# Ping Algorithm



## Rickshaw (Jun 30, 2017)

I understand about acceptance (no deactivation), cnx rate (deactivation if over xx). But:
1. Does one’s star, acceptance, cancellation ratings and experience (#of rides) influence quantity of pings?
2. Quality (p/u distance, pax rating, x/pool) of pings?

Any rebel/disgruntled Uber employees here to spill the beans?


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## Rakos (Sep 2, 2014)

Rickshaw said:


> I understand about acceptance (no deactivation), cnx rate (deactivation if over xx). But:
> 1. Does one's star, acceptance, cancellation ratings and experience (#of rides) influence quantity of pings?
> 2. Quality (p/u distance, pax rating, x/pool) of pings?
> 
> Any rebel/disgruntled Uber employees here to spill the beans?


BINGO!!!

You just asked the $64,000 question...

Inquiring monkey minds...

Would love to hear this answer...

You get two free poo throws...

and an "I'll tip in the app"...8>)

Rakos


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## PrestonT (Feb 15, 2017)

My personal opinion is that acceptance rate affects quantity of pings. I'm not sure it affects quality.

I'm not sure of anything, actually. Only Uber leaders and developers know.


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## Rickshaw (Jun 30, 2017)

I need a Susan Fowler here.


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## Rakos (Sep 2, 2014)

PrestonT said:


> My personal opinion is that acceptance rate affects quantity of pings. I'm not sure it affects quality.
> 
> I'm not sure of anything, actually. Only Uber leaders and developers know.


I prefer to think...

That it's up to the Uber gods...

Seems like...some days they like me...

And some days they don't...

Kind of like when...

Some days I ride the elephant...

Some days the elephant rides me...8>)

Rakos


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## wk1102 (Dec 25, 2015)

Rickshaw said:


> I understand about acceptance (no deactivation), cnx rate (deactivation if over xx). But:
> 1. Does one's star, acceptance, cancellation ratings and experience (#of rides) influence quantity of pings?
> 2. Quality (p/u distance, pax rating, x/pool) of pings?
> 
> Any rebel/disgruntled Uber employees here to spill the beans?


I used to be on the side that no, none of these things affect your pings. Two weeks ago my acceptance % fell to 30 or 40 % and I sat downtown for 2 hours and only received a few XL pings. I had both on x and xl, and normally get between 15- 1and 20-1 x to xl. At times I was the only xl, I suspect that's why I got the ping.

The week before and the week after I got regular pings.















Same area, same times one week apart on a Sat. The difference was over 50% and under 50% so I don't know. It may have been a glitch with the xl/x thing because I got more XL request fri - Mon of that week than I usually get in a month. Unfortunately most were 20+ minutes away.


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## paulmsr (Jul 12, 2016)

my acceptance rate right now is about 15% and lately I've been getting long trip pings quite often, so I doubt acceptance plays a role


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## unPat (Jul 20, 2016)

Not true .


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## UberAntMakingPeanuts (Aug 20, 2017)

I have a feeling that if I'm next to an other driver that has a better acceptance rate they will get the ping first. When I trusted Uber to stay at 100 like a robot I got 15 an hour. I would rather do my own thing now that I am experienced better with my city. 15 an hour is less than min wage after expenses


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## paulmsr (Jul 12, 2016)

thing is none of us know what their algorithm is, we all makes guesses (yes that's what they are) on our personal feelings on the matter


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## Rickshaw (Jun 30, 2017)

I don't get it. I'm no dummy but I have to read this more than once just to get the gist of it. Just like the most recent DF and other "communications", they have a very convoluted way of expressing their message. Why not put it in simple English??


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## wk1102 (Dec 25, 2015)

Rickshaw said:


> I don't get it. I'm no dummy but I have to read this more than once just to get the gist of it.


This is done intentionally, I've read many different interpretations of the 3 sentences in the picture. It's really a genius idea if you think about it. It can be interpreted in a number of ways, threatening to benign.

There is just enough to put into our heads that its a threat, low acceptance % means you wait longer for pings.

Or it could just be referring to riders wait time and have nothing to do drivers.


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## Rickshaw (Jun 30, 2017)

Must be crafted by some student-lawyers...


