# Cherry Picking



## Mr Microphone (Sep 23, 2015)

I am not a fan of cherry picking. 

What is it? Only taking "good" (highly profitable) runs, and cancelling all others. 

We all are in the same pool, so when you take the cream off the top, you leave the rest of us with the crap. Let me say this in another way... 

You are SCREWING your brother and sister drivers in your area. 


Sure YOU are doing better, but leaving those of us that use the program as it is intended with a diluted pool (of the good rides that are supposed to accompany the not so good ones). Where do you think those pings go when you reject them? They don't magically disappear! When I drove cab, we all wanted the good runs, but took the good with the bad. Now people tell me they are so glad to have Uber because cabs won't come get them, and reliable service is a joke. I live in a large metro area. 

I take EVERY ping I get. Why? Because that is the way it is supposed to work. If you are getting pings that you have to drive for, try working that area, obviously there is not enough coverage there. Chances are they may be coming into town, and that is a great fare! Longer drives cost a bit more in gas, but if it is not stop and go traffic, it is much better for your car. I kind of think of it as fishing. I find a good area, and wait for a bite. Sometimes good, sometimes not so good. But if someone is coming in and taking out all the game fish, and leaving the crappies, it's just not worth it. 

If people didn't cherry pick, there would be much shorter times to the pax. I keep the pax app open, I see I am not the closest car, but I take the ping when the closest car rejects it, and BOOM it is a ride all the way into the airport, $60. Sometimes it is short, but I don't know that till I pick them up, because that is the way it is supposed to work. If the jerk that rejected it before me because he called ahead, and found out the destination, and rejected it because of that, he should be wait listed! We are a service. Not a "if you meet my criteria, I might come get you" thing... That is why the cabs are failing IMHO. If it is a particularly long drive to get the customer, I call not to find out the destination, but to inform them I am the closest car and give them an ETA. If they are good with that, I fetch the ride. If they complain, then I may consider a cancel, depending on attitude. No one has to tolerate being abused, or the resulting low rating from a problem customer. Point is, rejecting just because of distance is not OK. 

Regarding pax rating being a reason to cancel, I call shenanigans! Until Uber cancels them they are a legitimate customer. You are an independent contractor sure, but that does not give you power to discriminate the customer base. Exceptions include arriving to a dangerous situation, or the customer is abusive or overly intoxicated. In those cases, by all means drive off and cancel. But for other than "ideal" runs, if you don't take them, some one else will have to. You got the ping. It is YOURS. Unless you are turning off and going offline for the day/night, take it! 

Again, we are a service. If you cannot provide equal service to ALL of our clientele, you should do something else. 

Let the flame wars begin.


----------



## Mr Microphone (Sep 23, 2015)

Let me add, for a "service" to work and grow, it must be convenient too *all* of its customers. We all have to take a bad run once and a while, that is business. All businesses experience some loss at times. But it may be a door of opportunity. Use the long runs as a lead generator. Locate some bars and hotels in the area while waiting for a ping and drop off cards with your promo code. Create some clientele for you to service. Make money! If you have more than one rider, see if they all have the app, and offer your code. I ask customers what the service is like, and if they would take Uber more often if there were closer cars. If they do, I may "fish" in the area that I have seeded. More customers means more rides. More rides, means better odds of a good ride. Good rides make us the $$$!

Consider what the customer thinks of the service after he has been refused by a picker. What will they think of the service, and will they encourage other riders? Riders are our bread and butter, bad experiences hurt us, not the customer, not Uber.


----------



## Chicago-uber (Jun 18, 2014)

When I used to drive uberx.. I did cherry pick. Tried to do surges only if I knew it would surge. Gave rides to high rated pax. Never accepted anyone 7+ minutes away. Ignored pings from locations where I knew there would be no parking. Drove off if I saw suitcases.. Airport run here is a money loser


----------



## Mr Microphone (Sep 23, 2015)

Chicago-uber said:


> When I used to drive uberx.. I did cherry pick. Tried to do surges only if I knew it would surge. Gave rides to high rated pax. Never accepted anyone 7+ minutes away. Ignored pings from locations where I knew there would be no parking. Drove off if I saw suitcases.. Airport run here is a money loser


Sounds like you did the right thing moving on. I have been to Chi town many times, I know the airports are crazy. I hear the Navy base also forbids Uber. I got gored a few times when I was at Great Lakes, by the cabbies. Guess they don't want to let that go.

