# Are surges fake?



## EmperorOfAmerica (Aug 22, 2019)

I've gotten a few of them, but not as much lately. See my other post.

Anyway, from a lot of posts here I'm seeing that people seem to think the surges are purely fictitious and just playing with the drivers to get them out and driving.

Is there any truth to this or is it just frustration talking?


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## oleole20 (Apr 8, 2019)

Just like CNN.


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## amazinghl (Oct 31, 2018)

Surge/boost/promotion/referral/etc are all tools used to get more drivers on the road.
Now they have enough/more than enough drivers, those temporary pay increase will all go away and drivers will be left with "base rate"


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## Ankido (Jul 28, 2017)

There's always a delay in the network. Some drivers see surges others don't. It's there but you won't see it because of the latency. In the end, they are going to end surges as it's already happening. If Uber/Lyft are smart enough, rates will go up so both drivers and company get paid. Otherwise, this is a dead end job.


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## Desperada (Aug 23, 2019)

EmperorOfAmerica said:


> I've gotten a few of them, but not as much lately. See my other post.
> 
> Anyway, from a lot of posts here I'm seeing that people seem to think the surges are purely fictitious and just playing with the drivers to get them out and driving.
> 
> Is there any truth to this or is it just frustration talking?


They're real. If you go to the heart to grab the $ then head more toward the outskirts you'll probably get pings. I never get them at the heart even in super busy areas, don't know why. The pings come farther out. I don't chase them either, unless they're nearby cuz they usually fill the quota & vanish right before I get there. But sometimes they get bigger! It's just a gamble, but they're very real.


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## Roadmasta (Aug 4, 2017)

Technology company. They keep improving how to get over on drivers. I only drive here during surge but I never run out every time I see surge. Saturday nights it's pretty good other than that I think it's half trickery to get you out to drive. Trick me once trick me twice. I'm on to a company that has proven over and over again that they can't be trusted.


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## Ignatz (Aug 3, 2019)

The Algorithm manipulates Drivers to areas
That will benefit Uber’s clients who detest surge.

ie. Light up an area,? drivers run
area goes dark?
Passengers get their rides @ nonsurge rate✔
And Uber takes over half the fare✔

Everyone’s happy ?
Except the over supply of disposable nonemployee Drivers ?

Problem ain’t Uber
Problem is the drivers chauffeuring Uber’s client for pennies


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## Mista T (Aug 16, 2017)

Some surges are fake. Some are real.

When a concert gets out, that's real.

When you're sitting around bored to death and there is a $2.25 bonus 5 miles away... that's fake.


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## Uber's Guber (Oct 22, 2017)

EmperorOfAmerica said:


> Are surges fake?


Yeah surges are fake.
Hell, if it wasn't for CNN News, surges would be the most fake thing on the planet.


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## kc ub'ing! (May 27, 2016)

When I first started I saw an uberguy youtube post advising drivers to situate yourself in a position on the map as close to the surge symbol as you could. Just being in the red wasn't good enough!

I ate it up! "Im right under the 2x! Why aren't I getting rides?!" After driving 10 minutes to get there, then parking just so. Performed this exercise 5 times before I wised up. What a ****ing idiot!


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## nouberipo (Jul 24, 2018)

Ignatz said:


> The Algorithm manipulates Drivers to areas
> That will benefit Uber's clients who detest surge.
> 
> ie. Light up an area,? drivers run
> ...


"Problem ain't Uber".........um, yes it is. They are the ones doing the pure manipulation and exploitation at the base level which is followed by the paxoles who don't tip. UBER IS 100 PERCENT TO BLAME FOR THE EXPLOITATION, MANIPULATION, AND LYING TO DRIVERS AND THIS IS ALL HAPPENING AT AN INCREASINGLY RAPID PACE. THEY HAVE FULL CONTROL AND THEY KNOW IT.


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## fork2323 (Aug 27, 2014)

Fake surge today.. Sat for 20 min with no rides. Took a Lyft pax instead at +$15


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## Mista T (Aug 16, 2017)

fork2323 said:


> Fake surge today.. Sat for 20 min with no rides. Took a Lyft pax instead at +$15
> View attachment 352662


Looks real to me. And the fact that you got +15 on Lyft proves that the surge was based on high demand, making it REAL.

Just because YOU didn't get a ride, doesn't make it a fake surge.


