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Uber Glitch Stops Payments To Drivers, Prices Surge (sandiegoreader.com)

Uber is still trying to fix a glitch that's been stopping its drivers from collecting the money they've earned for several days. An anonymous reader writes: One Uber driver says the problem's lasted over a week, and he's owed more than $1,300. "They've been continually telling us that it would be corrected within 24 hours," he told a Bay Area news station. "We still can't access the money.... We're in a situation where for a lot of us we have bills every day, we pay tolls every day, we pay gas every single day."

Now the San Diego Reader reports the issue "is forcing San Diego drivers off the road," with the shortage of drivers triggering surge pricing throughout the entire region as much as triple the usual rate. Surge pricing is also hitting riders in Dallas, according to another Uber driver's tweet, who complains "It's a shame that a $48 billion 'tech' company can't get it together.

In a statement promising they'd still pay all their drivers, Uber acknowledged their payment system was still broken, "and we sincerely regret any inconvenience."

"The glitch in the payment system also means that trip and safety issues are unable to be reported, either by the passenger, or the driver," notes the San Diego Reader, adding that the city's Uber's drivers "continue to decline to work, either staying off the road of switching to another ride-sharing service."

90 comments

  1. What Really Happened by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Bob Slydell: So we just went ahead and fixed the glitch.

    Bill Lumbergh: Great.

    Dom Portwood: So, uh, Milton has been let go?

    Bob Slydell: Well, just a second there, professor. We, uh, we fixed the *glitch*. So he won't be receiving a paycheck anymore, so it'll just work itself out naturally.

    Bob Porter: We always like to avoid confrontation, whenever possible. Problem is solved from your end.

  2. Uh oh Uber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Turns out they are trying to roll over the money so they don't have to admit they're overdrawn.

  3. They lost how much? by NewtonsLaw · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Can someone remind me again just how much Uber lost last year?

    Is this a "technical" hitch or simply a lack of money?

    1. Re:They lost how much? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Can someone remind me again just how much Uber lost last year?

      *

      $2.8 billion.

      Which if nothing else, proves P.T. Barnum was correct about the birth rate of suckers.

    2. Re: They lost how much? by reanjr · · Score: 1

      In this case, it's only a handful of fantastically wealthy suckers.

    3. Re: They lost how much? by astrofurter · · Score: 0

      And they're not really suckers... 'cuz they're just squandering QE money Uncle Sam have them for free.

    4. Re:They lost how much? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Is this a "technical" hitch or simply a lack of money?

      They still have over $7bn cash on hand unless their CFO did something naughty in the past 2 months.

    5. Re: They lost how much? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      +1 Informative

    6. Re:They lost how much? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which if nothing else, proves P.T. Barnum was correct about the birth rate of suckers.

      The irony of that claim is that PT Barnum had most likely never said such a thing.

  4. Uber is a charlie foxtrot. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    My dad - who's retired - drives for Uber occasionally to make some extra spending money, and he's been angrily bitching to me about the problems with Uber all week long.

    I would bet that the "engineers" at Uber pushed out code updates that weren't thoroughly tested. I would bet that the updates were pushed out to drivers during hours when the drivers were working and without the drivers' explicit consent. I would also bet that Uber's "engineers" don't have a single fucking clue about the importance of rolling back changes when the changes don't go as planned.

    1. Re:Uber is a charlie foxtrot. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think Uber is about to stiff its drivers completely. Chances are this is what we are seeing already, but the folks at Uber are trying to blame it on software problems to keep drivers bringing in cash as long as possible before they all realize they've been duped. Next it's probably gonna be "sorry, but due to market pressures, we are closing our doors - thanks for all the cash!"

    2. Re: Uber is a charlie foxtrot. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If uber isn't paying switch to lyft. If they want to treat you like a contractor, take advantage of the one perk.

    3. Re:Uber is a charlie foxtrot. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Naw, this is just the new ML algorithm that found a more optimal income-stream path.

      So nothing so sinister.

    4. Re:Uber is a charlie foxtrot. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Surely that would be criminal? If a company is insolvent, it has a duty to state so, and to start bankruptcy procedures.

      (Not saying that I could never imagine uber to do anything criminal... )

    5. Re: Uber is a charlie foxtrot. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Uber drivers need to come up with a plan to combat this. I suggest:

      Drive for both Uber and Lyft.

      Pick up Uber passengers, and explain the situation to them.

      Tell them that you'll happily drive them to their destination, but they need to use the Lyft app instead of Uber.

      If they don't comply, then apologize, and ask them to leave your car.

      You'll be helping everyone involved by doing something like this. It doesn't have to be Lyft, either. Use your favorite online taxi service. I'm just suggesting Lyft because that's the only other one that I know.

  5. Prices surged? by mschuyler · · Score: 2

    You mean they're not regulated? So take a taxi.

