# Here's an idea to get our plight noticed....



## QuietViolence (Aug 24, 2014)

I drove tonight. It was okay, though I admit that I now have much less patience and rate the riders a lot more harshly (not 1-starring non-tippers or anything, but definitely more critical than I used to be). Anyway, I picked up a couple of guys in West Hollywood and drove with them for about 20 minutes, and we eventually got to talking about the Uber pay cuts. I don't usually tell everybody about it, but if there's a reason for me to bring it into the conversation, I will.

Anyway, I got to talking with them, being completely honest about the pay cuts we've received and the way Uber lies to the riders, telling them the tip is included, and how much they take away from the meager amount we get. They asked questions, and I tried to answer as honestly as possible.

At the end of the ride, one of the guys gave me his card, along with a $10 tip. He told me that he writes for Huffington Post and would be very interested in spreading the word about the unfair nature of Uber and what they are doing to their drivers.

I will absolutely be getting in contact with this guy again, but I wanted to open this up to the community. If it were up to you, what would be the main points you'd like to stress?


----------



## OldTownSean (Aug 14, 2014)

QuietViolence said:


> I drove tonight. It was okay, though I admit that I now have much less patience and rate the riders a lot more harshly (not 1-starring non-tippers or anything, but definitely more critical than I used to be). Anyway, I picked up a couple of guys in West Hollywood and drove with them for about 20 minutes, and we eventually got to talking about the Uber pay cuts. I don't usually tell everybody about it, but if there's a reason for me to bring it into the conversation, I will.
> 
> Anyway, I got to talking with them, being completely honest about the pay cuts we've received and the way Uber lies to the riders, telling them the tip is included, and how much they take away from the meager amount we get. They asked questions, and I tried to answer as honestly as possible.
> 
> ...


Hit me with his email addy in a pm and I'll definitely send him a short write up on what's going on here in Scottsdale.


----------



## Farman vegas (Aug 8, 2014)

Can you post the contract information I would like to write him about the vegas market place.


----------



## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

I would definitely include a link to this thread:
https://uberpeople.net/threads/lets-rate-uber-lets-help-uber-help-us.3115/#post-31355

Here is my post from the thread above:

1) Flexibility. Work availability in mature and emerging markets due to Uber's Network Effect.

2) & 3)
Rates. They have been cut to the bone so that full-time drivers are earning less than minimum wage even in mature markets.
Unfair Rating System. And it's arbitrary implementation. 4 Stars is a darn good rating for a professional critic/reviewer to give to a movie, restaurant etc. Amateur reviews on yelp, Amazon etc that are 4 Stars are considered Good. Btw Uber_CHI Yelp rating is 2.5 Stars! Even if nothing else changes with the rating system, the acceptable threshold should be lowered to 4.0 Stars ASAP! And Uber should do this openly, by informing the media that it made a mistake in setting the threshold at 4.7 or 4.6 (or whatever it really is or isn't, since it varies and I've seen Twitter pics of drivers as low as 3.8). The drivers should also be informed of this change, so that they can go out there and work without overly worrying about this Rating BS!
End UberSpeak in communicating with the drivers. More work at lower rates does not mean more earnings!
And garbage like this from an Uber_SF email yesterday:
*During busy times this $10 fare can become much more:

Surge LevelGross Fare
1.0x$10
1.5x$15
2.0x$20
2.5x$25
3.0x$30*

Stop advertising with bloated and borderline fraudulent earnings numbers in order to flood the market.
Meaningful, Timely Partner Support.

I think I'll stop writing this in detail as it has all been said before on this forum ad infinitum. The decision makers are fully aware of them.

Here is the summary:
*GOOD DRIVERS ARE AN ASSET, NOT A DISPOSABLE COMMODITY!*


----------



## Jeeves (Apr 10, 2014)

I'm surprised there hasn't been more in The Huffington Post regarding Uber and especially drivers issues. Considering the other media outlets all take such notice, I haven't seen as much coverage on Huffinton.

While drivers live on with the changed policies, I think the wave of change for the worse has passed, for now.


----------



## Albert Stan (Aug 31, 2014)

Jeeves said:


> I'm surprised there hasn't been more in The Huffington Post regarding Uber and especially drivers issues. Considering the other media outlets all take such notice, I haven't seen as much coverage on Huffinton.
> 
> While drivers live on with the changed policies, I think the wave of change for the worse has passed, for now.


The wave of hange for the worse has passed? What do you mean?


----------



## Oscar Levant (Aug 15, 2014)

QuietViolence said:


> I drove tonight. It was okay, though I admit that I now have much less patience and rate the riders a lot more harshly (not 1-starring non-tippers or anything, but definitely more critical than I used to be). Anyway, I picked up a couple of guys in West Hollywood and drove with them for about 20 minutes, and we eventually got to talking about the Uber pay cuts. I don't usually tell everybody about it, but if there's a reason for me to bring it into the conversation, I will.
> 
> Anyway, I got to talking with them, being completely honest about the pay cuts we've received and the way Uber lies to the riders, telling them the tip is included, and how much they take away from the meager amount we get. They asked questions, and I tried to answer as honestly as possible.
> 
> ...