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## d0n (Oct 16, 2016)

It's hard to assume stuff without seeing the code, the code is constantly changing too.

Acceptance influences priority on trips.

The system learns what you like doing.

The system rigs bad rides when you are making too much money. (this changed)

The system prioritizes low income/high hours for profitable trips.

The system is rigged towards new drivers to delude them with good trips.

The system cancels good trips and gives you bad ones [Airport]. (this changed at least in my area)

The system uses out of towners who aren't regulars, massive cancelers and newbs at airports to pick trips outside the airport.

The system favors long trips at airports to people who take pool and short trips outside of it.

The system ignores destination to keep you on a loop in high demand areas. (this changed or it's probably a bug related to high demand).

Leak me the code and I bet at least 4-5 of these are true.


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## rembrandt (Jul 3, 2016)

Rickshaw said:


> I need a Susan Fowler here.


Susan Fowler herself is probably the inventor of the 'punishing algorithms' that Uber applies on it's drivers. To answer your questions, yes, your ability to receive pings will be negatively impacted if :
1. You decline / refuse/ reject/ cancel too many requests. Low acceptance and high cancellation rates.
2. Low rating like 1* and any kind of fare review that results in refund to the passangers.
3. Any kind of complaints.

Susan Fowler speaks only about her own ordeal ( populism) but she carefully conceals how Uber plays dirty with the drivers. She has been very selective indeed.


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## UberAntMakingPeanuts (Aug 20, 2017)

d0n said:


> It's hard to assume stuff without seeing the code, the code is constantly changing too.
> 
> Acceptance influences priority on trips.
> 
> ...


That makes sense. From my experience with Uber I believe it. But still when I took 100 percent Uber failed to provide me with better pay than doing my own thing. Every once in a while I take all the trips for days to see if it's better for me and it never is. We know our city better than these algorithms.


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## ShinyAndChrome (Aug 18, 2017)

UberAntMakingPeanuts said:


> I have a feeling that if I'm next to an other driver that has a better acceptance rate they will get the ping first. When I trusted Uber to stay at 100 like a robot I got 15 an hour. I would rather do my own thing now that I am experienced better with my city. 15 an hour is less than min wage after expenses


But why? It makes sense no to reward that other driver but to treat him as the sucker he is. It is in Uber's interest to give that close ping to you because you are demanding. Then the next ping in the middle of nowhere goes to the sucker next to you who drives 18 min for a pickup. If acceptance affects pings it probably affects them to low acceptance people's benefit.

And as I have said before it makes little sense for uber to punish low acceptance people without telling them why. Imagine if you whipped your dog every time it looked at your foot. But you never tried to explain why, only you knew. Would the dog ever figure out why it is being whipped?


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## Coachman (Sep 22, 2015)

paulmsr said:


> my acceptance rate right now is about 15% and lately I've been getting long trip pings quite often, so I doubt acceptance plays a role


If you're only accepting 15% of your pings why do you even bother?


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## Showa50 (Nov 30, 2014)

Of course it does. The more you accept the more money, specifically booking fee, Uber makes off of you. Uber wants you on the road everyday for 15-20 rides. Not give 5 good surge rides and go home.


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## circle1 (Sep 17, 2016)

Rakos said:


> BINGO!!!
> 
> You just asked the $64,000 question...
> 
> ...


Inflation . . . $640,000 question now . . .



UberAntMakingPeanuts said:


> That makes sense. From my experience with Uber I believe it. But still when I took 100 percent Uber failed to provide me with better pay than doing my own thing. Every once in a while I take all the trips for days to see if it's better for me and it never is. We know our city better than these algorithms.


The smart contractors will figure out a way to do other things with their time & vehicle while waiting for profitable pings to roll in (imo)! Luber & Gryft see to it that anyone depending on them for full-time _*O B E Y*_.


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## rembrandt (Jul 3, 2016)

If you see yourself being punished by Uber algorithms , take a few days off from Uber app. Try to work solely on Lyft for those days. This strategy pays off and you will still make more money.


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## unPat (Jul 20, 2016)

It’s probably means wait time for customers. Whem you don’t accept it might overload their system or it has to do the calculations all over again. That’s why them sweat over it so much. 
Either you accept or decline , uber will still get that passengers booking fee.


