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Uber's New Policy Fines Riders Who Are Two Minutes Late
Uber says it has revised some of its policies to better compensate its drivers. As part of which, the company is testing charging customers a fee if they make a driver wait for more than two minutes (current waiting time is five minutes). Furthermore, the taxi aggregator says it is changing the ride cancellation grace period from five minutes to two minutes, adding that the fees can range from $5 to $10, depending on your city. Our very own Logan Abbott aka Whipslash faced this issue today. Though he tells us that the company refunded his money after he emailed and filed a complaint. The Verge reports:The feature was built in response to drivers' complaints about waiting for passengers, Uber said. In a statement released to The Verge and TechCrunch, Uber noted that these updated terms would ensure that "the whole system runs more smoothly and the Uber experience improves for everyone." Reduced wait times and the ability to charge for idle time, as well as compensation if riders cancel after two minutes, obviously benefit drivers, earning them a few extra dollars and allowing them to move onto the next fare sooner. But how this will make the passenger experience smoother is unclear. Traffic, wrong turns, and faulty GPS all contribute to making pick-up times unreliable. This can leave passengers out in the cold, waiting for drivers to arrive. Uber explained that if a driver is more than five minutes late for an estimated arrival, users can cancel the ride with no penalty.
$5 to $10 for being a few minutes late? Yeah... No.
I'll call a cab or maybe Lyft...
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
If I miss my ride by 120 seconds, I have to pay $10 as an 'inconvenience fee'.
But if my ride misses me by 300 seconds, I get...start the "get a ride" process over for free?
What's good for the geese is good for the gander, Uber...if you're going to ding me $10 for being late, I want a $10 credit when your drivers are late.
It was a nice concept while it lasted. Now they're just another cab company.
Can't they at least show up on time??
SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
if a passenger is late by just TWO minutes... and let's face it, it can easily take two minutes to get from inside where it's safe from weather to the curb or parking lot outside... the passenger is charged a penalty and idle time to driver..
whereas when a driver is late by FIVE minutes... the only thing a passenger can do is cancel the ride.. why isn't uber or the driver paying that passenger's subsequent cab fare?
and.. DONT CALL UBER A TAXI as in TFS. taxis are regulated, their fee structures are approved by their local governing authorities and posted on the outside AND inside of the vehicles... while uber can (and does) change their fees and rates willie-nillie.
Who gets the money? If the driver gets even a fraction of it, this will lead to endless abuse and fraud. If Uber gets to keep it all, it will only lead to limited abuse and fraud.
And, oh yes, all the wonderful legitimate errors that can occur, for example when you have an apartment building surrounded by the same street on three sides. Where is the Uber driving going to appear? No one knows! Let's spin the Wheel of Fines to fine out what happens.
First, this is a new one. Calling Uber a "taxi aggregator". Is that from one of their legal filings or something? It's disingenuous at best.
Second, isn't this just setting up a adversarial relationship between driver and passenger? It looks like it to me. How is Uber going to decide who was late? How are they going to keep people from gaming an already gamable system? Start charging both parties for acting like a dispute resolution company?
Why call for a ride if you aren't ready to GO? How long does it take to get outside from inside, all of 15 seconds? People who are habitually late are the absolute worst. You aren't so god damn important that the rest of the world should wait for you, and if you were you wouldn't be using Uber. When a driver is waiting for you to make an appearance, they aren't making any money. It's only fair that after a certain amount of idling, you should be charged a penalty for wasting their time, in order to encourage you to not be so selfish the next time around. There are always circumstances beyond your control, sure, so maybe give one freebie a year. But when it becomes clear it was just your lack of time management skills or respect for you fellow man, you should pay the price.
Didn't Uber just win a legal case stating the people who drive for them are not their employees but freelancers?
If they're not Uber employees why is Uber trying to compensate these people for an insignificant wait time for someone hailing one of their cabs?
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Now they need some sort of PING so on a crowded street the car and the rider can identify each other.
"Uber explained that if a driver is more than five minutes late for an estimated arrival, users can cancel the ride with no penalty."
How Uber penalize the driver and refund it to the passenger when the driver is late? Turn about being fair game and all right?
I've never used one of these services, but aren't they tied to smartphones? Can't the app on the phone tell you how far away, and how many minutes away, the driver is? Wouldn't one be able to look at the phone and see that the driver is about to turn onto your street so you can then head out the door?
I don't blame Uber for charging for making drivers wait. Time is money and if they are waiting on a passenger then they can't be out driving someone else.
I stopped taking Uber. The drivers in the Bay Area complain and are confrontational. I was paying 3x fair and my driver said they cut his pay. I was like "this is 3x" and he didnt care.
Does anyone outside the US care about Uber-related news? I consider this company to be the most hyped crap that came out of the US since the Internet bubble.
