# Never Ever Break Your Own Rules



## ANThonyBoreDaneCook (Oct 7, 2019)

We all have our own standards and rules for staying profitable in our unique markets. Mine are usually reject anything under $9.00, at least 2$ per mile, avoid certain areas and never EVER accept Walmart pings.

Well?
Folks?
I ****ed up.

Uber-eats is usually my third option that I use to fill the gaps between DD and GH. 
It was a normal day. Uber was bombarding me with Walmart pings and I was Uzi rejecting them BUT I did notice that the orders were getting much better. I thought maybe it was getting more popular? Maybe they were forced to pay better in order to fulfill the deliveries? Either way, it made no difference to me. I will never accept them anyway.

At the end of my evening I was searching for that perfect ping that would get me close to home. And here it comes:

Walmart
One package
One stop
Right near my house
6 miles/$28.00

I accepted. I ****ing accepted it. I broke my own rule and probably the most important one.

When I arrived there were 10 Uber drivers waiting near pickup. The manager was shaking her head, one employee was crying and they had one moron with a device letting the drivers know that they didn't have the staff to fill the orders. Everyone left without one order filled.

Don't be like me.
Don't break your own rules.


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## FL_Steve (Dec 17, 2021)

Yep. Whenever I have broken my own rules it ended badly. Last time I took a late night McD's order for instance. That's already 1 broken rule. No late night fast food. I got there and waited 20 mins in a drive thru. That's another two rules broken. No long drive thrus. No waiting more than five minutes. I get to the window and the girl says that order was already picked up!


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## Launchpad McQuack (Jan 8, 2019)

ANThonyBoreDaneCook said:


> Walmart
> One package
> One stop
> Right near my house
> ...


How far out of your way did you have to go to get to Wal-Mart? If not far, then I would have rolled the dice on that. If it works out, great. You made an easy $4+/mile. If it doesn't work out, then you haven't lost much. Either you cancel and move on or, if it is slow, call Rohit and collect your $3.

The more important rule, in my opinion, is to not reach on pickups. If that 6 miles was 5.5 miles to get to Wal-Mart and 0.5 miles to the customer, then I am going to be much more hesitant to accept it than if I am sitting in the Wal-Mart parking lot and it is 6 miles to the customer. Any time you get a $15+ ping for relatively low miles, the yellow flag needs to go up that there might not be an order to pick up and that risk needs to factor in when deciding whether or not to accept.


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## Uberdriver2710 (Jul 15, 2015)

If the rule is a good rule, I avoid breaking it. see: always tie your shoes

Other rules? no problem breaking or bending. Bad rules are ok to break, destroy, demolish.

Avoiding walmart pickups is a good rule.


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## Emptynesst (6 mo ago)

ANThonyBoreDaneCook said:


> View attachment 671632
> 
> 
> We all have our own standards and rules for staying profitable in our unique markets. Mine are usually reject anything under $9.00, at least 2$ per mile, avoid certain areas and never EVER accept Walmart pings.
> ...


Don’t feel bad bro , I only work fri , sat , sun in my market now . But when I’m doing shit away from the house I occasionally check the app to see if it’s surging So that I can swing in and make 50 to 75 bucks on a couple rides, and they got me today.

I was picking up some stuff at AutoZone and took a quick peek at the app to see my entire town lit up like a Christmas tree. Only 2 miles away, I close the app and drove the 2 miles in about eight minutes. I turned it back on and poof, no surge to be found .


when they do this kind of shit to me especially when I’m not even planning on working, I just shuffle five rides Friday through Sunday when there is no surge .

Sorry to interrupt your thread, I’m an XL driver, but I occasionally “Take “ a Delivery when I feel like it


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## Be Right There (9 mo ago)

As the saying goes, if it's too good to be true....


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## Hexonxonx (Dec 11, 2019)

I did this once. Normally I don't accept order less than $10. One night, they sent me a large order for a sushi restaurant. Offer was for $7.50 but since it was a large order, I figured I would travel the extra distance (large orders get sent often times when you are very far from the restaurant when normal sized orders will not get sent to you that far away). It was over $100 in sushi. Completed the order and well, my jaw dropped. $7.50 was all I got. I will never fall for that again.


