# Denver $40/hr guarantee this weekend - BUDDY SYSTEM?



## duggles (Aug 25, 2014)

Anyone else get offered a guarantee with a buddy system? What the **** is that? Denver should be very busy with Great American Beer Fest so they "doubled" the guarantee, sign up only available for today only, "first come, first served" supposedly. Though, it should be so busy that grosses exceeding $40/hr should be more than doable. 

But seriously, this is part of the form: 

"Participation in the guarantee is limited and will be filled on a "first come, first served" basis. Please note that we'll match you with a "buddy" to pair up for the guarantee and that we may share any/all of the information below with the other driver"

It doesn't give any additional info than that. What is the buddy thing about? Why would they share my information? Which includes asking me what I like about driving for UberX and what I do in my spare time? Sounds like they're phishing for marketing bites. 

Anyone else see a guarantee like this before? PDF of form is attached.


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## OldTownSean (Aug 14, 2014)

Sounds like an odd scam. 

Uber is getting creative.

#1 rule in driving, never depend on another driver for your livelihood. 

It's on you.

If it's that busy you should rake fine on your own.


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

duggles said:


> Anyone else get offered a guarantee with a buddy system? What the **** is that? Denver should be very busy with Great American Beer Fest so they "doubled" the guarantee, sign up only available for today only, "first come, first served" supposedly. Though, it should be so busy that grosses exceeding $40/hr should be more than doable.
> 
> But seriously, this is part of the form:
> 
> ...


Travis is phishing for some new butt buddies.


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## UL Driver SF (Aug 29, 2014)

Not a buddy system incentive. $40 an hour? Yup. Jump on it.

What are the requirements?


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## duggles (Aug 25, 2014)

UL Driver SF said:


> Not a buddy system incentive. $40 an hour? Yup. Jump on it.
> 
> What are the requirements?


Can't find anything more than that page. But it's gross, before Safe Rider Fee and before Uber's cut. The only weekends I don't exceed $40/hr gross are the slow ones where there is no guarantee.


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

duggles said:


> Please note that we'll match you with a "buddy" to pair up for the guarantee and that we may share any/all of the information below with the other driver"


What the heck does that mean, anyway? Could you please try to find out.


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## billybengal (Sep 26, 2014)

Most likely they will asign another Uber driver to you and he'll be your buddy. This is so both of you meet the requirements of the promo and if one of you doesn't then neither of you will get the guarantee. In other words, they're doing this hoping that they won't have to pay too much. In my opinion they're stupid. They should do a 50 driver buddy system, then it's almost guaranteed that someone will fail and the whole group won't get the guaranteed rate.


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## UL Driver SF (Aug 29, 2014)

duggles said:


> Can't find anything more than that page. But it's gross, before Safe Rider Fee and before Uber's cut. The only weekends I don't exceed $40/hr gross are the slow ones where there is no guarantee.


Sorry about the typo.....then maybe it's not worth it. I was thinking the whole guarantee put you at a certain dollar value for the week...anything extra is a plus. It also depends on the requirements.


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## duggles (Aug 25, 2014)

UL Driver SF said:


> Sorry about the typo.....then maybe it's not worth it. I was thinking the whole guarantee put you at a certain dollar value for the week...anything extra is a plus. It also depends on the requirements.


That's why I posted this one, not because of the guarantee but the vagueness, lack of stated requirements, and the need to agree for your info to be handed off to some other random driver.

Sorry @chi1cabby I won't do more to find out in this case. I really try not to draw attention to myself with regards to "inquiring" about the Uber system. I don't want my account marked as a troublemaker or anything lol. If they send me something I don't like I just don't respond. I try to keep my head low and make my Uber money while I can. Only contact them if I need to or to protect my monies owed.


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## winston (Jun 23, 2014)

I didn't notice the buddy part or I wouldn't have signed up. Nevertheless it all looks like a scam anyway. They just sent out this email:

The $40/hr Guarantee filled up very quickly, but we're excited to offer a $600 weekend guarantee in its place. There are 3 different guarantees for varying activity levels, so please check out the link below and see what works best for you!
http://uberxcolorado.com/gabf.html

Which of course is a joke of a guarantee. Work the 30 most busy hours this weekend and they guarantee you $20 an hour gross. Big deal. Rather stay home.


