# 20% price cut UberX summer promotion - now permanent (San Diego)



## Mimzy (Jun 10, 2014)

So I received this email, from my "rider account" today:

_We're dropping uberX fares by 20%, making it 40% cheaper than a taxi. From Oceanside to the border and everywhere in between, uberX is the most affordable ride on the road. As our summer savings promotion comes to an end, we're excited to introduce a 20% price cut that's here to stay. _

So basically, the promotion that's been on all summer giving the rider a 20% cut on the fare, is now permanent. Drivers up until today, still got the original fare fee, and Uber ate the discount. 
But now the Driver eats it.

New rates today from the rider app in San Diego: $2.10 base, $0.20 min, $1.25 mile

I thought fares from a few rides this morning looked oddly lower than usual.

No official email or notice from Uber corporate or local to the drivers regarding *our 20% pay cut *as of yet, that i can see....


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## mp775 (Jun 26, 2014)

I got one a week ago from Providence that says the discount (25 percent here) is still for a limited time and doesn't affect what drivers get. Fingers crossed.


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## Mimzy (Jun 10, 2014)

Looks like San Diego was a guinea pig for the "temporary" promotion price cut - turn driver permanent pay cut.


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## Just Some Guy (Jun 10, 2014)

I suppose next Uber will increase their commission to compensate for their lost income...


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## SCdave (Jun 27, 2014)

When was the last Fare Cut in San Diego?


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## Mimzy (Jun 10, 2014)

about a year ago, maybe September 2013 - think that one was 25%


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## UberOC (Jul 31, 2014)

That's a bummer... Here in orange county it's a $1.61 base fare $.29 a minute and a $1.25 mile. Uber did send me an email saying rides were going to be 20% cheaper I was hoping that was going to end soon and the price was going to go up.


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## UberGirl (Jul 3, 2014)

I don't get what they are trying to achieve with that. The rates are already so cheap people are not complaining about it! Both uber and lyft have their loyal customer base that are loyal to them for certain reasons other than price. Price wars never end well, and uber will just start loosing their drivers. I doubt that new drivers will be rushing in once someone publishes the actual revised earnings of driversdrivers


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## mp775 (Jun 26, 2014)

I think it was initially because the number of riders dropped for the summer. The only logical reason for keeping it permanent is that ridership is up. Supposedly it means we'll get more money because we'll have more riders, but for someone who is already relatively busy that means nothing. Can't have two fares at once.


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## Just Some Guy (Jun 10, 2014)

mp775 said:


> I think it was initially because the number of riders dropped for the summer. The only logical reason for keeping it permanent is that ridership is up. Supposedly it means we'll get more money because we'll have more riders, but for someone who is already relatively busy that means nothing. Can't have two fares at once.


Exactly, Boston has remained pretty steady throughout the summer. The only real difference has been less frequent, shorter, and lower surge, because of the lack of college students. So all that the lower rates did was make us work the same for a lot less money.


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## ProDriver (Jul 22, 2014)

Here in Seattle I just got an email that prices will be reduced to $1.35 per mile and 0.24 cents permanently.

I sent them an email reminding them that Uber was built on Quality service and not Cheap service. 

Also that riders choose Uber not because it's cheaper but because of the cleaner newer cars, simplicity of the app, not having to talk to dispatchers, the in and out of the vehicle with the automated payments, and superior customer service they receive from drivers.

I'd advise you guys to send them an email too or else these low prices will either become permanent or even lower.


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## yabadaba (Jul 26, 2014)

ProDriver said:


> Here in Seattle I just got an email that prices will be reduced to $1.35 per mile and 0.24 cents permanently.
> 
> I sent them an email reminding them that Uber was built on Quality service and not Cheap service.
> 
> ...


Is there any way we can build a protest ?


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## Just Some Guy (Jun 10, 2014)

Here's what der fuhrer says about the price cuts...
_
"The whole point of price cuts is to get UberX pricing below the cost of owning a car."_

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/12/u...ick-explains-his-pricing-experiment.html?_r=0

Of course what he fails to consider is that the price cuts will soon create a situation where we're working just to be able to pay for our cars and gas...
Which of course is why he wants to switch to driverless cars.


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## LisaB (Jul 20, 2014)

I got out of this hell hole called Uber. The only way to get them to hear the drivers is to strike or quit.


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## grams777 (Jun 13, 2014)

LisaB said:


> I got out of this hell hole called Uber. The only way to get them to hear the drivers is to strike or quit.


I tend to agree. I'm pretty sure they won't listen until they can't get enough drivers.


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## ProDriver (Jul 22, 2014)

I'm starting to think that the price cuts are not to entice customers but to see how low drivers are willing to work for.