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## jaxbeachrides (May 27, 2015)

Walmart was good during the shutdowns. If it took too long or they rolled out a giant stack of shit with water or soda cases, just ride off and cancel.

Like anything else in the gig business, they only let you make money for a year or two before they take it away.

Fast food needs to be abolished altogether. It's not good for anyone. It loses money for the customers and drivers and destroys your health.

Save your fast food money and order something healthy. Assholes


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## ANThonyBoreDaneCook (Oct 7, 2019)

Be Right There said:


> As the saying goes, if it's too good to be true....


Right.
The reason they were finally paying well is because the orders were sitting unassigned and everyone was cancelling.
Why would I ever think Uber would pay that well on those orders hahaha.


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## ANThonyBoreDaneCook (Oct 7, 2019)

jaxbeachrides said:


> Fast food needs to be abolished altogether. It's not good for anyone. It loses money for the customers and drivers and destroys your health.


Sunday is my best and most stress free day in my market simply because Chick-fil-a is closed.


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## Be Right There (9 mo ago)

ANThonyBoreDaneCook said:


> Right.
> The reason they were finally paying well is because the orders were sitting unassigned and everyone was cancelling.
> Why would I ever think Uber would pay that well on those orders hahaha.


For what it's worth I've done the same and cussed myself out for being so damn gullible. Oh well, we all make mistakes.


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## Alltel77 (Mar 3, 2019)

Yep. Every time I've broken my rules or go against my gut I am kicking myself after. Typically, turns into someone claiming non delivery , removed tip etc. But I've only strayed a few times.


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## jaxbeachrides (May 27, 2015)

Hexonxonx said:


> I did this once. Normally I don't accept order less than $10. One night, they sent me a large order for a sushi restaurant. Offer was for $7.50 but since it was a large order, I figured I would travel the extra distance (large orders get sent often times when you are very far from the restaurant when normal sized orders will not get sent to you that far away). It was over $100 in sushi. Completed the order and well, my jaw dropped. $7.50 was all I got. I will never fall for that again.


I did a catering order for chipotle for $10, it was nearby but 3 boxes of 27 burritos and other things.

Go to drop off at a medical building with stair walk ups and no suite numbers on the doors. Call the number to even find them but they were all "in a meeting", told me where to put it.

Of course they put condiment orders in the delivery instructions and it was all missing. I completed the order, and no hidden tip that I expected, just straight pay. Perfect.

Sadly it wasted an hour of my time, and I'll never know if chipotle stole the tip or not.


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## ANThonyBoreDaneCook (Oct 7, 2019)

Be Right There said:


> For what it's worth I've done the same and cussed myself out for being so damn gullible. Oh well, we all make mistakes.





Alltel77 said:


> Yep. Every time I've broken my rules or go against my gut I am kicking myself after. Typically, turns into someone claiming non delivery , removed tip etc. But I've only strayed a few times.


Ahhh dude it happens, that one crucial mistake ha.

There's a woman's correctional facility that gets me once a month. GH entices me with the $$$ and the miles and get caught failing to pay attention.

You have to drive like 2 miles in, park 100 yards away, get buzzed in then after delivery the only road out is straight into traffic and nothing but fast food places. Ughhh that pisses me off when I fall for that one.


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## _Tron_ (Feb 9, 2020)

ANThonyBoreDaneCook said:


> Ahhh dude it happens, that one crucial mistake ha.
> 
> There's a woman's correctional facility that gets me once a month. GH entices me with the $$$ and the miles and get caught failing to pay attention.
> 
> You have to drive like 2 miles in, park 100 yards away, get buzzed in then after delivery the only road out is straight into traffic and nothing but fast food places. Ughhh that pisses me off when I fall for that one.


wtf? They allow inmates to order take out? And since the the business repeats, after the food has been driven x miles from the restaurant to the prison, two miles down the entrance road, walk the hundred yards to the gate.... the food gets shuffled from there to D block (all prisoners are housed in D block, based on movies I've seen), passes through all locked doors, through the hands of an untold number of guards, I must assume is delivered hot and fresh to the inmate waiting the behind bars?

