip per each additional person should be added to bill. $25 extra for that fifth rider. Ask any driver, the wear and tear with four big people in your car is significantly greater than with one person. This is tip money and not to be shared by Uber/LYFT.
Long hauling to pick up a short trip is everyone's nightmare. Since Uber won't give you details of trip; but, does assign you as closest to the call, Uber should then compensate you for going to where ever they are sending you. Whether the victim of a cancellation after driving 20 minutes to the pickup point, or the pickup is a two miles to the store ride. So the compensation should be two part. Drivers original location to pickup point and then pickup point to destination. If the driver reaches the pickup point, they are guaranteed compensation for that leg, no matter the outcome of the ride. Whether Uber wants to eat that addition to the drivers income or pass it on to the consumer, is up to them. If Uber assigns a ride that makes someone drive twenty minnutes to complete the task on Uber's behalf, then it is only right that they cover that cost of getting there.
I think Uber should reduce it's take from the drivers money to a strict 15% of gross and look for alternative revenue streams to make up the difference. They are already making billions in revenue. Just because they choose to squander it or waste it on a support system that is complete qrap. That doesn't make my wallet any fatter. For a company making so much money and it's workers practically impoverished, Uber/Lyft need to wake up. They think driverless cars are going to be there savior, so they don't care how many drivers they cut loose or piss off. All those people they piss off are future foes. I am told driverless vehicles are highly susceptible to sabotage. All one has to do is block it's ability to "see" and for fear of hurting someone, it has to shut itself down. It doesn't have to be damaging or permanent. A tacky foam or sticky paper label over the "eye". That will just disable the driverless car for now, for a minute. Won't hurt it, just confuse it. Make it it's own worst enemy. Thanks for your upvote.