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## grams777 (Jun 13, 2014)

ProDriver said:


> I'm starting to think that the price cuts are not to entice customers but to see how low drivers are willing to work for.


The downside is, as the fares to the drivers go lower, the quality of the drivers will likewise diminish. A high churn rate is also bad. I can look back and tell it takes several months to start to get grounded. There are all kinds of things to learn. Even if you know an area, you don't necessarily know it from the standpoint of all the nuances in picking up passengers. Where can you park, dropoff, where are the entrances, exits, roadblocks, crowds, etc. There's one place here it took me about 10 trips to learn the different access points. Churning drivers starts this all over again. Is there going to be a quality pool of drivers willing to risk their vehicles, and perhaps more, to truly net $7 an hour or even $10?


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## LookyLou (Apr 28, 2014)

ProDriver said:


> Here in Seattle I just got an email that prices will be reduced to $1.35 per mile and 0.24 cents permanently.
> 
> I sent them an email reminding them that Uber was built on Quality service and not Cheap service.
> 
> ...


I didn't just send an email. I sent them a hand written letter along with my phone.


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## Just Some Guy (Jun 10, 2014)

LisaB said:


> I got out of this hell hole called Uber. The only way to get them to hear the drivers is to strike or quit.


I don't think quitting is the answer. At the rate they hire new drivers, it won't do anything. Large scale public protests with good media coverage is what's needed. They care far more about what the general public thinks of them than they do about anything else. If they lose public support, then the politicians won't need to hold back from enforcing the already existing laws, and then Uber is going to start losing their funding.

The problem of course is that the drivers are too fragmented. Until a majority of us organize, we'll have no bargaining power. But the question is, how do we organize when the vast majority of drivers have no communication with each other?


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## Raider (Jul 25, 2014)

You guys want to start a Union? A militia? Start a revolution and end this madness...Quitting is not the answer, they'll just hire more suckers and flood the market. Their advertising campaign is very strong, hell it got me...like i said, this is a part time, temporary gig to earn a few bucks for those vacations you're looking forward to. I thought about doing this full time but so glad i didn't. I predict this will get messy very soon and we should all start thinking about other alternative ways to make money.


I feel bad for some drivers who live in a cut throat area like NYC and LA. It hasn't gotten bad in DC yet, there are still tons of riders and surge pricing every night at the right part of the city. Though i noticed when i first started Uber it was fun, and people are nice, now it seems like i meet assholes out of nowhere. Rating fell from 4.9 to 4.83 and i do nothing but smile and take them from point A to point B safely and quickly.


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## grams777 (Jun 13, 2014)

I'm not sure a union would help. Maybe it would be better to buy out sidecar and/or start some type of coop type driver owned system, or at least driver friendly. Anyone got a hundred mil laying around?


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## Mimzy (Jun 10, 2014)

Uber San Diego local marketing / communications team seems to have all but disappeared when it comes to Drivers.

Drivers normally would get at very least a Weekly email communication about Weekend Events & Incentives -- but that hasn't happened since early July.

Used to get regular texts regarding hot spots or concerts multiple times a week --- Nothing anymore.

Last year when they lowered the UberX price, and earlier this year when they tweaked the Base/Time/Mile numbers they pre-warned the drivers and gave detailed information in advance... Not this time with the 20% permanent pay cut.


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## yabadaba (Jul 26, 2014)

Raider said:


> You guys want to start a Union? A militia? Start a revolution and end this madness...Quitting is not the answer, they'll just hire more suckers and flood the market. Their advertising campaign is very strong, hell it got me...like i said, this is a part time, temporary gig to earn a few bucks for those vacations you're looking forward to. I thought about doing this full time but so glad i didn't. I predict this will get messy very soon and we should all start thinking about other alternative ways to make money.
> 
> I feel bad for some drivers who live in a cut throat area like NYC and LA. It hasn't gotten bad in DC yet, there are still tons of riders and surge pricing every night at the right part of the city. Though i noticed when i first started Uber it was fun, and people are nice, now it seems like i meet assholes out of nowhere. Rating fell from 4.9 to 4.83 and i do nothing but smile and take them from point A to point B safely and quickly.


We have to find a way to create a union. This will be the only solution.
I am opened to everything !


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## Just Some Guy (Jun 10, 2014)

grams777 said:


> I'm not sure a union would help. Maybe it would be better to buy out sidecar and/or start some type of coop type driver owned system, or at least driver friendly. Anyone got a hundred mil laying around?


Let me check under my seat cushions... I've got $0.67, an old lint covered tictac, and the back of an earring.