How are the tips?


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## _Tron_ (Feb 9, 2020)

Speaking of mistakes, I keep making the same mistake again and again! How bad is that? There are these two young co-eds that have a thing for Uber drivers, and always ping me if I drive into a certain neighborhood. Once I accept the ping and pick them up at their condo, they always have this ruse where they want me to come in for a "quick" game of spin the bottle. That always turns in to a two hour time killer whereby I have not even started the trip. Very unprofitable.

Yet I keep falling for the same trick time after time. What's wrong with me?


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## ANThonyBoreDaneCook (Oct 7, 2019)

_Tron_ said:


> wtf? They allow inmates to order take out? And since the the business repeats, after the food has been driven x miles from the restaurant to the prison, two miles down the entrance road, walk the hundred yards to the gate.... the food gets shuffled from there to D block (all prisoners are housed in D block, based on movies I've seen), passes through all locked doors, through the hands of an untold number of guards, I must assume is delivered hot and fresh to the inmate waiting there behind bars?
> 
> How are the tips.


It's the guards that order haha


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## ANThonyBoreDaneCook (Oct 7, 2019)

_Tron_ said:


> Once I accept the ping and pick them up at their condo, they always have this ruse where they want me to come in for a "quick" game of spin the bottle. That always turns in to a two hour time killer whereby I have not even started the trip. Very unprofitable.


It is a dangerous game but I also continue to play it.
My fear is one day the father will call for the Uber...


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## 234267 (6 mo ago)

Yep.... The other day I was on this board talking about "what do you do if a rider requests a stop" and I said..."You have to tell them no." There are exceptions to every rule, of course but this is a pretty easy one to uphold. Enter the Texas weather. The temperature was 101 with a heat index of 112. I am dispatched to this dodgy part of Corpus Christi. See picture below:










She's not even there when I arrive...she walks up from like 50 yards away. Okay.... Then she wants to wait for her boyfriend. He rolls up a few seconds later. 

The destination is not one I recognize but it's on a main road so I don't really worry too much about it. I drive to the address and its a vacant lot off of the main road. I pull over and ask, "Is this where you want to get off?" She "wonders" if I could take her to her apartment down the road about 1/2 a mile. So I do it. I promptly point out that I don't ever want to pick her up again in the app and go on about my day.










I tell my girlfriend about it (she drove for the ride share services for years before I started doing it). "NEVER DO THAT" she says..."She will say you dropped her off in the wrong spot and demand a refund". "If you do it again, make sure you end the ride where the app tells you to.". All good points 

Anyway, it was 112 and I think that was actually low balling the temperature. And this woman I picked up was....lets say...not exactly height and weight proportionate. I feel good that I didn't contribute to a heat stroke but feel pretty bad for ignoring my rules.


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## jaxbeachrides (May 27, 2015)

Cats driving top speed are always in control.


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## Ms. Mercenary (Jul 24, 2020)

jaxbeachrides said:


> Walmart was good during the shutdowns. If it took too long or they rolled out a giant stack of shit with water or soda cases, just ride off and cancel.
> 
> Like anything else in the gig business, they only let you make money for a year or two before they take it away.
> 
> ...


Health food places don’t tip well as a rule. Healthy people are generally unhappy, ‘cause they crave bacon. So they want everyone to be miserable.

Just kidding.

But as with any joke, there’s truth to it. If you’re getting a bowl of green slime with seeds and grains, you’re unlikely to tip the same as you would for steak and lobster, even if it’s achain restaurant steak and lobster.

No huge tips to be had in fast food - true. But the cheaper ones are actually better than the more pricey chains. McD’s is on every corner, so it’s usually around $6 for 1-2 miles. If slow, I can knock A LOT of those in an hour. CFA or Roy Rogers is perpetually same $6 for 10-15 miles. Eff that.

