Uber Eats has been wearing two different masks lately. In its United States market, there has been lots of favorable buzz, such as new features, but in Uber Eats Japan, the drivers are tricking the company. Curious? Read on.
Talk of the town
As you may have read here and in other ridesharing forums, the compensation for Uber Eats drivers isn’t that high. So, in Japan, some drivers are following this strategy of rejecting new orders to gamble on an opportunity to win a “jackpot” from another order.
Apparently, this gimmick started on digital devices. A few days after last New Year, around 50 people on motorcycles and bicycles were lined up somewhere in Shibuya, Tokyo. Those people were mostly Uber Eats drivers, huddled together and tinkering on their smartphones, waiting for a “whale” to appear.
“If you wait in front of this particular ramen restaurant and keep ignoring delivery requests, there is a high probability that you will catch a ‘whale’,” an online post stated.
While the post is clearly not an Uber official, the “whale” was referring to a single high-paying delivery job they got after a message on X saying, “I’ll show you how to catch a whale!”
It works this way: When someone places their food order, Uber Eats automatically sends the delivery location and rewards the delivery person based on their location.
But the twist is that the delivery person can choose whether or not to accept or decline the job. If declined, Uber Eats will offer the delivery to another person nearby. According to media reports, the rewards can reach several thousands of yen.
As for how this gamble started, the changing algorithm of Uber Eats is to be blamed. However, those drivers who fell into the trap said their intention was never to punish the company, its customers, and its restaurant affiliates.
New features on Uber USA
Before you can even read about them on ridesharing media, Uber Eats’s official newsroom has introduced the Advantage and Standard Modes, the former of which rewards drivers for providing reliable service to riders.
Here’s how it works. When drivers accept more trips and cancel fewer trips, most of those who achieved Advantage Mode can earn 20 percent more per hour than drivers who are still in Standard Mode.
According to the Uber blog, the program is live now in cities such as Austin, Kansas City, Nashville, Reno, and Tampa. On February 25th, it is launching in Albuquerque, Birmingham, Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Orlando, Tulsa, and so much more. On February 28th, there will be more participating cities, such as Atlanta, Cleveland, Indianapolis, New Orleans, St. Louis, and more.
Uber Eats x Serve Robotics
More delivery robots will work for Uber Eats in Miami in the next weeks, ridesharing media reported.
Via Serve Robotics, a tech firm that specializes in this field, deliveries will be carried out in partnership with Shake Shack and local pizza shop Mister O1 Extraordinary Pizza in Miami Beach and the Brickell neighborhood. Previously, the company’s partner was the trendy burger chain Shake Shack.