Slashdot Mirror
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."
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."
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.
Can someone remind me again just how much Uber lost last year?
Is this a "technical" hitch or simply a lack of money?
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.
You mean they're not regulated? So take a taxi.
How about a moderation of -1 pedantic.
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.
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.
Uber IS NOT a "TECH" company. They are a "TAXI DISPATCH" company. That is all.
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?
Sound like an ongoing DDos or hack.
Uber...another institution that will FAIL.
it should give their competitors a bit of a lyft.
Nullius in verba
And in a couple years, you can lecture him for taking on debt he couldn't afford to pay off. win/win
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.
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.
You are assuming he hasn't already maxed out his credit cards.
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
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
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.
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!
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?
What do you call kids with rich parents?
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
Why don't you step outside your bourgeoisie bubble?
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.'"
Americans?
Ezekiel 23:20
If they're smart: Harvard grads
If they're mediocre: Stanford grads
If they're dumb as rocks: NYU grads
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?!
Should have used a corporate account then, but those people usually want the credit card or frequent flier points instead.
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?