Off Topic Driving for Lyft/Uber

[Eleven]

Tipping almost ensures better service. Starting a tab at the bar? Pay for the first round in cash and tip the bartender immediately. Your glass won't sit empty for long. Going out gambling? Throw the dice crew a toke bet right beside your first bet. They'll make sure you never forget your odds. Go out of your way for people and they'll go out of their way for you. Tip your driver and you'll get a better passenger rating. Better rating for you, better odds of being picked up faster. I don't like waiting for service, so I tip.

 

I thought the drivers didn't know who tips and who doesn't.  (I do, unless it's a very, very short ride.)

 

Shouldn't it be ensure? To ensure proper service?

 

 

I thought so too, but apparently they are interchangeable. The Googles told me so.

 

Insure and ensure were different spellings of the same word once upon a time.  "Insure" in the sense of "ensure" isn't quite archaic today, but it's definitely quaint.  But that backronym dates to when they were different spellings of the same word.

[Winston]

My company HQ are in Los Angeles. I uber everywhere when I go out there. For just a couple days it is cheaper and less hassle than renting a car. Also, who wants to drive in LA traffic??

 

It seems that uber fairs are the same there as they are in Columbus. The cost of living, however, most certainly is not the same as Columbus. I’m assuming uber doesn’t adjust their rates based on location.

 

So that makes me wonder... If Ink exclusively drives during surge pricing just to scrape up some bonus cash, what the hell are these drivers in LA getting out of it? It has to be between jobs to make ends meet, I guess?

[stuuuuuuuuu]

The tip is tied to the total for your ride.  At the end of the day I have a breakdown of every ride (Point A, Point B, time and mileage), the fare calculation for said ride, and any additional surge charges or tips.  

 

So I do know which riders gave me a tip as long as I remember the drop off / pick up locations.

[PASabreFan]

I tip when no one's watching and there's nothing in it for me. That's just how I am.

 

Just yesterday I pulled off the road and slipped a ditch-digger a twenty.

[Drunkard]

I tip when no one's watching and there's nothing in it for me. That's just how I am.

 

Just yesterday I pulled off the road and slipped a ditch-digger a twenty.

I do the same, only I pass out bath salts to the guys in orange jumpsuits who are picking up trash on the side of the highway. Helps to break up the monotony for inmates and guards alike. Plus it helps me feel like I'm doing my part.

[inkman]

I thought the drivers didn't know who tips and who doesn't. (I do, unless it's a very, very short ride.)

 

We don't know until several minutes have passed after the ride. So effectively we don't know.

 

Riders love telling me how many stars they are going to give me during the ride. They are nice and all but cash is the preferred method of appreciation.

 

Oh and don't tell me how big your tip is gonna be. Inevitably, it never lives up to the hype. A rider told me he was going to hook me up with a huge tip as I picked him up from a $60k/year membership country club, it was his wedding Btw, and he ended up giving me $7. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice tip but not really "I'm totally gonna hook you up with a huge tip" kinda tip.

[ubkev]

We don't know until several minutes have passed after the ride. So effectively we don't know.

 

Riders love telling me how many stars they are going to give me during the ride. They are nice and all but cash is the preferred method of appreciation.

 

Oh and don't tell me how big your tip is gonna be. Inevitably, it never lives up to the hype. A rider told me he was going to hook me up with a huge tip as I picked him up from a $60k/year membership country club, it was his wedding Btw, and he ended up giving me $7. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice tip but not really "I'm totally gonna hook you up with a huge tip" kinda tip.

Cash is King. Tip in cash whenever possible. No claiming it for taxes. The IRS can stuff it.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Cash is King. Tip in cash whenever possible. No claiming it for taxes. The IRS can stuff it.

 

Not so in Canada.

 

The mafia, sorry CRA, put in rules to include an amount as tip income ... doesn't matter if you get the tip, or not.  Hows about them apples..

[Eleven]

So, how much is Chz raking in on Dyngus Day surge pricing?  Endless shuttles between Central Terminal and West Seneca have to be somewhat lucrative, right?

[inkman]

I'm going to try to say this without coming across as xenophobic but for the 3rd time in 3 rides in SW Florida my Uber driver spoke no English. None. Not a word. I know Florida has an enormous Hispanic population but shouldn't a requirement be to at least enough of a vocabulary to communicate with the riders. The area I'm in is 90% affluent white people. This dude can't communicate with 90% of his riders.