That is also the flip side, if the job is not profitable, don't do it. If no one is willing to provide the service for the price, they will have to meet demand or fail. If they squeeze the drivers so hard, there is only crappy vehicles on the road, they won't do very well. As customers won't even use the service. I truly think we provide a superior service to what taxis provide, with better cars and a convenient app. (I used to drive taxi, years back). I also think we should be paid for it. But we also have to earn that money, nothing comes for free.


----------



## FireCatPDX (Sep 28, 2015)

As a rule, in the Portland market, there's not enough rides to do much 'Picking'. 

I am a believer in the 'Take Them All' school of thought.


----------



## Amsoil Uber Connect (Jan 14, 2015)

Only if I call first


----------



## uberguuber (Feb 23, 2015)

*You don't have to Believe in nightmares, cause you're in one. *Capt. Barbosa- Wrong

You best start believing in ghost stories, Miss Turner... you're in one- Right


----------



## nickd8775 (Jul 12, 2015)

When enough pax complain about cherry picking, the rates go up. For example, EWR airport rates went up because pax complained about being refused rides not going to NYC, and pax from NYC were refused rides to EWR.


----------



## Bob Reynolds (Dec 20, 2014)

We would not have any reason to cherry pick calls if Uber had the pricing correct. Frankly I can't drive 8 miles to make $3.20.


----------



## BramasoleATX (Aug 10, 2015)

You are completely off-base. Uber is the one you want to be venting your frustrations at, not your fellow cherry picking drivers.
For example in Austin the minimum trip charge for Uber X is around three dollars, netting the driver $0.88. There are lots and lots of these trips happening to unfortunate drivers. Only an idiot would continue to accept those type of trips.
If pricing was done properly drivers would be much less likely to cherry pick.
How do you protect your fellow driver from the cheap short-trip customers who do not tip? Down rate severely and do not accept low rating customers for future trips.


----------



## 944turb0 (Aug 22, 2015)

"You are an independent contractor sure, but that does not give you power to discriminate the customer base"

It sure as hell does.

Only a self-hating dummy goes out of his way to support a company that doesn't give a rats ass about him.

You're the ideal moron uber dreams of, the guy who provides aux control, mints and chilled waters to the crackhead going 2 blocks for $2.30 net.

Uber on!


----------



## UberMeansSuper (Aug 3, 2015)

Chicago-uber said:


> Drove off if I saw suitcases


I wish someone made this into a Vine or YouTube video...

"Wait a minute, bags? Travel pillow? Boarding passes? NOPE!! [cancels ride] [tires screeching away]"


----------



## North End Eric (Sep 12, 2015)

This is why taxi companies have dispatchers. We qualify and route the calls so drivers make the most money possible while wasting the least amount of time.


----------



## uberissohonest (Aug 7, 2015)

this is why the cab company i waw affilialted with had "area minimums". the further away from the city you got, obviously the higher the minimum. city was $5 minimum. either side of the peninsulas, $8 min. out a little further, 12, 16, 18, 25, 35. they were protecting the driver.


----------



## Rivmage (Oct 15, 2015)

North End Eric said:


> This is why taxi companies have dispatchers. We qualify and route the calls so drivers make the most money possible while wasting the least amount of time.


I worked in the call center/dispatch office for a cab company. Our system was like Uber system is now 12+ years ago, it would offer the closest cab the fare, they would accept or decline without penalty. There was one dispatcher, their job was giving directions, trying to find a driver for customers that waited a while or high priority rides (blood banks).

Scott


----------



## DanielJB2000 (Sep 6, 2016)

Hey I know I am a little late to the party. As a passenger cherry picking from my perspective is akin a customer picking up a shopping bags worth of groceries from the small grocery shop. To which the Clerk says to them I have been here for the last hour and have had no customers if you can't buy at least 5 bags of groceries then I refuse to you service. Actions like this alienate the customer base and at some point they they shop elsewhere. So if you want to be a cherry picker, there mightn't be enough passengers in future to cherry pick from just a thought.


