# I don't understand my pay



## Grahf (Oct 31, 2015)

I was under the impression that for each ride uber takes 20% of the fare and I get 80%. But my pay statements don't reflect that. For example, my last ride fare was $4.81. When I go to my pay statement it says my earning for the ride was $2.45. That means uber took like 50%. How does this work???


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## Sacto Burbs (Dec 28, 2014)

Uber raised their rates but claim it is a Safe Rides Fee. They keep 100% of the SRF. We get 8o% of the rest. 

It is a scam


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## Grahf (Oct 31, 2015)

I no longer feel like driving for Uber...


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## Driver2020 (Sep 2, 2015)

I was confused about that also. I noticed more of a cut in my pay. If I had a fare for 18.81 I would walk away with just 13 dollars. I emailed them and they took me around in circles. It's bull.


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## BLKBELTGIRL2 (Nov 8, 2015)

Grahf said:


> I no longer feel like driving for Uber...


I hear ya on this one! I'm new to Uber and drove for the first time this past Friday night. I stayed out till about 1am. I made close to $90. but after this so called "Safe Rider Fee'' and their 20%, I walked away with just over $40. I was out for about 6 hours that night and that's what I walked away with? Excuse me Uber.....but I'm using my OWN PERSONAL VEHICLE, WITH MY OWN PERSONAL INSURANCE to do this. After seeing my payment statement, I was furious. I don't think i'll be doing this for much longer if that's how this is going to be.


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## Matt Uterak (Jul 28, 2015)

Grahf said:


> I was under the impression that for each ride uber takes 20% of the fare and I get 80%. But my pay statements don't reflect that. For example, my last ride fare was $4.81. When I go to my pay statement it says my earning for the ride was $2.45. That means uber took like 50%. How does this work???


4.81 - SRF $1.75 = $3.06*.8 = 2.45


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## Uber Wife (Oct 15, 2014)

Grahf said:


> I was under the impression that for each ride uber takes 20% of the fare and I get 80%. But my pay statements don't reflect that. For example, my last ride fare was $4.81. When I go to my pay statement it says my earning for the ride was $2.45. That means uber took like 50%. How does this work???


I know a lot of drivers for Uber, including my husband, who say that Uber takes more than 20%. One guy I recently spoke to, who also stopped working for Uber, stated that on average, Uber was taking 33% in addition to not paying him on time. They also didn't pay him as promised for referring a friend to become a driver. Uber has grown into a very arrogant, irresponsible, and shady company - just as the founder is. It is today's Walmart, if not much, much worse. At least Walmart workers get paid on time. Uber only cares about $$$ and steal from their drivers. The managers of the Uber office locations are also useless and careless. If you don't get paid, the only solution is to see a lawyer because they will give you countless excuses and jerk you around, but you need to be aware that most likely they will fire you, or as they like to say, "you can no longer be a partner because we can no longer trust you" (ha!).


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## limepro (Mar 7, 2015)

Here is where you are calculating it wrong and most people are.

YOUR fare is base fare + time + mileage. The SRF is not part of the fare that you EARNED, go back and calculate the % of your fare using only what you earned and you are at that 20% that Uber takes. The SRF is a fee added to the passenger, not taken from you.

I understand it is rocket science and people say lyft is better because they don't do this, they do, they just don't show you.

On Uber you and pax see fare + SRF = $12 they take their SRF then their 20%

On lyft you see fare = $10 pax sees $12, you see they take their 20%, it doesn't change the fact that the total fare was higher than they showed you, Uber is more transparent, while lyft wants you to forget about their SRF.


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## RealStatistics (Sep 4, 2014)

limepro said:


> Here is where you are calculating it wrong and most people are.
> 
> YOUR fare is base fare + time + mileage. The SRF is not part of the fare that you EARNED, go back and calculate the % of your fare using only what you earned and you are at that 20% that Uber takes. The SRF is a fee added to the passenger, not taken from you.
> 
> ...


Not sure if I agree that Uber is more transparent, because they're able to include the SFR in several of their "earnings" messages to encourage drivers to keep driving. For example, the "last fare" that shows up on the driver map after a trip includes the SFR which is ridiculous.


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## limepro (Mar 7, 2015)

RealStatistics said:


> Not sure if I agree that Uber is more transparent, because they're able to include the SFR in several of their "earnings" messages to encourage drivers to keep driving. For example, the "last fare" that shows up on the driver map after a trip includes the SFR which is ridiculous.


Whether it is included or not both companies grossly over state weekly earnings potential.


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## limepro (Mar 7, 2015)

This is just a case of someone signing up with $$$ in their eyes without reading the fine print.