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## Disgusted Driver (Jan 9, 2015)

Wow, you folks in LA are still getting multipliers, sigh. 

The flat rate surges are mostly real, certainly after an event, at bar close or Sunday night at the airport kind of things. With sticky surge there is a whole different way of playing though, sometimes the surge gradient is steep enough (change in surge values) that you can duck into the surge area, lock in a high amount and then drive 2 miles away to get a quick short ride, rinse and repeat. There's one place between campus and downtown in Raleigh where I can occasionally use that strategy to lock in an amount and then go somewhere where I know I'lll
get a quick crappy ride.


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## oleole20 (Apr 8, 2019)

fork2323 said:


> Fake surge today.. Sat for 20 min with no rides. Took a Lyft pax instead at +$15
> View attachment 352662


Put yourself in pax shoes, would you order a ride if the fare is that high?


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## EmmDee (Sep 6, 2019)

Yes surges are fake. I just took a series of screen shots showing an $11 bonus in an area. I took off for that area and *mysteriously* while en route, the surge went from $11 (3:07pm) to $8.50 (3:15pm) to $5.25 (3:17pm) to $2.00 (3:19pm) to zero, just as I arrived in the surge area. I took these screenshots to prove that they do this on purpose. They also ruined my gold status by sending me multiple notifications of rides that didn't exist once I clicked the notification, so that my acceptance rate went from 97% to 76%. I am so done driving for these prcks. Lyft only from this day forward. At least Lyft doesn't routinely lie to and screw over their drivers.


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## charmer37 (Nov 18, 2016)

Roadmasta said:


> Technology company. They keep improving how to get over on drivers. I only drive here during surge but I never run out every time I see surge. Saturday nights it's pretty good other than that I think it's half trickery to get you out to drive. Trick me once trick me twice. I'm on to a company that has proven over and over again that they can't be trusted.


Uber fooled me once but never twice...lol, I was on to there trickery years ago, If you use to drive or still drive it's easy to follow the patterns of these companies on how they do business.... They can fool some but not everybody.


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## ABQuber (Jan 30, 2019)

EmperorOfAmerica said:


> I've gotten a few of them, but not as much lately. See my other post.
> 
> Anyway, from a lot of posts here I'm seeing that people seem to think the surges are purely fictitious and just playing with the drivers to get them out and driving.
> 
> Is there any truth to this or is it just frustration talking?


When I was new I was guilty of chasing surges and always seemed to miss them.

About a year and a half ago, I was sitting in a corner of the city watching the rider app. I was the only driver for miles, when a surge started on top of me. This was when it was the old surge rates. I watched that area around me get bigger and deeper red, getting more excited. I was dead center in it, no other drivers around. It peaked at around 600%. Then I watched it grow into a lighter red and get smaller until it finally disappeared. Start to finish, maybe 20 minutes.

I never got any request, but now on the rider app, there were other ants closing in on the area and a couple around me that probably logged in because of it.

That convinced me, they do it to get drivers in an otherwise dead area so when someone orders a ride, they don't wait long.

Never chased a surge again.


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## Galveston (Aug 16, 2019)

Ankido said:


> There's always a delay in the network. Some drivers see surges others don't. It's there but you won't see it because of the latency. In the end, they are going to end surges as it's already happening. If Uber/Lyft are smart enough, rates will go up so both drivers and company get paid. Otherwise, this is a dead end job.


Also queued rides are bs usually designed to cheat you out of a surge


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## Ubermcbc (Sep 25, 2016)

EmperorOfAmerica said:


> I've gotten a few of them, but not as much lately. See my other post.
> 
> Anyway, from a lot of posts here I'm seeing that people seem to think the surges are purely fictitious and just playing with the drivers to get them out and driving.
> 
> Is there any truth to this or is it just frustration talking?


Back in 2015, i recorded several videos on different days in which surge multiplier was always different on the drivers app and the pax app. This is not new. I am sure there are hundreds of thousands of drivers worldwide who have dealth this issue. You are not the only one.


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## NauticalWheeler (Jun 15, 2019)

I dont see any surge ANYWHERE ?


fork2323 said:


> Fake surge today.. Sat for 20 min with no rides. Took a Lyft pax instead at +$15
> View attachment 352662


When is that from? Havent seen multipliers in forever.









