# Lowering rates has the opposite effect than Uber had planned



## Raider (Jul 25, 2014)

I get tons of complaint these days from Uber riders switching over to Lyft because they told me they can't find an Uber anymore...and that all the Uber drivers now are a bunch of Ethiopians...i kindly explained because of the rate cuts. Nobody would drive those rates so that's why you're not getting picked up, Lyft in DC has picked up 10 fold...my friend who just started lift is busier than i am and make way more. I'm jumping ship too...

Simple, low rates, nobody drives, customers can't find rides, jump to lyft...BAM


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## pengduck (Sep 26, 2014)

Raider said:


> I get tons of complaint these days from Uber riders switching over to Lyft because they told me they can't find an Uber anymore...and that all the Uber drivers now are a bunch of Ethiopians...i kindly explained because of the rate cuts. Nobody would drive those rates so that's why you're not getting picked up, Lyft in DC has picked up 10 fold...my friend who just started lift is busier than i am and make way more. I'm jumping ship too...
> 
> Simple, low rates, nobody drives, customers can't find rides, jump to lyft...BAM


In the words of Gomer Pyle. Surprise, surprise, surprise!


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## Orlando_Driver (Jul 14, 2014)

75 cents a mile is not worth my time


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

Raider said:


> Lyft in DC has picked up 10 fold...my friend who just started lift is busier than i am and make way more. I'm jumping ship too...


If you haven't signed up for Lyft yet, do so by using your friend's Lyft referral code.
When you are a Lyft driver too, hand out your own Lyft referral code to all your Uber pax.

Fight Uber With Lyft!


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

Lyft is doing exceptionally well with pax demand where I drive and I [currently!] have no issues with them.

*Why? Because they PAY well.* Pretty simple. Yes, I drive a lot of hours, but I had the best net take home this week than I ever had with Uber. Will also toss in mentoring pay to the money mix here shortly.

I just hope Lyft can maintain the decent pay rate/schedule and not go down the crapper with Uber. Pax demand might be because of a flood of free fares they just dumped into the market, so will have to be watching that closely, after all that expires.


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## Yuri Lygotme (Jul 27, 2014)

Sadly Lyft has lowered its rates to match Uber's in Orlando: $0.75/mi


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

Yuri Lygotme said:


> Sadly Lyft has lowered its rates to match Uber's in Orlando: $0.75/mi


Yeah, unfortunately I'm expecting that as well.


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## jiwagon (Feb 19, 2015)

scrurbscrud said:


> Yeah, unfortunately I'm expecting that as well.


Proves that they're no more intelligent than Uber really.


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## UberHammer (Dec 5, 2014)

jizzwagon said:


> Proves that they're no more intelligent than Uber really.


Not a good sign when your savior is a lemming.


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## Actionjax (Oct 6, 2014)

Competition is always good. Wish Lyft was here in Toronto. Right now there is only one option and the quality has gone down from what I have experienced. When speaking with customers this weekend it's a 50/50 split between good and bad. Where they would say when the service first started it was a 1 in 10.

If Uber does not put the quality into the product it will become just a cheep cab service with less professional drivers.


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## UberHammer (Dec 5, 2014)

Actionjax said:


> Competition is always good. Wish Lyft was here in Toronto. Right now there is only one option and the quality has gone down from what I have experienced. When speaking with customers this weekend it's a 50/50 split between good and bad. Where they would say when the service first started it was a 1 in 10.
> 
> *If Uber does not put the quality into the product it will become just a cheep cab service with less professional drivers.*


Sometimes we agree 100%


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## Actionjax (Oct 6, 2014)

UberHammer said:


> Sometimes we agree 100%


I'm marking the date.


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## Raider (Jul 25, 2014)

I've never hear once, once, once, in 1400 rides that i've done, that the pax complained about the rates...infact, i have several, say they would pay a little more to ensure better drivers and service...why the **** does Uber keep lowering rates if Pax are not complaining...i do not understand. 

3 dollar pick up, $1.50 a mile is a fair rate to me, with door to door service...


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## DrJeecheroo (Feb 12, 2015)

Actionjax said:


> I'm marking the date.


It's nice to see you two on the same page. There is hope after all.


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## UberHammer (Dec 5, 2014)

Raider said:


> I've never hear once, once, once, in 1400 rides that i've done, that the pax complained about the rates...infact, i have several, say they would pay a little more to ensure better drivers and service...why the **** does Uber keep lowering rates if Pax are not complaining...i do not understand.
> 
> 3 dollar pick up, $1.50 a mile is a fair rate to me, with door to door service...


Uber lowering rates has NOTHING to do with what existing customers want.

Uber wants those people spending $500 billion per year on new cars to spend their money on Uber instead of a new car. Travis believes they will if Uber is cheaper than owning a car.