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## billz4you (Nov 9, 2015)

I just started a few weeks ago here in Portland ME. Isn't the minimum fare the $5.15 listed on the schedule? I looked and have some fares listed as $4 and other short trips listed as the fare being $4.40.....that doesn't add up with that safe rider fee.


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## The_One (Sep 9, 2015)

You will all learn soon enough that Uber are nothing but snakes in the grass, they are Satan's offspring.


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## billz4you (Nov 9, 2015)

I am slowly learning this...all my fares for larger trips are at 20%....it's just the smaller ones that are less than the $5.15 stated on the fee schedule.


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## The_One (Sep 9, 2015)

If anyone here thinks they are making any money needs to go get themselves checked, also see an accountant, and see what he/she will tell you, you are destroying your car and yourself, and using it's equity at the speed of light to get paid, at the same time working with no benefits to speak of, no 401k, no health insurance "you need to purchase your own" , no sick days, or paid vacation days, you are just working for the now, which in the end will bite you in the rear end. It's called inevitability.


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## Matt Uterak (Jul 28, 2015)

billz4you said:


> I just started a few weeks ago here in Portland ME. Isn't the minimum fare the $5.15 listed on the schedule? I looked and have some fares listed as $4 and other short trips listed as the fare being $4.40.....that doesn't add up with that safe rider fee.


take the amount the pax paid - Safe rider fee *.80 (or .75) = your cut


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## SanPedroLover (Oct 26, 2015)

The_One said:


> You will all learn soon enough that Uber are nothing but snakes in the grass, they are Satan's offspring.


LOL

Can you possibly be more melodramatic about it?

How long have you worked for/in the Taxi industry?


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## BostonBarry (Aug 31, 2015)

The_One said:


> If anyone here thinks they are making any money needs to go get themselves checked, also see an accountant, and see what he/she will tell you, you are destroying your car and yourself, and using it's equity at the speed of light to get paid, at the same time working with no benefits to speak of, no 401k, no health insurance "you need to purchase your own" , no sick days, or paid vacation days, you are just working for the now, which in the end will bite you in the rear end. It's called inevitability.


In other words you own a small business, you provide your own benefits and don't be dumb using a brand new car to do rideshare.

Decent profits are possible for those who do their due diligence.


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## BostonBarry (Aug 31, 2015)

Grahf said:


> I was under the impression that for each ride uber takes 20% of the fare and I get 80%. But my pay statements don't reflect that. For example, my last ride fare was $4.81. When I go to my pay statement it says my earning for the ride was $2.45. That means uber took like 50%. How does this work???


It would be easier to answer your question if we had actual screenshots of whatever page/screen you're looking at that is confusing you. Take a screenshot and post it, I'm fairly certain we can explain where you're confusion is coming from. If you don't know how to take a screenshot on your phone/computer just Google how.


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## The_One (Sep 9, 2015)

BostonBarry said:


> In other words you own a small business, you provide your own benefits and don't be dumb using a brand new car to do rideshare.
> 
> Decent profits are possible for those who do their due diligence.


What's this rideshare nonsense, I do nothing of the sort, and neither do you, I am a FHV dispatch service/Taxi.


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## BostonBarry (Aug 31, 2015)

The_One said:


> What's this rideshare nonsense, I do nothing of the sort, and neither do you, I am a FHV dispatch service/Taxi.


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## The_One (Sep 9, 2015)

BostonBarry said:


>


What's with the rolling eyes, that's exactly what you are, nothing more nothing less. Rideshare, lol.


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## Muki (Oct 15, 2015)

Yeah, I do think it's time for the "rideshare" moniker to die. We are TNC drivers. I'm not sure if there even are any true rideshare companies left. It seems I remember some services that linked commuters up and they split expenses. Are they still around? Isn't that what sidecar used to be? To me that's what ridesharing is. Uber/Lyft are just taxis without the livery and regulations.


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## BostonBarry (Aug 31, 2015)

Potaytoes potahtoes


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## The_One (Sep 9, 2015)

Muki said:


> Yeah, I do think it's time for the "rideshare" moniker to die. We are TNC drivers. I'm not sure if there even are any true rideshare companies left. It seems I remember some services that linked commuters up and they split expenses. Are they still around? Isn't that what sidecar used to be? To me that's what ridesharing is. Uber/Lyft are just taxis without the livery and regulations.


Except in nyc, Uber is regulated like any other FHV /Taxi business.


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## Muki (Oct 15, 2015)

The_One said:


> Except in nyc, Uber is regulated like any other fh/Taxi business.


And unsurprisingly it's one of the few markets you can actually make good money driving for Uber. I know most people think regulation = bad.


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## negeorgia (Feb 1, 2015)

If people weren't making a profit they would stop driving or prop up their business with debt.


