# 1* Passenger?



## JaxBeachDriver (Nov 27, 2014)

I went to this pickup expecting a complete whacko. Instead I got 2 young professional women. They were ready and waiting outside. Hopped in the car. Were totally normal the whole way. $51 ride. 5*. I didn't want to mention it to her in front of her coworker, so I let it be.


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## Guest (Mar 27, 2015)

If she can afford Black Car she doesn't give a damn about her rating, and neither does Uber. $$$$$$


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## UberBlackPr1nce (Dec 28, 2014)

JaxBeachDriver said:


> View attachment 6212
> 
> I went to this pickup expecting a complete whacko. Instead I got 2 young professional women. They were ready and waiting outside. Hopped in the car. Were totally normal the whole way. $51 ride. 5*. I didn't want to mention it to her in front of her coworker, so I let it be.


She probably didn't tip her driver..... Some drivers exploit the rating system.


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## Uber-Doober (Dec 16, 2014)

JaxBeachDriver said:


> View attachment 6212
> 
> I went to this pickup expecting a complete whacko. Instead I got 2 young professional women. They were ready and waiting outside. Hopped in the car. Were totally normal the whole way. $51 ride. 5*. I didn't want to mention it to her in front of her coworker, so I let it be.


^^^
Hey... what can I say? 
You're a pro.


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## JaxBeachDriver (Nov 27, 2014)

Uber-Doober said:


> ^^^
> Hey... what can I say?
> You're a pro.


The good thing about starting on x is that I don't turn any black car calls down now! I don't cancel when they text numerous times. I don't cancel when they have low ratings. I don't cancel when they put in the wrong pickup address.


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## JaxBeachDriver (Nov 27, 2014)

Guaranteed to make a minimum fare of $11.25 on black, versus $2.40(?) on X.


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## bilyvh (Feb 4, 2015)

@JaxBeachDriver , are you forced to take UberX calls? Just curious what the case is across the country, since in NY new "partners" for Black/SUV are now forced to accept X jobs which is beyond ridiculous.


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## my3centsSTEW (Mar 27, 2015)

JaxBeachDriver said:


> View attachment 6212
> 
> I went to this pickup expecting a complete whacko. Instead I got 2 young professional women. They were ready and waiting outside. Hopped in the car. Were totally normal the whole way. $51 ride. 5*. I didn't want to mention it to her in front of her coworker, so I let it be.


Maybe the driver that gave her the 1 was her exhubby


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## JaxBeachDriver (Nov 27, 2014)

bilyvh said:


> @JaxBeachDriver , are you forced to take UberX calls? Just curious what the case is across the country, since in NY new "partners" for Black/SUV are now forced to accept X jobs which is beyond ridiculous.


I don't even have the option. I just sign in and it shows up as a black car.

I started driving Uber X/XL in November. I quit in January when the rates dropped. I decided I liked the job (not necessarily the way Uber treats drivers), so I decided to buy a town car (after selling our RV). I just started on Black a week ago. Hoping to build up my own business, and just use them as filler. Right now UberBlack is 100% of my business. But I'm just getting started


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## bilyvh (Feb 4, 2015)

Sounds good then, hope you're enjoying the higher fares and less BS than on UberX


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## zandor (Mar 6, 2015)

How many rides does a pax need to get a visible rating? Is use Uber once, get a 1* pax rating for not tipping due to cluelessness, never get picked up again possible? Other than that I suppose she might be a raging ***** when drunk and you just happened to catch her sober and riding with a colleague. There are an amazingly large number of people who can close their sphincter for work.


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## JaxBeachDriver (Nov 27, 2014)

zandor said:


> How many rides does a pax need to get a visible rating? Is use Uber once, get a 1* pax rating for not tipping due to cluelessness, never get picked up again possible? Other than that I suppose she might be a raging ***** when drunk and you just happened to catch her sober and riding with a colleague. There are an amazingly large number of people who can close their sphincter for work.


I was wondering the same thing about the rating. I thought everyone started with 5*, and uber averaged the other ratings with the given 5*. Maybe that was an incorrect assumption.


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## JaxBeachDriver (Nov 27, 2014)

I don't turn down anything for Black (fair) rates.


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## rtaatl (Jul 3, 2014)

JaxBeachDriver I'm surprised the minimum Black rates are that low in your area. I though $15 was was the starting point in every city. But yeah I don't turn down any black requests either because I know it's usually worth my time...and the fact business seems to be sporadic too..lol! Even the lower rated passengers who took black car service with me were fine...never had a problem.


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## Disgusted Driver (Jan 9, 2015)

JaxBeachDriver said:


> I was wondering the same thing about the rating. I thought everyone started with 5*, and uber averaged the other ratings with the given 5*. Maybe that was an incorrect assumption.


I think the initial 5 star pax rating is replaced when they actually get a rating after their first ride.


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## bilyvh (Feb 4, 2015)

I was just going to say that you Black guys can also play a different strategy and that is to take X calls when the surge is high enough to equate to the Black rate until I took a look at the rates in Jacksonville. LOL. $ 1 base, 13 cents per min, 75 cents a mile. And black is $7 base, 55 cents per min, $2.20 a mile. So you'd have to have a surge factor of around 4-5 on X just to hit the Black level, which seems unrealistic (?). Here in NY my friend drives an ES350h on Black and when the surge hits 1.8 on X he takes those calls too, so it works out well for him.


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## JaxBeachDriver (Nov 27, 2014)

bilyvh said:


> I was just going to say that you Black guys can also play a different strategy and that is to take X calls when the surge is high enough to equate to the Black rate until I took a look at the rates in Jacksonville. LOL. $ 1 base, 13 cents per min, 75 cents a mile. And black is $7 base, 55 cents per min, $2.20 a mile. So you'd have to have a surge factor of around 4-5 on X just to hit the Black level, which seems unrealistic (?). Here in NY my friend drives an ES350h on Black and when the surge hits 1.8 on X he takes those calls too, so it works out well for him.