Refer him to my two posts: UBer's Epic Blunder, and "More Stuff Wrong With Uber".


----------



## Grinder (Sep 13, 2014)

QuietViolence said:


> I drove tonight. It was okay, though I admit that I now have much less patience and rate the riders a lot more harshly (not 1-starring non-tippers or anything, but definitely more critical than I used to be). Anyway, I picked up a couple of guys in West Hollywood and drove with them for about 20 minutes, and we eventually got to talking about the Uber pay cuts. I don't usually tell everybody about it, but if there's a reason for me to bring it into the conversation, I will.
> 
> Anyway, I got to talking with them, being completely honest about the pay cuts we've received and the way Uber lies to the riders, telling them the tip is included, and how much they take away from the meager amount we get. They asked questions, and I tried to answer as honestly as possible.
> 
> ...





QuietViolence said:


> I drove tonight. It was okay, though I admit that I now have much less patience and rate the riders a lot more harshly (not 1-starring non-tippers or anything, but definitely more critical than I used to be). Anyway, I picked up a couple of guys in West Hollywood and drove with them for about 20 minutes, and we eventually got to talking about the Uber pay cuts. I don't usually tell everybody about it, but if there's a reason for me to bring it into the conversation, I will.
> 
> Anyway, I got to talking with them, being completely honest about the pay cuts we've received and the way Uber lies to the riders, telling them the tip is included, and how much they take away from the meager amount we get. They asked questions, and I tried to answer as honestly as possible.
> 
> ...


YOUR A POWERFUL VOICE NOW. YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE NOT JUST TALK ABOUT IT. THE MAIN POINT IS TO CAUSE AN EFFECT NOT JUST VENT. UBER IS NOT EFFECTED BY PEOPLE VENTING TO THEM UNLESS SOMETHING IS ACTUALLY DONE ABOUT IT TO EFFECT THEM. REMEMBER THESE WORDS. BE THE CAUSE OF WHAT YOU WANT TO CHANGE. YOU HAVE TWO OPTIONS TO DO THIS: a) get the prices back to the way they were for you and your driver partners or b) stop all drivers driving for Uber and lead the way to a better opportunity for them.


----------



## The Geek (May 29, 2014)

Inability to make a living wage; qualifying for welfare benefits while working full time.


----------



## stuber (Jun 30, 2014)

The plethora of daily articles in the media is astounding, but very few are digging into the story from the drivers perspective. Tell the HP writer to look at UBER's Facebook page. It is laughable. Completely swamped with negative comments. UberPeople is a great resource too, obviously. 

UBER wants this to become a strictly part-time job for drivers. A lot of drivers. It's even getting to the point that the part-timers are losing interest.

Tell HP to write the real story, not more UBER PR fluffies.


----------



## mp775 (Jun 26, 2014)

Nice! Hopefully the article will be fair to the drivers. I had a similar conversation about the rates tonight, but all I got was "aw, that kinda sucks. But it's great because we don't have to tip!"


----------



## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

The Geek said:


> Inability to make a living wage; qualifying for welfare benefits while working full time.


That hurts on so many levels.

Uber continues to benefit from drivers who work at below minimum pay rates.

Uber's goal is to grow its market, increase its profits. 
Folk trying their hardest to pay their bills, feed their families are only needed to pick up riders, generate commissions, grow Uber's market and kill off competition.

If Government has programs that subsidises the meagre earnings of a UBER driver, then Uber will take advantage of that. At the taxpayer's expense.

Failing any Government control & the naive belief that "Market Forces" reigns supreme, UBER will continue to grow, not on the back of providing a wonderful new transport service, but by sucking value from every partner's assets and transferring operating and growth costs to a Growing pool of people totally unrelated to it.


----------



## Joe Montana (Sep 12, 2014)

Here are the major flaws in the Uber system that I see:

1) minimum fare is too low. Needs to be higher. No more 4 block rides for $6. 
2) the $1 safe fee needs to be gotten rid of. That needs to come out of the commission portion.
3) Uber needs to charge a surcharge for going out of your working zone. This surcharge should be 50%
4) In many cities the rates need to go up.
5) If they don't change the rates, the minimum fare, or the surcharge, then the rider needs to see the destination.
6) The ratings system is flawed. Drivers who get 4 stars are being voted off the system.
7) if a driver is more than 7 minutes away the rider should get a surcharge of 1.25-1.5 for how far the driver has to go to pick them up.
8) The fare should start within 60 seconds of arriving if they are not outside.
9) Customers need to be told that tipping is not included.
10) We should be able to turn down airport or out of zone rides if we are coming to the end of the shift. AT least for these rides the destination should be shown no matter what. We could be coming to the end of a shift. Doesn't make sense.
11) Uber support needs to be improved. They are not on the ball and are often times answering the same question 5 times and don't know the answers.

