I am a DC uberX driver since 2013 and have SEEN IT ALL...so please, AMA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, as others have said, you're awesome! Thanks so much for this.

Two quick questions/confession/mortification:

1) I have never tipped an Uber driver, largely because I've read press saying they weren't allowed to take tips (obviously not true). Just talked to DH and he also has never tipped drivers nor does he know anyone who has. I'm resolved to change, if that's a standard -- would you say 5% cash? 10%? Part of the problem is also that I don't see the total fare before I get out of the car..
A good rule-of-thumb would be to tip $1 for every five miles travelled. You could guess on this and come pretty close and it'd work out to be about 10-20% every ride. Thanks for trying to help it catch on!

2) I recently called an Uber to get two adults, two kids from a suburb to a major metro area (I no longer live in DC but am out west). When the driver got to our house, I hopped in the (littered) front seat and others got in the back. My DC (10) who was in the middle back seat discovered that the seatbelt didn't work. The driver tried to fix it but couldn't so he canceled (at my request) -- and then charged the cancellation fee. I've got to deal with that but I also want to report my dissatisfaction. If I report this on "Uber Feedback," though, I'm concerned that the driver will 'suss out it's me (how many others would have had this seatbelt thing....) and he 'knows where I live.' I'm not normally paranoid, but given that my brother and the two kids we had with us all had bad vibes about this driver from the start, I'm just a little anxious. Thoughts on best next steps, OP?
Complain, complain, complain. Directly thru that specific ride in the Trip History on the app if at all possible. An uber driver at all levels needs to be prepared to take up to 4 adults + a few pieces of luggage on any given ride. Also, the broken seat-belt should have been an automatic disqualifier until it was fixed. If this had happened to me, I'd be expecting a couple $15 free ride credits out of it.

Also, a driver will never know if you complained or not, so feel free to complain all you like. Uber handles all passenger complaints/questions internally and the driver never knows a thing. The only thing that is passed along to drivers by uber is the occasional positive written comment left by a passenger, but never a negative one. Your driver in this case sounds like he was out-of-sorts on a simple ride request, so he probably gets lots of complaints already from his other passengers.

Thanks again for being forthright, witty, and by all appearances/writing wise, a really nice guy with integrity. I wish you all the best.
Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you explain the pool rides more? Do I have to do them if I'm a driver and if so how do you get around it? You seem to have a nice system going. I'm in LA, is uber good to drive out here as well?

Pool rides are almost half of the volume on uberX now. You have two choices: drive pool rides and earn pennies for the effort OR reject pool ride requests until you get an uberX/surge request. If you want to actually get paid somewhat fairly for your time, the latter option is the best choice BUT uber will sit you in a "time-out" ranging from ten minutes to an hour out of the driver app if you cancel too many ride requests. Uber does this to force drivers into accepting all rides, pool or uberX, no matter what. Drivers who are new to the game don't realize that there is a choice and will accept any ride that comes them (and I gladly let them). So to make the most of your time, choose wisely.

LA is a top-5 uber city along with DC. If I could pick an ideal area to drive, it'd be a place with millions of people spread across a wide area who have above-average incomes, like LA and DC.

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LA poster again- Thanks so much, this was really helpful! One last question, how many times can I reject pools until I get a timeout? And during the timeout I'd just drive lyft then right?

The rumor is anywhere between 3 and 10, YMMV. My penalty seems to be a 10-minute timeout for five cancels in-a-row by me. And yes, then I'd be a lyft driver for the next 10 minutes, lol.

Anonymous wrote:LA poster again- Forgor to add that tonight just for fun on my commute home through west Hollywood and Beverly Hills I checked the app and saw all the surge areas. It was kind of exciting! I'm only 3 miles from the strip/Beverly hills so I'm hoping to start my drive tomorrow. Thanks again!!

Yes, seeing surge is exciting and can really keep you going when you get on a roll. Living in or near an area that surges often is a big advantage when starting your shift with a profitable ride.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If a rider asks you if you are the DCUM UberX poster would you tell the truth?

Ummm, probably not. But I'm not a good hider on things like that, so I might give it away and not intend to. But I'm still trying to keep this thing anonymous. I've told bits and pieces of all this to some passengers, especially those who ask questions and are aware that driving for uber is kind of a crazy way to make a living, but I doubt anyone would remember me specifically from a snippet like that.

We should have a code word or something, lol.

after reading this thread when it started i took my first-ever uber and got a guy who was a great and fast driver with an older very well maintained manual-transmission car. hmm, I thought. he seemed older than OP and the hours were wrong (midweek PM rush), but hey. I asked if he knew what an AMA was. it was not op. but we had a nice chat anyway. we rated each other 5s.