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## ubearx (Jun 29, 2014)

Just Soise Guy said:


> I don't think quitting is the answer. At the rate they hire new drivers, it won't do anything. Large scale public protests with good media coverage is what's needed. They care far more about what the general public thinks of them than they do about anything else. If they lose public support, then the politicians won't need to hold back from enforcing the already existing laws, and then Uber is going to start losing their funding.
> 
> The problem of course is that the drivers are too fragmented. Until a majority of us organize, we'll have no bargaining power. But the question is, how do we organize when the vast majority of drivers have no communication with each other?


General


Just Some Guy said:


> I don't think quitting is the answer. At the rate they hire new drivers, it won't do anything. Large scale public protests with good media coverage is what's needed. They care far more about what the general public thinks of them than they do about anything else. If they lose public support, then the politicians won't need to hold back from enforcing the already existing laws, and then Uber is going to start losing their funding.
> 
> The problem of course is that the drivers are too fragmented. Until a majority of us organize, we'll have no bargaining power. But the question is, how do we organize when the vast majority of drivers have no communication with each other?


General public Is a rider. What are you talking about? Lower price benefits general public. Nobody cares about uberx drivers. You can make it public as much as you want. No one gives crap.


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## ubearx (Jun 29, 2014)

mp775 said:


> I think it was initially because the number of riders dropped for the summer. The only logical in aeason for keeping it permanent is that ridership is up. Supposedly it means we'll get more money because we'll have more riders, but for someone who is already relatively busy that means nothing. Can't have two fares at once.


Yes you can. Yesterday my passenger had to cancel her first uber because the driver needed an extra 10 minutes to drop a Lyft passenger a few miles away


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## mp775 (Jun 26, 2014)

Just Some Guy said:


> Let me check under my seat cushions... I've got $0.67, an old lint covered tictac, and the back of an earring.


3* for having a dirty interior.


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## mp775 (Jun 26, 2014)

Travis K on the "temporary" price cuts - http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/12/upshot/ubers-travis-kalanick-explains-his-pricing-experiment.html

"Every price cut we've done we communicate as being temporary...until we see the kind of elasticity, the demand elasticity and overall liquidity that will push trips per hour up. When the trips per hour number goes above what the price cut was, then the drivers are making more income, and the price cut can then become permanent...There are still the laws of physics. There are only so many trips per hour that these drivers can do in a city. Because of that, we don't know where it goes asymptotic. We don't know where that limit is. We're trying to see where that limit is."


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## LookyLou (Apr 28, 2014)

mp775 said:


> Travis K on the "temporary" price cuts - http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/12/upshot/ubers-travis-kalanick-explains-his-pricing-experiment.html
> 
> "Every price cut we've done we communicate as being temporary...until we see the kind of elasticity, the demand elasticity and overall liquidity that will push trips per hour up. When the trips per hour number goes above what the price cut was, then the drivers are making more income, and the price cut can then become permanent...There are still the laws of physics. There are only so many trips per hour that these drivers can do in a city. Because of that, we don't know where it goes asymptotic. We don't know where that limit is. We're trying to see where that limit is."


Well, they recently found out what my limit is.


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## ElectroFuzz (Jun 10, 2014)

We just got the same email here in Phoenix.
Starts AUG-08

I'm speechless....


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## Mimzy (Jun 10, 2014)

mp775 said:


> Travis K on the "temporary" price cuts - http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/12/upshot/ubers-travis-kalanick-explains-his-pricing-experiment.html
> 
> "Every price cut we've done we communicate as being temporary...until we see the kind of elasticity, the demand elasticity and overall liquidity that will push trips per hour up. When the trips per hour number goes above what the price cut was, then the drivers are making more income, and the price cut can then become permanent...There are still the laws of physics. There are only so many trips per hour that these drivers can do in a city. Because of that, we don't know where it goes asymptotic. We don't know where that limit is. We're trying to see where that limit is."


Sure - I'll play. The demand_ is high_ because IT'S SUMMER in San Diego. About 1/2 of my daily fares are tourists going to Coronado, Del Mar, The Beaches, The Zoo etc. Another 1/4 are students on summer break.

What happens to the elasticity, demand and overall liquidity in September, sir? I have no doubt there will be no price-increase to compensate.


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## Just Some Guy (Jun 10, 2014)

Mimzy said:


> Sure - I'll play. The demand_ is high_ because IT'S SUMMER in San Diego. About 1/2 of my daily fares are tourists going to Coronado, Del Mar, The Beaches, The Zoo etc. Another 1/4 are students on summer break.
> 
> What happens to the elasticity, demand and overall liquidity in September, sir? I have no doubt there will be no price-increase to compensate.


Boston is the opposite... in the summer demand is low, but in September when the 500,000 college students return, demand is _huge_.


