# In the middle of Surge area, but no calls



## Kevin Faaborg

I went online yesterday to find myself smack in the middle of a red Surge area. Great! I could almost see the funds in my bank account.

No calls, no pings, nothing for 15 minutes while I sat in a parking lot and waited for the chime as a desperate rider clamored to get an Uber. I normally can get a call within 1 minute of logging in, but not yesterday.

That makes me wonder how Surge works vs how it's supposed to work. 

I had to assume that a bunch of requests went in, but no one bothered to repeat their request. Does Uber queue requests until another car is within range or are requests sent to the nearest available car?

I felt sorry for any driver that raced to the Surge area, only to come up empty.

Has that happened to anyone else?


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## Chicago-uber

Riders are smart. They are waiting it out until the surge goes away. 

There were multiple times when I'm stuck inside a surge area and nothing comes in. As soon as surge goes away, I get a request. 

That's why you should never ever chase a surge.


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## Truth & Facts

Pax are smart. Drivers are not stupid neither. If a pin comes right after surging, I will accept it but never go to pick up, smart pax.


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## Luis_NJ1214

Kevin Faaborg said:


> I went online yesterday to find myself smack in the middle of a red Surge area. Great! I could almost see the funds in my bank account.
> 
> No calls, no pings, nothing for 15 minutes while I sat in a parking lot and waited for the chime as a desperate rider clamored to get an Uber. I normally can get a call within 1 minute of logging in, but not yesterday.
> 
> That makes me wonder how Surge works vs how it's supposed to work.
> 
> I had to assume that a bunch of requests went in, but no one bothered to repeat their request. Does Uber queue requests until another car is within range or are requests sent to the nearest available car?
> 
> I felt sorry for any driver that raced to the Surge area, only to come up empty.
> 
> Has that happened to anyone else?


I'm glad you brought this up. Yes last night it happened to me. I was in a huge surge area around Montclair nj. First of all I started the night around 6:30. And decided to just pick up surge pings and so I did since it was easter and there was a lot of surge so why pick up regular fares when I can pick n choose. Anyway around 11:00 for some reason I was again in this huge surge area but no calls? Except for this one ping 30 minutes away to go to the airport. I kept ignoring it time and time again, I guess nobody wanted to go cause It kept appearing, even though I'm right smack in this surge area why would I go to Newark airport? This did not make any sense! ! There's no way I'm the closest driver to the airport at one point I accepted it then I cancelled it right away I was so pissed. Finally I get a ping at regular rate. I took it cause I wanted to go home. I think Uber final caught on and decided they didn't wanna give me any more surge rides. This was very weird. But I don't care I'm gonna continue to maximize my fares if I can.


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## DrJeecheroo

Think of the surge is like putting candy in the middle of the table for a child to see. When he/she goes to grab it, it disappears. Or another example is the typical bait/switch that retailers pull when putting items up for sale.


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## Steve viesca

Kevin Faaborg said:


> I went online yesterday to find myself smack in the middle of a red Surge area. Great! I could almost see the funds in my bank account.
> 
> No calls, no pings, nothing for 15 minutes while I sat in a parking lot and waited for the chime as a desperate rider clamored to get an Uber. I normally can get a call within 1 minute of logging in, but not yesterday.
> 
> That makes me wonder how Surge works vs how it's supposed to work.
> 
> I had to assume that a bunch of requests went in, but no one bothered to repeat their request. Does Uber queue requests until another car is within range or are requests sent to the nearest available car?
> 
> I felt sorry for any driver that raced to the Surge area, only to come up empty.
> 
> Has that happened to anyone else?


That always happens to me...3 times in surge areas and no calls!


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## UberLou

My understanding is that a Surge can be initated if a number of users log on to the User App to see about requesting a driver. They dont actually have to request a ride just have the app open. This creates potential demand and Uber tries to get enough drivers in the area to cover this "possible" demand. I agree with others, I do not chase the Surge.


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## Steve viesca

I have chased it but it never worked out for me that's for sure...thank u for replying


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## OCBob

UberLou said:


> My understanding is that a Surge can be initated if a number of users log on to the User App to see about requesting a driver. They dont actually have to request a ride just have the app open. This creates potential demand and Uber tries to get enough drivers in the area to cover this "possible" demand. I agree with others, I do not chase the Surge.


