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I heard I shouldn't type my destination until I am in the car, so the drivers cannot cancel or not pick you up. Is this true?
I heard I shouldn't type my destination until I am in the car, so the drivers...
Posted 8 years ago
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Smitten Kitten (SmittenKitten)
2098
Rider
Ride Scholar from Washington DC
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The Guru Take
No worries
(Update: Uber app requires that users enter the destination before they can request a vehicle.)
Nothing to worry about here. In order to discourage this type of selective pickups, the destination of the trip is not shared with the drivers until the riders get in the car.
I know why you are worried though. This has been a continued problem with taxis who pick up their fares on the street. It was one of the most common complaints in busy cities like NYC and Boston. The taxi drivers, upon approaching the potential passenger, would ask the destination, and if the trip does not seem lucrative, they decline the fare and drive off. Think of cases where 1) the return trip may incur the driver significant gas or tolls, 2) it is too short of a drive to be taken out of a taxi queue, 3) too much traffic which nets them less amount per minute, etc.
The other side of the story. Many NYC Uber drivers are fearful of trips that go over the bridge. Due to expensive tolls, their return trip can sometimes make them lose money. (The bridge tolls can be over $15.)
ippei
1202
Uber Driver, CEO of TaxiFareFinder and Unleashed, LLC
Comments
How do you order a ride without inputting your destination? How does Uber compute your "upfront" trip price, etc?
Yeah, I don't think you can anymore. You used to be able to do it on both Uber app and m.uber.com. The workflow was that you open the app, you see the available cars and wait time, and you could click on "Request" without actually specifying the destination.
Around the time Uber introduced upfront pricing, they changed this. For a while, I think there was still a way to request one without entering the destination. You just had to ignore the input field.
I just tried and I don't think it's possible to avoid that. You must enter the destination
Yeah, it was the version of Uber app where there was a slider at the bottom of the screen to choose the vehicle type. You could have tapped the car service there, and you could request one immediately. The next screen was where you entered your own location.
I remember taking Uber like a taxicab. Just hop in, and THEN I tell the destination.
https://ride.guru/lounge/p/uber-experiments-drivers-seeing-destination-info-before-accepting-the-trip