My usual disclaimer: the McD’s I do is a very well-run location.


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## jaxbeachrides (May 27, 2015)

I consider steak and lobster to be health food.

Fast food is junk food. If I want junk food because I'm cheap, I can buy a bag of flaming hot cheetos for $2, I dont have to screw over a delivery driver for it.


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## Seamus (Jun 21, 2018)

_Tron_ said:


> wtf? They allow inmates to order take out? And since the the business repeats, after the food has been driven x miles from the restaurant to the prison, two miles down the entrance road, walk the hundred yards to the gate.... the food gets shuffled from there to D block (all prisoners are housed in D block, based on movies I've seen), passes through all locked doors, through the hands of an untold number of guards, I must assume is delivered hot and fresh to the inmate waiting the behind bars?
> 
> How are the tips?


There is a VA hospital campus near me. I always assume it’s staff but not always. Ok hospital patients fine. However I pull up once to the Psyc Ward that is totally secured! Figured it was staff and I’d be delivering to the main lobby. They buzz me in to the elevator. Get off at the 5th floor and I get passed to the “ward” station. To my amazement they buzz me thru 2 secure doors to deliver to a patient in a room. It was a scary place, people literally wondering the halls in nightgowns. I couldn’t believe they gave me access!


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## Ms. Mercenary (Jul 24, 2020)

jaxbeachrides said:


> I consider steak and lobster to be health food.
> 
> Fast food is junk food. If I want junk food because I'm cheap, I can buy a bag of flaming hot cheetos for $2, I dont have to screw over a delivery driver for it.


For many people, McD’s is comfort food. Sad, but true.

Also, many grew up in situations when McD’s was a treat or a reward. So for them, regularly having it is living large.

Sometimes I want a Filet-O-Fish. As a child, I hated hamburgers. So I got the FoF and chocolate shake.

FoF tasted much better then, but still, every few months I want one.

(Objectively though, the beer-battered cod at Roy Rogers is much better - theirtartar sucks though.)

When I deliver McD’s, my mindset is I’m going to make a kid really happy he doesn’t have to eat mom’s TikTok-inspired experimental casserole. 😂


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## jaxbeachrides (May 27, 2015)

Seamus said:


> There is a VA hospital campus near me. I always assume it’s staff but not always. Ok hospital patients fine. However I pull up once to the Psyc Ward that is totally secured! Figured it was staff and I’d be delivering to the main lobby. They buzz me in to the elevator. Get off at the 5th floor and I get passed to the “ward” station. To my amazement they buzz me thru 2 secure doors to deliver to a patient in a room. It was a scary place, people literally wondering the halls in nightgowns. I couldn’t believe they gave me access!


Right at home! Me and rickos were waiting, too many bad orders.


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## jaxbeachrides (May 27, 2015)

Ms. Mercenary said:


> For many people, McD’s is comfort food. Sad, but true.
> 
> Also, many grew up in situations when McD’s was a treat or a reward. So for them, regularly having it is living large.
> 
> ...


I like fish fillet. That's not what people order


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## Ms. Mercenary (Jul 24, 2020)

jaxbeachrides said:


> I like fish fillet. That's not what people order


They order the nuggets. I don’t get it. They’re pretty disgusting, and so are the sauces. But, again - kids love them. And when they’re 40, they, too, will crave them at least once in a while, even though I hear CFA’s are better.


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## Mad_Jack_Flint (Nov 19, 2020)

My rules:

1. No Grubhub!

2. No ghetto X rides!!

3. Do not do deliveries in Houston!!!

Three simple rule that has nothing to do with dating my teenage daughter ( If you remember Eight Simple Rules you will remember it original title )…

Anytime you break one of your rules it will result in the Universe slapping you and telling you not to do that!

As for my rides it is simple the person rating has to be 4.7 or higher and the area of pickup matters.

As for deliveries again the area matters and I refuse to do any deliveries in Houston!