Yes, those rates are a result of the jan 9 rate cuts. The XL rates are great at 3x, but I don't want to drive without proper medallions and insurance.


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## JaxBeachDriver (Nov 27, 2014)

rtaatl said:


> JaxBeachDriver I'm surprised the minimum Black rates are that low in your area. I though $15 was was the starting point in every city. But yeah I don't turn down any black requests either because I know it's usually worth my time...and the fact business seems to be sporadic too..lol! Even the lower rated passengers who took black car service with me were fine...never had a problem.


$15 is the minimum fare. What are black rates where you are?


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## rtaatl (Jul 3, 2014)

$7 base...$3.25 per mile...$15 minimum


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## JaxBeachDriver (Nov 27, 2014)

rtaatl said:


> JaxBeachDriver I'm surprised the minimum Black rates are that low in your area. I though $15 was was the starting point in every city. But yeah I don't turn down any black requests either because I know it's usually worth my time...and the fact business seems to be sporadic too..lol! Even the lower rated passengers who took black car service with me were fine...never had a problem.


Atlanta:









Jacksonville:


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## rtaatl (Jul 3, 2014)

That F'ing sucks...my condolences. I remember when I first started in March of 2014 the UberX fare was around $2.25/mile. Your Black rate is just ridiculous. Also here its sad to know the current Select rate is cheaper than the previous X rate a year ago.


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## JaxBeachDriver (Nov 27, 2014)

rtaatl said:


> That F'ing sucks...my condolences. I remember when I first started in March of 2014 the UberX fare was around $2.25/mile. Your Black rate is just ridiculous. Also here its sad to know the current Select rate is cheaper than the previous X rate a year ago.


$2.25/mile isn't too bad, and tips have been good.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

bilyvh said:


> ... NY new "partners" for Black/SUV are now forced to accept X jobs which is beyond ridiculous.


You are 'forced' only to receive X ride-requests - you are not forced to accept them.
Your choice (and mine).
Either accept them all or take a serious hit to your acceptance rate.

In my experience, accepting all X rides is a money loser.
We all know how it goes: you accept a 'ping' that says 14 min away only to find after accepting that it is actually 25 minutes away.

Happened again to me last night - a 25 minute to a pick-up in a ghetto for a min fare ride two blocks to the convenient store. Explain to the pax that next time they should cancel the ride when they see the driver is coming from a long distance away (and wait a few minutes and then try again for a closer driver) - and they take offense - and down-rate you.

I'll take a hit to my acceptance rate over a hit to my star rating any day.


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## bilyvh (Feb 4, 2015)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> You are 'forced' only to receive X ride-requests - you are not forced to accept them.
> Your choice (and mine).
> Either accept them all or take a serious hit to your acceptance rate.
> 
> ...


I am not sure what the situation is in your market, but the situation here is the following: If you're new Black/SUV you get X calls, and if you let those X calls go the first thing that will happen is that after 2 missed jobs you will be timed out for 10 minutes. Next level of punishment is you will be suspended for 24 hrs. How about them apples? Next level - deactivation...? That's the reality, I am not making up stories here for anyone's amusement, really Uber is crossing all lines when it comes to either us being 'independent-contractors' or 'employees'.


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## rtaatl (Jul 3, 2014)

bilyvh said:


> I am not sure what the situation is in your market, but the situation here is the following: If you're new Black/SUV you get X calls, and if you let those X calls go the first thing that will happen is that after 2 missed jobs you will be timed out for 10 minutes. Next level of punishment is you will be suspended for 24 hrs. How about them apples? Next level - deactivation...? That's the reality, I am not making up stories here for anyone's amusement, really Uber is crossing all lines when it comes to either us being 'independent-contractors' or 'employees'.


Crazy....they haven't forced black drivers here in Atlanta to accept X calls....at least not from my personal experience. I thought the NY protests changed their minds about this. I guess I was wrong.


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## bilyvh (Feb 4, 2015)

rtaatl , yes, old "partners" won and are not forced to take X calls, but it's the new suckers that are really getting screwed! Personally, if I was going the SUV route I wouldn't waste my time on Uber, get on with a small luxury base or a high-volume medium-priced work, not having to deal with $8 BS X jobs!


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## Bart McCoy (Nov 4, 2014)

JaxBeachDriver said:


> View attachment 6212
> 
> I went to this pickup expecting a complete whacko. Instead I got 2 young professional women. They were ready and waiting outside. Hopped in the car. Were totally normal the whole way. $51 ride. 5*. I didn't want to mention it to her in front of her coworker, so I let it be.


yeap, just like pax, some drivers like to be jerks and give people 1 star anyway


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## Lidman (Nov 13, 2014)

We could put a different spin on the thread title. Discussing our #1 passengers.


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## Ziggy (Feb 27, 2015)

JaxBeachDriver said:


> I was wondering the same thing about the rating. I thought everyone started with 5*, and uber averaged the other ratings with the given 5*. Maybe that was an incorrect assumption.


I think every pax starts with a 5* rating (otherwise, most drivers would never pick them up). SXSW just finished here a few weeks ago and 1,000's of people got the "free" ride cards ... yesterday I got 3 pings to pickup people at grocery stores (all of these pax had a free ride card) and all were only going "just down the street" with their groceries. Had it not been for the "free ride" card, they likely would have called for an X; but because of the "free ride" the got Select.

The pax were nice enough ... gave two of them 5* and one got 4* cause the fish he bought stunk up my car and I had to take it out of service to get it cleaned for the typical Select clientele ... and they wouldn't appreciate the extra fresh fish scent.


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