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## FlDriver (Oct 16, 2015)

limepro said:


> This is just a case of someone signing up with $$$ in their eyes without reading the fine print.


Bingo! Uber pays me exactly what they promised to, and it's not Uber's fault if I misread what they said and assume I get 80% of what the rider pays. They never said I would.

It says right in the app exactly how much you made for each ride. You don't have to do any math, just look at the Earnings screen. Is someone not aware that exists?

Some of the complaints in here are like a waiter complaining that the meal cost $100 but he only got a $20 tip.


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## 7Miles (Dec 17, 2014)

This would be OK if Uber didn't change contract with us so many times. I started with Uber when the pay was OK. Since then Uber changed contract with me several times, lowered prices and raised my fees. When this happens to you- would you like that ?


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## Muki (Oct 15, 2015)

7Miles said:


> This would be OK if Uber didn't change contract with us so many times. I started with Uber when the pay was OK. Since then Uber changed contract with me several times, lowered prices and raised my fees. When this happens to you- would you like that ?


I feel for the people who signed leases for cars with Uber back when rates were good.


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## negeorgia (Feb 1, 2015)

I don't; but I had already lived through enough to know that car payments reek. Paycheck to paycheck has more to do with spending choices than income levels. The cards are stacked against us by a greedy government and corporations. Career politicians benefitted from tax breaks and then voted them away from the last 2 generations.


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## SECOTIME (Sep 18, 2015)

You can drive and take the money or go do something else. 

The rates suck. Doesn't mean you have to keep driving does it?


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## Exails (Nov 13, 2015)

I finally decided to see what was up with the inconsistency between my fare and my supposed 80% earning and just like you guys, I realized that its 80% of the fare minus 1.75 from the SRF

No wonder when the minimum fare was 4,75, I'd get 2.40 instead of 3.80. I know it might seem like a trivial amount, but it really adds up. In this example, Im getting 50% instead of 80%

For a bigger fare like 10.00, with the SRF its 6.60 instead of 8.00. That's 66% instead of 80%

You'd have to get a giant fare to get near 80%. A fare that is 100.00 dollars, 78.6 dollars instead of 80.00. It's really close to 80% when it's a big fare like that.

I just had a long chat with a representative about how we get paid, and she kept dodging the whole Fare - SRF thing. 

They have this chart that says that the fare is based off 

+base fare
+ distance driving
+time driving
+Safe Rider Fee
- Uber fee = (Fare + Surge) x 0.20


Any sane person would assume that the SRF is charged off from the rider. Also like wtf IS a Safe Rider Fee and why do I have to pay for it? I give my riders safe rides... they should expect THAT much. I always thought that the SRF was for specific rides for people who were too drunk to ride for themselves and they would pay that extra amount. I don't even know what the SRF is supposed to be.

But according to this chart, the safe rider fee is a part of the total fare. What the uber fee REALLY should look like is 
Uber fee = (Fare +Surge - Safe Rider Fee) x 0.20

The chart is a lie, and they promise 80% of the fare... NOT the fare - safe rider fee. This really disappoints me. Call me whatever you want, but I'm going to make as much noise as I can about this to incoming uber drivers. 

I'm not going to ignore the fact that working for Uber is very convenient with scheduling and the amount paid is still better than minimum wage... but with paying for gas and who knows what sorts of costs my car is going through in the long run, I feel more and more convinced that I should just go work somewhere else (not referring to Lyft)

Thank you for listening to me, I had to vent... I just feel so betrayed about having driven all this time and to find out that I wasn't really getting 80% of the share.

This is like them saying, "Hey, we're gonna give you 80% of the fare as your earnings. Huh? SRF? What's that? Ignore that. That's how keep more money than we promised."

-__- have a nice day


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## BostonBarry (Aug 31, 2015)

Every contract and rates agreement you have ever read said you get xx% commission AFTER safe ride fee. If you didn't read it, you can't really justifiably complain. If the SRF went up in your market, the minimum fare went up the same amount. If it used to be $5 with $1 SRF and you netted 80% of $4, and now it is $5.75 with $1.75 SRF you still net 80% of $4.


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## mcclearin (Nov 3, 2015)

Uber takes fees and then 25%. They told me 20 but when I did the math and called them on it they admited they were taking fees and then 25%. They are ripping off drivers!


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## Muki (Oct 15, 2015)

I don't know what the SRF is for but my guess is that it's a bunch of bullsh*t. It's a way for them to raise their rate without explicitly saying they are. Whether they increase the fare rate, commission rate or tag on a SRF, at the end of the day, it's the same thing. It's more profit for Uber. They can say it doesn't take anything away from the driver, but it does increase prices for the passenger and given that most of them already think the tip is included in the fare, they will be even less inclined to tip when they see the price of their ride going up. So it hurts us in that sense.

