I've been an Uber driver for three weeks now. AMA!

[Trotskilicious]

i was under the impression that being chatty was a huge part of it

[Trotskilicious]

Originally Posted by sppunk

What part of "the cost means nothing" do you not understand?

I use car services that are more expensive than vp abs in some cities. Cost is irrelevant, service, availability and convenience rule all.

you are so full of SHIT

[D.]

Originally Posted by Trotskilicious

i was under the impression that being chatty was a huge part of it

I guess for some people doing it for a living, thirsty for ratings and tips. Id be too self conscious that I was being annoying.

[D.]

Story time:

So one of the problems I have, or maybe I haven't figured out yet, is that when a driver accepts a pickup it doesn't tell you the destination until you've already accepted the ride.
So, I'm at the airport dropping someone off and I get a notification. I pick up a dude at a gas station right outside the airport proper and he's going to goddamn TOPEKA. For those not familiar with the literal middle of America, that is in another state and that is at least 75 minutes from KCMO, and there's a toll.

I mean, I ended up taking him, but I lose gas coming back! He did tip me and he paid for the toll but the driver who picked him up before me had picked him up at the airport then dumped him at the gas station when he became aware of the destination.

[vixnix]

I wanna believe in karma and all that shit, and actually it has been pretty good to me, the whole idea of being good to others and trusting that it will come back to you, but part of me is screaming inside that you are way too good natured to be in this business!!

[Sonic Johnny]

Originally Posted by Trotskilicious

over here the fares for uber are much lower than cab fare it just renders their occupation unviable

whatcolor has a different perspective would be interesting to hear his take

Yeah same here, except on weekends etc when the price gouge happens. But the whole system here is like, a cab license costs something crazy like $90k, so some guy with a bit of cash will buy a vehicle and a license, then rent the vehicle out to people (almost always immigrants) at an hourly rate, and they keep whatever they make in that time minus rental, as opposed to uber where people either already have their own car or they divide up the cost of buying one, and then they just make money off that minus whatever cut uber takes.

The point is: the drivers I've met all say they make more money driving uber than they did driving a cab. The only people as far as I can tell losing money here are the people who were already exploiting the drivers. Some drivers were saying that they were making less than minimum wage in cabs when you work it out and if you got a runner you just had to eat the cost so one runner could really damage your income for a night.

[Trotskilicious]

ultimately if we cared about our species and didnt all think convenience was king wed stop buying and driving these fucking things but FUCK FUCKFYFKASFG

[The Omega Concern]

Originally Posted by Trotskilicious

how does it feel to be undercutting yet another unionized blue collar profession so well-off young white professionals can save a few bucks?

That's an interesting point I must elaborate on...


Uber and Lyft started here in the city because San Francisco Taxi's became unbearable. The industry became dominated by Muslims who consistently would deny rides to people who they found insulting in some way; from gays to drunk woman to people eating meat or wanting to bring their dog. S.F. City folks got fed up, started paying their friends to drive them around town and...the rest is history.


I like Uber because they did something they weren't supposed to do...but once they got so popular, it didn't matter, all those laws they broke to start the business melted away once the local politicians started to hear from the consumers (voters) to leave Uber alone or we'll vote you out of office.


that said...Uber is seedy, to say the least.

[Eulogy]

I use uber to find cabs that are using it. I cannot hail a cab where I live. If no taxis are available I'll use uberx. I don't really like it because I have to give them turn by turn directions usually. But as an app it works really well for people who don't live in high traffic areas.

[Eulogy]

Cabs in New York and Chicago as far as I know are required to take cards now.

A lot use square now which is unreliable as shit and annoying but it's only caused an actual problem once.

[reprise85]

back to the original AMA:

how many people have you killed, you can estimate if needed?

[reprise85]

side note, Uber/Lyft doesn't operate in my county. they made the laws so strict they can't follow them

[hnibos]

It'll all be underwater soon anyways.

[Cool As Ice Cream]

do you have one of those pine thingies on your mirror?

[hnibos]

Would you accept anything other than money as payment?

[Cool As Ice Cream]

it's uber. if i'm not mistaken, you never pay the driver directly. the app takes the money out of your account.

[D.]

Originally Posted by reprise85

back to the original AMA:

how many people have you killed, you can estimate if needed?

