# I'm So Uber This



## rosecitywanderer (Dec 18, 2015)

Let me start by saying that I didn't come in here just to drop a turd of an 'I quit!' thread and leave. I've been lurking on here for the better part of a year and just needed to vent to those who would understand and based on what I've seen here, I'm not alone.

Portland was one of the last major cities in the US to get Uber and Lyft as it was only temporarily approved in April and permanently approved just a few weeks ago. The suburbs gave TNCs the green light last November but I chose not to start driving for them because I figured demand in the suburbs would be low as we could drop off in Portland, just not pick up there. My normal job is also driving a paratransit bus for those with physical and mental disabilities and the hours can be iffy so I figured Uber would be a great way to supplement my income when the bus schedules fail to deliver.

I was among the first to get authorized in the City of Portland proper and let me tell you, those first few months were a freaking gold mine! Cross-town rides, raking in $100 every two or three hours, and non-stop pings but as I've seen on here, the patina started to wear thin rather quickly. For starters, I've always been super anal about my car. It's never been through an automatic car wash, I lift my feet up and over the door sills to keep from scuffing them and I never eat in there. You can see where this is going.

Though I never had anybody barf in my car (I did have one or two close calls), things began to deteriorate rapidly around September, right when school started and the tourist season shut down. I went from making $25 to $30 an hour to struggling to get one or two pings for $5 rides at the same time and even the airport went from a 30-45 minute wait time to 2-3 hours with sometimes upwards of 50 cars waiting. Finally by two weeks ago, I was filling up my car three times a week at $25 a go and my last Uber paycheck was a measly $244. Following a five block ride (the ladies didn't want to get wet) that took 15 minutes in awful traffic, I snapped and I haven't logged in since. A few days later I sat down, reviewed my expenses and saw I was losing money, a fact that would likely not get any better once Uber slashes the rates here which, mark my words they will. It was at that point that I removed all my Uber paraphernalia from my car and set about trying to make it the way it was.

My car had 59,000 miles on it in May when I got it inspected and it was absolutely flawless inside and out. Now it has 72,000 miles on it, the door sills are scratched to hell, I've had to poke food out of the perforations in the leather, the back of the center console is absolutely destroyed from people whacking it with their shoes and one of my last customers ham-fisted his collapsible stroller into the trunk, scratching the hell out of the bumper in the process. I normally load items for people but he did it so fast, it was over before I could stop it. I sent Uber a repair estimate which they confirmed receipt of a week ago but I know damn well I will never see a dime towards getting it fixed.

I haven't told them to pound sand because I want to keep the option close to my chest but unless the bus has me missing days in a row with no option to pick up extra routes, I'm done with Uber. I thought about driving Christmas and NYE until I realized I could do the same on the bus, pull in a guaranteed $24 an hour, wear out somebody else's vehicle and burn their fuel, not mine. And I know that if somebody pukes, pees or screams obscenities at me on the bus, I'll know it's because they probably can't help it.

Best of luck to all and to all, a good fight!


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## BostonTaxiDriver (Nov 23, 2014)

Now you can empathize with cabbies waiting in long lines and/or getting short fares. 

No wonder the typical cabbie is surly, right?

Good summary, though.


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## rosecitywanderer (Dec 18, 2015)

BostonTaxiDriver said:


> Now you can empathize with cabbies waiting in long lines and/or getting short fares.


Indeed I can.

Are you in Boston proper? My mom is from Framingham and she's the only one who escaped New England. One of her brothers is in Rhode Island but everybody else is still in Massachusetts.


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## phillipzx3 (May 26, 2015)

Uber still isn't permanently approved in Portland. What the last vote did was allow Uber drivers to operate inside the city with terribly underinsured cars.

Had you attended the earlier city hall meetings, you'd have heard cab companies suggest the city place a cap on the number of Uber/Lyft (they're one in the same) drivers allowed to work in the city. That resulted in a "boooooooo" from the Uber crowd.

So now you have in Portland what you people asked for. A market saturated by 6000+ drivers. 

No matter what you've been told, the "taxi" pie is only so big. What Uber supporters allowed in their short sighted cheering of becoming a taxi driver, was to kill any chance of a person to earn a living driving for Uber/Lyft.