The commission Uber takes is outright extortion. Uber takes on average near 1/3 of total passenger fares on my rides. If I'm lucky and get a lot of longer distance rides, that number falls to 28%. Think about other commission structures out there, a realtor gets 6% commission. Airbnb gets 3%. A typical sales position job might give 15%. Only lawyers get a chunk in the neighborhood of Uber. I see no reason why Uber can't possibly be profitable with a flat 10% commission, no BS fees. They don't own any of the productive capital. Where the hell is all their money going? It's just an app.


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## BostonBarry (Aug 31, 2015)

Yes, Uber and Lyft could easily integrate the SRF into their pricing by way of rates or increasing commission on drivers. It is a marketing thing. It isn't the end of the world or inherently evil. It is the same as stores selling items for $1.99 instead of $2. Or those Seen on TV items where you can buy 2 and get 3 free!!! -after you pay "additional shipping and processing". It is marketing.

If you want to compare Uber commission, then compare to something akin to what they are. Taxis? Commission is 50-60% of the fares. How much of the fare do you think a limo driver gets out of his gig, unless he is an owner operator? Sure Uber is disrespectful in how they decide and notify rate changes, but they are providing more to you than "just an app". Partner Support centers, background checks, commercial insurance, lobbying (yes, we benefit from this), improvements to app, payment processing, marketing, promotional credits, etc. While I doubt they're going broke I can definitely see the need for commissions in the range they are at.

If you want to debate that the minimum fare is too low, I can get on board. But really the SRF complaints are really irrelevant.


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## Exails (Nov 13, 2015)

BostonBarry said:


> Every contract and rates agreement you have ever read said you get xx% commission AFTER safe ride fee. If you didn't read it, you can't really justifiably complain. If the SRF went up in your market, the minimum fare went up the same amount. If it used to be $5 with $1 SRF and you netted 80% of $4, and now it is $5.75 with $1.75 SRF you still net 80% of $4.


Yes, I understand that I must have not read the fine print. However, I cannot ignore the fact that the chart clearly says that it is the fare x uber fee and it does not mention anything about SRF deductions in that chart. It makes it seem to new uber drivers like me that it is literally 80% of the total fare. I think I can complain that much.

How do you think prospective uber drivers would feel if they very clearly said, it is 80% of NOT the total fare, but 1.75 less than the total fare. Smart people would see that this is a way Uber can get more than 20% of what they make it look. I get it, I'll still drive for Uber now understanding the real way we get paid, but I can't help but feel like they pull a fast one on me and a lot of us for that matter.


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## Txchick (Nov 25, 2014)

O


BLKBELTGIRL2 said:


> I hear ya on this one! I'm new to Uber and drove for the first time this past Friday night. I stayed out till about 1am. I made close to $90. but after this so called "Safe Rider Fee'' and their 20%, I walked away with just over $40. I was out for about 6 hours that night and that's what I walked away with? Excuse me Uber.....but I'm using my OWN PERSONAL VEHICLE, WITH MY OWN PERSONAL INSURANCE to do this. After seeing my payment statement, I was furious. I don't think i'll be doing this for much longer if that's how this is going to be.


In most markets drivers onboarded after Sept 11,2015 are at 25% commission not 20%.


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## Muki (Oct 15, 2015)

Txchick said:


> O
> 
> In most markets drivers onboarded after Sept 11,2015 are at 25% commission not 20%.


Good lord, that must mean the true commission is approaching 40% for them.


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## Exails (Nov 13, 2015)

in all fairness, I don't think Uber was ever meant to be a full time job career for people to take too seriously. It's great as a supplemental income, that's for sure. In some areas like San Francisco and NY it could be a career... but not in little towns like Davis (currently studying at UC Davis) Good for whenever the heck I wanna work lol


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## Txchick (Nov 25, 2014)

Exails said:


> in all fairness, I don't think Uber was ever meant to be a full time job career for people to take too seriously. It's great as a supplemental income, that's for sure. In some areas like San Francisco and NY it could be a career... but not in little towns like Davis (currently studying at UC Davis) Good for whenever the heck I wanna work lol


Then why does Uber offer lease/rental programs for drivers in majority of larger cities?


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## BostonBarry (Aug 31, 2015)

Exails said:


> However, I cannot ignore the fact that the chart clearly says that it is the fare x uber fee and it does not mention anything about SRF deductions in that chart. It makes it seem to new uber drivers like me that it is literally 80% of the total fare.


Not sure I've ever seen the chart you're referring to. Checked all the Help and Account pages and see no charts. Misleading is exactly what marketing is about. Unless you think beautiful blondes will actually flock to you because you bought a 6 pack of Bud Light or Red Bull will give you actual wings.


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