# Why I didn't tip this driver and why i gave 1*



## injera (Apr 29, 2016)

Uber pax here. With reading this forum i've become to tipping more often so now i'm tipping ~half of drivers usually in the $2-10 range depending on distance, cash on hand and any special requests/difficulty of trip.

Ordered an UberX at 440 for my 545 flight out of LaGuardia. Specified in the app and to the driver that I want to go to the "Marine Air Terminal" which is in its own separate area away from the remainder of the terminal. He asks me which airline and I tell him Delta.

Easy 15 minute drive, no traffic at this hour and we're approaching the airport by 5. He overshoots my terminal and drives me to the main terminal for Delta's checkin. I explain this is not where I need to be and how to get me back to the Marine Air Terminal (i didnt care much about the extra time/distance, i had plenty of time to make my flight and my employer was covering this fare). He ends the ride, points to the Delta sign and tells me this is my stop. I insist it isnt. After some arguing he flags down a cop who verifies that we're in the wrong terminal. 5 minutes later I am dropped off where I need to be. Opt not to tip this driver since he couldnt follow directions and got quite angry with me. 

Driver insists I pay him an extra $5 cash for the additional driving. I refuse and tell him i've already overpaid and that had he taken me where i had specified he would already be back in Manhattan for his next fare. He calls me an a**hole and tells me he's going to complain to Uber about theft of services. I leave the car, promptly give a 1* rating and explain to Uber why I gave 1*

Was I in the wrong here? Was he? Anyone care to weigh in? 

Uber responded to my 1* apologizing and asking me for further detail on what happened. I'm tempted not to give further feedback as perhaps this driver was just having a bad day. Don't want him to lose his job over one bad report.


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## Ben105 (Feb 27, 2016)

YOu need to give accurate feedback. Bad day or not, he should have followed directions and not be spoken to like that.


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## D Town (Apr 8, 2015)

Assuming you did everything you said you did and he said and did everything you say he did then the driver was a jack...burro...and was beyond in the wrong. This is the kind of driver you get at these rates, unfortunately. If a pax gave me instructions to go to a specific location as long as it wasn't illegal or dangerous I'd go. Nothing you posted here was unreasonable. I wouldn't feel bad for this driver in the least if I were you.


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## naplestom75 (May 3, 2015)

Was he following GPS?


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## Another Uber Driver (May 27, 2015)

D Town said:


> Assuming you did everything you said you did and he said and did everything you say he did then the driver was a jack*donkey* and was beyond in the wrong.
> 
> This is the kind of driver you get at these rates, unfortunately.
> 
> ...


(boldface indicates editing)

All of the above.

If you do not want to get the driver in any more trouble, follow the course of action that you have in mind: do not respond further. Uber might send you a few more texts or e-Mails, but, if you ignore/delete them, they will go away. If he demanded cash, and, you complained specifically about that, he could be de-activated, no questions asked.

You do not state if you live in Queens, Brooklyn or somewhere on Manhattan, so I do not know what your alternatives might have been. It was either hard or impossible to find cabs in many of the places that I lived in New York. This was Before Uber, mind you.

To paraphphrase the above quoted poster, you do get that for which you pay. I point no finger at Original Poster in making that statement. Uber is offering a service to the consumer, the consumer takes advantage of it, as Uber wants him to do. Sometimes, though, an "opportunity" _*ain't*_ all that it seems to be.

You did nothing wrong. In fact, I appreciate your tipping. Still, you tip for good service and rate well if the driver treats you properly. If the driver mistreats you, as happened here, not only should you rate low, but decidedly you should not tip. Discuss it further with Uber or not, as you choose. You would not be unjustified, if you did. If you choose not to do that, you are cutting the driver a break. It might be true that he simply was having a bad day.


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## EcoboostMKS (Nov 6, 2015)

This is the type of riff raff that uber attracts these days. No you were not wrong. Most Delta flights do go out of the terminal he brought you to (terminal C or D minus the shuttle flights that you were on that fly out of A), so that's probably what the driver was thinking. This is why I always ask my customers exactly which terminal they're flying out of when they're doing Delta at LGA. It's all over the place. 

You just had an inexperienced and unprofessional driver with no people skills. It will happen again, I'm sure.


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## Tim In Cleveland (Jul 28, 2014)

Feel free to say "turn here" as you approach a turn so he doesn't overshoot when you think he might miss it or it's not the normal turn to a popular destination. My customers do that (even when they can see my GPS shows the turn they want, AND I'm already braking AND I have the correct turn signal on. Please don't be annoying and request a turn the driver has already started - but otherwise, they should appreciate the help).


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## ColdRider (Oct 19, 2015)

Give further feedback


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## injera (Apr 29, 2016)

right. I specifically mentioned 'Marine Air Terminal' and not 'take me to Delta.' I also entered Marine Air in the app. I couldnt see his phone so i'm not sure if he was following the gps or just his knowlege of how to get from the Upper East Side to LaGuardia.

