# Surge scam?



## stoof (Jun 22, 2017)

I've been driving Uber for about a month now. While I don't chase surge there have been four instances of me being very close to a surge area...like maybe a mile or two. I go offline, head to the surge and then all of a sudden it's gone. It happens like that every time so far and I'm getting suspicious.


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## UberDriver472837 (Aug 27, 2016)

stoof said:


> I've been driving Uber for about a month now. While I don't chase surge there have been four instances of me being very close to a surge area...like maybe a mile or two. I go offline, head to the surge and then all of a sudden it's gone. It happens like that every time so far and I'm getting suspicious.


You aren't the only one heading to the surge. Surge is to attract drivers to the area, it does that, some get lucky then the others show up and ruin it.


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## Kalee (Feb 18, 2015)

Surge is primarily fake. Uber only uses it to get drivers to an area where customers have their apps open but have not yet submitted a ride request. 
Uber places the surge area near but not at where the customers are about to make ride requests.
That's why in most cases when you're sitting in or near a surge zone that you most always get ride requests that fall just outside the surge zone.


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## 2Cents (Jul 18, 2016)

It's a lure.


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## heynow321 (Sep 3, 2015)

as others have said, most of the time it's fake and simply used to manipulate stupid drivers into areas where they are anticipating higher demand. with ample drivers there, no customers have to actually pay surge and they get a ride very quickly, all the while YOU the driver is getting screwed. do not fall for it. 

surge is only real when it makes sense. end of concerts/sportsball games, morning rush hour from suburbs, evening rush hour near major employers etc. 

when you see that little bullshit 1.4 surge that only happens to be 4 blocks away from you? do not move. it's fake and will disappear the second you get near it.


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## Gwoae (Aug 12, 2017)

I have not chased any premium areas but yesterday really annoyed me. I drop off someone and was sitting near his house waiting for a ping. I look at the map and I am directly in the middle of a 200% surge. I never got a ride. I watched the surge sit there at 200, then 150, and then 100. It never went below 100 and I get a ping 18 minutes away. I reject that one and wait for another. 3 or 4 minutes later I finally get one local but all of a sudden the surge is gone. Like mentioned, I think they just try to get people into that area. It was a busy area all morning so maybe that is why but it still annoyed me that I didn't get a surge ride.


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## IheartCake293 (Jul 13, 2017)

bait and switch...........


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## Matt moraes (Mar 19, 2017)

I think people aren't stupid to request a surge ride unless they're in a hurry, I know I wouldn't, you waited for a ping and they waited for the surge to go away. 


Gwoae said:


> I have not chased any premium areas but yesterday really annoyed me. I drop off someone and was sitting near his house waiting for a ping. I look at the map and I am directly in the middle of a 200% surge. I never got a ride. I watched the surge sit there at 200, then 150, and then 100. It never went below 100 and I get a ping 18 minutes away. I reject that one and wait for another. 3 or 4 minutes later I finally get one local but all of a sudden the surge is gone. Like mentioned, I think they just try to get people into that area. It was a busy area all morning so maybe that is why but it still annoyed me that I didn't get a surge ride.[


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## JPU (Jun 13, 2017)

The surge seems to kick in when there aren't enough drivers to handle the influx. I don't know if anyone noticed in the NY, LI, CT, NJ area after the boxing match... I can verify that the surge works. It was really beautiful.. but I was working my regular job....


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## NoDay (Jul 25, 2017)

JPU said:


> The surge seems to kick in when there aren't enough drivers to handle the influx. I don't know if anyone noticed in the NY, LI, CT, NJ area after the boxing match... I can verify that the surge works. It was really beautiful.. but I was working my regular job....
> View attachment 153528


Surges can be real, you can make good money on them. However, just because there is a surge listed does not guarantee a surged ride request would occur. Bar closes, end of events etc these are good real surge times.

But there are false readings as well. The surge is based on how many people have the app open in the area not actual ride requests. If a preacher were to give a sermon which involved uber and many people were to open the app, it could cause a surge indication. I've seen plenty of surges that are false and make no sense.

Unless its at an event, bar close etc, there is no point in going offline. If it is a real surge that won't last, its better to stay online in hopes of that 1.2 ride.


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## Matt moraes (Mar 19, 2017)

NoDay said:


> Surges can be real, you can make good money on them. However, just because there is a surge listed does not guarantee a surged ride request would occur. Bar closes, end of events etc these are good real surge times.
> 
> But there are false readings as well. The surge is based on how many people have the app open in the area not actual ride requests. If a preacher were to give a sermon which involved uber and many people were to open the app, it could cause a surge indication. I've seen plenty of surges that are false and make no sense.
> 
> Unless its at an event, bar close etc, there is no point in going offline. If it is a real surge that won't last, its better to stay online in hopes of that 1.2 ride.


I don't know where you live but here in Pittsburgh I lose money with no surge rides. I rather just sit and wait until it surges.


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## GasHealthTimeCosts (Jul 24, 2017)

JPU said:


> The surge seems to kick in when there aren't enough drivers to handle the influx. I don't know if anyone noticed in the NY, LI, CT, NJ area after the boxing match... I can verify that the surge works. It was really beautiful.. but I was working my regular job....
> View attachment 153528


Thanks for showing the example of the one rare time it actually surges for a real reason. You also never drove.


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## mhromi611 (Sep 24, 2017)

stoof said:


> I've been driving Uber for about a month now. While I don't chase surge there have been four instances of me being very close to a surge area...like maybe a mile or two. I go offline, head to the surge and then all of a sudden it's gone. It happens like that every time so far and I'm getting suspicious.


I've already felt like uber plays mind games with drivers. I've been driving a month and a half. I do hit my surges (rarely), but often find myself right in the heart of a thumping red surge and get nothing. All I do is watch it dissipate into a pink fog... I'm still convinced that it will get better, as I'm still so fresh at it.



JPU said:


> The surge seems to kick in when there aren't enough drivers to handle the influx. I don't know if anyone noticed in the NY, LI, CT, NJ area after the boxing match... I can verify that the surge works. It was really beautiful.. but I was working my regular job....
> View attachment 153528


Looks amazing! Also looks like something that would happen to me. Although I only do uber at the moment, there are times where I'm obligated to be elsewhere. I may get bored and glance at the app. Bad plan, because it only shows me that I'm losing out on high surge fares. I feel like uber does that to play with us. I live near a heavily populated campus, and have headed out to chase it real quick (even though I know not to). I either get nothing, or it goes away and never returns.


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## AAApone (Sep 29, 2017)

Rarely will I get a surge hit even being in the center of a massive surge area, most of the time its always a hit thats 15min out of my way outside the surge area.


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## mhromi611 (Sep 24, 2017)

AAApone said:


> Rarely will I get a surge hit even being in the center of a massive surge area, most of the time its always a hit thats 15min out of my way outside the surge area.


Isn't that some nonsense? I feel like they're waiting for the surge to reduce because they're cheap.


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## Mista T (Aug 16, 2017)

Their goal is to make as much as possible while paying as little as possible.

It is quite likely that there is a surge being charged to the customer, but if they can get away with drawing you in for regular price, or perhaps 1.2x, then they will try to do it.


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