# A deliberate Uber ploy



## R3drang3r (Feb 16, 2019)

Ever notice how your driving home at the end of the day and a surge will suddenly appear near your house. Or you're sitting at home and you check your drivers app and there's a big surge close to your house. Odd thing is there's no surges anywhere else on the map. Or if it's at the end of your day. It has been one of those days where there were no surges.
Also the surge is never exactly where your house is. It's close but far enough away that you would have to jump in your car and drive a couple of minutes. 
I've seen it happen enough times to believe it's a deliberate ploy by Uber.
When you're out, they're trying to keep you from going home. When you're home they're trying to make you get in your car and come out.
If they had surges all the time I wouldn't be saying this. Surges have become rare and very few.


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## hanging in there (Oct 1, 2014)

R3drang3r said:


> Ever notice how your driving home at the end of the day and a surge will suddenly appear near your house. Or you're sitting at home and you check your drivers app and there's a big surge close to your house. Odd thing is there's no surges anywhere else on the map. Or if it's at the end of your day. It has been one of those days where there were no surges.
> Also the surge is never exactly where your house is. It's close but far enough away that you would have to jump in your car and drive a couple of minutes.
> I've seen it happen enough times to believe it's a deliberate ploy by Uber.
> When you're out, they're trying to keep you from going home. When you're home they're trying to make you get in your car and come out.
> ...


Be a good little hamster. Do not question the wheel. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.


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## Son of the Darkness (May 8, 2015)

Ploppy logic.


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## peteyvavs (Nov 18, 2015)

R3drang3r said:


> Ever notice how your driving home at the end of the day and a surge will suddenly appear near your house. Or you're sitting at home and you check your drivers app and there's a big surge close to your house. Odd thing is there's no surges anywhere else on the map. Or if it's at the end of your day. It has been one of those days where there were no surges.
> Also the surge is never exactly where your house is. It's close but far enough away that you would have to jump in your car and drive a couple of minutes.
> I've seen it happen enough times to believe it's a deliberate ploy by Uber.
> When you're out, they're trying to keep you from going home. When you're home they're trying to make you get in your car and come out.
> ...


This happened to me at the airport today, there were 40 cars in the AP lot and every driver in the tri county area converged on the AP like Locust, needless to say no one caught the bogus surge.


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## SinTaxERROR (Jul 23, 2019)

Chasing surge is like a dog chasing its own tail. -o: :roflmao:


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

SinTaxERROR said:


> Chasing surge is like a dog chasing its own tail. -o: :roflmao:


DOGS ACTUALLY CATCH THEIR TAILS !


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## ariel5466 (May 16, 2019)

The highest surges I've ever seen in my area have been at the next highway exit from where I live as I'm heading home at the end of the day. I fell for it a couple times in my first few weeks, only for it to disappear the second I hit the edge of the surge cloud. Bastards.

Oh, and I've since learned that this area is typically a total dead spot for rides.


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## Jufkii (Sep 17, 2015)

R3drang3r said:


> Ever notice how your driving home at the end of the day and a surge will suddenly appear near your house. Or you're sitting at home and you check your drivers app and there's a big surge close to your house. Odd thing is there's no surges anywhere else on the map. Or if it's at the end of your day. It has been one of those days where there were no surges.
> Also the surge is never exactly where your house is. It's close but far enough away that you would have to jump in your car and drive a couple of minutes.
> I've seen it happen enough times to believe it's a deliberate ploy by Uber.
> When you're out, they're trying to keep you from going home. When you're home they're trying to make you get in your car and come out.
> ...


Used to get the same predictable phony surge every time i was close to home and calling it quits.for the day.. After awhile I think the algo realized it wasn't working. They've switched tactics and have gone with the "Your'e In A Busy Area" fake message instead. Not sure what they have in store next if or when they realize that isn't working either.


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## mbd (Aug 27, 2018)

peteyvavs said:


> This happened to me at the airport today, there were 40 cars in the AP lot and every driver in the tri county area converged on the AP like Locust, needless to say no one caught the bogus surge.


Cost of gasoline chasing the surge more than the surge itself ?
40 cars * gas
It is a ploy.. gas stations pay Uber,to show the surge? then they split the profit with Uber.