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## Surgeio (Aug 14, 2017)

Why is the algorithm a secret? Why not tell drivers what exactly is necessary in order to maximize earnings? 

For example, if I have to make a few long pickups each week in order to get priority pings in the middle of a deep surge, then why not tell us? Or, if there is any kind of relationship between acceptance rate and long trip requests, then why not tell us? Or, if accepting a few low rated pax today will help ensure more higher rated pax tomorrow, then why not tell us?

Build the algorithm however you want in order to maintain passenger satisfaction, meet corporate objectives, etc. But at least tell the drivers how we can help you achieve those goals. As independent contractors, we can either choose to jump through those hoops or not.


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## unPat (Jul 20, 2016)

I heard if you accept 100% pings , you will be paired with tipping passengers. Looking at your profile pic it seems to be true. 


Surgeio said:


> Why is the algorithm a secret? Why not tell drivers what exactly is necessary in order to maximize earnings?
> 
> For example, if I have to make a few long pickups each week in order to get priority pings in the middle of a deep surge, then why not tell us? Or, if there is any kind of relationship between acceptance rate and long trip requests, then why not tell us? Or, if accepting a few low rated pax today will help ensure more higher rated pax tomorrow, then why not tell us?
> 
> Build the algorithm however you want in order to maintain passenger satisfaction, meet corporate objectives, etc. But at least tell the drivers how we can help you achieve those goals. As independent contractors, we can either choose to jump through those hoops or not.


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## Dammit Mazzacane (Dec 31, 2015)

I believe in the theory of the $18/hour rule. It goes like this: If you're making more than $18/hour in rides, the system will start throwing you short rides and give other drivers the better rides. If you're short on reaching the $18/hour benchmark, the system will try to work in your favor.
Essentially, if you have a big earning ride on one platform, and it's not surging near you, the suggestion is to work the other company a while.


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## circle1 (Sep 17, 2016)

Dammit Mazzacane said:


> I believe in the theory of the $18/hour rule. It goes like this: If you're making more than $18/hour in rides, the system will start throwing you short rides and give other drivers the better rides. If you're short on reaching the $18/hour benchmark, the system will try to work in your favor.
> Essentially, if you have a big earning ride on one platform, and it's not surging near you, the suggestion is to work the other company a while.


That's yet another reason to not accept pings unless the ride will _c l e a r l y_ be to _*your*_ advantage. That would be acting as an independent contractor (imo).


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## Dammit Mazzacane (Dec 31, 2015)

circle1 said:


> That's yet another reason to not accept pings unless the ride will _c l e a r l y_ be to _*your*_ advantage. That would be acting as an independent contractor (imo).


It's a great reason to turn off one company and switch it over to the other one to play loyalties with both. It's at least worth a shot, but it disrupts strategies involving running both apps at the same time.


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## Tnasty (Mar 23, 2016)

Uber isnt evil or dishonest!


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## Mazda3 (Jun 21, 2014)

I'm going to throw out one more thing that I think is in the algorithm: I think it's cyclical too. Once a month you'll have a really good day to hit all the gambling addict's buttons. The addict will work another crappy month to hit that once a month big payday.


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## d0n (Oct 16, 2016)

Lol and they say it's not rigged...

Someone in lux outside the airport queue just got a ping from the airport to a 30 mile trip, why? because he didn't get any trips the whole day and they know he only does long trips in lux. Meanwhile those poor sobs waiting in queue at the airport just got flipped off.

Not.
Rigged.

They better pray no one gets their hands on their trip giving system code, it would literally mean the end for Uber, rigging contracts? Contractors and not employees? it all goes poof in multiple lawsuits.


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## touberornottouber (Aug 12, 2016)

No one really knows. Myself I more suspect there to be some sort of income leveling algorithm in place where it tries to keep you near your average over the past X weeks.

One anecdote I have noticed (been doing this for a little over a year now) is that oddly I seem to get better rides when I have an acceptance rate between 90-97% and NOT 100%. The same for having a non-zero cancellation rate. Sometimes I wonder if a 100% acceptance rate and a 0% cancellation rate signals to Uber that I am a "sucker" and to just give me minimum trips!