----------



## Blahgard (Aug 16, 2016)

DanielJB2000 said:


> Hey I know I am a little late to the party. As a passenger cherry picking from my perspective is akin a customer picking up a shopping bags worth of groceries from the small grocery shop. To which the Clerk says to them I have been here for the last hour and have had no customers if you can't buy at least 5 bags of groceries then I refuse to you service. Actions like this alienate the customer base and at some point they they shop elsewhere. So if you want to be a cherry picker, there mightn't be enough passengers in future to cherry pick from just a thought.


You get what you pay for.


----------



## I_Like_Spam (May 10, 2015)

Mr Microphone said:


> Let me add, for a "service" to work and grow, it must be convenient too *all* of its customers. We all have to take a bad run once and a while, that is business. All businesses experience some loss at times. But it may be a door of opportunity. Use the long runs as a lead generator. .


There is no "lead generator", Mr. Mike.

You'd have a point if it was, but since there is no way to legitimately according to Uber rules to get that customer as a repeat customer for you, there is no point in "generating" anything for the Uber corp. Now, if Uber was paying for new business leads among customers, that would be a different tune.


----------



## NFIH (Jul 26, 2016)

Mr Microphone said:


> I am not a fan of cherry picking.
> 
> What is it? Only taking "good" (highly profitable) runs, and cancelling all others.
> 
> ...


How can you cherry pick with Uber when you have no idea where any pickup is headed? Because you can't count chasing surge as cherry picking given that Uber itself urges drivers to work the surges.

Rejecting because of distance is absolutely fine--you seem to be forgetting that it *costs* the driver money to go to and fro. The only stakeholder who really wins is Uber since it costs them nothing and they get their cut regardless. And there's no reason a rider can't wait until someone is closer who will take the pickup. Since cars are constantly moving around, the rider has a reasonable certainty that they'll get a ride eventually.


----------



## Ringo (Jul 2, 2016)

I don't as they call it (cherry pick) since I think it's extremely rude to screen a customer over the phone or text and downright chicken shit after you arrive. However riders are guilty of doing a lot of the same, I have heard of them car shopping basically keep requesting till a select or black car becomes available when it's busy at X rate, canceling requests when there is surge, and when there's a group everyone submits a request and the first driver to arrive gets the fare as the rest cancel. Uber is to blame for this if they would have made the system fair to begin with this lawsuit in CA and MASS would not have happened, I think some of the areas that were hit the hardest with the rate cuts is where this is mostly happening.


----------



## More Cowbell (May 8, 2016)

Damn. So how much did Uber pay Mr Microphone for that total heap o bullsht.


----------



## Oscar Levant (Aug 15, 2014)

Mr Microphone said:


> I am not a fan of cherry picking.
> 
> What is it? Only taking "good" (highly profitable) runs, and cancelling all others.
> 
> ...


If you check out the history of my posts, you'll find me saying this in a number of them.
You are, indeed, correct. Besides, cherry picking is a fool's paradise. In my many years of experience, the driver who takes all calls coming to him, always makes more. Cherry pickers not only screw other drivers, they screw themselves, in the long run.

It is, however, okay to work areas of the city where rides tend to be longer. For example, we have cities about 40 minute drive from the hub in my county, with nice hotels, and often the trips are downtown, nice long rides, longer on the average than if I worked the center city, but this is offset by the fact that there are fewer trips. but everyone else in that area is on the same playing field, so that's not cherry picking.

But, a new type of cherry picking is now possible, twice a day. You set your "destination feature" to some distant point, and if you wait long enough, you probably will get a trip there are close to it. I'm not sure how well it works, but I know another driver who did it, and got the long trip he wanted.


----------



## Ebonywhitewolf (May 29, 2016)

Mr Microphone said:


> I am not a fan of cherry picking.
> 
> What is it? Only taking "good" (highly profitable) runs, and cancelling all others.
> 
> ...


Ok, both of those comments you wrote make it Obvious that your Business inclination is terrible. We are not "brothers and sisters" we are competitor's. Not co-workers, independent contracters.