While I've been doing Uber, or in the general?

Originally Posted by reprise85

side note, Uber/Lyft doesn't operate in my county. they made the laws so strict they can't follow them

They did that with Lyft here in KC.

Originally Posted by Cool As Ice Cream

do you have one of those pine thingies on your mirror?

I do need to get something. People are funky.

Originally Posted by hnibos

Would you accept anything other than money as payment?

If I was tipped with drugs, I would be 100% okay with it.

[Cool As Ice Cream]

have you had many drunk clients? any funny drunk stories?

[Trotskilicious]

i gotta love that whatcolor ignored the fuck out of this thread, i guess it would be a bad idea to represent your company by talking about it with ppl on netphoria

icecream pig out in the m1 aud

[D.]

Originally Posted by Cool As Ice Cream

have you had many drunk clients? any funny drunk stories?

No. This thread is as useless as all of mine. I'd get more drunk people I I worked weekend nights but the reason I've avoided working weekends in my main job is that I want that time to spend with the kid.

So, no drunks yet, butt maybe I'll do a weekend night or two one of these days.

[Dogfighter28]

1) the cabs outside of NYC and other big cities with saturation are different than cabs elsewhere. In Atlanta you have to wait on the phone for 20 mins and hope to the Flying Spaghetti Monster they don't pick someone else up on the way to you. Not enough cabs to hail one.

2) there is zero customer service for these cabs. They fuck you over. I've literally had drivers go the wrong direction intentionally to boost the fare. This was before uber

3) the drivers for cabs have no idea where anything is. Now, they are starting to drive for uber, and uber is having the same problem

4) while their app is worse, Lyft has mostly local people who know their way around town. + it allows you to tip them.

I understand there are better cab services elsewhere, but overall these new services are forcing the industry to change to treat the customers better. It's like blockbuster all over again. Fuck the cab companies. Just fuck em.

[sppunk]

Originally Posted by Dogfighter28

1) the cabs outside of NYC and other big cities with saturation are different than cabs elsewhere. In Atlanta you have to wait on the phone for 20 mins and hope to the Flying Spaghetti Monster they don't pick someone else up on the way to you. Not enough cabs to hail one.

2) there is zero customer service for these cabs. They fuck you over. I've literally had drivers go the wrong direction intentionally to boost the fare. This was before uber

3) the drivers for cabs have no idea where anything is. Now, they are starting to drive for uber, and uber is having the same problem

4) while their app is worse, Lyft has mostly local people who know their way around town. + it allows you to tip them.

I understand there are better cab services elsewhere, but overall these new services are forcing the industry to change to treat the customers better. It's like blockbuster all over again. Fuck the cab companies. Just fuck em.

And all of God's children said, "Amen."

[Trotskilicious]

seems like affluent white people are all on board with uber

[MyOneAndOnly]

cabs in every major city are monopolies granted by the city. And work rules are never enforced on drivers, who are typically paid almost nothing and treated like shit. It's not surprising that Uber has been able to do what it has. they've found a way to sidestep the laws. but it's basically just another type of fucking over of drivers. Uber takes zero risk. They're not liable for what happens to drivers or their fares. And they take no responsibility for the capitol investment (the car).

It also seems like Uber is another example of lack of public transportation infrastructure. if a city has a modern and convenient public transport system, there's little need for things like Uber.

[MyOneAndOnly]

Originally Posted by Trotskilicious

seems like affluent white people are all on board with uber

I've used it occasionally here. but I deleted the app from my phone recently and now I use the bus or ride my bike.

[Trotskilicious]

ew the bus!?!? theres poor people on it and im not convenienced

[Dogfighter28]

I mostly use it to and from bars so I don't have to drink and drive. Parking is difficult and expensive here so it is often cheaper to call a ride.

There is nothing affluent about this system. It's a way to detect unutilized resources and put them to use. It gives more people jobs (though they should be paid better, and tipped)

[FoolofaTook]

i hate u so much i wish i could do something really hateful to you

[FoolofaTook]

Originally Posted by hnibos

Would you accept anything other than money as payment?

uh, ur mom, duh.

[redbull]

last time I had to get a cab (couldn't find an available uber) I had to wait 40 minutes and then they didn't take card so dude had to stop at an ATM

also it cost 2.5x what an uber would have

fuck cabs