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## grams777 (Jun 13, 2014)

mp775 said:


> There are only so many trips per hour that these drivers can do in a city. Because of that, we don't know where it goes asymptotic. We don't know where that limit is. We're trying to see where that limit is."


Lets translate this:

Every price cut we've done we communicate as being temporary = Temporary is just a pretense to slowly boil the drivers in water.

until we see the kind of elasticity, the demand elasticity and overall liquidity that will push trips per hour up = This will push our total company wide revenues up.

When the trips per hour number goes above what the price cut was = The drivers are spending more time and have more expenses while netting the same money if not less.

then the drivers are making more income = The company in total is making more income. This shows the growth that makes our investors happy and takes the big boys one step closer to a big payday.

and the price cut can then become permanent...There are still the laws of physics. = This is the way it is. If you don't like it, there's the door.

There are only so many trips per hour that these drivers can do in a city. Because of that, we don't know where it goes asymptotic. We don't know where that limit is. We're trying to see where that limit is. = We are going to drive the rates into the ground until we don't have enough drivers.


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## ElectroFuzz (Jun 10, 2014)

Here is the problem with the spin.
Lets say you make $1000 a week.
Uber says now we cut 20% but you will have more work so you will keep on making $1000
(and they are not even saying that, they expect a little cut on our gross)

But this is gross income.
Never mind you will have to do more rides to get the same money, your expenses (gas, car depreciation)
is going up and your net is going down.

You will probably need to make $1200 to maintain your net income.
This is pretty bad, especially if you have an expensive car that's not hybrid.


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## Just Some Guy (Jun 10, 2014)

grams777 said:


> Lets translate this:
> 
> Every price cut we've done we communicate as being temporary = Temporary is just a pretense to slowly boil the drivers in water.
> 
> ...


You missed the part about when demand per hour is higher than what the available drivers can do we hire another few hundred drivers.


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## Just Some Guy (Jun 10, 2014)

ElectroFuzz said:


> Here is the problem with the spin.
> Lets say you make $1000 a week.
> Uber says now we cut 20% but you will have more work so you will keep on making $1000
> (and they are not even saying that, they expect a little cut on our gross)
> ...


It really falls apart when you were already consistently doing two to three trips per hour before the price cuts... It's rarely possible to do more than that per hour, so with lower rates, you're just making less.


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## NicknTulsa (Jul 16, 2014)

Wow that's terrible. Here in Tulsa we are still at $1.65/mile and gas here is cheap at $3.10 gallon. If it ever drops lower it wouldn't be worth it for me. I'd be out, but maybe that's what they're trying to do.


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## ProDriver (Jul 22, 2014)

Even on my busiest night where calls come in as soon as I drop off someone. I can only pick up 4 people per hour. That's because it takes a minimum of 15 minutes per trip, that's going to the destination, waiting for rider to enter vehicle and taking them to their destination. So no matter how many more requests there are I will still be only able to do 4 trips per hour, but this time for less money. Does that make any sense? To Uber it does.


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## Just Some Guy (Jun 10, 2014)

ProDriver said:


> Even on my busiest night where calls come in as soon as I drop off someone. I can only pick up 4 people per hour. That's because it takes a minimum of 15 minutes per trip, that's going to the destination, waiting for rider to enter vehicle and taking them to their destination. So no matter how many more requests there are I will still be only able to do 4 trips per hour, but this time for less money. Does that make any sense? To Uber it does.


Uber makes more, because they'll just hire another hundred or so drivers for the increased demand. They try to make us think they're trying to help us make more, but unless there wasn't much business in your city that's not the case.


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## mp775 (Jun 26, 2014)

It does make sense to Uber, because the lower the fare, the more people ride, and the more of a cut Uber gets. There will be more drivers to cover those extra trips during busy times, and it doesn't matter to Uber how much each one is making individually, because they're getting 20 percent of all of them combined. Flooding the market with drivers works best for Uber too, because if every other car on the road is an Uber driver, rider's wait times go down to nothing. It doesn't matter to them if 75 percent of those drivers are sitting idle all day; they have an improved product that drives up the customer base, and they get 20 percent of a larger number.


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## Sammyk (Aug 3, 2014)

yabadaba said:


> Is there any way we can build a protest ?


Yes, all of us can pick a weekend to just not drive.

I'm in. Don't piss on my head and say it's just a little rain.


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## Mimzy (Jun 10, 2014)

Just Some Guy said:


> It really falls apart when you were already consistently doing two to three trips per hour before the price cuts... It's rarely possible to do more than that per hour, so with lower rates, you're just making less.


Exactly. You hit the nail on the head and my biggest frustration. Nearly every hour I work, I already had three -four trips an hour. I just have to work 20% more hours every day now to make the same.