I don't think it works that easy unless they discount the driver using the rider app which I do and all other smart drivers will do. I wish it was that easy as we could make it surge.

I bet when the surge went off, this driver got pinged within 30 seconds. When the surge ends, my driver app goes off. If PAX wants to play the cheap game, they won't get a ride from this experienced driver.


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## Oh My

Kevin Faaborg said:


> I went online yesterday to find myself smack in the middle of a red Surge area. Great! I could almost see the funds in my bank account.
> 
> No calls, no pings, nothing for 15 minutes while I sat in a parking lot and waited for the chime as a desperate rider clamored to get an Uber. I normally can get a call within 1 minute of logging in, but not yesterday.
> 
> That makes me wonder how Surge works vs how it's supposed to work.
> 
> I had to assume that a bunch of requests went in, but no one bothered to repeat their request. Does Uber queue requests until another car is within range or are requests sent to the nearest available car?
> 
> I felt sorry for any driver that raced to the Surge area, only to come up empty.
> 
> Has that happened to anyone else?


That's how surge pricing works. Uber hasn't figured it out yet. These people aren't paying 1 penny more than they should have to for a ride to buy more weed, craft beer, sushi or clothes.


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## Sherif Elkattawy

They should come up with a better technique for the surge. I feel customers are unhappy and become upset when they are being billed a lot so they take it out on drivers rating.


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## Robinhood

Kevin Faaborg said:


> I went online yesterday to find myself smack in the middle of a red Surge area. Great! I could almost see the funds in my bank account.
> 
> No calls, no pings, nothing for 15 minutes while I sat in a parking lot and waited for the chime as a desperate rider clamored to get an Uber. I normally can get a call within 1 minute of logging in, but not yesterday.
> 
> That makes me wonder how Surge works vs how it's supposed to work.
> 
> I had to assume that a bunch of requests went in, but no one bothered to repeat their request. Does Uber queue requests until another car is within range or are requests sent to the nearest available car?
> 
> I felt sorry for any driver that raced to the Surge area, only to come up empty.
> 
> Has that happened to anyone else?


Try moving your car to a different area within the surge. Only do this if the surge multiple is worth it. Many pax will wait it out. The 1 or 2 that still request may have 20 cars between you and them.

Stay safe.


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## Atlduck2008

I finally got my first surge in Tuesday not that high of a rate but still more money. I was in the area already and it was raining so everyone who usually walks were calling a uber


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## Oh My

Atlduck2008 said:


> I finally got my first surge in Tuesday not that high of a rate but still more money. I was in the area already and it was raining so everyone who usually walks were calling a uber


In the course of one full year with Uber I got a total of 3 decent surge fares. 2 were on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving and both needed a .5 mile ride home from the bar in their ghetto because they sure as hell weren't walking. They were both about $24.

The only other one was a short 2-stop ride downtown and I overheard "I hope this ride is $50 damn dollars because xxx Company is paying for it". It was about $30.

Surge is a joke (in Chicago anyway). Just pull over and park or if you're really desperate and bored, go pick up that regular fare 20 minutes outside of the surge zone.

The only way people are paying more than 1.7x is if there's another Great Chicago Fire, the electricity was cut-off to the trains and all cabs are taken.


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## Prnp

It happens to me a lot. since 2 weeks i am checking this. when i was in red area, every corner of red area from me was not more than 7-8 miles. I didn't get a ping for 13 minutes and got a ping from 20 minutes away about 9 miles away. Uber says that if there are more request than driver then price surge. But i dont think there are any more request than driver as i seen more uber cars around me. May be customer request and seeing the surge, cancelled it and price remains up.


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## Kingo9

Unless its 3am or whenever your 'downtown area' bars close, don't chase surge. When all the bars let out, there will be plenty of drunk twenty somethings the don't care what the cost is. (This is of course if you want to deal with that sort of clientele.) Besides that, just take what you get and keep going.