[Anonymous]

I love the OP but I really do not want tips to become expected unless I have a repeat driver who came especially to pick me up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love the OP but I really do not want tips to become expected unless I have a repeat driver who came especially to pick me up.

Trust me, tips are totally not expected and don't feel like you have to, only if you want to for well-provided service.

From a driver's standpoint, tips are nice little surprises that happen a few times a week, but most drivers know the drill and would never expect one. And no decent driver would ever solicit a tip either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If a rider asks you if you are the DCUM UberX poster would you tell the truth?

Ummm, probably not.

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We should have a code word or something, lol.

after reading this thread when it started i took my first-ever uber and got a guy who was a great and fast driver with an older very well maintained manual-transmission car. hmm, I thought. he seemed older than OP and the hours were wrong (midweek PM rush), but hey. I asked if he knew what an AMA was. it was not op. but we had a nice chat anyway. we rated each other 5s.

I promise you there are many more like me out there! Just a bunch of hustlers tryna earn a dollar on the mean streets of DC, lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you are using Lyft do you have to put the pink mustache on the front of your car?
I used to a long time ago when lyft first got started. Oh the things I've done in this town for money . It got to be a pain taking it on and off so I tossed it. Lyft uses a glowing neon pink mustache in the dash currently, I'm sure you've seen them around town. Uber is way easier with just the sign on the passenger rear window.

What candidate do you support for president and why?
Gary Johnson...Minimum Government, Maximum Freedom.

What is your favorite DCUM thread of all time?
No favorites really, but I do find the many threads with couples making $250k+ and "struggling" quite entertaining. And all those sex-starved wives over in Relationship Discussion...I can't imagine how that'd ever be a problem.

proof that you are a male. I cannot imagine how a wife can be sex-starved either.

my question - do you prefer people get in front seat or back seat? I feel like if I get in back seat it is a negative implication.

[Anonymous]

So for the pool, do you cancel right when you see the passenger is a pool request or do you cancel when you're in the car and über is asking to add passengers? I'm thinking you'd cancel before pick up but just wanted to check if you get requests during the drive, even if it didn't start as a pool.

[Anonymous]

Have you seen the Rosez by The Chainsmokers music video that takes place in an Uber? It's a fun video.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...

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my question - do you prefer people get in front seat or back seat? I feel like if I get in back seat it is a negative implication.

Please hop in the back seat. A driver often has his/her "setup" geared toward the rider sitting in the passenger-side rear seat (like moving the front seat forward to give a little more leg room in the back). Since most rides are solo, this "setup" works best. And it's just tradition in a paid-ride for a long time now that the rider sits in the back, so I always feels more comfortable as a rider and a driver doing it that way. Riding next to your driver may make some uncomfortable as they consider the front cabin of the car "their space".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So for the pool, do you cancel right when you see the passenger is a pool request or do you cancel when you're in the car and über is asking to add passengers? I'm thinking you'd cancel before pick up but just wanted to check if you get requests during the drive, even if it didn't start as a pool.

I cancel instantly when I see it's a pool request...usually with two seconds with Accept > Cancel > Reason > Do Not Charge Rider (many other drivers swear by ... Reason > Other, but I don't think there's any difference). I hope to do it fast enough so that the requesting rider doesn't even notice, and even more so that uber doesn't notice and put me in "time-out".

You could pick up a first pool rider and decide to do ONLY his/her trip and ignore all other pings on the ride, but if it's busy all along the route and you're missing requests it will kill your driver stats. Also, pool rides on surge rates (1.7x+) can be worth doing because you should be able to put a nice string together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you seen the Rosez by The Chainsmokers music video that takes place in an Uber? It's a fun video.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=asXmVtWHnH0

Well, I have now, lol. Drunk 20-something girls love to blast shit like this thru the stereo A/V cable after brunch or at 2am in the streets of Clarendon. I don't really care, it's their ride. I suppose it's free entertainment to break up the monotony.

[Anonymous]

I wonder if OP has heard of something like this: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dr-gridlock/wp/2016/04/06/sleepy-uber-driver-turns-keys-over-to-passenger-who-then-gets-involved-in-police-chase-authorities-say/

[Anonymous]

How long do you plan on doing this? Don't you want a family?

[Anonymous]

Hi op,

Wanted to get your thoughts on this new service - http://www.dose.com/style/28133/Here-s-Why-Women-Everywhere-Will-Delete-Uber-On-April-19