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## mp775 (Jun 26, 2014)

Mimzy said:


> Exactly. You hit the nail on the head and my biggest frustration. Nearly every hour I work, I already had three -four trips an hour. I just have to work 20% more hours every day now to make the same.


Except there aren't necessarily 20% more hours that are busy enough to make up the difference.


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## Mimzy (Jun 10, 2014)

mp775 said:


> Except there aren't necessarily 20% more hours that are busy enough to make up the difference.


Exactly. As the pay cut is already in effect here in San Diego this week -- I've noticed adding 3 hours, hasn't made up the difference sometimes. Very frustrating.


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## ElectroFuzz (Jun 10, 2014)

Mimzy said:


> Exactly. You hit the nail on the head and my biggest frustration. Nearly every hour I work, I already had three -four trips an hour. I just have to work 20% more hours every day now to make the same.


Wrong! 
you will have to work 30% more because your overhead/profit ratio has changed.


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## Mimzy (Jun 10, 2014)

ElectroFuzz said:


> Wrong!
> you will have to work 30% more because your overhead/profit ratio has changed.


I stand corrected! (Guess I'm subconsciously trying to forget all of these details that makes everything so frustrating...)


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## grams777 (Jun 13, 2014)

ElectroFuzz said:


> Wrong!
> you will have to work 30% more because your overhead/profit ratio has changed.


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## SCdave (Jun 27, 2014)

If Mr. K / Uber wants to experiment/test what the elasticity of pricing is, why doesn't he do so with his own $$$? This was done with the previous 20% price drop in the LA Area when Uber offered to offset with a 5% commission. Guess Mr. K now just wants to experiment with Driver money and our increased depreciation/costs to make the same income.

So what Mr. K is really saying is that he is experimenting and testing both the price elasticity of the Rider AND the Driver.

Oh, I asked Uber when the current LA 25% Summer Temporary decrease would become a permanent 20% decrease. Didn't expect an answer but wanted to ask the question anyway. Yes, I actually sent that email. Oh, I got a reply but "no real answer", of course.


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## Oc_DriverX (Apr 29, 2014)

SCdave,
To use a Game of Thrones' reference: "Winter is coming..."


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## winston (Jun 23, 2014)

They just sent out an email about this in Denver. That will do it for me. $4 minimum fare. No chance I'm doing that.


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## winston (Jun 23, 2014)

Only took them 2 minutes to respond and deactivate me. At least I get my $100 deposit back for the phone, have to work 20 hours to make that at these rates.


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## Mimzy (Jun 10, 2014)

I had five fares yesterday and today in the $4 range. $4.15 $4.00 $4.25 $4.60 & lastly again, the lovely flat $4.00.


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## wanderlust (Jul 23, 2014)

The $4 min is ridiculous. So if you drove 5-10 minutes to pick someone up, then waited 5-10 minutes to drop them a mile away. You spent half an hour to Gross $4, net $3 or less!
Add to that, there are uberx drivers pilled one on top of another, and you're lucky if you get the next ride. At the very least, uber should maintain the minimum at $5.90. If they're making us take a 20% pay cut, they should reduce their commission to 15% at the very least.
Also $5.90 to $4 is not a 20% cut, it's a 32.2 % cut!!!


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## uberdriver (Aug 4, 2014)

With the $4 minimum fare you get $2.40. That is before cost of gas and other car expenses, so it is gross, not net. Net of expenses you are talking less than $2.


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## wanderlust (Jul 23, 2014)

At $4, we get $3.2 before gas and expenses. I would probably be netting $3 on that ride.


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## uberdriver (Aug 4, 2014)

wanderlust said:


> At $4, we get $3.2 before gas and expenses. I would probably be netting $3 on that ride.


No, in cities like LA and San Diego (and Tucson, AZ if that is close to you) where the "minimum fare" is $4, if a ride does not go above the minimum, the driver gets only $2.40. This is because the "minimum fare" that is stated and published for those cities is really a $3 real minimum fare plus a $1 Safety fee. $4 is the minimum that the rider will be charged.


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## wanderlust (Jul 23, 2014)

uberdriver said:


> No, in cities like LA and San Diego (and Tucson, AZ if that is close to you) where the "minimum fare" is $4, if a ride does not go above the minimum, the driver gets only $2.40. This is because the "minimum fare" that is stated and published for those cities is really a $3 minimum fare plus a $1 Safety fee. In what city are you driving UberX ?


Ah. That makes more and yet, way less sense. Scottsdale primarily. It's in the Phoenix area.


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## uberdriver (Aug 4, 2014)

It is not as bad there, as in Phoenix the stated minimum charge to the client is $5.90. So the minimum that you get for a ride before gas/expenses is $ 3.92.


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## wanderlust (Jul 23, 2014)

Nope we're getting hit as well. Starting tomorrow.