[Ogre]

I'm going to try to say this without coming across as xenophobic but for the 3rd time in 3 rides in SW Florida my Uber driver spoke no English. None. Not a word. I know Florida has an enormous Hispanic population but shouldn't a requirement be to at least enough of a vocabulary to communicate with the riders. The area I'm in is 90% affluent white people. This dude can't communicate with 90% of his riders.

Or he’s pretending. Sounds like a Seinfeld Del Boca Vista episode is brewing down there....

[Eleven]

I'm going to try to say this without coming across as xenophobic but for the 3rd time in 3 rides in SW Florida my Uber driver spoke no English. None. Not a word. I know Florida has an enormous Hispanic population but shouldn't a requirement be to at least enough of a vocabulary to communicate with the riders. The area I'm in is 90% affluent white people. This dude can't communicate with 90% of his riders.

 

I had similar experiences on Siesta Key last week and on Delaware Avenue this week.  It's ok.  It is how a lot of people who don't speak English can make a buck or two.  Cf. a cab in NYC or Chicago.  Same thing.

 

I do have some questions about the Uber "algorithm" that I'm going to post tomorrow or Sunday.

[matter2003]

Sorry, I'm not tipping anyone who's making 15-30 bucks an hour. Especially someone who is voluntarily assuming the risks and entering into some form of self-employment. I'll reserve tipping for those who need tips just to get to minimum wage.

 

Where does it end? Tip anyone who performs a service for you and doesn't make a lot of money? The guy who pumps your gas? What about the cashier at the store? Commuter airline pilots don't make much. Maybe they should put out a jar.

 

You must be crazy to think these people are making $15-30 an hour.  They are making less than minimum wage once factoring in all their expenses and costs.  

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-wage-study/mit-study-that-found-low-pay-for-uber-drivers-to-be-revisited-idUSKCN1GF0RL

 

medium pre-tax profit is $3.37 an hour...far cry from the $30 you are talking about

[inkman]

You must be crazy to think these people are making $15-30 an hour. They are making less than minimum wage once factoring in all their expenses and costs.

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-wage-study/mit-study-that-found-low-pay-for-uber-drivers-to-be-revisited-idUSKCN1GF0RL

 

medium pre-tax profit is $3.37 an hour...far cry from the $30 you are talking about

I mentioned $30/hour. At peak rates, I've been able to make that. I only drive at peak hours. Some days, its probably closer to the $15 but only when it's super slow.

 

I'm sure there are people driving 60+ hours a week, during slow times and all that are representative of the article.

[PASabreFan]

You must be crazy to think these people are making $15-30 an hour.  They are making less than minimum wage once factoring in all their expenses and costs.  

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-wage-study/mit-study-that-found-low-pay-for-uber-drivers-to-be-revisited-idUSKCN1GF0RL

 

medium pre-tax profit is $3.37 an hour...far cry from the $30 you are talking about

I have no idea really. I was going by ink's estimates. But logic would suggest all of these people aren't driving for these companies (and lots of people want to) for $3 an hour.

 

How do you look at your expenses? The IRS says it costs .545 cents to drive one mile.

[Drunkard]

I have no idea really. I was going by ink's estimates. But logic would suggest all of these people aren't driving for these companies (and lots of people want to) for $3 an hour.

 

How do you look at your expenses? The IRS says it costs .545 cents to drive one mile.

Sounds right. 54.5 cents per mile is the current government rate for reimbursement whenever I have to drive my personal vehicle for work related matters. We get no reimbursement for regular commuting miles though, only from the office to work related locations and back to the office.

[inkman]

I'm sitting in the parking lot of a taco bell waiting for a rider. I picked her up from school and now she has an interview at the bell. I tried explain to her to just call another Uber after the interview and she told me "but dey charge me double". I tried to explain that not how it works but this kid has no idea how life works let alone Uber.

 

So he I sit, in a taco bell parking lot making 16 cents a minute waiting for a high School kid to finish her interview at taco bell so I can take her home. Why don't I just end the ride and move on with it? Well she left all her belongings in my jeep.

 

I skirted out of work early to make some extra $$$. Now this kid is jacking it all up. I just can't win...