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## Seamus (Jun 21, 2018)

My first week of driving 2 years ago (July 2017) I noticed this. It evaporated every time! LOL. ANYTHING that appears on the Uber or Lyft apps (especially map visuals) is created in consultation with Industrial Psycologists for the sole purpose of manipulating driver behavior. Simply ignore it.


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## doyousensehumor (Apr 13, 2015)

I haven't noticed it on uber.

Back when Lyft used to have primetime it used to show surge clouds chasing me as I went home


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## DawnC (May 17, 2019)

ariel5466 said:


> The highest surges I've ever seen in my area have been at the next highway exit from where I live as I'm heading home at the end of the day. I fell for it a couple times in my first few weeks, only for it to disappear the second I hit the edge of the surge cloud. Bastards.
> 
> Oh, and I've since learned that this area is typically a total dead spot for rides.


I had the very same learning lesson months ago.


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## Drivincrazy (Feb 14, 2016)

Uber will now, in addition to the above, color surge an area without the $dollar amount. Drivers receive base rate pings; new drivers fall for it until lesson learned. 
Yesterday, in LV, fair sized expo in town...upon closing time at LV CC...large, very reddish surge...no $ surge...wait, wait, wait, many ignored pings later, the $dollars finally show up.
It's gimmick after gimmick with Uber. I think that helps explain the 95% inactive driver rate Uber must contend with, daily.
If Uber took 10 of the wise azzes from UP and installed them as new CEO, by committee, consensus rule, Uber could likely be profitable. There is seemingly little driver experience at the top. This is a freaking driver business whether Uber wants to admit it or not.
As long as the charade of..."we're a tech company", is the mantra, Uber will suffer. Playing games with the money in a human transportation business while cars are in traffic and in motion is dangerous. That's why Uber needs driver input at the highest level.


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## welikecamping (Nov 27, 2018)

This happened to me last week, I picked up a $4 sticky surge less than a mile from home - in an area that rarely sees surges, especially at lunchtime. It was a slow day and I wanted it so bad, I drove around to known hot spots for about an hour, then went home and let it sit for another hour, still nothing.


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## JBinPenfield (Sep 14, 2017)

Never chase a surge, even if you are sitting in the middle of one.


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## Drivincrazy (Feb 14, 2016)

Sometimes, as noted above, the surges are fake...Uber just wants more drivers in their cars as of the moment. That's why drivers must know their market...the what, where and when of events or high demand periods. Become a Sherlock Holmes detective and keep track of potential real surges caused by actual high demand.
If you are in a big city, the sticky surge you pick up might be used soon after you leave surge area, or, not. If you are in a smaller market...you could wait hours to get a request with your sticky surge still attached.
If you are in a smaller market, it is necessary to come together as drivers so you can reject all base rate requests as a union might strike. In big cities, there are too many drivers. Know your market.


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## Nerka (Jul 7, 2017)

Lyft is even worse...


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## sktexas (Aug 13, 2019)

R3drang3r said:


> Ever notice how your driving home at the end of the day and a surge will suddenly appear near your house. Or you're sitting at home and you check your drivers app and there's a big surge close to your house. Odd thing is there's no surges anywhere else on the map. Or if it's at the end of your day. It has been one of those days where there were no surges.
> Also the surge is never exactly where your house is. It's close but far enough away that you would have to jump in your car and drive a couple of minutes.
> I've seen it happen enough times to believe it's a deliberate ploy by Uber.
> When you're out, they're trying to keep you from going home. When you're home they're trying to make you get in your car and come out.
> ...


A driver wonders if it's not unlike slot machines. It let's you win a little every once in a while to keep you pumping coins in , thinking you might win again. I'm a "noober" but it's taken me less than a week into it to notice it's not worth the gas money or car wear & tear to chase it. Only in VERY predictable areas and times. One can expect rain during a frontal system but chasing isolated thunderstorms is a waste.


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## welikecamping (Nov 27, 2018)

I won yesterday. I was DF'ing from the airport to N. Scottsdale yesterday, when I noticed a surge near where I was going. Most times, I"m like "ah, that's interesting". This time it was surging at $8.50, and I could drive right through it to get to my original destination. Immediate course change, log out of both apps. Hit the cross roads for the darkest part of the surge, and lit up uber. Within minutes, I was maxed at $8.50, but no rides as I continued on to my region. About ten minutes later, Ping! That was my best surge capture yet. 

