# What's up with "DRIVE TO PIN"?



## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

Suddenly the last couple of days I'm getting a lot of "drive to pin" pings... no address.
What's up with that?
When I switch to nav Google map locates the address.
Why isn't Uber providing me one before I accept?


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## Fuzzyelvis (Dec 7, 2014)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> Suddenly the last couple of days I'm getting a lot of "drive to pin" pings... no address.
> What's up with that?
> When I switch to nav Google map locates the address.
> Why isn't Uber providing me one before I accept?


I'm getting a lot of that here in houston also.


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## flyingdingo (Feb 5, 2015)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> Suddenly the last couple of days I'm getting a lot of "drive to pin" pings... no address.
> What's up with that?
> When I switch to nav Google map locates the address.
> Why isn't Uber providing me one before I accept?


Drive to the pin, wait five minutes, cancel, collect money.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

flyingdingo said:


> Drive to the pin, wait five minutes, cancel, collect money.


Doesn't work like that... 95% of the time the pin location is correct and the rider is there... it's just not showing the address in the app (although the nav displays it)


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## flyingdingo (Feb 5, 2015)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> Doesn't work like that... 95% of the time the pin location is correct and the rider is there... it's just not showing the address in the app (although the nav displays it)


I see what you mean now. I got one yesterday. I ignored it. I'm not taking a ping if I don't know where I'm going.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

flyingdingo said:


> I see what you mean now. I got one yesterday. I ignored it. I'm not taking a ping if I don't know where I'm going.


And there goes your acceptance rate... "life with Uber"


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## flyingdingo (Feb 5, 2015)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> And there goes your acceptance rate... "life with Uber"


I don't care about my acceptance rate. I have a very high rating. There is a reason. I don't pick up pax who are going to be trouble. It's my car. I'm in independent contractor.


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## Fuzzyelvis (Dec 7, 2014)

flyingdingo said:


> I don't care about my acceptance rate. I have a very high rating. There is a reason. I don't pick up pax who are going to be trouble. It's my car. I'm in independent contractor.


I don't think the pax are doing anything different and for me too the pins have been at least as accurate as ever if not more so. Just no address whatsoever. I just accept everything and then figure out where it is and whether or not to cancel. Hard to make a quick decision without seeing an address sometimes.


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## flyingdingo (Feb 5, 2015)

Fuzzyelvis said:


> I don't think the pax are doing anything different and for me too the pins have been at least as accurate as ever if not more so. Just no address whatsoever. I just accept everything and then figure out where it is and whether or not to cancel. Hard to make a quick decision without seeing an address sometimes.


Here is what I think is going on. Uber is trying to increase our acceptance rate, and they are running an experiment to see if withholding the destination will cause us to accept the trip.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

flyingdingo said:


> I don't care about my acceptance rate. I have a very high rating. There is a reason. I don't pick up pax who are going to be trouble. It's my car. I'm in independent contractor.


500 rides in I've reached the same conclusion.
Next up - I have to remind myself to stop driving by Midnight/1A -
it's just not worth the 'dings' to ratings from drunks.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> Suddenly the last couple of days I'm getting a lot of "drive to pin" pings... no address.
> What's up with that?
> When I switch to nav Google map locates the address.
> Why isn't Uber providing me one before I accept?


I haven't driven UberX since early Jan. other than an odd fare or 2 to keep my account active, but no address pings are pretty common. The GPS will still take you there regardless.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

flyingdingo said:


> I don't care about my acceptance rate. I have a very high rating. There is a reason. I don't pick up pax who are going to be trouble. It's my car. I'm in independent contractor.


They'll cut you some slack for awhile but eventually a low ping acceptance rate will get you deactivated.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

The big difficulty with pin location pings is that the nav will often misdirect you. People in the backs of bars, restaurants, apt. complexes, etc. will provide a bad route from THAT pin location, so once you get there you have to reconnoiter the situation and try to get to the front of the building they are in rather than take the pin directed route. The driving difficulty is that you have to zoom in on the pin location while driving and then assess how to make your approach, which is a major pain in the ass. The same thing can happen when a customer gives a bad address i.e. off by a number at the end of an address, making the pin appear in the middle of a block rather than on an address, which will then direct you one street off or into alley ways, etc. All of these variables have to be dissected 'on the fly.' Which is again a major pain in the ass to do while driving.