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## Yankee

Kevin Faaborg said:


> I went online yesterday to find myself smack in the middle of a red Surge area. Great! I could almost see the funds in my bank account.
> 
> No calls, no pings, nothing for 15 minutes while I sat in a parking lot and waited for the chime as a desperate rider clamored to get an Uber. I normally can get a call within 1 minute of logging in, but not yesterday.
> 
> That makes me wonder how Surge works vs how it's supposed to work.
> 
> I had to assume that a bunch of requests went in, but no one bothered to repeat their request. Does Uber queue requests until another car is within range or are requests sent to the nearest available car?
> 
> I felt sorry for any driver that raced to the Surge area, only to come up empty.
> 
> Has that happened to anyone else?


It happens all the time, and yes its maddening when you are new and expect a surge = more demand + livable wages. It doesn't happen for all the reasons listed above, but its more insidious than that even. I've learned that Uber will surge an entire area when they are expecting a high demand on ONE block due to an event letting out, for instance. They want as many drivers as possible close to that block, so they will light up the entire downtown area in a surge even though the surge is only happening on (for example) 7th Street. That accounts for why you can be inside a surge zone and when you DO get a ping within that zone, you dont' get the surge fare. The whole thing is a manipulation to make sure we're sitting nearby, salivating like hungry dogs, waiting for that ping. I see certain parts of the city I'm in that are lit up, but I don't even go up there because frankly I don't know what the hot spots are, and I know I'd just be driving around hoping for a ping. When you get into a surge zone, if you don't know where the surge is actually happening, you may end up empty. Trust me, it happened plenty during SXSW, when the whole town was in surge most of the week, and you're sitting there fiddling your thumbs or wasting gas.


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## Kingo9

Yankee said:


> It happens all the time, and yes its maddening when you are new and expect a surge = more demand + livable wages. It doesn't happen for all the reasons listed above, but its more insidious than that even. I've learned that Uber will surge an entire area when they are expecting a high demand on ONE block due to an event letting out, for instance. They want as many drivers as possible close to that block, so they will light up the entire downtown area in a surge even though the surge is only happening on (for example) 7th Street. That accounts for why you can be inside a surge zone and when you DO get a ping within that zone, you dont' get the surge fare. The whole thing is a manipulation to make sure we're sitting nearby, salivating like hungry dogs, waiting for that ping. I see certain parts of the city I'm in that are lit up, but I don't even go up there because frankly I don't know what the hot spots are, and I know I'd just be driving around hoping for a ping. When you get into a surge zone, if you don't know where the surge is actually happening, you may end up empty. Trust me, it happened plenty during SXSW, when the whole town was in surge most of the week, and you're sitting there fiddling your thumbs or wasting gas.


When I first started and I saw the yellows and orange and then red on the screen I would say say to myself; "Head that way now!!" That logic was actually backwards though. Too many drivers in that area or pax would wait for the surge to stop. Unless you took someone out to BFE, park where your last fare ended and just take what you get.


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## Oh My

There was an area that "surged" in my area last night. I had to chuckle. The odds are that maybe two people requested a ride up there within 10 minutes of each other.


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## UberHustla

This is just another dynamic way to screw the drivers


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## Another Uber Driver

I have had it happen, as well, that I get a summons that is obviously in a surge zone, accept it, stop for a light en route to cover it, check the thing on INFO and not see a surge factor at all. I have yet to see a surge factor that did not agree with what was on the "heat map", just no surge factor when the "heat map" indicated one.

Funny, though. I have accepted a ping where no surge was indicated, checked INFO and saw no surge factor, picked it up, hauled it, dropped it, did the bookwork and had a fare flash on the screen that was obviously a surge fare. I do check my e-statements, so I know that Uber paid me the fare that flashed on the screen.

As other posters have stated, just take what you get if it is something that you can reach. I will turn down summonses that I consider too far away. I apply standards developed from years of driving and dispatching radio cabs.

This is one disadvantage of digital/satellite/computer call assignment versus voice dispatch. A good voice dispatcher is going to send his driver to the best that he has that is within reach of the driver. A computer can neither make that determintation nor can it send the driver to it. Still, voice dispatch would be totally impractical for something such as Uber. Few cab companies use it, anymore, even. I have gone into more detail about this in another topic on this forum, so I will not repeat it here, unless someone posts a specific question(s).


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## Atlduck2008

I got an awesome one last night drunk people to a concert and it was a 2.8 surge ran to the tune of 66 dollars.


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