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## OldTownSean (Aug 14, 2014)

Or just work them without the guarantee and bank off the surges anyway?


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## winston (Jun 23, 2014)

I'm convinced this was just a big scam to get people to answer those questions. Their real guarantee is a joke.


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## duggles (Aug 25, 2014)

Well, exceeding that kind of hourly should be cake if demand reaches that of other recent busy weekends, like Tour de Fat. They're just trying to get as many suckers on the road to tamp down on surges and satisfy riders. For GABF most downtown hotels sell-out and lots of people come in from out of town.


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## winston (Jun 23, 2014)

duggles said:


> Well, exceeding that kind of hourly should be cake if demand reaches that of other recent busy weekends, like Tour de Fat. They're just trying to get as many suckers on the road to tamp down on surges and satisfy riders. For GABF most downtown hotels sell-out and lots of people come in from out of town.


The $20 sure, it's worthless. $40 is another story, I've never seen an hourly like that.


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## duggles (Aug 25, 2014)

winston said:


> The $20 sure, it's worthless. $40 is another story, I've never seen an hourly like that.


This is gross hourly, you know? And with the exception of only a few weekends, my average hourly gross is always above $40, in fact, it's often above $50. My net (after Uber's cut) is often between $30-40. With a weekend like this that should be easy. Now granted, I only ever pull between 8-20 hours, depending on how busy a weekend is. If you're pulling more hours than that, of course the high hourly is harder to achieve. But over the limited hours of the weekend, again, that should be cake.


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## winston (Jun 23, 2014)

Must be doing something wrong, never come close to that.


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## winston (Jun 23, 2014)

Must have worked. Never seen so mang cars out, there must be a few hundred.


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## Sean O'Gorman (Apr 17, 2014)

My guess on the buddy system is that they are hoping that one driver will keep pressure on the other to maintain the minimum standards.


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## duggles (Aug 25, 2014)

winston said:


> Must have worked. Never seen so mang cars out, there must be a few hundred.


Yeah, but it's only Thursday. There was about 20 minutes of surge tonight. They also mass texted right as demanded was picking up and it kept the surge down. I haven't had a good weeknight since they dropped the rates back at the end of July though. Weekends are where the money is when demand is there.


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## winston (Jun 23, 2014)

They keep texting about extreme demand for the beer fest tonight, but it sucked last night.


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## SCdave (Jun 27, 2014)

Basic rule of thumb - get text from Uber, go in opposite direction/just stay in your normal preferred location/drive hours.


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## winston (Jun 23, 2014)

SCdave said:


> Basic rule of thumb - get text from Uber, go in opposite direction/just stay in your normal preferred location/drive hours.


Unfortunately here there really only is a small area where almost all rides begin and end. The city just doesn't have multiple areas with demand.


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## SCdave (Jun 27, 2014)

winston said:


> Unfortunately here there really only is a small area where almost all rides begin and end. The city just doesn't have multiple areas with demand.


Okay, now I'm confused. What is the purpose of the Uber $40 guarantee? Is it a "Lyft" thawng?


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## duggles (Aug 25, 2014)

winston said:


> They keep texting about extreme demand for the beer fest tonight, but it sucked last night.


Yes, it seems Uber Denver has figured out how to satiate demand. Just mass text all drivers before it happens. That being said, I did 3 fares in an hour and 15 minutes, $31, $9 $19. 18 miles (incl dead mi). Will be back out on the road after 9pm to catch the closing of beer fest surge. Hope it stays surge-y (even 1.5x) until after bar closes.

Demand is down since labor day, no doubt. That, or they've really increased the amount of drivers. But yes, since Labor day Ubering has been more challenging.

@winston What's your make & model, maybe I'll see you out there.