That's all I could think of.


----------



## stuber (Jun 30, 2014)

"Oh don't worry, UBER is getting the tip."


----------



## Baron VonStudley (Jun 20, 2014)

It's frustrating trying to talk price cuts with passengers after last week in Columbus we were getting up to 9x surge and I had several complaints that they had to pay $200 for a ride. Yes they have to acknowledge they accept this rate but to pay outrageous surges does not help our cause and obviously puts a huge foul turd taste for uber itself. Here Lyft is clipped prime time and at least it seems more reasonable. Paying 9x on one ride seems like a great thing for drivers on paper but most riders last week had a bad experience and it will haunt us.


----------



## stuber (Jun 30, 2014)

Baron VonStudley said:


> It's frustrating trying to talk price cuts with passengers after last week in Columbus we were getting up to 9x surge and I had several complaints that they had to pay $200 for a ride. Yes they have to acknowledge they accept this rate but to pay outrageous surges does not help our cause and obviously puts a huge foul turd taste for uber itself. Here Lyft is clipped prime time and at least it seems more reasonable. Paying 9x on one ride seems like a great thing for drivers on paper but most riders last week had a bad experience and it will haunt us.


In theory, surge makes sense, but it's certainly a PR problem (one of many)

On the bright side though, all of UBER's bad policies and mismanagement of good ideas create opportunities for other smart companies to enter the market.

UBER is doing the heavy lifting right now. They are introducing this technology to the public and demonstrating why it's a better mousetrap. The smarter competing companies that come along won't have that burden of educating people.

I just wish some of those companies would hurry up and get to my market.


----------



## cybertec69 (Jul 23, 2014)

I agree on all your points, since I have also joined Lyft, I can tell you that for the first time I see tips in my fares, and once you are at your location, the fare automatically starts after 1 min, no more waiting while they are in the toilet and you are sitting there losing $.

*Driver summary for Sep 5, 2014*
*Power Driver Bonus*
*Drive 11 more hours for a 5% bonus on weekly ride payments*








0%
bonus
5%
bonus
10%
bonus
15%
bonus
20%
bonus
15 hrs30 hrs40 hrs
50 hrs
Maintain 90% acceptance to qualify.

‌

Trip DistanceTrip TimePayment & tipLyft FeeYour Earnings
15.0 mi72 min$63.00$12.60$50.40
6.1 mi28 min$27.00 + $4.00$5.40$25.60
4.0 mi27 min$22.00$4.40$17.60
5.6 mi24 min$30.00 + $5.00$6.00$29.00
30.7 mi151 min$142.00 + $9.00$28.40$122.60
Prime Time rides are in green, and tips are shown in black (100% of tips go to drivers). 
Passengers have 24 hours to pay, so amounts may not be final.

Time in driver mode:4 hrs, 36 min
Ride payments:$142.00
Tips:$9.00
Lyft fees:- $28.40
*Your earnings:$122.60*
‌
Pending
*Rating*
-Lifetime
*Rides*
14
Past day
*Accept rate*







100%
*Awesome *

‌


----------



## philasuburb (Aug 27, 2014)

QuietViolence said:


> I drove tonight. It was okay, though I admit that I now have much less patience and rate the riders a lot more harshly (not 1-starring non-tippers or anything, but definitely more critical than I used to be). Anyway, I picked up a couple of guys in West Hollywood and drove with them for about 20 minutes, and we eventually got to talking about the Uber pay cuts. I don't usually tell everybody about it, but if there's a reason for me to bring it into the conversation, I will.
> 
> Anyway, I got to talking with them, being completely honest about the pay cuts we've received and the way Uber lies to the riders, telling them the tip is included, and how much they take away from the meager amount we get. They asked questions, and I tried to answer as honestly as possible.
> 
> ...


Huffington Post is very sympathetic to worker exploitation. So be honest, but be calm. Talk about how much you enjoy being an Uber driver and how most rides are great experiences but with these rate cuts....... (fill in your own opinion)


----------



## stuber (Jun 30, 2014)

The reporter who gets this right will end up a superstar. But it's a dangerous story. They will make some powerful enemies.


----------



## arklan (Aug 3, 2014)

fascinating. don't forget ot include details of the santander lease. i'd be more then happy to help there.


----------



## painfreepc (Jul 17, 2014)

*@arklan*

Don't forget to let every one know, you are paying close to an extra $10,000 because you wanted all the bells and whistles added to your toyota camry hybrid

$43.00 extra per week x 4.348 = $186.96 extra per month x 52 months = $9,722


----------



## arklan (Aug 3, 2014)

yup.


----------