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## jaxbeachrides (May 27, 2015)

Ms. Mercenary said:


> They order the nuggets. I don’t get it. They’re pretty disgusting, and so are the sauces. But, again - kids love them. And when they’re 40, they, too, will crave them at least once in a while, even though I hear CFA’s are better.


Their nuggets are like grease sponges.

Chicken tenders however are a food group for all ages, but not from mcd or chick fil a. Go to your local deli and buy some with dijon or honey mustard.


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## Ms. Mercenary (Jul 24, 2020)

I’m more of a spicy kinda gal. Something with chipotle, please. But I’m not above buffalo.


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## jaxbeachrides (May 27, 2015)

Buffalo is nasty. Havernero por favor.


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## Ms. Mercenary (Jul 24, 2020)

jaxbeachrides said:


> Buffalo is nasty. Havernero por favor.


Only when they’re heavy on the salt (like McD’s). Plus I always get nucular™️ buffalo when available, it’s yummy.

Of the non-spicy, garlic parm. But garlic Parm is INCREDIBLY easy to eff up. And most do.


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## Ms. Mercenary (Jul 24, 2020)

yippyhippy said:


> the second i got some money I stopped eating that crap
> people who crave fast food got problems I ate it cus $5 a day was the food budget
> 
> aint had any fast food in almost 20 years ok i lie, maybe 5 mchickens 5 sausage mcmuffins breakfast burrittos in 20 years waitin on a car to get fixed or certain situation where you need some quick calories
> ...


I did Atkins a while (long while) back. After 3 years, I couldn’t even look at steak and bacon, also for a long while.

I broke with Atkins because of an insane craving for a banana, even though I never liked bananas or ate them prior to that.

People’s relationships with food are wierd and very individual. What works for you doesn’t work for others. If McD’s brings comfort to someone - I don’t judge. I lack their life history. If McD’s was a special treat for them in their childhood, they’ll likely carry that throughout their life.


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## Mcwharthog (Oct 10, 2020)

It is actually cheaper to eat clean and healthy. On Sundays I grill enough chicken and Salmon to last me most of the week. I eat it with rice and beans, salads, and lots of fruit and veggies.

It doesn’t take much work to maintain a small vegetable garden. It pays major dividends this time of year.

I splurge by drinking a few beers on the weekend and maybe some good pizza. I pass on fast food, it’s expensive and disgusting. It also drives an obesity epidemic that puts a huge burden on our healthcare system.


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## ThrowInTheTowel (Apr 10, 2018)

How is anyone ever going to get the courage to turn on the app again after so many of these horror stories? I think I just learned everything not to do in food delivery in less than 15 minutes.


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## ANThonyBoreDaneCook (Oct 7, 2019)

Here's another beauty I pulled today.

I accepted an order for $28/10 miles that was a few miles out of my rule/off-limit zone BUT the pay was nice so I took it.
On my way out I set Google maps to my next solid staging area. I received a ping from GH that equaled basically a buck a mile but it would keep me in my preferred zone and gobble up 80% of my escape miles from my previous drop.

I accepted, hit navigate, drove to the spot only to find that the navigation from my initial Google Maps route didn't switch to the new accepted ping route.
Soooo I basically just drove to my original solid staging area and ended up 7 miles away from the GH pickup. ****ing awesome!! haha.

GrubHub is great in my area so this is the first job I've ever had to cancel with them. Do you really have to call these a holes to cancel a delivery or was it just a glitch in the app? That's so ****ing ridiculous.

They sent me 3 $13/$15 - 2/3 mile orders after so it's all good, I made up for my dumbassery. I can't really hate on them because they pay $3-$5 per mile consistently in my market although they are a bit feast or famine with the amount of pings. I was just shocked to find that you have to call them to cancel an order. It's such a time drain for all involved.


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## jaxbeachrides (May 27, 2015)

No you don't have to call them. Not sure how you came to that conclusion, but I think you have to select "delivery too far" for the cancel to work.


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