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## cybertec69 (Jul 23, 2014)

duggles said:


> Anyone else get offered a guarantee with a buddy system? What the **** is that? Denver should be very busy with Great American Beer Fest so they "doubled" the guarantee, sign up only available for today only, "first come, first served" supposedly. Though, it should be so busy that grosses exceeding $40/hr should be more than doable.
> 
> But seriously, this is part of the form:
> 
> ...


Don't forget this is not after they "Uber" take their commission, they include their take in the "Gross" before all is said and done. They have been doing this scam here in NYC for the longest so they can get drivers on the road to slave for them. So if it is $40, your gross would be $32 after their take not $40, taking into consideration their commission is 20% where you reside. They seem to be having issues getting drivers to go out on the road and destroy their cars, their finances and themselves, so they throw a few sweeteners out there "temporary" to get you back in the swing of things, LOL.


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## winston (Jun 23, 2014)

SCdave said:


> Okay, now I'm confused. What is the purpose of the Uber $40 guarantee? Is it a "Lyft" thawng?


I don't think this guarantee exists. A number of people here or on redditt responded (myself included) instantly to their email offer and none were accepted. Maybe the limit was one person, I think it was just a trick to get people to fill out their survey (you had to fill out a survey to apply). The guarantee they've offered for everyone else sucks.


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

winston said:


> I don't think this guarantee exists. A number of people here or on redditt responded (myself included) instantly to their email offer and none were accepted. Maybe the limit was one person, I think it was just a trick to get people to fill out their survey (you had to fill out a survey to apply). The guarantee they've offered for everyone else sucks.


You might be onto something...what was the survey about?


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## winston (Jun 23, 2014)

> @winston What's your make & model, maybe I'll see you out there.


Blue honda civic, will be out tonight for a few hours.



chi1cabby said:


> You might be onto something...what was the survey about?


It just a few questions about driving. I think one was what do you like most about being an Uber driver. Can't remember the others.


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

winston said:


> It just a few questions about driving. I think one was what do you like most about being an Uber driver. Can't remember the others


Okay, thanx!
Just the standard questionnaire.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

duggles said:


> This is gross hourly, you know? And with the exception of only a few weekends, my average hourly gross is always above $40, in fact,* it's often above $50.* My net (after Uber's cut) is often between $30-40. With a weekend like this that should be easy. Now granted, I only ever pull between 8-20 hours, depending on how busy a weekend is. If you're pulling more hours than that, of course the high hourly is harder to achieve. But over the limited hours of the weekend, again, that should be cake.


Yep. Catch a busy weekend and *that number* can be hit. I recently did a 13 hour shift that went over the $50 an hour mark for the entire time. Wish I could do that every day. Had a lot of surge fares and I took only XL fares or X fares at 1.5X surge or higher.


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## cybertec69 (Jul 23, 2014)

duggles said:


> This is gross hourly, you know? And with the exception of only a few weekends, my average hourly gross is always above $40, in fact, it's often above $50. My net (after Uber's cut) is often between $30-40. With a weekend like this that should be easy. Now granted, I only ever pull between 8-20 hours, depending on how busy a weekend is. If you're pulling more hours than that, of course the high hourly is harder to achieve. But over the limited hours of the weekend, again, that should be cake.


Where are you located, here in nyc we get hit 31% off the bat with uber percentage, black car fund and ny state sales tax on the fair. My question is what about your other expenses, like car insurance, maintenance, depreciation, car payments, fuel. Here in nyc no uberx comes close to ever seeing $50 gross per hour.


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## duggles (Aug 25, 2014)

cybertec69 said:


> Where are you located, here in nyc we get hit 31% off the bat with uber percentage, black car fund and ny state sales tax on the fair. My question is what about your other expenses, like car insurance, maintenance, depreciation, car payments, fuel. Here in nyc no uberx comes close to ever seeing $50 gross per hour.


Denver. My other expenses is just depreciation. I only drive part time and therefore I'd be paying insurance and car payments with or without Uber. My earnings per mile is usually above $2/mile gross. I don't like driving on weekends where it falls below that number.