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## mp775 (Jun 26, 2014)

But if the price is so artificially low yah ridership explodes and the driver supply shrinks, there will be more surges and they will make more money.


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## UberSF (Jul 30, 2014)

Raider said:


> You guys want to start a Union? A militia? Start a revolution and end this madness...Quitting is not the answer, they'll just hire more suckers and flood the market. Their advertising campaign is very strong, hell it got me...like i said, this is a part time, temporary gig to earn a few bucks for those vacations you're looking forward to. I thought about doing this full time but so glad i didn't. I predict this will get messy very soon and we should all start thinking about other alternative ways to make money.
> 
> I feel bad for some drivers who live in a cut throat area like NYC and LA. It hasn't gotten bad in DC yet, there are still tons of riders and surge pricing every night at the right part of the city. Though i noticed when i first started Uber it was fun, and people are nice, now it seems like i meet assholes out of nowhere. Rating fell from 4.9 to 4.83 and i do nothing but smile and take them from point A to point B safely and quickly.


I am having the exact same experience Raider! I also am noticing more assholes and i went from a 4.9 for the last 4 1/2 months down to a 4.83 this week. WTF!


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## wanderlust (Jul 23, 2014)

UberSF said:


> I am having the exact same experience Raider! I also am noticing more assholes and i went from a 4.9 for the last 4 1/2 months down to a 4.83 this week. WTF!


Same thing here. I went down to 4.67 from 4.9. Last statement. So this week I've mostly been working days and have been a solid 5 since Monday and my average for the last 7 days is up to 4.83. I think it's the late night drunks and surge price riders.


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## grams777 (Jun 13, 2014)

Driver pay cut hitting Nashville as well. Passengers will pay 15% (?) less instead of 25% (about a 10% net increase from currently). Drivers now get the cut too. I put the difference for each fare element in parenthesis below since everything is not equally 15%. In reality this looks like closer to an overall 20% cut. Only the mileage was reduced by about 15%.

Even if the mantra about driver "earnings" is higher, what's the good if you have to drive 25% more to only gross 10% more?

*RATE SCHEDULE STARTING AUGUST 8TH AT 5PM*

*CURRENT PRICING
NEW PRICING*

BASE FARE
$2.19
$1.60
(.59 = 27 % cut)

PER MINUTE
$0.20
$0.16
(.04 = 20% cut)

PER MILE
$1.22
$1.05
(.17 = 14 % cut)

SAFE RIDES FEE
$1.00
$1.00

MINIMUM FARE
$5.80
$4.00
($1.80 = 31 % cut)

CANCEL FEE
$10.00
$5.00
($5.00 = 50% cut)

So the average driver will be at $15 per hour (less expenses to drive):









*NEW UBERX RATES*

Uber's goal is to ensure strong driver earnings and offer the best value to riders. Maintaining low prices will keep demand high into August and September, and help you do more trips during this time. From this promotion, we have learned that a 15% price cut will keep *driver earnings higher than May peaks* and *keep demand at record levels*. We have seen similar effects in other cities where lower rates increase trips and increase driver earnings.

In short:


Average driver earnings will be higher than May levels
Uber's 25% promotion to riders will end
Prices will be reduced by 15% for both riders and drivers


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## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

Uber is establishing a price point where lots of people begin to abandon traditional public transport. Some would possibly sell the "spare" family car, freeing up the family budget normally spent on the upkeep, insurance and registration. 

Uberpool comes along with more families and inner city dwellers choosing to get rid of their car. Continuing complaints from UBERX drivers about dropping income increased wear & tear.

Google comes to the rescue with its driverless cars, and they displace and deactivated UBERX drivers as the robots are rolled out. 

I predict that this will start within 5 years and rollout will be complete throughout the USA by 2025-2030.


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## uberdriver (Aug 4, 2014)

Sidney, you are right, and that is not just a prophetic vision. It is how real history is already taking place. The first two trends are already here with us, multi-car families are either selling a car or just not replacing one of them when it gets too old to keep driving it. More and more inner city dwellers are basing their transportation needs on Uber/Lyft ridesharing, and short-term car rentals like zipcars.

The driverless cars are already being tested successfully. They have logged over 700,000 miles of autonomous driving and are already legal on the roads of 4 States, with many more States in the pending application process. Auto industry executives now working for Google have publicly discussed their plans of having a business model of taxi-like fleets of autonomous vehicles that can become a new form of public transportation.

It is not anymore a matter of whether it will happen. Just a matter of when.