To those saying 'you get what you pay for' I should point out that my fare was $30.94. A yellow cab would usually cost $32-35 so while, yes, I did save over a yellow cab it wasnt like my driver worked for an hour to make $7. Ride was ~15 minutes and he probably took home $20 ($30.94 less toll less ubers cut).

I can certainly appreciate drivers' frustration but do believe drivers in NYC do better than drivers in, say, Tampa or Omaha (of course the cost of living more than makes up for this)


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## Disgusted Driver (Jan 9, 2015)

The drivers in NYC make more because they have to be licensed and insured and typically do this full time + the cost of living and hassle is much higher there. With that said, if he doesn't know what the Marine Air Terminal is, he got no business being there. Was English his native language? Wondering if he understood you. Yeah, I would probably provide additional feedback, first rule of this is take the pax wherever they want to go in the region as long as you can do it safely and legally.


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## cannonball7 (Feb 18, 2016)

Sounds like you had an inexperienced and / or a foreign driver where English is his second language.
He got huffy at you because of a miscommunication / misunderstanding? Not acceptable.

Furthermore, the driver getting the police potentially involved? The driver involving the police, could have been perceived at first as a threat, thus raising the anxiety level. Not professional.

The driver should have submitted a fair adjustment to the proper destination and did not. Not professional.

Some feedback I can give is to either use the exact address of the building, or in general when giving a driver initial instructions speak slowly and clearly, enunciating your words. Especially if it is a unique situation or in ordinary request.
If I deal with lazy or poor communication, I am persistent to get the answers I need to do the job.

We are all creatures of habit / behavior. My guess is once the driver heard Delta, LaGuardia he tuned the rest of your communication out and knew "exactly" where you needed to go. You told him where his cheese was, he knows the maze he must navigate to said cheese.

In general, good riders who know their request is in a tough spot to get to for pick up or drop off, etc. are proactive about getting the driver to the pick up or destination. Likewise as a driver, I engage the passenger about their destination. As we get close to the destination I ask specific questions about the drop off.

Any airport drop off, I always at least confirm the airline twice.


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## EcoboostMKS (Nov 6, 2015)

injera said:


> right. I specifically mentioned 'Marine Air Terminal' and not 'take me to Delta.' I also entered Marine Air in the app. I couldnt see his phone so i'm not sure if he was following the gps or just his knowlege of how to get from the Upper East Side to LaGuardia.
> 
> To those saying 'you get what you pay for' I should point out that my fare was $30.94. A yellow cab would usually cost $32-35 so while, yes, I did save over a yellow cab it wasnt like my driver worked for an hour to make $7. Ride was ~15 minutes and he probably took home $20 ($30.94 less toll less ubers cut).
> 
> I can certainly appreciate drivers' frustration but do believe drivers in NYC do better than drivers in, say, Tampa or Omaha (of course the cost of living more than makes up for this)


It's not really that you get what you pay for, it's more the service you're using. There's a constant revolving door when it comes to uber drivers. Lots of drivers who just don't have a clue what they're doing. They'll hire anyone and people know it's an easy way to make some cash when other jobs aren't available. Most don't have a clue if they're not following a GPS. I bet your driver probably didn't even have a clue the marine terminal existed.


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## Ben105 (Feb 27, 2016)

If the pax entered it into the app, then there is no reason why he shouldn't have followed his GPS. Sacramento is a large are and I know most of the hot spots, but there is every once in a while, that there is a place that I'm not familiar with. I just follow my GPS and it gets me there. And I actually prefer if they DON'T put in the exact address and put in Marine Air Terminal or Kohl's, etc, because where there are multiple addresses at a location or only suite numbers to differentiate, then the name will come up along with the address. I'd rather have Google come up with the address than the pax. Lots of times they enter the wrong address or their ping is not in the right place.


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## Fireguy50 (Nov 23, 2015)

I always ask when I pull into an apartment complex or airport, or any other building with multiple entrance.
Not difficult to ask the rider which door they intended to be dropped off at


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## Ben105 (Feb 27, 2016)

I was referring to a pick up. It's just easier to have the name of the destination and not just an address. It does make it easier on the drop off as well if pax is engrossed in their phones or a conversation with other pax.


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## UberReallySucks (Jul 17, 2015)

_Over and over again, I keep seeing posts about Uber and some imaginary high expectations. Uber is NOT a car service and DOES NOT employ professional drivers. 
It's an APP for God sake that allows for peer to peer ride-sharing... Remember the day you used to ask your friends to give you a ride to the airport for maybe some gas money or lunch or whatever, well now you don't have to do that anymore. You can get a ride from a stranger by using the Uber App. instead. 
And every time you do so, chances are you're getting a new driver, who's making a little extra money in between jobs as the Uber recruitment ads clearly state these days and who may or may not know where your terminal is. 
How you handle the situation is sometimes up to you though. If you're friendly and appreciative to said stranger and communicate clearly as to what hurdles you want him to avoid in order to get you where you need to be, then 99.9% of the time, that's what you'll get.
If you act as if you had ordered a limousine and talk down to the driver, then chances are and depending on the driver, the outcome of your ride may not be what you had hoped for.
And to make one more thing clear to the ppl of NY, tolls are not considered part of the fare .... if anything they're an extra burden on the driver

_


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

injera said:


> Uber pax here. With reading this forum i've become to tipping more often so now i'm tipping ~half of drivers usually in the $2-10 range depending on distance, cash on hand and any special requests/difficulty of trip.
> 
> Ordered an UberX at 440 for my 545 flight out of LaGuardia. Specified in the app and to the driver that I want to go to the "Marine Air Terminal" which is in its own separate area away from the remainder of the terminal. He asks me which airline and I tell him Delta.
> 
> ...