As for this weekend, I got _screwed._ No, literally. Was at $400 for the first 10 hours (Fri night/Sat am). A little bit of the ways into Saturday night I heard a noise coming from my tire. Stopped to find a screw in it and it was leaking air. Took the only shop that patches tires on a Sunday morning 3 hours to service my car. So missed Sat bar close and Sunday morning surges, or about $200 missed this weekend. Pretty ****ing pissed.


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## cybertec69 (Jul 23, 2014)

In nyc you can not operate with your regular insurance and registration, the car needs to have TLC commercial plates and commercial taxi insurance "taxi is a business here, not a hobby", you also need a taxi license for yellow cab or FHV license to drive black car dispatch service "which is what uber is considered". You also can not have the wife , girlfriend or kids driving your car. There is also annual drug testing and 3 car inspections per year, and the initial background fingerprint screening before you are able to receive you taxi or FHV license.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

duggles said:


> As for this weekend, I got _screwed._ No, literally. Was at $400 for the first 10 hours (Fri night/Sat am). A little bit of the ways into Saturday night I heard a noise coming from my tire. Stopped to find a screw in it and it was leaking air. Took the only shop that patches tires on a Sunday morning 3 hours to service my car. So missed Sat bar close and Sunday morning surges, or about $200 missed this weekend. Pretty ****ing pissed.


*I wish UBER would reimburse me for all my [especially surge!!!] downtime everytime some drunken lard ass pukes in my vehicle*


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

cybertec69 said:


> Where are you located, here in nyc we get hit 31% off the bat with uber percentage, black car fund and ny state sales tax on the fair. My question is what about your other expenses, like car insurance, maintenance, depreciation, car payments, fuel. Here in nyc no uberx comes close to ever seeing $50 gross per hour.


Manhattan has nothing but taxi's on the street. How any Uber would be needed in those situations is beyond me. And they seemed to be locked in a perpetual standstill to boot. Fares should be ridiculously high just on wait times.


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## cybertec69 (Jul 23, 2014)

scrurbscrud said:


> Manhattan has nothing but taxi's on the street. How any Uber would be needed in those situations is beyond me. And they seemed to be locked in a perpetual standstill to boot. Fares should be ridiculously high just on wait times.


Explain that to Uber, they don't get it, they just don't care about the drivers and if they go broke.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

cybertec69 said:


> Explain that to Uber, they don't get it, they just don't care about the drivers and if they go broke.


I'd bet it takes you guys quite awhile just to get to a pax?


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## cybertec69 (Jul 23, 2014)

scrurbscrud said:


> I'd bet it takes you guys quite awhile just to get to a pax?


You can say that again, it is beyond ridiculous.


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## cybertec69 (Jul 23, 2014)

I am waiting for a dispatch as I type this, slow as molasses today, and it has been like this for some time, and with these ridiculous dirt cheap rates, I don't know how much longer this can go on.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

cybertec69 said:


> I am waiting for a dispatch as I type this, slow as molasses today, and it has been like this for some time, and with these ridiculous dirt cheap rates, I don't know how much longer this can go on.


I honestly don't know how with UberX rates any driver could even come close to making a payday in NYC. Seriously. You guys must kill an hour just to get to a pax.

If you're waiting for a dispatch you must be a taxi company guy anyway though huh?


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## cybertec69 (Jul 23, 2014)

Here is an email I send today to Uber, for the hundredth time, I just had it with these clowns. The emails start from the last one upwards.

* Uber* (Uber)

Oct 06 13:28

Hi,

Thanks for reaching out. I'm escalating this email to a manager so we can help you as soon as possible. Please keep an eye out for a response!

Best,

*Uber Support*

Me,

And what will that do, apparently the protests in front of your offices did nothing, as you look at the drivers like they are dirt , so by me coming in the office, how is that going to change anything. This will all blow up in time, it's not a sustainable business model. How much longer does Travis and his deep pocket friends think they can sell this sham to the public. By the way your response to my issues speaks volumes. Please forward this to Travis, maybe he can enlighten me with his wisdom.