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## Sydney Uber (Apr 15, 2014)

uberdriver said:


> Sidney, you are right, and that is not just a prophetic vision. It is how real history is already taking place. The first two trends are already here with us, multi-car families are either selling a car or just not replacing one of them when it gets too old to keep driving it. More and more inner city dwellers are basing their transportation needs on Uber/Lyft ridesharing, and short-term car rentals like zipcars.
> 
> The driverless cars are already being tested successfully. They have logged over 700,000 miles of autonomous driving and are already legal on the roads of 4 States, with many more States in the pending application process. Auto industry executives now working for Google have publicly discussed their plans of having a business model of taxi-like fleets of autonomous vehicles that can become a new form of public transportation.
> 
> It is not anymore a matter of whether it will happen. Just a matter of when.


I gotta find another job! In about 10 years.....


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## ElectroFuzz (Jun 10, 2014)

grams777 said:


> PER MILE
> $1.22
> $1.05
> (.17 = 14 % cut)


Wow
1.05 less 20% = $0.84 per mile
Per IRS $0.56 overhead $0.84-$0.56 = $0.28

Even if you can manage to drive 0.5 mile non-paid per 1 paid mile

$0.84 - ($0.56 x1.5) = *$0.00*

Basically any money you see is 
simply borrowed from your car equity.


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## uberdriver (Aug 4, 2014)

ElectroFuzz said:


> Wow
> 1.05 less 20% = $0.84 per mile
> Per IRS $0.56 overhead $0.84-$0.56 = $0.28
> 
> ...


Elementary my dear Watson. Prices of rides seem to be in the process of coming down to the point that only drivers that suffer from "monetary illusion" will keep on driving. These drivers don't realize that the cash that they will see coming in their pockets (really into their bank accounts by direct deposit) is no more than the value of their car that they have been eating away, and in many cases it will be even less. Said another way, these drivers will be having over time a net loss of net worth, they will be poorer. But since they will only realize it later on (e.g. when their car breaks down and needs a new transmission), by then the "eating away" of their capital will already be done and it will be too late to recover from it.


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## Oc_DriverX (Apr 29, 2014)

uberdriver said:


> Elementary my dear Watson. Prices of rides seem to be in the process of coming down to the point that only drivers that suffer from "monetary illusion" will keep on driving. These drivers don't realize that the cash that they will see coming in their pockets (really into their bank accounts by direct deposit) is no more than the value of their car that they have been eating away, and in many cases it will be even less. Said another way, these drivers will be having over time a net loss of net worth, they will be poorer. But since they will only realize it later on (e.g. when their car breaks down and needs a new transmission), by then the "eating away" of their capital will already be done and it will be too late to recover from it.


And those are the drivers that Uber markets to. They tend to be drivers who will never find their way to this message board.


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## grams777 (Jun 13, 2014)

ElectroFuzz said:


> Wow
> 1.05 less 20% = $0.84 per mile
> Per IRS $0.56 overhead $0.84-$0.56 = $0.28
> 
> ...


The math doesn't work very well for the driver at 84 cents net per paid mile. If you do one unpaid mile per one paid mile, you're down to 42 cents a mile. It's basically just working for nothing and extracting your cars depreciation in advance.


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## SgtMurphy (Apr 28, 2014)

Raider said:


> You guys want to start a Union? A militia? Start a revolution and end this madness...Quitting is not the answer, they'll just hire more suckers and flood the market. Their advertising campaign is very strong, hell it got me...like i said, this is a part time, temporary gig to earn a few bucks for those vacations you're looking forward to. I thought about doing this full time but so glad i didn't. I predict this will get messy very soon and we should all start thinking about other alternative ways to make money.
> 
> I feel bad for some drivers who live in a cut throat area like NYC and LA. It hasn't gotten bad in DC yet, there are still tons of riders and surge pricing every night at the right part of the city. Though i noticed when i first started Uber it was fun, and people are nice, now it seems like i meet assholes out of nowhere. Rating fell from 4.9 to 4.83 and i do nothing but smile and take them from point A to point B safely and quickly.


I feel like it is so flooded with drivers in Boston, but I'm pretty much throttling down after a vacation for which I had to work furiously beforehand, and waiting for the college kids to come back to town while I'm searching for a real job. Uber gets stale pretty quickly, but it's a good firewall against incoming economic desperation. 
4.83 is still very good, that's what I'm achieving, and despite my salty remarks on this forum I kick ass at Uber. 
By the way raider, you are purdy.


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## UberXNinja (Jul 12, 2014)

SgtMurphy said:


> By the way raider, you are purdy.


Sergeant,

Raider is a dude, as he has clearly stated many times in his messages. But it's cute you find him purdy. Glad to see the Army has become so tolerant.