Edited April 20, 2018 by inkman

[Sabres Fan in NS]

I'm sitting in the parking lot of a taco bell waiting for a rider. I picked her up from school and now she has an interview at the bell. I tried explain to her to just call another Uber after the interview and she told me "but dey charge me double". I tried to explain that not how it works but this kid has no idea how life works let alone Uber.

 

So he I sit, in a taco bell parking lot making 16 cents a minute waiting for a high School kid to finish her interview at taco bell so I can take her home. Why don't I just end the ride and move on with it? Well she left all her belongings in my jeep.

 

I skirted out of work early to make some extra $$$. Now this kid is jacking it all up. I just can't win...

 

Please, for heavens sake, just tell me that you DID NOT GO IN AND EAT!!

[Eleven]

Please, for heavens sake, just tell me that you DID NOT GO IN AND EAT!!

 

Depends on how bad he wants revenge on her, really.

[darksabre]

I'm sitting in the parking lot of a taco bell waiting for a rider. I picked her up from school and now she has an interview at the bell. I tried explain to her to just call another Uber after the interview and she told me "but dey charge me double". I tried to explain that not how it works but this kid has no idea how life works let alone Uber.

 

So he I sit, in a taco bell parking lot making 16 cents a minute waiting for a high School kid to finish her interview at taco bell so I can take her home. Why don't I just end the ride and move on with it? Well she left all her belongings in my jeep.

 

I skirted out of work early to make some extra $$$. Now this kid is jacking it all up. I just can't win...

I know it sucks but I guess chalk it up as a good deed, right?

[ubkev]

Go snag a beefy 5 layer burrito and a Mexican pizza. Maybe a double decker taco.

[inkman]

I know it sucks but I guess chalk it up as a good deed, right?

Yeah she's trying to quit cracker barrel and move to taco bell. I'm all for improving people's lives.

 

I violated my own rule and drove during nonpeak hours. There was some surging but I didn't end up in any zones to capitalize. Things were looking pretty bleak through 3 rides, $17 no tips for almost 2 hours of driving. My next ride tipped me $8 on a 5 dollar tab. There is hope for humanity.

[josie]

The last night in Nashville my friends all went out to hit up the honky tonk bars and such. I stayed in because I was so sick (cold hit me right before going on the trip) and cleaned the house up/took a nap on the couch with a movie. Honestly enjoyed myself way more than if I'd gone out.  

 

Well, about the time I popped my NyQuil and was headed to bed, two of them showed up, too drunk to open the door. Their Lyft driver had smoked them up on the way home- so they were wasted and stoned and freaking out because he walked them to the door. He saw me, waved and left- pretty sure he was just making sure their idiot a$$es got home safe/were at the correct address. 

 

Turns out he wasn't even their driver- they just hopped in the first Lyft they saw after ordering one. They tipped him 20 bucks... unfortunately they didn't even pay for the ride because it wasn't theirs (ride would've cost about 20-30 bucks). So while I'm pretty questionable on the whole "here, let me smoke up these two wasted girls on a Monday night" thing, I'm grateful he got them home safe even though they weren't his fare. Hope he made that money back somehow. 

 

We took Ubers/Lyfts all weekend- most were pretty great. Had a couple who were downright rude. 

 

You couldn't pay me enough money to be a Lyft/Uber driver in a party city. Between the antics and vomit and horrible traffic- not enough money in the world. 

Edited April 21, 2018 by josie

[inkman]

Sketch always shows up late night with booze. Thankfully, it's only happened to me a couple times and I uncomfortabley wiggled out of the scenarios. Middle aged women be horny yo.

[inkman]

Had my worst experience as a driver last night and the rider never got in the vehicle. I pull up to a popular bar in the 585, I immediately see a man wearing some sort of native American garb restraining a woman with a bear hug type move. He proceeds to drag her to my jeep. He's also with another woman who appears to be his spouse. The guy hops in my front seat to let his better half attempt to get drunk lady into my jeep. So the next 10 minutes is this woman trying to force her blacked out, unable to walk friend into my backseat. Old drunkie is having none of it. Like a cat knowing it's going to the vet splaying it's limbs to prevent crating, this woman was not getting in. I want out.

 

So stumbles finally has enough and sprints toward the bar. I see my window, it wasn't easy as I had to back onto Monroe Ave around midnight but I wasnt going to let that deter me. I hit cancel ride, with no charge to customer, flew onto Monroe, and sped down the side street adjacent to the bar. I love this job!!