    --
    How about a moderation of -1 pedantic.
    1. Re:Prices surged? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      lol ... Just saw one passing by the house. They do exist!

  6. Re:Daily Bills by Fly+Swatter · · Score: 1

    Why would anyone willingly incur dept for their employer? Oh that's right they are a 'contractor'. Seriously if they stop paying, then stop working, if uber thinks it is important to have a functioning service they will fix it. Seems they can collect money just fine though. Unless they are simply so far in debt and playing dumb while trying to make off with as much cash as possible before bankruptcy filings.

  7. Re:Daily Bills by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is there some sort of point you're trying to make? Or are you just trying to be an arsehole?

  8. Re:Daily Bills by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yep spoken like an upper middle class white boy who expects preferential treatment.

    Life is a little harder when credit is not extended and you have to pay cash.

    Maybe leave your gated suburb every once in a while.

  9. Re:Daily Bills by mentil · · Score: 1

    If he's making $1300 every week he'd have no trouble getting a credit card. I've seen many people on food stamps who have 2-5 credit cards, I'm sure he could get one unless he's going thru bankruptcy proceedings. Businesses have lines of credit to cover this exact scenario of temporary cash flow problems.

    --
    Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
  10. Re: Blame it on TRUMP! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You mean local government hoarding supplies for political gain like in pc? Right, i thought so shill.

  11. OK, All together now... by gerald.edward.butler · · Score: 5, Informative

    Uber IS NOT a "TECH" company. They are a "TAXI DISPATCH" company. That is all.

    1. Re:OK, All together now... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Now, now, investors don't like hearing the truth. You need to keep the ponzi scheme, uhm, I meant dream alive.

    2. Re:OK, All together now... by antdude · · Score: 0

      Uber IS NOT a "TECH" company. They are a "TAXI DISPATCH" company. That is all. :P

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    3. Re:OK, All together now... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Uber IS NOT a "TECH" company. They are a "TAXI DISPATCH" company. That is all.

      The Uber Service may be a taxi dispatch service, but Uber themselves have only one product: software and infrastructure behind it. Software that underpins it's taxi service, it's food delivery service, and completely separately R&D in self driving vehicles.

      Saying Uber is not a tech company is just daft. Now one could say that they aren't a "good" tech company since they seem to spend a lot of time sitting in the courtroom defending their tech.

    4. Re:OK, All together now... by samkass · · Score: 1

      Uber IS NOT a "TECH" company. They are a "TAXI DISPATCH" company. That is all.

      The Uber Service may be a taxi dispatch service, but Uber themselves have only one product: software and infrastructure behind it. Software that underpins it's taxi service, it's food delivery service, and completely separately R&D in self driving vehicles.

      Saying Uber is not a tech company is just daft. Now one could say that they aren't a "good" tech company since they seem to spend a lot of time sitting in the courtroom defending their tech.

      How do they make their revenue? Do they sell, license, or build-for-hire software? Or do they get commissions on taxi dispatches? If it's the latter, then they're a taxi dispatch company. Every company in the world would be a "tech company" these days under your definition.

      --
      E pluribus unum
    5. Re:OK, All together now... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Or do they get commissions on taxi dispatches? If it's the latter, then they're a taxi dispatch company.

      They charge restaurants a commission. There you go, not a taxi dispatch company.

  12. If Uber stops paying by Pollux · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Then stop working. Then, Uber's revenue stream trickles to a halt, they'll figure out a solution. I guarantee it.

    Seriously, if your employer misses payment on payday, would you keep coming to work?

    1. Re:If Uber stops paying by hipp5 · · Score: 1

      Then stop working.

      As per TFS, that's exactly what is happening... And as a result prices are surging. Uber gets their dollar either way.

    2. Re:If Uber stops paying by Scoldog · · Score: 1

      Seriously, if your employer misses payment on payday, would you keep coming to work?

      But they took my stapler!

      --
      This space for rent
  13. Re:Daily Bills by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you are an employee and travel for your company, you take on debt with the company credit card that is in your name. You are responsible for the bill even if the company has a "glitch" and doesn't get around to paying you for a while. I've seen rather large bills due to long term foreign travel not get reimbursed for months because the company was updating something, or the recent merger was affecting something, etc. The employee then sits there with tens of thousands of dollars owed by them that are months past due.

  14. Is it really a bug? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    To me it looks like a feature.

  15. Re:What Really Happened in the Trump admin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Rob Porter: "Honey, goddam it hold still! I'm trying to batter you without getting Mike Pence's direct and undeniable attention to the issue!"
       

  16. Re:What Really Happened in the Trump admin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Mike Pence: "Can you guys get out of my office? Ok I saw nothing, wrong number who are you? Lalalalalaaaa! Are they gone yet? Whew, back to blatant obvious stark-as-day treason and this sweeeeet prune juice, ooh mama."