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## SgtMurphy (Apr 28, 2014)

You may be shocked to hear this, but I didn't thoroughly investigate Raider's former posts or scan his (or anyone's) profile to ensure that Raider is/was the smoking hot Asian female in his profile picture. But I also didn't call the league of shadows to cross-check your status as a ninja. 
If Raider did look like that, though, I would bang Raider faster than your prostate is enlarging. (If you remember, you told me about your 22 years in an enclosed phallic weapons platform with 100% dudes stowed butt to nut, probing the depths for post-Cold War UBoat threats. Take that, Bin Laden!) 
So now I understand how it is that you enjoy such an advantage in your Uber Spreadsheet: 
AARP has KILLER discounts for car insurance.
Do you find that you need less sleep at your advanced age? I am vexed by your ability to stay up this late, regardless of your time zone. I do it with pills and caffeine. 
On a serious note, I appreciate your sea service, and wish to politely correct your having identified me as an Army Soldier. 
I would be proud to have that distinction (as I'd be fine being a homosexual because, to provide an update from the landlubbers of modern America, that's okay now) but I did my time as a ground component of the Department of the Navy. On behalf of my fellow Marines, I would be remiss if I omitted a respectful nod to the most progressive of the branches, which broke down barriers back before you got sized up for your first pair of bell bottoms. 
AHOY!


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## chitown_driver (Jul 21, 2014)

The double wammy email courtesy of your friends at uber. Less pay per ride and less % of fare! If we are in fact heading into busy season then why do we need to lower prices? I wonder what part of this fare decrease is not designed to crush Lyft?

*COMMISSION & PRICING UPDATES*
Hey Sucker,

Summer always ends too quickly - this year that is especially true as Uber Chicago saw demand soar higher than ever! The last few weekends were the biggest we've seen in the history of uberX, loyal riders are happier than ever with fast and reliable service, new riders are coming on by the thousands each week, and most importantly, the partners who make all of this possible are earning more than ever before!

*CHANGES TO YOUR PAY STATEMENT*

Back in January we announced that we were lowering our uberX commission from 20% to 5% to help maintain partner earnings through what is normally the slowest time of year. The move worked - uberX usage in Chicago grew rapidly, and even after we moved our commission back to 15% in mid-April, uberX partners continued to make more than ever before.

As the summer comes to a close and we enter the busiest time of the year, it's time to move back to the original 20% commission level. This change will be reflected this Friday, August 15.

*LOWER PRICES = INCREASED DEMAND*

To continue to grow uberX at an incredible rate, we're also permanently decreasing uberX prices by roughly 15%. The new rates are as follows:

Base: $1.70

Per mile: $0.90

Per minute: $0.20
Minimum trip: $2.70

The decision to permanently reduce uberX prices comes after extensive pricing studies in dozens of cities across the United States, with Uber investing time and resources to ensure that demand would not be negatively affected as a result of the tests.

The results of the studies were clear - rider demand increased so significantly that uberX partners earned 20% more over the last 4 weeks than they did all of May! And the growth is only going to continue - we expect the fall of 2014 to closely mirror 2013, and uberX partners will be busier than ever!










Armed with this data, we're confident the new prices will continue to grow your riderbase and ensure that uberX remains Chicago's best transportation option.


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## SCdave (Jun 27, 2014)

Uber not skilled at speaking to Drivers. Throwing Data around means nothing to me. Really Uber. Doesn't work and in fact just insults me. I'm guessing 90% of us just want to say, "Show me the money" and talk Net Profit. Uber emails like the one we all get and Chicago got is an insult to all Drivers. 

Yes, growing the business is important for Uber and in turn the Drivers. We all understand this. But Drivers don't have the Multimillion Venture Capital $$ and the future IPO Stock Issues in our back pockets. We have wee little wallets we sit on. Uber's job is growing the business and PAYING for the growth. Drivers shouldn't be expected to pay for growth with our accelerated vehicle depreciation/Maintaince & Repairs...but we are. If Uber wants to pay me a vehicle high mileage bonus or a voucher for converting into stock when an IPO comes out, okay, I'll consider helping out with growing the business. But I'm not waiting for that to happen, right?

We only care about increasing our Net Profit, lowering our risks as much as possible (insurance, what if repairs, being out on the road more miles to make the same/less, etc...), having a flexible schedule, being able to somehow put together a budget that Uber doesn't kill every other month, and working hard full-time or as a part-time gig. 

I think the Drivers have for the most part stood up to our part of the bargain. Uber is sending out mixed messages to Drivers and seems to be somewhat fractured with messages between markets. They need a VP of Partner/Driver Operations that understands the Driver's Side of the business besides just the Corporate Growth side and knows how to speak to Drivers. Currently, doesn't exist.

Uber Corporate...keep it simple, if you can't show us Drivers "The Money (AKA Net Profit)", better to just keep the Data for the boardroom. Seriously.


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