You people made your bed, so enjoy.


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

phillipzx3 said:


> Uber still isn't permanently approved in Portland.


*With narrow vote, Uber and Lyft secure their place in Portland*
http://www.oregonlive.com/commuting/index.ssf/2015/12/in_narrow_vote_uber_and_lyft_g.html


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## rosecitywanderer (Dec 18, 2015)

phillipzx3 said:


> Had you attended the earlier city hall meetings, you'd have heard cab companies suggest the city place a cap on the number of Uber/Lyft (they're one in the same) drivers allowed to work in the city. That resulted in a "boooooooo" from the Uber crowd.
> 
> So now you have in Portland what you people asked for. A market saturated by 6000+ drivers.
> 
> ...


This was not and is not my full-time job so in reality, I've lost nothing because I asked for nothing. I did it just to see what it was like and since you seem to be proficient at assuming things, I _did_ attend several meetings and was all for a cap on the number of vehicles that TNCs could operate. As another driver at the airport put it about the over-saturation of drivers, "Too many chiefs and not enough Indians." At the end of the day, it's irrelevant as the Uber pyramid scheme has nothing to do with making money for drivers and likely won't survive another two years.

I recall there was a study out there that showed out of all the drivers Uber recruits, 15% are done within the first month and a staggering 80% are gone within the first year. Based on the turnover I saw in the drivers waiting out at PDX, I'd say this is close to accurate if not a little conservative.

But still, all of this doesn't change the fact that taxi service in Portland has been woefully inadequate for years. My sister once called for a cab and was told that it would be an hour so she waited. Two hours later...still no cab so she called back. The guy on the other end said, "Yeah...we're not coming" and hung up. Pick the lesser of two evils, I guess?


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## Lack9133 (Mar 26, 2015)

rosecitywanderer said:


> But still, all of this doesn't change the fact that taxi service in Portland has been woefully inadequate for years. My sister once called for a cab and was told that it would be an hour so she waited. Two hours later...still no cab so she called back. The guy on the other end said, "Yeah...we're not coming" and hung up. Pick the lesser of two evils, I guess?


I agree but in addition, you can't really advocate for driver caps so more money can be made and then complain about the result of long wait times for passengers. As you mentioned, it's the lesser of two evils but you can't really call a system inadequate when you must choose between drivers making a living and customers being picked up within 30 minutes.


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## cb80907 (Aug 3, 2015)

I'm with the OP here. I drove for Lyft for nearly a year and a half. I started in July of 2014, and similar to the OP's experience after Lyft launched in Portland, it was a gold mine here in Colorado Springs. Few drivers, lots of demand...you get the rest of the picture. They launched the service here in the dumbest way possible, though - 50 free rides for any new passenger. It goes without saying that such a promotion had to have been hitting their pocketbooks hard. And the rates at the time were around $2 a mile. Fall of 2014 is when Lyft dropped it's prices to around $1 a mile and stopped most of their advertising, while cutting a lot of local drivers off from advertising up until fairly recently (almost a year and a half, give or take a few months). Right when they did that is when I was laid off from my job with the state, and it couldn't have been a worse time for me - the OP is lucky he has a job to go back to. It took me until November to find another full time job, and during that entire time that I had to rely on Lyft for my only source of income, it was the same exact experience reported by the OP - long waits for rides of at least one hour or longer, 90% short rides, a lot of passengers almost vomiting in the back of the car (it's a rule of thumb in this area that most users of Lyft or Uber are few in number and generally have been convicted of DUIs in the recent past or are what some would call "hipsters"), the carpeting ruined, the seats a nightmare to clean...I could go on and on here, but you guys get the picture. Since I got this new job, though, I haven't driven for a month and a half now, preferring to be at my desk from Monday through Friday helping people actually save money on their healthcare plan and generally making things right for them. There, I'm actually feeling like I am making a difference. I'm with the OP in the sense that I would rather stick it out with my regular job than ever end up doing Lyft or Uber again (not to say that I never drove for Uber - I tried but didn't have a new enough car). I see Lyft's system as broken and highly inadequate after my experience - they don't know what the hell they're doing.


