RIDEGURU
I took an Uber this morning and noticed on my trip receipt that there was a "wait time" fee added to my fare. I was ready when the driver went to pick me up and Im not sure why I had to pay for that. Thanks
My Uber driver charged me a wait time... Wait for what?
Posted 6 years, 11 months ago
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Posted By
Andrea LeMoyne (andrealemoyne)
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The Guru Take
Kicks in 2 minutes after arrival.
I can only guess what happened in your circumstance, but I can lay out how the wait time works. If there is a delay longer than 2 minutes from the time the car has arrived and to the time you start your trip, there will be a fee:
A per-minute Wait Time fee will begin 2 minutes after your driver arrives at your location. We'll notify you that the charge has started, and it will continue until you enter your vehicle and the driver begins the trip.
The time starts to tick when the Uber's Driver App determines the driver has arrived at your location. It continues to tick until the driver clicks on "Start Trip."
It's good to remember that the driver does NOT need to indicate they have arrived. (There is no "Arrived" button.) The GPS of the app makes this determination. Uber will send you two messages, one for when the driver has arrived, and another for when the wait time is starting to be assessed.
ippei
1202
Uber Driver, CEO of TaxiFareFinder and Unleashed, LLC
Comments
Actually this is something I have seen over and over again. Even tho I am always at the end of my driveway before the driver gets on my street. They do the small things to kick up their pay. Charge each person ¢.52 wait time, etc. think about how much that adds up at the end of they week for every person who rode.
To be clear all of these charges are done automatically by the Uber app the driver has no control over when you start getting charge is all automated in the app. Don't think the driver is trying to take the advantage of you.
In the Lyft app the driver manually notifies you when he gets to your location then the clock starts ticking. As a driver of both Uber and lift I find myself forgetting to manually start the notification with lyft because most of the time the people are outside when I pull up. So they get the benefit of no wait time when that happens.
My recommendation to all passengers is to be outside when your driver arrives this is a positive thing not only to minimize your wait time cost, busy streets plus no where to park for your driver.
Yeah, I am starting to have the impresion that riders think drivers are maliciously charging them extra fees and such.
Dudes (riders). We just drive!! We don't control how Uber charges fees and what fees for that matter.
One thing the drivers are known to do is to arrive but not contact the customer. So they can sit there and make money.
I am not saying there's anything wrong with that because the rider gets a notice on their Uber app anyways, but it's one thing they can do in hopes of raising the fare by a bit.
(No, I hope they won't hide around the corner or in the bushes. That'd be wrong.)
If this has happned numerous times I would pay really close attention to each fare. 52 cents is minutes of waiting. If tihs occurs regularly to you and there is no actual waiting, Uber will research it and correct it.
I can’t speak for your drivers, but what I have seen is this: sometimes I am close enough to my pick-up that the app notifies you all that I have arrived, when in fact, I am nearby. Yesterday , I sat at a red light, for two cycles while my rider was being charged for wait time. I texted my rider that I was at the light, and got to their pick-up spot forthwith but, it felt like 5 minutes (even though it was probably closer to three minutes!) I am sorry about this but I don’t know what to do about it! Additionally, many times I see that my app has told customers that I will arrive at a location in 7 or 8 minutes and I make it there much faster. Thusly, wait time kicks in while I wait because the client did not anticipate this. I am sorry again but I don’t know how to stop either one. I do not want to cheat anyone but I don’t know what to do. Thank You for your business!😊
52 cents kicks up to coffee money . Get real buddy
You should check out this article. It's about a scam(ish) move by the driver where they arrive at the pickup location, but they hide around the block to incur either wait time or outright cancellation (to collect fees).
Scam alert?! The driver never shows up and cancels. Charges me $6.00 for no-show. Is this a thing?
I'm an Uber driver. I can assure you that there is no way for drivers to add any amount to the fare it's all done automatically by the app set by Uber. They start charging people for wait time after 2 minute when the driver arrives at the pick up location vicinity. Now some times this can cause a bit of problems if the app has recognized the driver is close enough with in a certain amount of feet of the pick up and it starts the count down. If the driver cant find the pick up location or has to circle the block for what ever reason then by the time they get back to the customer it's already counting down but there are uncontrollable circumstances which could cause this that's not the driver's fault like a busy street where you cant sit and wait for the customer who isnt out and ready to get in. Remember that your assumption maybe one sided and you dont have all the information. The wait time is necessary as a taxi driver there were many cases where we waited …
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I'm an Uber driver. I can assure you that there is no way for drivers to add any amount to the fare it's all done automatically by the app set by Uber. They start charging people for wait time after 2 minute when the driver arrives at the pick up location vicinity. Now some times this can cause a bit of problems if the app has recognized the driver is close enough with in a certain amount of feet of the pick up and it starts the count down. If the driver cant find the pick up location or has to circle the block for what ever reason then by the time they get back to the customer it's already counting down but there are uncontrollable circumstances which could cause this that's not the driver's fault like a busy street where you cant sit and wait for the customer who isnt out and ready to get in. Remember that your assumption maybe one sided and you dont have all the information. The wait time is necessary as a taxi driver there were many cases where we waited more then 20 minutes for people to show up if they did at all. We're out there to make a living and cant wait forever on a bunch of fares, there's not enough time throughout the day for that. We often make 7 or 8 dollars on a single fair when prices are normal and we get even less for Uber Eats calls because of the flat rating method they charge customers. I once did a ride for 16 dollars. The fare after that was a delivery 1 km more then the ride and got 10 for it. I'll only do deliveries now when there's nothing else going on.