Sincerely,
Me

▼ Hide quoted text
On Oct 6, 2014 4:11 PM, " Uber (Uber Partner Support)" <[email protected]> wrote:








##- Please type your reply above this line -##
Your request (11548313) has been updated. To add additional comments, reply to this email.

* Uber* (Uber)

Oct 06 13:11

Hi ,

Thank you for the feedback. If you would like to speak to someone about this please stop by the office. The office is located at 27-55 Jackson Ave in Long

Island City, Queens. We are open Mon-Fri 10am-5pm.

Best,

*Uber Support*

uber.com | facebook.com/uber |@uber

Oct 06 12:52

Not only is the rating system flawed, but how much longer do you think we can operate with these dirt cheap rates, today I did 10 jobs for a gross fare of $210, from the 10 jobs one was an airport trip for $77, that means that for the remaining 9 trips I earned $133 which is absurd, that is before uber and the state take their cut, that would leave me with $80 gross without the airport job, so what am I left with, after fuel costs $25 for the day , and car costs $70. Please explain to me how anybody in their right mind can keep operating with these rates. The rates before the cuts where low already for a dispatch service, now they are beyond absurd. As you can tell by the days that my radio has been on, that I am less days out on the road, it is just not feasible for me or anyone with a functioning brain. Please tell Travis to go you know what.

Sincerely,

Me

* Uber* (Uber)

Oct 06 12:21

Hi,

Thank you for your feedback. We know that the situations you mentioned do occur - passengers are unhappy with surge pricing, or may be in a bad mood, etc. That's why we don't look at the rating for any individual trip - we look at an average over dozens or hundreds of trips. Over time, we believe the average rating gives a reasonable indication of how you're doing with riders.

You can access more information on our rating system here:http://bit.ly/1bELyEb

Please let me know if there's anything else I can help with.

Best,

*Uber Support*

uber.com | facebook.com/uber |@uber

Oct 06 12:01

Hi, today I did 11 trips, after the first 10 trips my rating was 5,the 11th fare gave me a 4 and tanked my rating for the day, what was his reasoning, I picked him up and dropped him off on time for his measly $11 fare , as I said numerous times, your rating system is extremely flawed and needs to be fixed. Not only are we screwed financially with these dirt cheap rates, but now we get idiot passengers who have no regard for the drivers. I want to know what you are planning to do in regards to this flawed rating system of yours, and please stop sending back the same corporate scripted response. I don't appreciate being treated like an idiot. You know that what you are doing to the drivers will not last too much longer, from the fare price cuts, to your idiotic rating system. After the 11th job, I turned my radio off, not only did I earn squat for the trips I made, but to add insult to injury I get degraded by some idiot.

Sincerely,


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## Denver Warrior (Oct 8, 2014)

This is the email I have received when I asked what $40/hour deal was. Yesterday, I have receive invoice. Yeah there was no inventive.


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## Denver Warrior (Oct 8, 2014)

Let's call 9news or Fox31 if one gets paid


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## DriverJ (Sep 1, 2014)

duggles said:


> Anyone else get offered a guarantee with a buddy system? What the **** is that? Denver should be very busy with Great American Beer Fest so they "doubled" the guarantee, sign up only available for today only, "first come, first served" supposedly. Though, it should be so busy that grosses exceeding $40/hr should be more than doable.
> 
> But seriously, this is part of the form:
> 
> ...


Here's how it works. You both ride in the same car. Uber charges the normal fare. While your buddy drives, you blow the passengers. Next ride, you swap. Uber charges $5/head (hey, it's Uber). Have to service 8 guys an hour to get the 'bonus.' You have to split the $40. Sorry, Uber keeps 100% of the fares on these rides.


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

DriverJ said:


> While your buddy drives, you blow the passengers. Next ride, you swap.


How bout the lady pax?


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## DriverJ (Sep 1, 2014)

chi1cabby said:


> How bout the lady pax?


I pay them $5!


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