PC Uber Alles
By Mitch Berg
Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:
I’ve used the Uber ride-share app. I like it. Uber sent me an email to reassure me that they were standing up against hate, in accordance with their community guidelines. Here’s what the community guidelines say about discrimination:
“DiscriminationUber has a zero tolerance policy towards discrimination of any kind. This means you will lose access to your account if you are found to have discriminated against drivers or other riders based on their race, religion, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, sex, marital status, gender identity, age or any other characteristic protected under applicable law.” (Emphasis added.)
Their company, their rules; but I don’t think their standards give them a basis to deactivate anybody’s account based on marching in a permitted parade in compliance with the terms of a federal court order. It’s creeping totalitarianism. We won’t do business with people whose opinions we don’t like.Ritual posturing. Virtue signaling. Annoying. Enough to switch to Lyft?
Joe Doakes
I switched to Lyft for many other reasons – the rates are competitive, they screen their drivers better (and pay them better to boot).
But if I wanted another reason, I got one.
August 23rd, 2017 at 9:19 am
I’ve been driving Uber for 6+ months. A couple months ago, I learned that I didn’t HAVE to accept every ride request that came into my phone. That made driving a little more pleasant. Uber only sends you a politely worded scold email suggesting that higher ride acceptance ratings are better. If you accept a ride request and then cancel it, that counts against you. If you do that too frequently, they can cancel your driver account.
Uber used to show the driver the address from where the ride request was originating. They stopped that a few months ago, due to certain areas of cities from where drivers would not accept ride requests, those passengers having a hard time getting a ride. However, most of the time(don’t ask, the driver app can be flaky with consistently showing certain things), the driver app still shows a map area of a several hundred yard wide circle from where the ride request is originating. Since I know Minneapolis and the surrounding suburbs well enough, I can still be discriminating in which ride requests I choose to accept. This allows me to not accept ride requests from the 3 block long parking lot that occurs Friday and Saturday nights, otherwise known as “Lagoon Ave from Fremont to Hennepin”. It also allows me to stay away from the mess known as “Hennepin Ave from 4th St to 10th St”. And it allows me to stay away from the 4th Precinct, and certain areas of Brooklyn Center. Some say I am hurting myself by not accepting rides, but there is plenty of demand in other (better) parts of town.
I haven’t signed up for Lyft yet. Uber keeps me plenty busy. If the Uber scandals end up taking the company down, then I’ll sign up for Lyft. They do pay better, but it’s not a whole lot better. They also have some of the same driver complaints in terms of “the company took too large of a share of the ride fare/fees” that Uber does.
August 23rd, 2017 at 9:47 am
Lyft? And I was just getting comfortable with Uber, although I did notice that lately drivers cannot seem to find exactly where I am and Bill just offered an explanation, thanks!
August 23rd, 2017 at 2:00 pm
JPA, if you are having problems with drivers finding you, but not with getting drivers to accept a request, that’s different. There are certain areas that for some reason, Google Maps and Waze have problems pinpointing the pickup location. Using a specific address as your location, instead of dropping the pin where you are, is almost always a better choice as well. Say you were at 3127 45th Ave S, Google and Waze know exactly where that is. If you drop the pin, we see something like 3115-3145 45th St S. Then we have to hunt and hope that you know what kind of car and license plate to look for, and you’re there, ready to be picked up.
If it is that you have to wait a long time to get a ride request accepted, then unfortunately, you may be out of luck due to where you want to get picked up
August 23rd, 2017 at 2:09 pm
I drive for both Lyft and Uber. Both are now politically correct – to the point where Lyft is partnering with the Southern Poverty Law Center to “fight” intolerance. Why management doesn’t recognize that SPLC is itself inherently biased is a sign of their large bubble.
BTW dropping pins is notoriously inaccurate. I’ve had people drop them as far as a couple miles away from their actual location.
August 23rd, 2017 at 2:29 pm
Bill, indeed, no issues getting accepted, but hate waiting for the ride and guiding them to the correct spot. Uber app will not let me enter an exact address. It always switches to a different one that is close by, even though the address I am trying to enter is the main building on campus. There is definitely something wrong with the app.
August 23rd, 2017 at 5:18 pm
BillC and MtkaMoose;
I see an awful lot of cars with either Uber or Lyft stickers (or both) on them. This leads me to believe that there are too many drivers.
Are you guys actually making any money?
August 24th, 2017 at 6:55 pm
I have been really spotty with driving for the last month (life and a pulled muscle in my back that made it painful to breathe, let alone move, got in the way). But with 2 exceptions, I pretty consistently gross $20/hr. Since it’s a part time side-gig for me, I’m not anal about deducting EVERY SINGLE vehicle expense from my gross. I figure deducting the cost of gas from my gross total every night is enough. I made $24/hr gross on St Pat’s day Saturday night. With the driving I have done in August, I have noticed a bit more down time waiting for pings, but I have also been more selective in which pings I take (I don’t accept requests that are 15 minutes or 10 miles away if I’m out in the outer suburbs…10 minutes/7 miles if I am closer to Mpls/StP). I expect it to pick back up next month after labor day when summer vacations are over and the U is back in session. I participate in an online posting forum (https://uberpeople.net/forums/Minneapolis/) and several people did really well this past weekend. We’re not too badly oversaturated yet. A larger problem for drivers is Uber’s up front pricing. I’m still not completely sure how that works out, but from what I’ve read, it reduces fare for the passenger, Uber keeps the same cut, and the driver gets less than they used to.
August 24th, 2017 at 6:57 pm
Incomplete thought:
But with 2 exceptions, when I average the money made in a night across the hours worked that night, I pretty consistently gross $20/hr each night I drive.
August 24th, 2017 at 7:51 pm
Thanks, Bill.
$20 an hour for a part time gig is damn good. Considering the last PT gig that I had (Menards Floor Coverings & Hardware), I was only at $12 when I left in 2010, it’s a bonanza.
August 25th, 2017 at 8:20 am
I tell other people who ask about it, “There are lots of other part time jobs out there that are much less pleasant and don’t pay nearly as much. Like anything in retail or food service.”
My wife works at GameStop part time. She makes $9/hr and has to deal with all sorts of unpleasant customers. Off the top of my head:
1) Entitled black women who get pissed off at my wife over how little GS will offer for 4 year old PS3/Xbox 360 games. She’s not setting the prices, she’s just reading the computer screen that shows what Corporate decides. Go call corporate’s 1-800 customer service number. (No she cannot say that, she can only say this is what the computer says)
2) People who try to shoplift (this is a weekly occurrence).
3) Somali men who refuse to talk to her because she is a woman.
4) Asshole bratty teens who aren’t 17 and want to buy the latest M rated game.
If I got a job there, I wouldn’t last my first day because I would not put up with that crap.
In 550+ rides, I have only had 1 negative experience personality-wise with Uber. And he still tipped me $11 for a 2 mile run from DT Mpls to a bar on Washington/Broadway.