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## Oscar Levant (Aug 15, 2014)

flyingdingo said:


> I see what you mean now. I got one yesterday. I ignored it. I'm not taking a ping if I don't know where I'm going.


To those I send this text:

"Hi, this is Patrick your Uber driver. I received an ambiguous address and need clarification, so could you tell me what
is your precise location, either the address, the name of venue, establishment, or if street corner, the cross streets, etc ? "

Often, they are at the pin, but not always ( they could have easily dropped the pin at the wrong spot ), and if the location
is under a freeway overpass, that creates problems for the GPS, I've found. I usually get an answer, something like "I'm in such-and-such parking lot" or "back of "joe's bar" etc.

Also, in my city, the Uber app's GPS doesn't always give the best route, and in neighborhoods, always wants me to
pick up in alleys, which makes no sense to me. The GPS can't distinguish an alley from a street? This is why I have back up GPS, a Magellan,
which has saved my butt on more than one occasion.


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## Ziggy (Feb 27, 2015)

Also a major pain is when Uber tells you to p/u rider in Austin; when the rider is actually in Houston (happened to me last night). In fact, Uber gave me the wrong p/u address for 8/12 trips yesterday; only 2 were related to front or back of complex ... rest were off by 1/2 mile or more.


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## Western Warrior (Jan 20, 2015)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> 500 rides in I've reached the same conclusion.
> Next up - I have to remind myself to stop driving by Midnight/1A -
> it's just not worth the 'dings' to ratings from drunks.


With a late night drunk, it's impossible to tell them they can't eat that dripping taco in your car. Or "It took me 10 min getting here because the ping was 10 min away". 100% you'll get dinged with "1" rating and Uber will back that up for the pax. Can't win!


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## Ziggy (Feb 27, 2015)

And like Oscar, my Garmin (SAT based) GPS has saved my butt more than once. And I think I'll adopt Oscar's approach to text customer when I get ambiguous addresses in the future ... great idea.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

Oscar Levant said:


> To those I send this text:
> 
> "Hi, this is Patrick your Uber driver. I received an ambiguous address and need clarification, so could you tell me what
> is your precise location, either the address, the name of venue, establishment, or if street corner, the cross streets, etc ? "
> ...


On no address pings and bad pin locations I immediately start to call the pax to see where they are really at rather than texting and hoping to get an answer. Much less fidgeting with the app to try and figure it out while driving.


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## Oscar Levant (Aug 15, 2014)

scrurbscrud said:


> On no address pings and bad pin locations I immediately start to call the pax to see where they are really at rather than texting and hoping to get an answer. Much less fidgeting with the app to try and figure it out while driving.


Who's driving? I do this before I start the car. I do call, sometimes, but I find texting does the job, most of the time.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

Oscar Levant said:


> Who's driving? I do this before I start the car. I do call, sometimes, but I find texting does the job, most of the time.


I don't have time to wait hoping for a return pax text and prefer to just call. On bar nights it's almost impossible to get a return text. Even calls may take 2-3 tries.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

Western Warrior said:


> With a late night drunk, it's impossible to tell them they can't eat that dripping taco in your car. Or "It took me 10 min getting here because the ping was 10 min away". 100% you'll get dinged with "1" rating and Uber will back that up for the pax. Can't win!


Rounding up drunk pax is a whole nuther animal. Always a driver challenge. The pay is usually worth the efforts and the rating dings. But part timers are at a disadvantage with this approach. Driving full time allows your weekly driving to heal the weekend rating hits.