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## driver2016 (Jan 5, 2016)

LOL.. that really made me laugh out loud.. "probably can't help it"... 

I concur with you. I too am anal about my car ( door sills etc) and am getting increasingly miffed at people damaging my car with their shoes etc.. Still I have crazy expenses in terms of Child support so I'll keep doing Uber for the time being..


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## elelegido (Sep 24, 2014)

rosecitywanderer said:


> Let me start by saying that I didn't come in here just to drop a turd of an 'I quit!' thread and leave. I've been lurking on here for the better part of a year and just needed to vent to those who would understand and based on what I've seen here, I'm not alone.
> 
> Portland was one of the last major cities in the US to get Uber and Lyft as it was only temporarily approved in April and permanently approved just a few weeks ago. The suburbs gave TNCs the green light last November but I chose not to start driving for them because I figured demand in the suburbs would be low as we could drop off in Portland, just not pick up there. My normal job is also driving a paratransit bus for those with physical and mental disabilities and the hours can be iffy so I figured Uber would be a great way to supplement my income when the bus schedules fail to deliver.
> 
> ...


Hmm... if you put your car into service as a cab, chances are it's going to emerge from that experience looking like... a cab. If you are car-proud, and you obviously are, then putting your car to work may not be the best idea. It *is* unavoidably going to get dinged, scratched, dented, stained, puked on or pissed in, or all of the above.

Regarding the money; it's the same for everyone. Good when it started, but when it starts going Titanic in your market then it's time to jump ship, or at least start to look for other options. The way I look at it is that it was ok while it lasted but the gig's now coming to a close - that's it.


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## Casuale Haberdasher (Dec 7, 2014)

chi1cabby said:


> *With narrow vote, Uber and Lyft secure their place in Portland*
> http://www.oregonlive.com/commuting/index.ssf/2015/12/in_narrow_vote_uber_and_lyft_g.html


POST # 5/chi1cabby: Bostonian Bison
Thanks You for this
Hyperlinked "Oregon Live" Article of
Interest to A-B TNC Drivers in the
Greater Portlandia Metroplexiensis.


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## McLovin (Dec 7, 2015)

Casuale Haberdasher said:


> Metroplexiensis


Casuale Haberdasher Now THAT's inspiring!


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## Casuale Haberdasher (Dec 7, 2014)

rosecitywanderer said:


> Let me start by saying that I didn't come in here just to drop a turd of an 'I quit!' thread and leave. I've been lurking on here for the better part of a year and just needed to vent to those who would understand and based on what I've seen here, I'm not alone.
> 
> Portland was one of the last major cities in the US to get Uber and Lyft as it was only temporarily approved in April and permanently approved just a few weeks ago. The suburbs gave TNCs the green light last November but I chose not to start driving for them because I figured demand in the suburbs would be low as we could drop off in Portland, just not pick up there. My normal job is also driving a paratransit bus for those with physical and mental disabilities and the hours can be iffy so I figured Uber would be a great way to supplement my income when the bus schedules fail to deliver.
> 
> ...


POST # 1/rosecitywanderer: Your Early
Halcyon Days WERE,
Indeed, "A Busman's Holiday" !  Thank 
You for Sharing your A-B TNC Career w/UPNF Members.

Funny, both sides of my Family History
consider the Ocean and Bay States home.
My closest Cousin spent Several Years
in Portland's Suburbs but found the Post
Mt. St. Helens' Economy discouraging.
I've kept my Visits to Vacation Periods:
hard to NOT have Fun! A week Summer-Skiing on Mt. Hood's Palmer Snowfield &
a Photo Excursion to the Tillamook -->
Cannon Beach Areas in June/July '81
was MY Epic "TwentySomething" 
Adventure.

Bison Reminiscing...Good Times !


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## Coffeekeepsmedriving (Oct 2, 2015)

BostonTaxiDriver said:


> Now you can empathize with cabbies waiting in long lines and/or getting short fares.
> 
> No wonder the typical cabbie is surly, right?
> 
> Good summary, though.


I do understand taxi drivers better having done Uber!


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