Monica Castleberry (momof4)

Ride Expert from Philadelphia PA

Mom & Nursing Student by day Ride Share Driver by night always on the go
8198 Rider Driver

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Posts by momof4

Comments by momof4

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     5 years ago in  Pay backs for bad behavior, being a jerk to your Uber driver

     If you are in a busy area and there are not many drivers they increase prices (surge) to bring drivers to the area. Drivers make more money sometimes really good money. They still surge just not as good as it used to be. Suppy and demand. Although I always got pinged with long pick ups that were out of surge area so I dont miss what I rearely had:)

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     5 years ago in  Miami Uber Driver Raped A Female Passenger, Told Cops It Was A 'Perk' Of The Job

    This is absolutely disgusting that he was hired by Uber. According to the article there has been 100 drivers in 4 years accused of sexually assaulting women. Even if only a few were guilty thats a few too many. These aholes give decent drivers a bad name. Uber's rep is all ready trashed. When is Uber not in the news for negative things? You cant blame Travis for all of it. Dara could've made Uber do better background checks than the 3rd party ones still being done. Maybe it would weed out these criminals and give decent, hard working, law abiding drivers more riders/trips. You would think they would want this bad publicity to stop but they dont care as long as people are still willing to ride. Shame on the male passenger also for getting dropped off 1st knowing that the girl was so intoxicated. Not that he should have to worry about that happening but its a known fact that it has happened. Not saying it gives a man the right to rape an intoxicated passenger but whats wrong with these women getting that drunk and getting into a car with a stranger again knowing this happens. I hear it all the time females mostly young telling me they pass out from being intoxicated in an Uber all the time. It sucks that drivers cant be trusted but women need to be more careful.

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     5 years ago in  How do you feel about driving underage passengers?

    If I had been in drivers position I would have pulled over to safe spot, called parents and waited until parents showed up. Supposed something happened to those teens? Yes I know parents shouldnt of sent them in an Uber but they did. Its not teens fault parents are lazy or clueless. As a parent myself I wouldnt leave anyones teens by themselves on a busy corner with no transportation. Suppose something happened to one of those teens? Sorry but wouldnt want to see them hurt nor would I be able to live with that on my conscience. Even though I dont think its drivers responsibility to check ID that driver did allow them in his car and drove them for however long. He needs to take some responsibility. Shouldve taken them to safer location or waited until parents got there. 

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     5 years ago in  ATTENTION VOTERS

    Drivers will be stuck with a bunch of the dreaded short rides. Here in Philly polling places are less than a few miles (they are everywhere). 

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     5 years ago in  Uber Eats drivers in UK strike for 24 hrs. Should drivers in US try this? What is your opinion?

    Great idea. Now if all would do it:)

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     5 years ago in  Uber Eats drivers in UK strike for 24 hrs. Should drivers in US try this? What is your opinion?

    I never did Uber Eats and never will. I agree that trying to Strike may not work once that surge lights up map. It would be very hard to pass up. It would be nice if they just fixed a few issues. Express pool, pool, short trips, oversaturation of drivers, and pay. I wont even complain about surge and ratings  lol. Back when Uber 1st started you didnt hear about drivers complaining. I assume pay was much better? Everyone complains but we do nothing to fix it. We all just keep on driving. Same complaints. Although I get its difficult if its your full time job to lose a days pay. Just would be nice if all would shut off app for 24 hrs. on a nice busy day. It will never happen. Thanks for sharing!

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     5 years ago in  Comedian Katt Williams charged with assaulting Uber driver

    Drivers need background checks maybe riders should have them also. I know that will never happen for obvious reasons but being a driver you never know who is getting into your car and what they may be capable of. I never really thought of it that way. You could be driving a serial killer, rapist, terrorist, etc... Makes you wonder is it really worth it?

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     5 years ago in  Is there really a driver movement so they can see customer profile info before accepting? What's the argument? [updated]

    Short rides are a lose lose situation for drivers. Nothing worse than driving 10 min. to pick up a passenger that needs to be dropped off at supermarket .5 to .75 mile away. The amount we get paid for these short rides are less than a taxi gets just to start the meter. It's 1.00 more than a bus trip. They should add a short trip fee, up the minimum fare fee, or passengers should tip. I order an Uber a few times a week for my daughter in law $10.89, 8 min 3.8 miles. I dont have to tip a dime, that driver dont see me or know who I am. It's not me who gets in and out of car why should I care?  It's basic human decency.  You tip cab drivers, waitress, bar tender etc... Why not an Uber/Lyft driver? Drivers get my daughter in law from point a to point b safely in a clean car. I schedule it its on time what more can you ask for? Thats why I tip. Decent service = Decent tip. If I cant afford the tip I get my ass up and drive her (I drive nights)myself. 