No surge to be seen


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## Uberdriver914 (Jun 15, 2019)

Surge is like a myth you never know if it’s real or fake. You can say it’s real when you get 3 high surge calls back to back and make $80 in less than an hour. But what do you call it when your driving hours later and the app stopped giving you calls or is silently punishing you. My advice if you catch nice surges cash out while your ahead bc Uber will find a way to offset it.


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## Amos69 (May 17, 2019)

Uber's Guber said:


> Yeah surges are fake.
> Hell, if it wasn't for FOX News, surges would be the most fake thing on the planet.


FIFY

But both are true


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## Jo3030 (Jan 2, 2016)

Q.
Are Surges Fake

A.
Yes.


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## KK2929 (Feb 9, 2017)

With Lyft, they color up the screen with different shared being - supposedly - the level of activity in the area. I have always believed that Lyft will color an area dark yellow, supposedly meaning a hot area, early to draw a certain number of drivers to that location because they feel that within "X" amount of minutes, that area will be busy. Such as a number of bars will be closing, or a concert is ending. I have been in Redondo Beach when the phone screen is dark yellow. Drive through town, stopped and got a drink -- took 15 minutes - nothing. It was dark yellow when I left and headed for LAX


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## EmperorOfAmerica (Aug 22, 2019)

ABQuber said:


> When I was new I was guilty of chasing surges and always seemed to miss them.
> 
> About a year and a half ago, I was sitting in a corner of the city watching the rider app. I was the only driver for miles, when a surge started on top of me. This was when it was the old surge rates. I watched that area around me get bigger and deeper red, getting more excited. I was dead center in it, no other drivers around. It peaked at around 600%. Then I watched it grow into a lighter red and get smaller until it finally disappeared. Start to finish, maybe 20 minutes.
> 
> ...


Wow. That is so shady. This makes me want to short Uber stock.



Disgusted Driver said:


> Wow, you folks in LA are still getting multipliers, sigh.
> 
> The flat rate surges are mostly real, certainly after an event, at bar close or Sunday night at the airport kind of things. With sticky surge there is a whole different way of playing though, sometimes the surge gradient is steep enough (change in surge values) that you can duck into the surge area, lock in a high amount and then drive 2 miles away to get a quick short ride, rinse and repeat. There's one place between campus and downtown in Raleigh where I can occasionally use that strategy to lock in an amount and then go somewhere where I know I'lll
> get a quick crappy ride.


What's a _sticky _surge?


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## ABQuber (Jan 30, 2019)

EmperorOfAmerica said:


> Wow. That is so shady. This makes me want to short Uber stock.
> 
> 
> What's a _sticky _surge?


With the new flat rate surge, that's the only "good" thing about it. If you get into an area that's surging for say $5. It'll say on your app, "Next ride, $5". So even if the surge goes away, that surge you qualified for "sticks" to you. Next ride you accept and complete, you get the extra on top, regardless of if the surge disappears or not, as long as you don't log out.

Now this is a whole new topic, but I find when I do get a surge "stuck" to me, it seems to take a lot longer to get a new ride. Like they are hoping I'll give up and log out and they won't have to pay it. I'm honestly not sure if the customer pays for that or if Uber does.

Lyft does something similar now too. They got rid of Primetime. They call it a "Personal Power Zone", or PPZ now. They'll throw up a PPZ area and when you get into it, a higher price hits you, say again, $5. Difference is, while you're sitting in your PPZ, it will start going up a few cents every 5 seconds or so until you get a ride or double whatever your surge price was. You can't leave the PPZ while this is happening or it falls off of you. Once you max out, say $10 if you started at $5, you can leave the area and go wherever. Next ride you'll get what it says.

But again, every time I've gotten that, it feels like Lyft is trying to wait me out. Week ago I maxed a PPZ out at $12. Left and drove to what is normally a busy area. Nothing. Took TWO HOURS to get a request at that higher price. This was in morning rush hour. I never ever wait that long normally. Not even close. At an hour I was ready to log out and drop it just so I could get a regular request, but I'm stubborn and it became a principle thing lol.

With both it just feels like I go to the bottom of the queue and the algorithm doesn't give me a ride until nobody else is available or a set time passes when I have a surge stuck to me.