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## Tim In Cleveland (Jul 28, 2014)

I text: "This is Tim, the Uber driver. May I get an address or business name of where you're at"? I still begin driving before I get an answer because the pin location is correct 80% of the time. If they don't answer in a minute or two, I call. "Drive to pin" happens because GPS isn't precise. The app can't always guess an address and guessing is what it's doing. Haven't you many times pulled into the wrong driveway because the app missed by a house or two?


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## Oscar Levant (Aug 15, 2014)

scrurbscrud said:


> I don't have time to wait hoping for a return pax text and prefer to just call. On bar nights it's almost impossible to get a return text. Even calls may take 2-3 tries.


I drive 2Pm to midnite, I have no desire to deal with the bar rush. Kids jump in your car, want to wait in line at a fast food joint, etc., and many are stoned drunk, and this is usually where there are potential pukers, bar closing.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

Bad pin locations constitute


Oscar Levant said:


> I drive 2Pm to midnite, I have no desire to deal with the bar rush. Kids jump in your car, want to wait in line at a fast food joint, etc., and many are stoned drunk, and this is usually where there are potential pukers, bar closing.


I don't mind it that much because the pay is usually much better. My hourly rate usually clocks north of $40 and can sometimes hit up to $60 an hour. It's worth the headache for me. Midnight to 4a.m. Fri. and Sat. is undoubtedly the best pay period.


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## Ziggy (Feb 27, 2015)

Found 2 apps that will store canned text messages to help you send those "ambiguous address" texts:

Quick Lite
Quick Text Message
I prefer the 2nd one ... as it gives more features; and while both are free in the iTunes app store "Quick Text Message" has a $1.99 upgrade for unlimited templates.

Now I guess I'll be sending more texts to my pax. I don't have to worry about the bar crowd since I follow the Cinderella principle and home before midnight


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## UberHammer (Dec 5, 2014)

Ziggy said:


> Also a major pain is when Uber tells you to p/u rider in Austin; when the rider is actually in Houston (happened to me last night). In fact, Uber gave me the wrong p/u address for 8/12 trips yesterday; only 2 were related to front or back of complex ... rest were off by 1/2 mile or more.


I was sent to pickup a rider in Columbus, OH who actually was in Miami, FL. Even after telling her four times that I'm in Ohio she kept describing things around her that I could look for.

Since that one, I don't try to fix the faulty pings Uber sends me. Their software has bugs, and I'm paid to drive, not to fix the problems their buggy software creates. The only thing that will motivate Uber to fix the bugs is when customers complain about the cancel fees they're charged because Uber's software sends the driver to the wrong place.

All you drivers fixing the situation on your own are just delaying this process, as Uber doesn't need to fix something that you are fixing for them. Take your nose out of Uber's butt and the chances of Uber fixing this increases... and until then enjoy the $5 cancel fees when Uber sends you on a wild goose chase ping.


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## frndthDuvel (Aug 31, 2014)

Old thread but a search led me here. App update today, both my first 2 pings of the day have been "drive to pin". Of course I have had these in the past but I believe I have also heard more recent talk of this subject. Is this the App update or just chance I got 2 Drive to Pins in a row?


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

I just did 3 trips and all had addresses ... and just got another ping with an address. Gotta go... - nevermind, they cancelled.


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## frndthDuvel (Aug 31, 2014)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> I just did 3 trips and all had addresses ... and just got another ping with an address. Gotta go... - nevermind, they cancelled.


Well I hope it was just a coincidence then. I sent a complaint to support anyway. The idea that somebody would think having no address would be a good thing would be amazing. But not unbelievable. I doubt any of their engineers have ever driven Uber even for research.


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## ATX 22 (Jun 17, 2015)

Western Warrior said:


> With a late night drunk, it's impossible to tell them they can't eat that dripping taco in your car. Or "It took me 10 min getting here because the ping was 10 min away". 100% you'll get dinged with "1" rating and Uber will back that up for the pax. Can't win!


WRONG! Keep your doors locked and the greasy dripping taco isn't getting in.
Roll down the window just enough they can talk to you. Ten minutes? You're going to be waiting longer, make your request when you are ready to go, and that includes washing the taco grease off your hands! Cancel and move in.


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