You were absolutely right.
You told him where you wanted to go.
He should never ask for cash.
You shouldn't have to argue with your Uber or any other driver.
Sorry he started your day like this.

I would say he deserves deactivation for that behavior.but perhaps he is not bright,so if this behavior continues,he should be cut off from access to Uber.

You were right.he deserved a 1 and being reported.


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## D Town (Apr 8, 2015)

UberReallySucks said:


> _Over and over again, I keep seeing posts about Uber and some imaginary high expectations. Uber is NOT a car service and DOES NOT employ professional drivers.
> It's an APP for God sake that allows for peer to peer ride-sharing... Remember the day you used to ask your friends to give you a ride to the airport for maybe some gas money or lunch or whatever, well now you don't have to do that anymore. You can get a ride from a stranger by using the Uber App. instead.
> And every time you do so, chances are you're getting a new driver, who's making a little extra money in between jobs as the Uber recruitment ads clearly state these days and who may or may not know where your terminal is.
> How you handle the situation is sometimes up to you though. If you're friendly and appreciative to said stranger and communicate clearly as to what hurdles you want him to avoid in order to get you where you need to be, then 99.9% of the time, that's what you'll get.
> ...


Nothing in this guys post indicates he acted like a tool. From what was described anyone who is actually listening to the words coming out of another persons mouth should not have had difficulty with the directions given. If you can't understand basic directions and/or follow a GPS you have no business driving. Period.


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## UberReallySucks (Jul 17, 2015)

D Town said:


> Nothing in this guys post indicates he acted like a tool. From what was described anyone who is actually listening to the words coming out of another persons mouth should not have had difficulty with the directions given. If you can't understand basic directions and/or follow a GPS you have no business driving. Period.


_Hey, tell that to Uber and their business model! and also always 2 sides to every story!_


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## D Town (Apr 8, 2015)

UberReallySucks said:


> _Hey, tell that to Uber and their business model! and also always 2 sides to every story!_


Don't know what you mean by the first part however the second part is a cop out. I COULD go into every post assuming the person is lying but I generally give the poster the benefit of the doubt until and unless something doesn't smell right. His story is believable. Why would I NOT believe him? Are you his driver? If so what's your side of the story? If not neither you nor I have any reason to think he's lying. Not all drivers are saints and not all pax are the devil.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

So they have a seaplane base at the same airport ?


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## Agent99 (Nov 4, 2015)

injera said:


> Uber pax here. With reading this forum i've become to tipping more often so now i'm tipping ~half of drivers usually in the $2-10 range depending on distance, cash on hand and any special requests/difficulty of trip.
> 
> Ordered an UberX at 440 for my 545 flight out of LaGuardia. Specified in the app and to the driver that I want to go to the "Marine Air Terminal" which is in its own separate area away from the remainder of the terminal. He asks me which airline and I tell him Delta.
> 
> ...


Clearly there was a communication problem here and almost certainly a language problem. Unfortunately, Uber doesn't have a test for measuring the minimum language or communication skills necessary to be a driver. This doesn't matter until it matters, such as in a situation like yours.

The driver shouldn't have ended the ride early as it was clear he brought you to the wrong place. Being obstinate that he had brought you to the correct place, he ended the ride. He shouldnt have been stubborn about this, and could have kept you on the clock while getting help with directions from the policeman and then bringing you to the correct place. If he had done this, he would have been paid better and not feel the need to pressure you for extra compensation. What a mess. I can see why you didn't want to pay anything extra. If I was in your situation I would have one starred the driver too.


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## Disgusted Driver (Jan 9, 2015)

tohunt4me said:


> So they have a seaplane base at the same airport ?


I think they actually did at one time, Laguardia is right on the bay, but the days of the sea plane are long gone. Nowadays I think they use it for gates to run the shuttles to DC and Boston.


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## Another Uber Driver (May 27, 2015)

tohunt4me said:


> So they have a seaplane base at the same airport ?


The Marine Air Terminal was for Pan Am's Clipper seaplanes. Funny thing, LaGuardia had closed it, and, when Eastern swallowed New York Air, whoever it was assigned the New York Air Shuttle to Pan Am and La Guardia re-opened the Marine Air Terminal just to service it. There were articles in the paper and everything about it.

Too bad that both New York Air and Eastern are gone. I liked them. New York Air used to serve New Amsterdam Amber beer on their flights.


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