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     5 years ago in  What are some Uber driver tricks? Are they scam? I heard there's a bunch.

    I was just thinking the same thing when i seen your post. What about the riders that scam the drivers? There is a page circulating with approx. 10 ideas on it "how to scam drivers". In the past 2 weeks I've had 2 pick ups one was 11 min. away one was 9 min. away. Although I dont usually take rides with long pick up(been screwed one too many times on long pick ups) I took them because it was slow and one was a surge. I was 100' feet away from rider when I get cancelled. I see him tapping away on phone only to get into a Lyft. I can only assume it was my rider cancelling me as he was at my pick up location and the only male in site. Few days later same thing this time was a surge. Pull into up scale neighborhood see a female at my location getting into a lyft as the cancellation comes up on the app. I dont understand wasting $ for cancellation fee when they had only a 30 sec wait between me and lyft. Maybe I am wrong and these were not my riders but what are the chances both riders were at exact address I was picking up at, same sex as my pick ups, and both got into a Lyft. Although I received 3.75 for one and 4.86 for other one I may have lost out on a long trip or a better fare than a cancel fee. Riders also try "can you just drop my friend a block away? I dont know how to do it on app". Express pool which Uber dont tell you until you accept it its express and not regular pool. Three out of 5 riders expect you to drop at their exact location always saying "I didnt know, or I thought I picked regular pool). I try not to pick pool riders at all but sometimes its slow and I am bored. I could go on but think I made my point. Stop blaming all drivers for scams some of us are just out there trying to make money by being decent and honest. Riders are not so innocent in "scams and excuses". BTW all those excuses you give on not knowing how to use app or add a stop etc... we are not stupid we damn right know you know how to use it.

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     5 years ago in  Uber Turning Off Long Trip Notifications at Philadelphia Airport. Anyone know why?

    Thank you for detailed answer. Would you think it would be worth it for drivers to go to EWR? Why do you think drivers dont go to EWR instead of sitting at Philly considering its saturated with drivers?  Just curious. I dont mind driving wherever but hesitant on driving in areas I never been. Just feel more comfortable when I have some idea of where I am. I stop accepting request as soon as I see I am going to New Jersey and dont turn back on until I get back to Philly. I know I am losing $ but biggest fear is getting a passenger lost. It's happened to me once. The worst that could happen if I get lost is I would refund $, get 1 star, rider may be annoyed (yell, complain)so really not the end of the world. Most riders are understanding if GPS is not accurate and will help if they know where we were going. Ended up at Parx Saturday. Rider going 5 min away from Buck Rd. I had no issues. A request came in I accepted ended up in Newtown. Two woman at a bar going up around Washington's Crossing Rd. and Aqua Duct Rd.  Most roads were 2 lanes, woods on either side, 45mph speed limit, deer & every other form of wildlife everywhere, foggy, (sure you know this) darkness (not a streetlight anywhere), no reflectors on road just pitch black out. It was like a scene right out of a movie where killer jumps out and hacks you to pieces. GPS was working but as we got about a mile away rider gave me directions. She said GPS was taking long route. I leave my GPS where its seen by rider so if lost they can tell me where to go or if we do get lost they know its GPS not me. As we all know some riders think GPS is all knowing and would never make mistake. Lol Sorry for long detailed discription. I figured they may be annoyed that they had to help with directions (as many riders do when GPS isnt accurate) I pulled into neighborhood with huge single homes that you could barely see as again total darkness). Rider handed me 20.00 for a 5 mile ride. As it turned out it was a surged trip with 7.00 long pick up fee. If not for long pick up and surge it would've been a 8.00 ride at best. Five mile ride turned into 45.00 not bad end of night trip.  What I dont get is these huge millon dollar homes had no lights anywhere. The neighborhood in complete darkness. These are rides that make me nervous as I have no clue where I am. I am afraid to get lost with rider in car. I need to get over it as I know I lose trips Sorry about the long post. It was supposed to be a thank you for your post with a question or 2.