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## TNCMinWage (May 18, 2017)

All conspiracy theories. 

How does Uber know what you constitute as a good ride? Some drivers like long rides, some like short rides. Do you think they write a custom algo for every driver out there to determine their pet peeves and then work for/against them depending on driver's acceptance rate? How about ETA's, I think those are what is most important to the algo since its most important to the pax. Perhaps in a high density driver area more variables are factored in, but I find it hard to believe that Uber doles out "good" rides to drivers when it doesn't know what good is.


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## circle1 (Sep 17, 2016)

touberornottouber said:


> No one really knows. Myself I more suspect there to be some sort of income leveling algorithm in place where it tries to keep you near your average over the past X weeks.
> 
> One anecdote I have noticed (been doing this for a little over a year now) is that oddly I seem to get better rides when I have an acceptance rate between 90-97% and NOT 100%. The same for having a non-zero cancellation rate. Sometimes I wonder if a 100% acceptance rate and a 0% cancellation rate signals to Uber that I am a "sucker" and to just give me minimum trips!


More likely because 100% equals the re-set rate, so the coding says, "when the AR/CR = <100% but > XX%, THEN award premium-rated trips . . . imo.



TNCMinWage said:


> All conspiracy theories.
> 
> How does Uber know what you constitute as a good ride? Some drivers like long rides, some like short rides. Do you think they write a custom algo for every driver out there to determine their pet peeves and then work for/against them depending on driver's acceptance rate? How about ETA's, I think those are what is most important to the algo since its most important to the pax. Perhaps in a high density driver area more variables are factored in, but I find it hard to believe that Uber doles out "good" rides to drivers when it doesn't know what good is.


Artificial intelligence is getting more powerful by the day. They could have software & algos that track what we accept/decline (imo).


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## Koolbreze (Feb 13, 2017)

All you people are doing is assuming the above is happening. To help feed you self pity. Quit posting garbage an get out and make money, nobody will hand you anything, get out and earn it.


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## SatMan (Mar 20, 2017)

Koolbreze said:


> All you people are doing is assuming the above is happening. To help feed you self pity. Quit posting garbage an get out and make money, nobody will hand you anything, get out and earn it.


So tell me your assumptions for this...3 airport runs to DT. taking 294/290 each time. Next night only short runs...except when pit was close to MT.


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## SatMan (Mar 20, 2017)

OH, and I have more if you want it......


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## reg barclay (Nov 3, 2015)

ShinyAndChrome said:


> And as I have said before it makes little sense for uber to punish low acceptance people without telling them why.


Personally I don't believe that the theory is true but if it were it might be done not as a 'punishment' but to avoid wasting time by first giving priority to drivers who are statistically more likely to accept the ping (i.e, those with a higher acceptance rate).


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## Rakos (Sep 2, 2014)

Koolbreze said:


> All you people are doing is assuming the above is happening. To help feed you self pity. Quit posting garbage an get out and make money, nobody will hand you anything, get out and earn it.


I would bet 100%...

That you voted for Trump...8>)

Rakos


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## UberAntMakingPeanuts (Aug 20, 2017)

Koolbreze said:


> All you people are doing is assuming the above is happening. To help feed you self pity. Quit posting garbage an get out and make money, nobody will hand you anything, get out and earn it.


Taking a few seconds or minutes out of our lives to try and figure out these algorithms doesn't mean we took the day off work. I didn't see anyone here complaining about being broke and asking for change. Self pity really? How?



Rakos said:


> I would bet 100%...
> 
> That you voted for Trump...8>)
> 
> Rakos


His attitude suggests Trump. His city suggests Hillary lol


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## PrestonT (Feb 15, 2017)

Showa50 said:


> Of course it does. The more you accept the more money, specifically booking fee, Uber makes off of you. Uber wants you on the road everyday for 15-20 rides. Not give 5 good surge rides and go home.


More accurately, the more pings you accept, the more Uber can suppress surge paid to drivers.


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## Showa50 (Nov 30, 2014)

PrestonT said:


> More accurately, the more pings you accept, the more Uber can suppress surge paid to drivers.


They can suppress it at their choosing, regardless of the amount of pings you accept. They control it.