And he's delusional. First of all, very few people who desire cheaper transportation buy new cars. And the one's that do only make up about 2 to 3% of that market. The other 97-98% don't buy the cheapest model. They pay more to buy the model that meats their lifestyle (the minivan, the truck, the mid-size, the full-size, the SUV, etc, etc....).

So Travis is tanking the quality of Uber, and alienating both riders and drivers in the process, in the pursuit of some share of those in the 2 to 3% of the new car market. He would have to win nearly 100% of them just to match the market size of the taxi industry ($11 billion). First of all, he's not going to win 100% of them. And second of all, his new cheap low quality product is going to lose a bigger chunk of the taxi industry they've gained over the past few years then they're going to gain from penetrating the new car buyer market. At best, it would be a wash for Uber, but will suck royally for Uber drivers and riders.


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## nutzareus (Oct 28, 2014)

Raider said:


> 3 dollar pick up, $1.50 a mile is a fair rate to me, with door to door service...


That was the original UberX rate in DC before the August 2014 price cut, $3 base + $1.40/mile + $0.29/minute.

NO. ONE. COMPLAINED. NONE OF THE DRIVERS. NONE OF THE PASSENGERS!


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## Raider (Jul 25, 2014)

nutzareus said:


> That was the original UberX rate in DC before the August 2014 price cut, $3 base + $1.40/mile + $0.29/minute.
> 
> NO. ONE. COMPLAINED. NONE OF THE DRIVERS. NONE OF THE PASSENGERS!


Yeah those were the days....I would make 40-50 an hour driving Friday's-Sunday's easily . It didn't surge that much and earnings were consistent


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## nutzareus (Oct 28, 2014)

Raider said:


> It didn't surge that much and earnings were consistent


This is where Fuber is losing their drivers and passengers, the constant surge manipulations, not really knowing what's going on with pricing. Riders liked it at the original rate because they knew there would be cars available, the price was stable, and still better than a taxi without the constant shifting sand of surge pricing. If anything, Fuber should RAISE the base rate back to original rates because if they did it would wipe out all of the 1.3x surges that are constantly shown on the map. Even if 1.3x surge was the same as the original base rate, passengers see lightning bolt and get pissed. It's the mental psychology.


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## Ubermanpt (Dec 23, 2014)

It's all psycology and pax are not happy when they see the lighting bolt. The comments from pax are more frequent too. Going to take advantage of surge while it exists just like people taking advantage of guarantees


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## Raider (Jul 25, 2014)

I guess drivers are getting smart and not drive...this M street business district, it is the busiest street in all of DC for workers commuters and tourists. Usually this place will have more ubers than a swarm of locusts but lately they're not even on my map...this is turning


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## Raider (Jul 25, 2014)

Might I add this is the heigh of rush hour too when people need to go home


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## nutzareus (Oct 28, 2014)

I see it too. 1.6x surge on K Street and not a single car available on K Street itself. Unreal.


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## frndthDuvel (Aug 31, 2014)

Raider said:


> I guess drivers are getting smart and not drive...this M street business district, it is the busiest street in all of DC for workers commuters and tourists. Usually this place will have more ubers than a swarm of locusts but lately they're not even on my map...this is turning
> 
> View attachment 5306


UBER X with car seat? I have not seen that option. I have written UBER and said they should offer bike racks for a fee, perhaps one day if they have this child seat thing. I know I would not offer such an option, too much liability. The few times a car seat was needed, I always let the parent install their car seat. I would never take the liability to install a child seat, what we do not have enough already?


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## nutzareus (Oct 28, 2014)

frndthDuvel said:


> UBER X with car seat? I have not seen that option. I have written UBER and said they should offer bike racks for a fee, perhaps one day if they have this child seat thing. I know I would not offer such an option, too much liability. The few times a car seat was needed, I always let the parent install their car seat. I would never take the liability to install a child seat, what we do not have enough already?


We do have UberX + Car Seat option in the DC market, it's called UberFAMILY. I was invited via email to go in person today or tomorrow if I was interested. It's the same rate + $10 surcharge. I'm not interested in keeping a car seat permanently strapped in my car...


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## frndthDuvel (Aug 31, 2014)

nutzareus said:


> We do have UberX + Car Seat option in the DC market, it's called UberFAMILY. I was invited via email to go in person today or tomorrow if I was interested. It's the same rate + $10 surcharge. I'm not interested in keeping a car seat permanently strapped in my car...


At least that seems a reasonable fee for the driver, even after 20%. I do not have a trunk so I can't stash the car seat in the trunk when not needed. But I would think about it for 8 bucks and the meter starts running as soon as the trunk opens and the car seat is handed to the Rider to install. Does UBER mention specific approved seat models and brand? Do they supply them? Bike racks seem a no brainer for an added service charge.