    If you dont mind answering I have 2 more questions. What do you think is the best thing to use for GPS (phone, tablet, or buy an actual GPS, someone suggested a Tom Tom)? If I had confidence that GPS navigation would be more accurate I would buy one. I could accept more trips if I knew it would navagate more accurately. Last question, what app do you think works best? Google maps or Waze? I usually have Uber up and Maps. When Uber works its right on point but sometimes its an out right total mess.

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     5 years ago in  Uber driver who jumped in front of train was deeply in debt

    I figured it out!!! Hope this works for you. Thank you for bringing that to my attention. 😊 I couldnt do it the first time I tried. I could click on it just thought everyone else could. 

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     5 years ago in  Uber driver who jumped in front of train was deeply in debt

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     5 years ago in  Uber driver who jumped in front of train was deeply in debt

    Sorry. It works for me assumed it worked for all. I cant get it to go in comments. I'll have to get one of my kids to figure it out for me. I am tecnologically challenged. 😊

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     6 years ago in  Heroin Epidemic. As an Uber driver would you be willing to carry Narcan in the event someone would Over Dose in your car?

    Just read a story where an Uber driver picked up a passenger. As soon as he started out on trip his passenger went to sleep. As they were driving Uber driver was checking traffic when he noticed the guys lips were blue. He shouted his name wouldnt wake up.  He was only 3 min from a Hospital so he drove him there. The passenger had overdosed on Heroin. The Uber driver got him there on time and he lived. Scary stuff!

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     6 years ago in  How can I specify a female driver?

    I have heard quite a few stories from my female passengers about their male Uber drivers. I am not saying all male drivers are bad but I havent heard any riders really complain about females. Most of the complaints of msle drivers hitting on female riders. Saying inappropriate things. Last night had a rider who lives and works at a recovery house in a not so good neighborhood. I picked her up at a movie theater. Well spoken, dressed nice not sleazy. She took an Uber last week to catch the EL in a not so good neighborhood. As she was ready to exit car driver asked her how much? She was confused and said I paid on the app. He replied "no, how much I pay you cash". He assumed she was a hooker. She was on her way to her college classes so I doubt she was dressed inappropriately. Regardless why the hell would you ask your rider something like that? She did report him to Uber. Hopefully he isnt driving anymore. Another frequent rider of mine asked a male driver to take her down a different road. She Ubers home everynight from work. She is very nice and polite.  It's a 5 min ride regardless of which way you go. The road driver wanted to use is pitch black, a mile long with a few houses & businesses, and then nothing but woods. Not much traffic especially at 1030pm. There have been 2 bodies dumped on that road and someone hit by a car and left to die in past few yrs. She asked him to go down a more lit, more used road instead, he refused. She told him to pull over and she got out. There was no reason to deny her request. I get both sides to be able to request female drivers but in some instances it would be nice.

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     6 years ago in  What's a typical passenger rating for Uber? Is 4.50 good?

    I've had a few ride request recently that were below a 4.6. I've noticed drivers are not accepting those request. I know there are drivers in the area but that same request will come back to me 2 or 3X and it will be 10 to 20 min away. So obviously no driver wants to take it. I declined a 4.64 Uber X ride last night at 2am. I immediately got a request after that one for rider with 4.69 Uber X so I took it. It was a husband & wife. We got to talking about ratings the wife asked what hers was. She had no idea hers was low. She said "when I am drunk I like to talk". Her husband was nice, quiet she did most of talking but I found her amusing. She didnt slam the door and tipped 5.00. My point is just because a few drivers may not of liked her talking so much it didnt annoy me. I try not to ignore requests but if its 2am, pool request, rider is more than 5 min away, and rating is below a 4.65 I dont take it. I tend to not accept pool riders with low ratings and more than a few min away. 

    Observation on Door Slamming

    I was driving a Ford Focus for the first 14 months of driving for Uber. When Uber came out with being able to drive a car that was 15yrs old I started driving my Honda Pilot. What I did notice is riders more times than not slammed my car door. Now driving SUV door never gets slammed. 

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     6 years ago in  As a ride share driver, what is your worst nightmare?

    Puke running down the window into door jam is also no fun. Although there is the black rubber that prevents most things from going down into the door puke isnt one of them. Had a rider few months back that decided if she rolled window down and puked it would all hit the road. Guess she never heard the song by Jim Croche Dont Mess Around with Jim or the saying "Dont Spit In The Wind". Needless to say it splatter all over the outside of the car and down into the door. I was able to pull most of the chunks out with my long tweezers I use to feed my water dragon. Lets just say poor Max wont eat off them anymore. She doesn't like chunky puke on her crickets and worms. I will say they were a Godsend as it saved me from having to pull door panel off.

