Nothing wrong with dissuading people from the Uber life

Drivers Advice, Experiences
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#1

Those three weeks where newbs happily lap up every conceivable trip to find out if they can make a living of it, it’s like writing Uber a $700 check. Direct transfer from the poorest to the richest, can’t blame me for trying to prevent it.

Uber’s a bad scene. Informed comment on it is going to be of a negative flavor. And the Uber-haters don’t even say you can’t make fair money driving Uber. Just that a significant portion, a plurality of drivers probably don’t.

If circumstance forces you to drive for Uber more than you’d like to, you have every excuse. You need the cash. So drive without shame. But we can’t stop advising people with a choice not to make this one.

#2

Actually i didn’t make much effort at all. And did you notice i didn’t have much positive to say about Uber either? Just wondering what kind of idiot that has no affiliation with Uber, would spend so much time and effort trying to discourage others.

#3

The people that are disgruntled are the ones trying to make this a full time gig. If you try and make this a full time gig your not gonna profit much. But part timing this is quite perfect as it eliminates some heavy costs (because you have a FT job that covers most of it).

#4

The only thing negative I might say to newbies is to avoid taking out loans and leases. I don’t there’s anything wrong with trying out uber/lyft part time, and purchasing the cheapest vehicle possible.

#5

Former drivers have valid opinions and valuable experience, you aren’t the sole arbiter of what’s relevant and/or useful.

This exact same thing happens on a forum where CSRs hang out. We either like Uber or hate it and the two sides clash constantly. One side bashes the other for being too negative, they return fire asking who are they to tell anyone what to post on the boards. Eh. Live and let live.

#6

It reminds me of telling my then 16 year old daughter that a puppy was not a good idea… it would live 12-14 years and make life hard when she wants to rent an apartment or travel… that it was
better to wait until she knew her life was stable to give the pet a good home.

#7

I actually have done that with past employers that I left, I hung around the WAH forum for that company to post and offer advice. Bashing isn’t productive, I’ll agree there, but sharing experience and advice is useful even if I’m not with the company any longer. With at home companies it’s more like what is the management like, how is communication, what are the expectations, is pay good, etc. Most don’t tell you until the interview what the pay is.

#8

If you are one of the brain-dead that can’t figure out that Uber is a multi-billion dollar company preying on the inexperienced and uneducated while making themselves stinking rich by using deceptive marketing practices, then by all means, continue to the flames.

#9

It’s comes down to what you mean by “Making Money”. If you mean, making a profit, NO. No one is making a profit and anyone thinking so is foolishly kidding themselves. You are however converting the depreciation and destruction of your personal vehicle into cash.

#10

I would give you a serious answer but it is obvious you aren’t really looking for it. You’ve made up your mind that you are the one. If you are truly interested in a real rebuttal, by all means, correct me and I’ll give you the real answer.

#11

That’s a good point, we never know what is around the corner when it comes to Uber and the whole ride share industry. But those who started driving 3 years ago when the company started didn’t know either. True they’ve seen the rates constantly decline but even someone who started a year ago could have made the value of their car and then some.

#12

There should be NO NEED for a special strategy to “work” the system to make money. It’s simple. Every driver should be able to make money if rates were reasonable. If not, something is wrong. It shouldn’t be just a handful of drivers who have figured out ways around the system.

#13

This is a genuine question. Where do you get the $2/mile minimum from Uber recovery number? AAA has done a survey since 1950 and claim the cost (depreciation, insurance, maintenance) average 59.2 cents for sedans. What additional costs do people need to consider to get to the $2/mile?

#14

My car is 6 years old. It was in perfect condition. It breaks my heart. In the 2 months of weekend driving, I’ve gotten 2 huge door dings where there were none (caused by careless passengers opening into objects), ruined floor mats from tracking in snow, mud, and who knows what else, a broken seat belt cover, spilled liquids on my interior cloth seats, and now my automatic sliding doors are starting to falter from excessive use. It’s not NORMAL wear and tear. It is not worth destroying my car for the paltry cash I get from Uber.

#15

OK i’ll respond to this one last issue for you because maybe you’ve been under a rock. There are two ways to drive and come out ahead. Either drive only when it’s surging or drive the guarantee rates.