  17. Re:Daily Bills by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If someone is working for a living they need/expect to be paid for their effort on time as promised. This guy may have bills that need to get paid, and that will not happen if Uber has a glitch. Not everyone has that buffer to help them. You sound to me like someone who does have that buffer, good for you. Most people struggle to make it from day to day or month to month. Your comment comes from someone who does not have those constant worries in your life. Shut the f up, you come off as an entitled ignorant fool.

  18. Hacked? by thisNameNotTaken · · Score: 1

    Sound like an ongoing DDos or hack.

    1. Re: Hacked? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That only effects their ability to pay others but not their ability to accept payments?
      Only if hacked is redefined as insolvent.

  19. LOL, suckers by p51d007 · · Score: 1

    Uber...another institution that will FAIL.

  20. higher rates by bugs2squash · · Score: 2

    it should give their competitors a bit of a lyft.

    --
    Nullius in verba
  21. Disaster = Opportunity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now drivers can pressure Uber into a new compensation scheme. Cash. Uber will wait for their cuts. Drivers can pay cash and Uber can chase its drivers for their cut. Many passengers will want to pay by credit card but discounts for cash are common. Likewise when the systems are functional Uber can charge a premium for cash. Should have both.

  22. Re:Daily Bills by Uberbah · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And in a couple years, you can lecture him for taking on debt he couldn't afford to pay off. win/win

  23. Re:Daily Bills by Uberbah · · Score: 1

    Says someone with the luxury of being able giving up a weeks pay. Or a job. Only 40% of Americans can handle a $1,000 emergency without doing into debt.

  24. Welcome to being a contractor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You are not employees. You get paid when the company decides to pay you.

    I'm a contractor in the floor business. I'm owed over 4K right now for projects that are done and billed for. Last year it took a guy 4 months to pay me 7K. This is normal. If you want to call yourself a contractor, you don't get to bitch about how contracting works. Sometimes you never get paid for the work you did. Sometimes a Judge will dismiss your lien against someone's property even after you paid a lot of money to be registered and licensed... I'm looking at you, Oregon. Fuck you

    1. Re:Welcome to being a contractor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is true. However, you're presumably also being paid a living wage. You're also probably being paid enough that you can cope with the lag time between when the work is done and when you're paid.

      Which is something that generally isn't the case with Uber drivers.

    2. Re:Welcome to being a contractor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's true, but I also find my own work and don't rely on a company to find them for me. So I'm making a living wage by doing the whole job, not just part of it, so I get to keep more. There is nothing preventing these uber drivers from organizing their own ride service so they can keep the whole pie.

    3. Re: Welcome to being a contractor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Get real, broham. Seriously - are you THAT dense? Or just a hired shill for Uber?

  25. Re:Daily Bills by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Virtually anybody in the US can get a credit card. The interest rates might be high, the limit may be low and it might be secured, but virtually everybody can get a credit card.

    I'm guess that a lot of these drivers are probably not paying the entire balance off every month, which means that they're likely paying interest on any of these expenditures, even though they're not likely to get interest on the money that Uber owes them.

  26. Re: Blame it on TRUMP! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You mean tossing around a roll if paper towels isn't all the people of Puerto Rico needed.

  27. Corrupted Database by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Uber DevOps is attempting to fix a backend issue with one of their database clusters. Corrupted database and they don't know who drove what thus why they cannot pay the drivers. I don't know what they're going to do honestly.

    1. Re: Corrupted Database by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is fucking hilarious

    2. Re: Corrupted Database by astrofurter · · Score: 1

      That's what happens when you use Agile(tm) web monkey methodology to run critical public infrastructure.

      Anyone know what kind of DB got corrupted?

    3. Re: Corrupted Database by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ding ding ding we have a winner.

  28. Cashflow problems are now a "glitch"..because TECH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Its not a glitch. They are broke. They are having cash flow problems. If your dad keeps driving for them for free he is a sucker.

  29. Re:Daily Bills by whoever57 · · Score: 1

    You are assuming he hasn't already maxed out his credit cards.

    --
    The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
  30. H1Bs and outsourcing. by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Mentioned this to my wife. She immediately said "That's what they get for outsourcing their I.T. to India."

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
    1. Re: H1Bs and outsourcing. by astrofurter · · Score: 1

      They paid peanuts... and they got monkeys! Haha!

  31. Re: Blame it on TRUMP! by Uberbah · · Score: 0

    Puerto Rico has suffered from colonialism and mainland mis-management for decades, and it finally came home to roost.

    FTFY

  32. DevOps & AGILE SUX by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hey UBER!

    How's that fancy DevOps and AGILE programming environment working out for you now?