    RIDERS

    1. If you must puke tell your driver to pull over. 

    2. Your driver may carry puke bags ask for one. 

    3. Oh and dont puke out the window while car is in motion. 

    4. Dont drink so much.

    You can save yourself 200.00 and embarrassment of it being posted all over Social Media (although I wouldnt do it and dont agree with it. Some drivers feel the need to do it)

    It will also save your driver a lot of money, time, and aggravation

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     6 years ago in  Never ending Phone Mounts

    Hey you could make the mounts and sell them. 

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     6 years ago in  How can I specify a female driver?

    I want to reach Philly 911 but my location is picked up that I am in Bensalem. I live a few blocks from city line. It's awful when you have a medical emergency. 

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     6 years ago in  How can I specify a female driver?

    It seems pointless to go through Uber app when you can just call 911. So after checking into this I found that most all states do not have updated capabilities of tracking the callers location. They can only find callers location in 10% of the calls.  I believe all states have to upgraded by 2023 (I may be off on the date) that is a long time away. I live in Philly 4 blocks away from Bucks County. When I call 911 from my cell I get Bensalem (Bucks County) I have to tell why I called only to be told to hold on while they contact Philly and transfer the call. Its frustrating in an emergency. If you go through the Uber app they know your exact location and give it to police radio 911. 

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Featured Answers by momof4

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     6 years ago in  Extra passengers

    This happened to me quite a few times. This particular night  I get a request for Uber X I can seat 4 safely. I pull up there are 3 people they say we are waiting for one more. I am paying no attention to back seat they say ok we are good I start trip get 5  blocks from pick up look in rear view mirror I have 4 in back 1 in front. So what do I do? Do I say something? Do I end trip there and boot them out? I am sure you are all saying I would of. Lol There is 5 of them one of me, oh forgot to mention I am not in a very good neighborhood. Do I call police? I probably won't get past 91 before one of them can take my phone and if I can connect with 911 chances are police will not be there before I am beaten and my car is on cinder blocks. So I take my time ride the right lane nice and slow, stay away from traffic. We get to destination still in another crappy hood. I quickly end trip. The person they are meeting doesn't answer their call so they are not moving out of my car. Uh hello trips over. So they continue to sit in my car for 10 min deciding what to do. Fnally I get another rider so  I find my voice and get the courage to say "I got to go" . Still another 2 min. go by. Finally guy comes out and they get their stuff out of my trunk and go on their way. Now I pull up with doors locked and don't unlock until I know how many are getting in my car. I've learned quite a few lessons driving for Uber this past year.

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     6 years ago in  A Night In The Life of An Uber Driver! Drivers/Riders please share your story!

    I've picked up strippers twice. One stripper had a fit & started screaming at me because I didnt pick her up at stripper enterance. The app put me in front of the place. I had never been there before. She called me screaming so I drive around to where she told me but there were people all over plus 2 entrances/exits so I ask the first female I see if she was my passenger. She ignores me then I see Mr. Big and Beefy with the tight muscle head shirt on wave me over. She opens door starts screaming why didnt you come here 1st & why were you talking to those people? I try to explain that the pick up location put me up front and what people are you talking about? She screams the people in the car. I reply "what people, what car" . She screams again the people in the car. I am getting annoyed now, because she hasnt stopped screaming at me and what people in what car not a clue who she was referring to. I should've left when I was eligible for cancel fee. We drive a mile GPS says make left turn screaming stripper barks order i will tell you where to go. We go another mile another barking order "pull into that gas station I need something". She needed something all right some manners or a foot up her ass. I pull in to this gas station that is packed has a line of cars to get in (will explain the line of cars at 3am at a gas station another time). I finally get into lot she gets out and I plot my escape. Why should I take her screaming, order barking ass anywhere else they dont pay me enough for this? I put the car in drive ready to pull out and my guilty conscience kicks in. Its 3am you cant do that. Then the  little devil on my shoulder says go for it. Good conscience won I stayed but when she got back in I had a little talk with her. By the time i dropped her off she was happy. So happy when she got out she said "i am going to give you 5 stars". I wanted to reply "stick your 5 stars so far up (that thing you shake for money)that they shoot out of your mouth and hand over some of those bills you made tonight.  She was out right rude and bossy. 