Our whole society is held up by jerks that don't realize when you say you will meet someone at a specific time you should try to be there beforehand. This fine for not being realistic about what time you will be ready is something I think should be emulated wherever possible, to teach people a lesson and train them to be good.
I don't even hail an Uber until I'm standing where it will pick me up! You shouldn't be able to "hold" an Uber by calling it well before you are even ready...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Sounds rediculous and expensive to use Uber.
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
users can cancel the ride with no penalty.
Seems to me that if the rider has to pay if the driver waits even two minutes then "allowing" the rider to cancel after 5 minutes of no-show isn't equitable. Shouldn't the rider get credit for the time that they have been kept waiting? And, although I acknowledge 2 minute accuracy might be hard for a driver in traffic, is it fair to require 2 minute accuracy with financial penalty for the rider but only five minute accuracy with no real financial penalty for the driver? Particularly when any half decent computer system from a multi-billion dollar company like Uber could be updating the customer (and corporate) of exact arrival times on a continuous basis.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
It's a taxi service, subsidized by venture cash that's starting to run out. If they're going to force you to tip and tack on fees, it's the same as a taxi.
Once they put other transport options out of business, Uber will add more and more service charges, service fees, fuel surcharges, etc. Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
I didn't get a pop-up at 5 minutes asking me if I wanted to cancel. NOR could I see on the display how many minutes ago I requested the driver.
And my driver took a wrong turn coming to me making him even later.
And my driver took 3-4 minutes AFTER the trip before he closed it. Did I pay for that too?
My Lyft app looks awfully attractive about now.
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
Haven't these guys read Freakonomics? This is just going to cause **more** people to be late.
The last 4-5 times I've used Uber, the driver/app has told me that they're arriving, and I've gone outside to wait. Then I've continued to be outside waiting for another 3-5 minutes before the driver shows up. I'm not sure if this is the app screwing up, or the driver declaring they're there early, but it's annoying in the middle of the rain and even more so in the middle of Canadian winter,
I figure, if you're going to penalize me for being 2+ minutes late (which can easily be the time it takes to transit from inside while ready to wherever the Uber driver is), I should get a credit on my ride when the driver makes me wait.
Cutting the cancellation grace period to under two minutes while also cancelling the wait grace period seems like a good way to fuck customers over. If something comes up and I know I'm going to take a few more minutes than I thought when I initially requested the ride, now I can't cancel nor can I wait it out without getting screwed.
While I've mostly stopped using the service because the UberX drivers are by and large bad drivers that don't know where they're going, this garbage prompted me to uninstall the app.
Keep on knockin'
https://robbiecrash.me
Why call for a ride if you aren't ready to GO? How long does it take to get outside from inside, all of 15 seconds?
Ask your mom, or your grandmother, if she is still around.
Better still, wait under ten or twenty years or so and a day when it is wet, cold and icy, with a bitter wind, and see how long it takes you to get out that door.
The driver should not get 5 minutes grace time if it is only two minutes for the rider. If the driver is more than 2 minutes late, the rider should get a discount.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
They had better fix their software first that sends drivers a block away from where you are waiting.
Charging extra for the privilege of flawed service isn't going to work at all.
Greed is the root of all evil.
Let me schedule a pickup at a certain time and I'll be okay with this fee. I'm tired of playing the "oh it's time to request my ride" game when I'm checking out of a hotel. First world problems to be sure, but still an opportunity for Uber or their competitors.
Ha ha ha. What do you think will happen when Uber has put many of the cab companies out of business? That's right, they will jack up the prices to the level of current taxi prices. Leaving you in a car with substandard insurance, drivers without criminal background checks, no ability to get a ride in "less desirable" areas, and no ability to get rides at hours that the Uber drivers deem undesirable. At the same or greater price than current taxis.
Right now taxis provide a service that has been regulated by local governments for scores of years. It's close to being a ****public utility****. They run 24 hours a day, and all areas of a city have a chance to get service. It's a system that works remarkably well, considering the complexity and logistics that are required.
In addition, taxi companies maintain the cars, do criminal background checks on drivers, and provide sufficient insurance in case of injury in an accident, and require drivers to take rides - like crappy little grocery store rides a few blocks from your house - that many drivers would not take if they had a choice.
Uber and Lyft are "disruptive technology" that, through the magic of tons of venture capital - and shoving most of the uncompensated cost of operation onto the driver - have been able to grab up to a 1/4 of the taxi business.
Local US governments have been regulating taxi companies with strict rules for generations, but suddenly are strangely unwilling to regulate these "ridesharing" businesses.
When you are unable to get a ride to work from a "bad area" of town, at an inconvenient time, or have to pay twice or three times the usual rate for a ride - don't blame the taxi companies. Blame customers' shortsightedness, and local government's failure to see the longer term picture.
You, for one, welcome your new Uberlords!
because I have a reasonable expectation that the driver has commercial insurance, and if I get in a wreck I won't be on the hook for my medical bills.