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## TemptingFate (May 2, 2019)

ABQuber said:


> With the new flat rate surge, that's the only "good" thing about it. If you get into an area that's surging for say $5. It'll say on your app, "Next ride, $5". So even if the surge goes away, that surge you qualified for "sticks" to you. Next ride you accept and complete, you get the extra on top, regardless of if the surge disappears or not, as long as you don't log out.
> 
> Now this is a whole new topic, but I find when I do get a surge "stuck" to me, it seems to take a lot longer to get a new ride. Like they are hoping I'll give up and log out and they won't have to pay it. I'm honestly not sure if the customer pays for that or if Uber does.
> 
> ...


The long wait is due to the algorithm looking for a ride that will pay enough to cover your surge bonus without Uber/Lyft having to pay out of pocket. It's all a sham and a scam to rip off riders and drivers, of course.


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## Mista T (Aug 16, 2017)

The sticky surge is a double whammy.

1st, if Lyft can pay another driver NO surge, why would they pay surge to You? So yes, you drop to the bottom of the list.

2nd, since you are waiting for that ping, you may even turn off Uber. Cuz you don't want to miss out on that "high paying" Lyft ride. So the company effectively locks you up mentally, you stop driving for the other for a short time.


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## EmperorOfAmerica (Aug 22, 2019)

I just spent another 1.5 hours in a promo zone with ZERO rides. Uber has a thing going where if you give 3 consecutive rides in a zone they outline they'll give you an extra $16. I spent 1.5 hours in this zone, and not a single ping. I did give two lyft rides while I was waiting. I wasn't about to just burn gas.

I'm getting to the point where the promotions are actually costing me money from lost volume if this is really what's going on. If they really are manipulating the algo to not give me any passengers because I'm in their promo zone where they offer to pay me more, then I fail to see how blanketing the entirety of SLC proper in a promo that the algo refuses to hire people from unless it absolutely has to, serves anyone, even Uber itself. Wouldn't that just piss off Uber passengers who have to wait longer, lead to lost business for Uber and also, obviously, we're pissed. And if that's the case, why have the promo at all from Uber's perspective?


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## ABQuber (Jan 30, 2019)

EmperorOfAmerica said:


> I just spent another 1.5 hours in a promo zone with ZERO rides. Uber has a thing going where if you give 3 consecutive rides in a zone they outline they'll give you an extra $16. I spent 1.5 hours in this zone, and not a single ping. I did give two lyft rides while I was waiting. I wasn't about to just burn gas.
> 
> I'm getting to the point where the promotions are actually costing me money from lost volume if this is really what's going on. If they really are manipulating the algo to not give me any passengers because I'm in their promo zone where they offer to pay me more, then I fail to see how blanketing the entirety of SLC proper in a promo that the algo refuses to hire people from unless it absolutely has to, serves anyone, even Uber itself. Wouldn't that just piss off Uber passengers who have to wait longer, lead to lost business for Uber and also, obviously, we're pissed. And if that's the case, why have the promo at all from Uber's perspective?


Yours may actually be an example from that thread on the matching algorithm. I wonder, how many lifetime rides have you given? What's your rating?

You should give that thread a read before responding, see if you feel it fits you at all. Might answer your question. It's featured here on the home page.

https://uberpeople.net/threads/ubers-matching-algorithm.351609/


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## Cold Fusion (Aug 28, 2019)

nouberipo said:


> "Problem ain't Uber".........um, yes it is. They are the ones doing the pure manipulation and exploitation at the base level which is followed by the paxoles who don't tip. UBER IS 100 PERCENT TO BLAME FOR THE EXPLOITATION, MANIPULATION, AND LYING TO DRIVERS AND THIS IS ALL HAPPENING AT AN INCREASINGLY RAPID PACE. THEY HAVE FULL CONTROL AND THEY KNOW IT.


Drivers allow themselves to be manipulated

Unless @nouberipo you're making a case that drivers are feeble minded, easily exploitable and gullible ??


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## EmperorOfAmerica (Aug 22, 2019)

ABQuber said:


> Yours may actually be an example from that thread on the matching algorithm. I wonder, how many lifetime rides have you given? What's your rating?
> 
> You should give that thread a read before responding, see if you feel it fits you at all. Might answer your question. It's featured here on the home page.
> 
> https://uberpeople.net/threads/ubers-matching-algorithm.351609/


Here's my stats.


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