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## nutzareus (Oct 28, 2014)

frndthDuvel said:


> Does UBER mention specific approved seat models and brand? Do they supply them? Bike racks seem a no brainer for an added service charge.


http://thecarseatlady.com/uberfamily-immi-go/


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## frndthDuvel (Aug 31, 2014)

nutzareus said:


> http://thecarseatlady.com/uberfamily-immi-go/


Thanks. On second thought I do not think I would partake in the program after looking at that. I liked the part where it mentions"if child is struggling". LOL


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## Ubermanpt (Dec 23, 2014)

I've also noticed Bethesda and Friendship Heights has no uberx a lot lately.


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## ldriva (Jan 23, 2015)

Raider said:


> I get tons of complaint these days from Uber riders switching over to Lyft because they told me they can't find an Uber anymore...and that all the Uber drivers now are a bunch of Ethiopians...i kindly explained because of the rate cuts. Nobody would drive those rates so that's why you're not getting picked up, Lyft in DC has picked up 10 fold...my friend who just started lift is busier than i am and make way more. I'm jumping ship too...
> 
> Simple, low rates, nobody drives, customers can't find rides, jump to lyft...BAM


I can attest to that. I made $650 in two days last week. And I got invited to be a mentor. The selfish side of me wants the shot stage of drivers to be prolonged but I'll might as well cake up as much as possible and then cut back either further once my other business blossoms. I'm already down to 2 days. I want to get down to only doing weekend nights again.


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## UberFrolic (Sep 18, 2014)

Every surge ride I get, I apologize to them and say that the reason u keep getting ****ed on the surge is bcause uber keeps lowering rates and drivers quitting left and right.


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## UberXking (Oct 14, 2014)

Why would you apologize. You should say congratulations the surge was higher just one minute ago. You must have good karma thanks for always choosing Uber. If you're going to make statements about pay post the fact like this.....


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## Uberdawg (Oct 23, 2014)

UberFrolic said:


> Every surge ride I get, I apologize to them and say that the reason u keep getting ****ed on the surge is bcause uber keeps lowering rates and drivers quitting left and right.


I found myself feeling guilty tonight about some of these surge fares. A $96 fare for this guy to take the wife and kid to a restaurant 15 minutes away (and that was just getting there, with the return trip he would have spent more on the ride than dinner)? I had driven he and his wife a couple of times before and they are really nice people. I saw the fare, went into the restaurant and gave the guy my number and said call me when you are ready to leave and I'll take you home free.

$175 for a 20 minute ride? Same ride would have been $40 max had he gone 30 minutes earlier.

My last pax was $156 for 17 minutes. There was a yellow cab parked next to where I picked him up and he still paid the Uber surge. Him, I did not feel guilty about. That's just stupid.


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## Sacto Burbs (Dec 28, 2014)

UberXking said:


> Why would you apologize. You should say congratulations the surge was higher just one minute ago. You must have good karma thanks for always choosing Uber. If you're going to make statements about pay post the fact like this.....
> View attachment 5902


Where is this money coming from? There is no Uber in Chico, Ca


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## UberXking (Oct 14, 2014)

You are right. Why I don't know. I have taken one fare in Sacramento. 6 in the morning 35.07 miles to Folton. Down 80 to 50 east took me 30 min. Did the math. Uber made more than I did. .
The run was twice as long as the average run in the area. If Uber wants to offer the service at less than a dollar a mile. Drivers in SAC should show up for


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## Sacto Burbs (Dec 28, 2014)

Where do you drive? Could you add it to your avatar? Thanks


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

Uberdawg said:


> I found myself feeling guilty tonight about some of these surge fares. A $96 fare for this guy to take the wife and kid to a restaurant 15 minutes away (and that was just getting there, with the return trip he would have spent more on the ride than dinner)? I had driven he and his wife a couple of times before and they are really nice people. *I saw the fare, went into the restaurant and gave the guy my number and said call me when you are ready to leave and I'll take you home free.*
> 
> $175 for a 20 minute ride? Same ride would have been $40 max had he gone 30 minutes earlier.
> 
> My last pax was $156 for 17 minutes. There was a yellow cab parked next to where I picked him up and he still paid the Uber surge. Him, I did not feel guilty about. That's just stupid.


That's pretty sad, when they make a driver feel guilty for surge rape. I've had just a twinge of that a couple times as well.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

ldriva said:


> I can attest to that. I made $650 in two days last week. And I got invited to be a mentor. The selfish side of me wants the shot stage of drivers to be prolonged but I'll might as well cake up as much as possible and then cut back either further once my other business blossoms. I'm already down to 2 days. I want to get down to only doing weekend nights again.