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Well the solution to a driver reporting present early (and from what I know about the system, that's automated through the app anyhow) is reviews.
Rate them a 1.
a driver with a rating below a point, I think it's something like 4.6, will be fired.
"Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
Many times I have had an uber driver who simply can't find me. They will text me and ask where I am and I will say exactly where I am referring to some giant landmark that I am standing under. I then watch them drive around a bit hundreds of feet away, and they text/call again.
Where I live now had all the uber drivers looking for my house about 300 feet away. The cab companies make the same mistake. So I just call and wander down to where I know they think I will be.
Obviously their mapping software isn't very good, but why can't the uber drivers just look to see where my "dot" is? I could see some of these drivers pulling this sort of crap hoping to charge me a "late" fee. Or they might just make this mistake for whatever reason they are making it now and charge me a late fee.
So unless it is me just not ready for when the uber car come then Uber could rapidly turn people off.
Also in order for this to be reasonable they need to get their "1 minute" to last less than 5 minutes. Because I would say that on average I wait 1 minute that lasts well in excess of 3 minutes and often pushing into 5 or more minutes.
How about we get to charge Uber a late fee when they say that the cab will be there in a certain amount of time and they are wrong by a sizeable amount?
Assuming the cab icons on the app aren't made up crap, then I watch my uber driver often take some of the crappiest routes to get to me. It can't just be the routing as they will go a block beyond me and then sometimes circle that block. Or get stopped at stop signs for a minute or more when there is no traffic in the neighbourhood.
I disagree with the "drivers that don't know where they are going part", how can you drive around a city for a year and not get to know the fucking layout. They are floundering around so that they can charge you more. I had one Uber driver who intentionally tried to take the long way around on the ring road, I was like "WTF dude, turn left, not right". Had another who cruised at 60kph the whole way, at the time I thought he was just driving safe or trying to save fuel or something, till I got the bill and it was 20% higher than I usually pay on that trip. So yeah, I use Uber, it's a handy way to get home after a piss up, but if there is any alternative I use that instead.
There are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third is statistics.
Pizza delivery drivers were killing people in their haste to avoid their wages being docked for being late with deliveries?
Don't just stand there, get that other dog!
In my area, "drivers that don't know where they are going" is a fair assessment. I live in central Florida, and I've had lots of drivers who were on vacation with their family, and earning some extra $ at night. Personally, I think it's kind of neat because they ask about things to do in the area that they would otherwise not hear about, and I get an interesting conversation about where they live.
That said, the drivers are almost always extremely kind. I typically take them a different route than the GPS recommends because I know the local traffic patterns better. They never argue and have always accepted the rout I recommend. I's longer distance-wise, but several minutes quicker.
I'm sure I'm not the only Uber driver/Slashdot.org patron to reply but here goes my comment anyway.
There are 1000s of people (especially on weekends) within a 3 block radius that are ready to go right that minute. We don't get paid till you get in the car. Why not call when you're ready?
This 2-minute rule is for:
- all of the 'Woo' girls who need a little longer to get dressed or Kardashianed.....
-all the wanna-be Big Shots who have never had anyone personally wait on them. "Call my Uber driver, and have him wait downstairs ready when I arrive". Stop showing off catching a ride in a Prius.
-the people who live in highrises and don't factor in the time it takes to travel down the single, working, slow-ass-elevator.
-the indecisive people who don't know where they are going exactly but think by the time the Uber gets there you will have made a decision- never works out that way.
Do not think that Uber drivers are the problem without understanding that some passengers are also.
And if your feathers are ruffled....good. You brought this on yourself.
We drive 15 minutes to come pick you up and then not we wait 5-10 minutes for you to come out the door, time is money and it is disrespectful to anyone to make them wait for you, however as a driver it is costly. 2-10 min wait per ride all day long adds up to lost money a lot of it.
I spend $30 on Uber on most mornings. Yes, sometimes I take more than 2 minutes to get to the Uber. They don't seem to mind once they see that I'm a big fare.
I will stop riding Uber when they implement this.
For what it's worth, the Uber app itself, depending on where the driver is at that point in time, sends the signal to the client that they are "Arriving". The driver only sends the "arrived" signal when they're in place. If the geolocation for the arrival is off, the driver can't "arrive", so they can't pre-tick the arrival button. Only Uber's app does that.
Estimated arrivals are also calculated by their app, with no real insight into traffic patterns or spot traffic events.
I drove for a bit and let's just say, the whole system is crap. It's crap on the drivers, especially when you factor in the beyond-the-pale entitledness of certain passengers (one gave me a poor rating as I wouldn't allow them in the vehicle with an open container of alcohol, which even with me as sober as a judge, would land me in jail). It's also getting crap for the riders. That flows straight from them treating the drivers like crap, so the good ones are getting out and leaving it to the crap ones. And I say this in an area that's actually pretty decent for Uber. I'd hate to see how bad it's gotten in larger metroplexes