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## PrestonT (Feb 15, 2017)

Showa50 said:


> They can suppress it at their choosing, regardless of the amount of pings you accept. They control it.


My point being that the more active drivers there are out there accepting pings, the less carrots Uber needs to dangle to get drivers to accept those pings.


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## Brian G. (Jul 5, 2016)

Rakos said:


> BINGO!!!
> 
> You just asked the $64,000 question...
> 
> ...


Quit your day job and be a comedian if not one already.


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## Rakos (Sep 2, 2014)

Brian G. said:


> Quit your day job and be a comedian if not one already.


Only problem with that...

My landlord doesn't take bananas...

Rakos


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## Cableguynoe (Feb 14, 2017)

Rakos said:


> Only problem with that...
> 
> My landlord doesn't take bananas...
> 
> Rakos


Must be a nice tree house you live in


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## Rakos (Sep 2, 2014)

Cableguynoe said:


> Must be a nice tree house you live in


Have you ever seen that treehouse guy...

That builds up in the trees...

Nuthin better...

To see the night sky...8>)

Rakos


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## Jcewr17 (Feb 15, 2017)

Lol do you guys really think there's an algorithm manipulation going on? Been driving for 2 years, I still get back to back pings just like when I started . You just gotta know where and when to drive. 

#pingsfordays


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## Coachman (Sep 22, 2015)

Uber's financial interest is to get a cars to the riders as quickly as possible. Generally that means the closest car. But not always. They might often match the rider with a car that's a bit farther away in order to keep all the cars spaced out in the most effective way, based on the history of the area and probability. All this other speculation is really kind of pointless.


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## UberAntMakingPeanuts (Aug 20, 2017)

Jcewr17 said:


> Lol do you guys really think there's an algorithm manipulation going on? Been driving for 2 years, I still get back to back pings just like when I started . You just gotta know where and when to drive.
> 
> #pingsfordays


On Sundays the airport here in Detroit is very busy. The surge is capped at 1.5 so we are not more expensive than taxis. I usually see the surge come on and off all day depending on the demand vs Uber drivers available. After 12a.m almost every night the surge starts for a few minutes because of the high demand. Especially Sundays. A lot of people go home after 12 a.m on Sunday.

Last Sunday there was a game in downtown. Detroit lions verse Pittsburgh Steelers. The game ended and the surge got to 3.3x in downtown detroit. The surge was turned off in the airport so the drivers can chase the 3.3 surge in downtown Detroit. There wasn't enough drivers downtown.

You can see in the picture how there was high demand in the airport but the center being completely turned off where we pick up the pax. In my opinion if they are gonna turn off the surge at least hide it better and turn off the surroundings too. Lyft had a 300% surge in the airport.

But anyways my point of this message is to show that yes manipulation does go on from Uber. There are many other manipulations like when you go to a surge and it starts getting erased as you drive in. Or the acceptance rate. If it doesn't effect us why show us the rate?

Manipulation does exist. We just have to gather evidence to figure what kind of manipulation is going on.


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## Tr4vis Ka1anick (Oct 2, 2016)

If you get a ping that is far away, lets say 10 minutes, surge should be applied to the ride. In many markets Uber does not do this.

Side note, When d0n posts does anyone else imagine Donald Trumps voice when you read his comments?

Forget fake news. Friggen fake surge!


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## PrestonT (Feb 15, 2017)

Very Fake Surge


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## Johnny4cash (Feb 18, 2017)

Tnasty said:


> Uber isnt evil or dishonest!


U r clearly an idiot that's living in a bubble under a rock. Please Google uber lawsuit and Uber criminal investigation. If u use your tiny little brain for once, even though its been washed and dyed with Uber's bullillshit, u can still come to the realization that you are either an idiot or delusional, or both for believing such bullshit


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## Tnasty (Mar 23, 2016)

Johnny4cash said:


> U r clearly an idiot that's living in a bubble under a rock. Please Google uber lawsuit and Uber criminal investigation. If u use your tiny little brain for once, even though its been washed and dyed with Uber's bullillshit, u can still come to the realization that you are either an idiot or delusional, or both for believing such bullshit


It was a joke and your hurting my feelings.lol


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