I fully expect to gross $600-700 on a Fri.Sat. nite 20-24 hour driving stint. If I don't think it's going to be that I'll stay home. Not worth going out imho.


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## Bill Feit (Aug 1, 2014)

Here is graph from Sherpa that shows exactly how much more money I am making since the Uber fare reduction: I am sure you will agree not a good trend..thank you Lyft for helping out with this or it would be much worse!!!

We are now experiencing more Surge at daytime hours due to shortage of Uber drivers. I have started only driving for Uber when there Surge.


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## Txchick (Nov 25, 2014)

Yuri Lygotme said:


> Sadly Lyft has lowered its rates to match Uber's in Orlando: $0.75/mi


That sucks!!


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## uberThere (Feb 22, 2015)

Actionjax said:


> Competition is always good. Wish Lyft was here in Toronto. Right now there is only one option and the quality has gone down from what I have experienced. When speaking with customers this weekend it's a 50/50 split between good and bad. Where they would say when the service first started it was a 1 in 10.
> 
> If Uber does not put the quality into the product it will become just a cheep cab service with less professional drivers.


If Uber is as bad as the cabs in Ottawa, then they will really be low quality.


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## uberThere (Feb 22, 2015)

UberHammer said:


> Uber lowering rates has NOTHING to do with what existing customers want.
> 
> Uber wants those people spending $500 billion per year on new cars to spend their money on Uber instead of a new car. Travis believes they will if Uber is cheaper than owning a car.
> 
> ...


Currently, I'm looking at a X3, or GLK 250. If Uber can deliver this type of car to me cheaper, and just as convenient , then it would be worth it to take Uber all the time. Of course, if it were cheaper, then what does that say about how well they are remunerating the drivers?


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## uberThere (Feb 22, 2015)

scrurbscrud said:


> I fully expect to gross $600-700 on a Fri.Sat. nite 20-24 hour driving stint. If I don't think it's going to be that I'll stay home. Not worth going out imho.


That many hours is going to be rough. I think you'll look like an episode of the walking dead.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

uberThere said:


> That many hours is going to be rough. I think you'll look like an episode of the walking dead.


No question that the weekend slogs are hard on mind and body. I seldom work Sundays and sometimes Mondays because I'm wrung out and need to recuperate. It takes your all and then some. That's why the pay needs to be in the zones mentioned for me to justify doing it.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

Bill Feit said:


> Here is graph from Sherpa that shows exactly how much more money I am making since the Uber fare reduction: I am sure you will agree not a good trend..thank you Lyft for helping out with this or it would be much worse!!!
> 
> We are now experiencing more Surge at daytime hours due to shortage of Uber drivers. I have started only driving for Uber when there Surge.


The graph would look remarkably different without surge, I'm sure. So it's not really a good measure for full timers.

Probably have to cut that hourly on your graph in half or more if measured at a buck a mile in San Diego.


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## Bart McCoy (Nov 4, 2014)

Actionjax said:


> If Uber does not put the quality into the product it will become just a cheep cab service with less professional drivers.


huh, been like that since day 1 hasnt it?


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## Actionjax (Oct 6, 2014)

Bart McCoy said:


> huh, been like that since day 1 hasnt it?


Not around here it wasn't. We had people in Benzes BMW and tesla cars on UberX. I think they are long gone now.

Most around here were nice late model Civics. Now you get old dirty Toyota Corollas and Neons. When I roll up on my 2010 Mazda 3 with leather people say it's the nicest Uber car they have seen. WTF this thing? Things must have gotten bad if that's what they say.

I had an Acura TL once. Other than the flaming skull on the front quarter panel and the neon interior it wasn't a bad ride.


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## Bart McCoy (Nov 4, 2014)

Actionjax said:


> Not around here it wasn't. We had people in Benzes BMW and tesla cars on UberX. I think they are long gone now.
> 
> Most around here were nice late model Civics. Now you get old dirty Toyota Corollas and Neons. When I roll up on my 2010 Mazda 3 with leather people say it's the nicest Uber car they have seen. WTF this thing? Things must have gotten bad if that's what they say.
> 
> I had an Acura TL once. Other than the flaming skull on the front quarter panel and the neon interior it wasn't a bad ride.


Either way it was still less than a taxi right? so that make sit a cheap cab service.

Does Uber make you drive in the Indy 500 before Ubering? then that makes Uber always having less professional drivers....


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## ldriva (Jan 23, 2015)

uberThere said:


> That many hours is going to be rough. I think you'll look like an episode of the walking dead.


I only drive Fridays and Saturdays, so it's not that bad. I also split my hours up. I work commute hours and night on Fridays and evening and night hours on Saturdays. It's tough, but I know that this is temporary. I will not be doing this a year from now, 6 months from now, hell even a month from now. *claiming it*


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