Once I called the pax to tell her I have to turn around to come back to her and it would be a few minutes because there was traffic. She said okay. I exited the freeway, got back on to the point I could not do anything but sit in traffic until her exit and then…cancel. So yes, I called her back and *****ed at her, which I never would have done otherwise. She basically lured me into a position to be stuck in traffic out of my way for her, when she had no intention of waiting. That’s really underhanded.
Hell yes! I’ve told paxs I’m not willing to go to their destination. If the destination is an area I don’t like or will result in dead miles on the return, I tell the pax I’m not interested. The good news is there’s always another shmuck driver just down the road who doesn’t know better.
The longest fare I’ve had was about 150 miles one way with no chance of a return fare. Total fare was about $215.
I would not even THINK about doing that at today’s X rates.
I definitely always check now. I know we are not supposed to ask destination, so I make like I am just calling to inform them that, though it will look like I’m driving away, I actually am turning around, which will take a few minutes, and are they going to be concerned about missing a flight? They usually tell me at that point whether or not they are going to the airport or where. And then I can decide if I really do want to turn around or advise them to cancel and re-request for a closer driver.
Last night I got a ride way out in East Bum****. Deadheading back on the highway and kept my app on hoping to get a ride back. Got several pings and for all I just missed the correct offramp. Original 3-5 min pickup turned into 8-10 min for each and all were $4.00 rides.
My experience is that Select does not tip more than X, but the higher rates make it worth driving. Only way I take X calls anymore is if it’s slow and they’re less than 5 minutes away.
Tonight I just started backing into my garage and got a ping 11 minutes away (but in an affluent neighborhood) … so I sent him a text message to verify the address (Uber app’s been buggy in ATX with SXSW lately) … and headed out to p/u pax. Good thing I texted pax to verify address, Uber had the p/u more than 1 mile away. In either case, pax was only going a few miles down the road to p/u his car at some restaurant … when we got to the destination he asked what the fare was (showed $13 on my phone) pax remarked “oh, that’s not fair” … and handed me a $20 *the perks of driving Select; had this been an X rider he would have been complaining that the fare was too high
So I just got home and I noticed tonight right before i usually go offline that the surge is starting. Of course with horrible timing a regular calls and i get to them while it’s 1.5x. Keep in mind my market has been capped at 3.0x for some time.
I keep a Garmin in my car. Generally speaking, the Garmin shows arrival times that are 10 to 15 percent longer than the interfaced Uber/Google maps. Uber is notorious for time-shaving when estimating. But when I saw 19 minutes, I didn’t even both to cross-check it on Garmin. 19 minutes was an immediate NFW for me.
I’ve had requests of over 30 mins. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN UBER! But yeah, the time estimates are totally screwed up. The majority of the time I’ll accept and 8 minute ETA and it shoots immediately up to 11 or 12 minutes, but occasionally I’ll get pings saying 10 minutes and I know full well it will only take 5 minutes to get there.
Peak hour (4pm-6pm) around the city is a whole other story, a 10 minute ping can easily be 20 minutes. Again, not going to happen. I’ve had some shocking acceptance rates in the last couple of months, but so far no word from Uber.
I get cancelled en-route all the time… usually very quickly into the call. I drive a Benz, so, for me at least, it has nothing to do with the car. (maybe they don’t like my smiling face?)
A lot of cancels are new users trying to see how the system works. Others are just mistakes.
I jump on everything. I jump on everything because the long ones offered far-in-between and even then I will take them!!! take the money & the fares! Your acceptance rate will look good and so will the payout…it pays for itself!!I love my job and your next 15 min ping could be your fav pax who gives you a generous five star rating! The fares that look bleak in the beginning, usually turns out to be bright in the end
I was going to pick up an xl ride after a concert, it was about 10 minutes away, but I was goi g there anyways so might as well get a fast ride. About 3 minutes out, they cancelled, I assume they found someone closer. Within 1 minute I got a 2x surge ping that ended up being an $80+ fare. Ended up with @55 after uber fees for about an hour worth of travel time to their house and back to my home, so worked out great. You never know what you will get, just got to go
For the last 2 months I’ve been averaging twice any guarantee offered. For every ride I drive a little bit further for, only 1 in 10 haven’t been worth it, the majority have all been good fares. Now I know the good areas and where to go so that plays a big part. And I am playing the surges so I make up in travel time with the surge fare.
I normally only accept those of I am heading in that direction. I don’t accept pings of more than 5 minutes in the opposite direction.
When you know the areas I think it makes a big difference since you have a good idea where you will get a good fare or not. Generally it doesn’t make sense to drive far for a ride but my point was said with me heading in that direction. The lower rates have really helped my earnings as it surges a lot more now and I can do more earnings with less gas and wear and tear.