Call Pax when you arrive?

I call as soon as I arrive because many pax aren’t even looking at the app while you’re driving up, so they don’t always know you’re there. I call and say “Is this Jeff? This is ----------, your Uber driver. I have arrived and waiting outside.” I also assume it helps them to come out quicker than if I did not.

If the surge is big enough I’ll try to secure the fare. I’ll still call and even multiple times if they’d ont answer(usually it’s post bar closing hours) If they are just taking too long and it’s still surging I’ll give up and try to find another. I don’t mind waiting during big surges because I drive XL and its common for me get $100 or more fare for short mileage. Of course, you never know.

Did you check yesterday? It was surging around 12-2pm in the daytime. It even surged last night after the bars from 1:45am until about 2:30am(Pb, gas lamp, hillcrest). The highest I saw was x3.6…I was surprised because it looked like the Saturdays when i first joined Uber… I was too lazy to make it out the house so I didn’t drive at all.

LOL. Yea I saw the surge at 12pm. I was thinking ,what the hell ? Thought it was Uber toying with us to get out and drive. But around 5 pm I got a request for a pick up at Liberty Station. Then it dawned on me. The afternoon surge was people going to Liberty Station for a beer fest.

I used to phone them. Since I stopped phoning my rating has gone up. I believe some customers like the Uber app because it doesn’t require a phone call, and they low rate drivers who call them.

They get a notification from the Uber app that I’ve arrived, but it may not trigger their attention. A text on the other hand gets their attention because when they receive a text they don’t know who it is from. So they hear the text come from their phone and they check it. “Oh, the Uber I ordered is here.”

Recently I started calling after accepting the XL ping. I Confirm their address, give the eta, and finally say:“Just take note that I can only carry up 6 passengers max.” Anything opposing that last statement gets a cancel. If all is good, I hit arrived when I’m about a minute away and start the trip after 30 sec waiting.

I tap the ‘arrive’ as soon as I’m pulling up. I put it in park and then send a text “Uber: I am waiting in front of XYZ [address].” If I don’t hear back or more than two minutes go by I call them.

I usually only call first if the pin seems to be in an odd place or the address provided is not specific.

We have a lot of college students in apartments that drag their feet. I have zero patience with them. I do tend to be more patient with a PAX coming from one of our larger oil and gas buildings as I realize the hail is often done as a meeting is wrapping up and they will most likely be going to the airport and they tend to always tip.

DON’T START THE TRIP til the pax are out and you’ve made an assessment. Once at least one of them is in you can start the trip. If you have to end it from there for a legit reason you can, but you will have to explain ‘why’ you didn’t go anywhere to get paid if the pax *****, so you have to have yer ducks in a row. Write down the incidents if you want to get paid.

EXCEPT… if you are driving for a guarantee, then I would argue you should use a different strategy. If you are ahead of your trips per hour that you need to fulfill, then I would be more than happy to wait quite a while. Why? Because under the guarantee, when you are moving you are reducing your net pay, so I would be more than happy to be on the clock and not moving. Unless you are at risk for not getting enough trips in, then wait them out. This would only be true when driving under a guarantee.

I hit arrive, and usually will give it a couple minutes if it’s a residence. If it’s in town, or a big apartment complex, I tell them the address I received and where I am waiting, and will usually say “I just want to make sure I have the correct location?”. This allows me an early contact, without being pushy, and shows I am trying to actually pick them up. Usually seems to work ok, but I probably spend more time waiting than others. I’ve had very few people never show up, or not get a cancellation fee. Most people know GPS often is not that accurate, and don’t mind the confirmation. If I haven’t received a text back, 2 minutes after my initial text (about the 4-5 minute mark after arrival, I will call, unless it’s late at night and the person is at a residence.

Do you get paid on many “No Shows”? The only thing worse than not getting paid after driving somewhere and waiting 5 minutes… would be if I had to wait 10 minutes and didn’t get paid.

I was getting paid on no shows, but only received one $5 this pay check. This week I am keeping a log of everything. Times I texted, arrived, called, etc. Uber knows! They see my interaction via my dedicated number. I see we all get played one way or another.

Several times a pay period. And twice I have had the pax cancel after ten minutes, and got paid for those too. Pay attention to the waybill though, if they are still a five star then they have a cancel still and then it may not be worth it to wait. In all cases I only got paid after hitting arrived and waiting.