  33. Re:Daily Bills by Antique+Geekmeister · · Score: 1

    I'm afraid you sound like someone whose never had a good set of financial backstops, such as parents who can cover emergencies. For many Uber and Lyft drivers, they're immigrants who can't yet find work, single parents who can spare hours away from their children and needing income and an outside life, recent graduates squeaking by and already over-extended on loans or credit cards. Many of them are struggling, and that few hundreds dollars of _profit_ per week makes a very real difference. Investing the gas and the time and the car maintenance without a return-on-investment can mean trouble paying for rent, utilities, or food bills.

  34. Re: Blame it on TRUMP! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Donald Trump FARTED in the ELEVATOR!!

  35. Re: What Really Happened in the Trump admin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Shillin', shillin', shillin' - rawhide!

  36. Re: Daily Bills by astrofurter · · Score: 1

    No - it's all lies! Thanks to OBAMA, all American workers are multi-millionaires who live in the lap of luxury. Things have never been better, but Donald Trump is trying to ruin it all. NPR told me so. Check your privilege!

  37. Uber is a SCAM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    but just with different letters.
    When will these drivers start to sue UBER? Who will be left to get served after all the top people have fled the country with all that money?
    Uber is like Amazon in that they treat their workers like shit. Uber drivers are employees no matter what Uber says.
    Almost slave labour if you ask me.
    I hope it dies quickly.

  38. Re:Daily Bills by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why don't they find proper work, or fix real problems?

  39. Re:What Really Happened in the Trump admin by cheekyboy · · Score: 0

    anon looser.

    Enjoy paying taxes to communists?

    --
    Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
  40. Re: Daily Bills by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No - it's all lies! Thanks to OBAMA, all American workers are multi-millionaires who live in the lap of luxury. Things have never been better, but Donald Trump is trying to ruin it all. NPR told me so. Check your privilege!

    Congratulations - this is saddest attempt at humor(?) I've seen so far this month.

  41. Re: Daily Bills by cheekyboy · · Score: 1

    What do you call kids with rich parents?

    --
    Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
  42. Re: Daily Bills by Uberbah · · Score: 1

    No - it's all lies! Thanks to OBAMA

    ...who's another right wing asshole, just like Trump. But unlike Obama, Trump will never be a classy war criminal.

  43. Re:Daily Bills by Uberbah · · Score: 1

    Why don't you step outside your bourgeoisie bubble?

  44. Shocked by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Scummy company does scummy thing.

    Next...

  45. Uber IS a "TAXI DISPATCH" company by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That is all

  46. Re: Blame it on TRUMP! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Youre a waste

  47. My Guess by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Amazon DynamoDB - Cloudy, serverless, webscale, noSQL...

    No Agile web monkey can resist that shit!

    1. Re:My Guess by astrofurter · · Score: 1

      Nah... I bet it was this:

      https://eng.uber.com/schemales...

      Hmmmm.... so turns out that using a home-rolled frankendatabase, derived from a toy RDBMS, for business critical billing data wasn't that great an idea. Once again - who knew?!

  48. Re: Blame it on TRUMP! by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    Why dont you watch a few fema behind the scenes docos to see how they work. They can do a lot without even Trump directing anything.

    Too bad they can't distribute supplies to people who needed them. People were still without water when they abandoned that water. Thousands of people died because of lack of infrastructure, too. What was the army corps of engineers doing? Just staying home and jerking off?

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  49. Re: Blame it on TRUMP! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I hope you realize that like DC PR is administered via Washington. They have a local govâ(TM)t but all decisions or lack there of are subject to congressional oversight. Making it congresses responsibly.

  50. Re: Daily Bills by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think the point is this. If you are running your car into the ground for a company who isn't paying a fair wage and treating you as a contractor to save a few dollars on company sponsored healthcare and retirement, while you are doing one of the most dangerous things the average person does in a day (driving), and you can't handle a day or two without pay then I think you need to be looking for other employment. Are you going to blame Uber when your car breaks down and you don't have the money for repairs, how is that any different than this? As a side note I'm not an Uber fan, never used it, and I think they are scummy and clearly a taxi company. But if you are so close to the edge with money then rapidly depreciating your car for a few dollars is probably a bad idea.

  51. Re: Daily Bills by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

    Americans?

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
  52. Re: Daily Bills by astrofurter · · Score: 1

    If they're smart: Harvard grads

    If they're mediocre: Stanford grads

    If they're dumb as rocks: NYU grads

  53. Re:Daily Bills by TheCastro1689 · · Score: 1

    Should have used a corporate account then, but those people usually want the credit card or frequent flier points instead.

  54. What stops under the table deals? by omfglearntoplay · · Score: 1

    How do all Uber drivers not get there and say "Hey, for 3/4 of the price, cash, I'll get you to where you need to be. Screw the man."? Is it because credit cards and all of their convenience plus their 2% tax on mankind makes this sort of deal hard? Or are the drivers tracked so hard by Uber that they'd get caught?