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I spoke to a woman rider about this once. She was confused about what the wait time was. She was telling me about her past rides, and how she was charged for both duration and wait time.
That's when I realized that she kept thinking "wait time" was the same as the "wait time" fromt the taxi days. That's the term used to describe how long the trip is for traditional taxis!
Actually "wait time" on a taxi isn't the duration of the ride. It's the time the taxi *waits* in traffic, red lights, and stop signs.
Their taximeters are more sophisticated than how Uber tracks the rides per GPS. They are aware of the vehicle's speed, so this "wait time" does not kick in unless the car is at a stop or moving very slowly, say less than 5mph.
So, taxis only charge you either for the per distance fee OR the wait time fee. Never both at the same time. At least that's the case with most markets.
First, any driver on here running their about they do not know what is going on should shut up. You know the rules better than the Consumers and yes, use them to your advantage. There are a percentage that do not, and that is called integrity. Now we just went through arbitration for fraud and lost. Lost with the investigators from the bank ruling in our favor, screenshots of the ride this year and of the same ride last year. You knoe3 what the prices were in line. Uber tried to charge us $7.70 more. The arbitration was done by Uber's business partner AAA. Think, a company with mandatory arbitration uses one company. They pay this company per arbitration. How many times can you rule against Uber and keep the partnership? Oh, the fraud? Uber charged our account, then once the price of the ride changed said they tried to charge our account and could not. We had fraud once before so we have a tight security, especially when a company tries to charge multiple times. So uber goes onto the …
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First, any driver on here running their about they do not know what is going on should shut up. You know the rules better than the Consumers and yes, use them to your advantage. There are a percentage that do not, and that is called integrity. Now we just went through arbitration for fraud and lost. Lost with the investigators from the bank ruling in our favor, screenshots of the ride this year and of the same ride last year. You knoe3 what the prices were in line. Uber tried to charge us $7.70 more. The arbitration was done by Uber's business partner AAA. Think, a company with mandatory arbitration uses one company. They pay this company per arbitration. How many times can you rule against Uber and keep the partnership? Oh, the fraud? Uber charged our account, then once the price of the ride changed said they tried to charge our account and could not. We had fraud once before so we have a tight security, especially when a company tries to charge multiple times. So uber goes onto the app, changes the method of payment to a card we had never used on Uber, did not pre-auth but did debit the amount. Backdated the transaction to the day of the real transaction and never told us. This is against the law. So I have recently gone through and looked at 21 rides out of 800 rides since starting this journey. 2 were the correct fare, only 2. The shorter rides were all wrong. Here is the formula and how it breaks down...
Base Fare = $.40
6.43 miles x $.95 = $6.10
time = 12.34 minutes x $.09= $1.11
BOOKING FEE = $2.25
i CAN GUARANTEE THE AMOUNT ON RECEIPT YOU RECEIVE AND THE AMONT ON THE APP DO NOT MATCH EVERYTIME
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Amen, brotha.
I my market Uber has "Up front Pricing", so no matter how the driver is paid the fare the rider agreed to remains the same. Except maybe wait time. Many times I arrive at a location and the rider is not there. The Uber app says the rider has been notified but nearing the 2 minute mark I call the rider to make sure he/she is aware of my arrival. In many cases the Uber app tells the rider that the car will arrive in 10 minutes and within 2 minutes I arrive. That is the apps fault, not the driver's.
Yeah, that grinds my gears how Uber pads the arrival time. It was probably an attempt to give us additional time to arrive, as if we are late the riders can cancel. However, this makes us run into situations where we end up waiting double parked. Waiting = no money = bad for all drivers.
I was charged a wait fee when the Uber driver arrived late to pick me up
I get charged with a wait time of $.30- $.60 literally every ride, even though I wait outside, or at the door in bad weather.
I noticed most drivers GPS systems say they are there even when on the road next to me and I have had multiple drivers drive passed the building, starting the fee! Though I think a wait time fee is important as it costs gas and their time to wait I do think the system seriously needs looking into.
wow, really? Where are you from? This seems excessive.