While not "chasing" the surge, I've noticed the areas I work lighting up at times, this morning, up to $11. Hmmmmmmm, modify strategy?


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## Ignatz (Aug 3, 2019)

Nerka said:


> Lyft is even worse...


not according to @Mordred 
he's earning $80+ annual while u guys cry

https://uberpeople.net/threads/what...ver-grossed-in-a-year-doing-rideshare.345957/


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## ABQuber (Jan 30, 2019)

R3drang3r said:


> Ever notice how your driving home at the end of the day and a surge will suddenly appear near your house. Or you're sitting at home and you check your drivers app and there's a big surge close to your house. Odd thing is there's no surges anywhere else on the map. Or if it's at the end of your day. It has been one of those days where there were no surges.
> Also the surge is never exactly where your house is. It's close but far enough away that you would have to jump in your car and drive a couple of minutes.
> I've seen it happen enough times to believe it's a deliberate ploy by Uber.
> When you're out, they're trying to keep you from going home. When you're home they're trying to make you get in your car and come out.
> ...


Way I feel about surge is if they can give me a request from 15 minutes away during non-surge times, they can give me a surge request from 5 minutes away if it's that dang busy. Otherwise I ain't movin. ✊


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## lyft_rat (Jul 1, 2019)

welikecamping said:


> I won yesterday. I was DF'ing from the airport to N. Scottsdale yesterday, when I noticed a surge near where I was going. Most times, I"m like "ah, that's interesting". This time it was surging at $8.50, and I could drive right through it to get to my original destination. Immediate course change, log out of both apps. Hit the cross roads for the darkest part of the surge, and lit up uber. Within minutes, I was maxed at $8.50, but no rides as I continued on to my region. About ten minutes later, Ping! That was my best surge capture yet.
> 
> While not "chasing" the surge, I've noticed the areas I work lighting up at times, this morning, up to $11. Hmmmmmmm, modify strategy?


How is that not chasing the surge?


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## welikecamping (Nov 27, 2018)

When it benefits me, I'm doing it.


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## lyft_rat (Jul 1, 2019)

welikecamping said:


> When it benefits me, I'm doing it.


No argument there! Go for it if it makes money. So would you say selective surge chasing is beneficial?


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## welikecamping (Nov 27, 2018)

In this particular case, I was going in that direction anyway, it only required a slight course change, and rides from that surge area often pay well. If I did not pick up the sticky, it wouldn't really matter, I would still be within the area I work. I look at it this way, you are walking down the sidewalk and there is a sign on the other side of the street, " git cher free $10 bill right here". Are you gonna keep walking, or cross and pick up the money?

To me, "chasing a surge" would be like if I'm at FLW and Scottsdale at 0800 and I see it surging around Fashion square. I'm not driving seven miles in hopes of picking it up.

Other drivers may do it differently, so YMMV.


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## Drivincrazy (Feb 14, 2016)

In LV, I'm now at 110 consecutive surge rides...average about $3.75 surge. It will go up once Labor Day, football and convention season begins first week of September. 

I refuse to drive at a loss with base rate rides. I've had to reduce rides per week by about 70%...but, at least I make $ on the rides I do.

I advise avoiding all base rate rides...they cost you money. Drive surge only and drive pizza, trucks or whatever else you can initiate as your primary income.

Big rig drivers can make $40,000-$70,000 a year now, plus benefits. GL.


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## Thef9llowing (Aug 29, 2016)

R3drang3r said:


> Ever notice how your driving home at the end of the day and a surge will suddenly appear near your house. Or you're sitting at home and you check your drivers app and there's a big surge close to your house. Odd thing is there's no surges anywhere else on the map. Or if it's at the end of your day. It has been one of those days where there were no surges.
> Also the surge is never exactly where your house is. It's close but far enough away that you would have to jump in your car and drive a couple of minutes.
> I've seen it happen enough times to believe it's a deliberate ploy by Uber.
> When you're out, they're trying to keep you from going home. When you're home they're trying to make you get in your car and come out.
> ...


Not worth it


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## Desperada (Aug 23, 2019)

lyft_rat said:


> How is that not chasing the surge?


Happens to me all the time. I just go the extra time and grab it even though I'd love to just go home.


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