    The 2nd stripper I picked up didnt yell at me but she also barked orders. Wont get into much detail as I just wrote a book about stripper #1. Her barking orders were hello as she entered car  order #1"put this radio station on, order #2 turn volumn up ill tell you when to stop" #3 dont speak to me while music is on #4 put the heat up. No please no thank you ànd you guessed it no tip. Last but not least we pull up to destination my app shows end trip you've arrived i end it wait for her to get the hell out. But she needs to bark 1 more order #5 "I've never been here before just sit here until I can find my friend then you can leave". Must be a stripper thing to bark orders and not tip. These 2 were in my first month of driving they taught me a few things that night.  No, one of those things was not how to work a stripper pole. Thanks for sharing R Paulson. Would love to here more stories. 

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     6 years ago in  A Night In The Life of An Uber Driver! Drivers/Riders please share your story!

    This time I pick up 3 men in there 30's from India at a strip club in Bensalem PA. They get in dont seem really intoxicated. We have a coversation then they are talking amongst themselves. I look at GPS. Its putting me on PA Turnpike. Now where ever I get off I am not going to know where I am so obviously relying on GPS completely. Go up a few exists get off. Its dark as hell. I swear Bucks County suburbs doesnt like or is too cheap to put up street lights. Everything is so dark you see nothing  when you look behind you. At this times roads are not only dark but no traffic around. The guys start speaking in their language now, up to this point their conversations were all English even to each other. Before I go further I was under impression destination was one of their homes. Now I have to turn into a dark business complex. Everything closed no one around.  My mind thinks they are plotting to hack me up into little pieces lol This is just too shady. No houses, everything dark, no people, no cars. I am so ready to turn around at this point but had no idea where I could go or what i would say to them about turning around. Hearts pounding, nervous. Drive about .5 mile and up on my right was a Hotel. Never so grateful to see one. This was my 2nd experience on a ride that really scared me being a female driver. I think after all my stripper, strip club experiences (as I have 2 other time I had a pick up) I need to stay away from those places. Those rides are either miserable, scarey  or just plain strange. Do you think Uber would deactivate me for not driving to or picking up from those places? Lol Yes definately. 

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     6 years ago in  Can you select the gender of the operator?

    I think you should be able to. I have had a few riders who are happy to see a woman driver. I even had a male who said he would rather have a woman because a male driver may be able to over power a male rider. Some of these young girls pass out from drinking. Some are so drunk that a male driver could do something and she probably wouldnt remember. If these women who got raped had a female than the rape would've never happened. Young women tell me all the time some of their male drivers hit on them  some are just creepy make them feel uncomfortable. One young woman said her driver bought her cigs alcohol, and tried to kiss her after ride was over. Women tend not to be criminals, rapist, etc. I would think they wouldnt be hitting on male passengers to the point that the msle rider is uncomfortable. Unfortunately these women who have had these issues dont report driver because they are afraid he will come back to their house. 

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     5 years ago in  Does Uber charge a fee for scheduled rides?

    Lilly, Can you please clarify or correct me if I am wrong as I dont want to be giving my riders wrong info. If you schedule a ride more than 60 min. in advance your fare is locked in. If you schedule a ride in less than 60 min. in advance Uber gives you an estimate. Then when you are matched with a driver fare could increase if there is a surge in your area. Thank you.

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     5 years ago in  How does Uber/Lyft scam passengers? Ideas on their tactics to set higher fares and surges. Share your suspicions, angry riders!

    Uber and Lyft base fares on the longest route to riders destination (time & miles). Most Drivers take the shortest route. Driver is paid for the miles they drove & the amt. of time it took. I arrive at riders destination switch off GPS & go back to Uber or Lyft app. It will say 5 to 15 min until destination. I do the speed limit, I use WAZE app, my car doesn't fly, and its not an amphibious car. Passenger got charged for that 5 to 15 min even though it didnt take that long and they get charged for the miles I didnt travel. This is why drivers are complaining. Uber and Lyft are making a few dollars less than us or the same amount. Nothing we can do as we agreed to be pd per mile and time. Upfront pricing scam. What sucks is riders think we are getting 75%/80% of the fare so they may not be tipping for that reason. Especially on long trips that are 50.00 to 150.00. I am driving for Uber as I text this. When I have some free time later today I will post some screen shots so passengers can see whats going on. O will also screen shot my next trip that says we have X amt of time until destination when we are all ready there. 

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