It's like that in nyc they INSTANTLY charge when they pull up. You are charged even if the driver is across the street from your location and you run across and get in you are charged that time. Almost all of my trips have a fee and I hadn't noticed until I checked my receipts.
Toronto Canada!
Oh interesting - I wonder if the wait time rules differ from nation to nation.
So if the driver arrives early your charged?
Most passengers make the driver wait and the fare is cheap enough for you to not complain
Not to mention wait time is charged at 22 cents a minute, vs 11 cents while your on the ride. If you are waiting for a passenger to grab something in the middle of the ride at 7-11, 9 minutes is a buck. Wait time is still peanuts, at leaast in my market.
So you make more money on wait time than you do while driving? So you love the time you wait for your passenger. That's like pure profit.
Double!
We all would much rather be moving with a passenger in the car at .90 cents a mile and .11 cents a minute. Vs the .19 cents by itself. Honestly I would give the fraction of the .19 cents back to have them ready to go. Most passengers are ready to go, or I wait 25 seconds max. That ends up being not enough to warrant "loving the wait time". See below.
Total
$21.29
Most of the time it is because the passenger requested me before they walk out assuming I am far away. Or when they are 6 floors up like this ride. I was at valet before they got in the elevator.
Thanks for the thorough explanation. Good stuff. I had no ide of the fractions
but you are forgetting that we make money on the duration while riding. So you make more money while transporting a customer than we do just sitting there.
Do you mean compared to the original ETA? That is a great point, and I hadn't considered that. However, looking at the rules, the answer seems to be a "yes."
The ETA displayed on the Uber app is an approximate and not guaranteed. It is based on the time the GPS determines the closest car will take to get to you. Then once you request one and as the driver gets closer, the ETA is continuously updated.
Generally, the drivers tend to arrive later, not earlier, compared to the initial ETA. This can be for weather and traffic. This can also be that the closest driver did not accept your request and it went to someone farther.
You are talking about arrival time for the destination. I think the poster was asking about arrival at the starting location. I think.
Do you mean upon pick up or drop off? If the driver arrives "early" and the rider isn't ready, yeah, you get charged. The meter starts to run. The clock starts depending on when the driver arrives.
The answer is yes... However, when you put it that way... yeah, that's kinda bullsh*t. I'd be mad too.
but that's compared to the announced arrival time. I don't think it's common for the driver to show up sooner than the GPS's expected time.
Maybe the driver forgot to start the trip. Hence it looked to the app that the driver was waiting for ever.
but then it must have worked out favorably for the rider. per minute fee is cheaper than actual driving time.
I was charged wait fee for on ward and return journey even when the driver was late. I was waiting at the door and got in as soon as they came. It seems is standard practice to cheat riders.
shame on Uber. Additionally, there is no way to contact them to discuss the issue.
I will not use Uber in future.
I meet the same situation，i was ready when I ordered the taxi（the waiting time shows 3 minutes），,however, the uber taxi takes more than 15 minutes to arrive ， the map shows it always around my location（from 1 minute、2 minute ，3 minutes to 1 minute）. The driver said he can not find the right place. The final charge is 5 pounds for 3 minutes trip and an extra 2 pounds for waiting time.
I meet the same situation，i was ready when I ordered the taxi（the waiting time shows 3 minutes）， however the uber taxi takes more than 15 minutes to arrive ， the map shows it always around my location（from 1 minute、2 minutes ，3 minutes to 1 minute）. The driver said he can not find the right place. The final charge is 5 pounds for 3 minutes trip and an extra 2 pounds for waiting time.
yea never hurts to contact uber, usually they get back to you pretty quick
you mean their bot sends you a canned message.
You guys should SHUT UP about wait time fees. My XL vehicle waiting on idle is VERY EXPENSIVE. The uber app DOES NOT start wait time at a certain speed, you have to be in a certain location. You ALSO ARE WASTING OUR TIME. I drive in ATL and things are tight so unless its raining or bad weather HAVE YOUR ASS OUTSIDE READY! ATL police will push us through or give us a ticket!
I am being serious. I wonder how much idling fee costs (besides your time, of course). Obviously it uses gas. I am curious what the expense is compared to a wait time fee.
I am sure some would argue you can turn your car off, but at airports and scuh, you definitely are not allowed to, so I empathize.
Jesus, take a pill. I hope to hell I never get you as a driver.
I am sure he is an angel in the car. let him vent on an online forum. That's what Internet is for. LOL.
huh. isn't there always a time component to the fare? come on. all fares based on distance and wait time.
no, no. there's a fee for "time" on Uber receipts, but not "wait time." That's a term we all used to use with taxis, huh.
It is likely that the driver accidentally stated he was at the location when he was still on the way. Maybe try contacting uber and see if they give you money back