Also, you and people like you may be great for uber and pax, but you are terrible for drivers as a whole. Its because of drivers like you that uber feels safe when dismissing drivers complaints, after they do something that screws drivers. They will never stop if everyone just sticks to driving the same way regardless of what uber changes. All your suggestions are ways to work around uber screwing you.

In my opinion cherry picking isnt a problem its a symtom. If you try and force people to stop cherry picking they will just do something else wether its good for the customer or not. If you want cherry picking to stop you have to start by trying to find out why people are cherry picking in the first place. I cant speak for everyone but cherry picking in my case is a necessary evil. When i signed up i remember vividly that all i planned on doing was going online turning the volume all the way up and waiting for a pin. When i got one i wouldnt even bother looking at the screen i was just going to tap anywhere on the screen and let the nav system take me to the person. It didnt take long to realize that, thats a recipe for disaster as i kept getting calls that was 15 minutes away, sometimes a little more and when i got there 9 times out of 10 i find out its a 3 to 6 dollar fair. If i had known about the need to cherry pick before i signed up i would have thought twice about signing up. Only an idiot operates in a vaccum and dosent change how they work bassed on changing circumstances and only a push over operates around the people that both directly or indirectly screws you without a second though and no remorse. If you dont like cherry picking then go to uber and tell them that there changes has changed alot of drivers mind sets from customer service to loss prevention. If they dont do anything. you know where the real problem is.

I cant believe your reaction to cherry picking is to lecture the independent middle class individuals who have there personal and very limited property and finances invested in this venture. Go find the real problem. If your worried about customer service talk to uber its there name on the Line not ours.

Finally, i would like to address the most common and most pathetic argument to everything i just said because i hear it all the time. Its usually something along the lines of "well, no one has a gun to your head. If you dont like it dont drive" do you have any idea how many thing would be complete ass sause right know if more people had that Attitude. That is the mind set of a push over if you want to let people and company's like uber run over you and screw you thats fine. but keep it to yourself. DONT COME HERE AND LECTURE OTHERS! this is one reason why the free market suchs right now. Instead of having people that are involved and constantly and aggressively pushing and DEMANDING possitive change. We get people that are so pathetic that if a company or group like uber wipes it out and pees all over your face you would just sit there and go"well i brought a towel so i can wipe it off and it not like its gonna kill me, its really not that big of a deal" ok thats fine, just dont expect the same out of other people. Im not letting uber piss in my face.


----------



## 4736353377384555736 (Aug 27, 2016)

I love it when people play the system straight. It makes life much easier for those who game it.

Continue taking all pings that come your way.


----------



## mrpjfresh (Aug 16, 2016)

Thank you, ebonywhitewolf, for such a true and eloquent response to the OP's nonsense. The only break I can cut him is perhaps the rates were vastly different 11 months ago as this is an old thread. Shooting down his idealistic, utopian view on all drivers was spot on though as well as his misplaced, one-sided lecturing. 

Loss prevention vs. customer service is great way to frame this debate by the way. I stopped accepting 15 minute rides especially if they are in the opposite direction of the "action". My lesson was learned after accepting one way out in the boonies after dropping off a passenger from a long ride from downtown. Turns out it was a couple, on something, who took a 2 mile round trip to the flea market for beer... so, between travel time to, waiting on and driving the passengers and driving way back to town, over an hour was burned for a whopping $3.75. And I was having an awesome night, tons of rides, $20-30/hr which took a nosedive in the heart of primetime on a Friday night. Lesson learned. 

Unless Uber is going to do something about compensation for travel time and lost revenue for these 10+ minute requests, "cherry pick" and be calculating in your selections to look after yourself first and foremost. If it were a driverless car on Uber's dime, would *they* send a car 20 miles out of their way, at a loss, for a beer run? And I say all this as a guy who still has an AR in the 90s. Just know your market and switch off your app if you get too far out of your preferred area. And do not listen to know-nothings who lecture into microphones...


----------



## Mattio41 (Sep 19, 2016)

Glad to see i am not the only with with the problem of 15-20 minute drive times...

Slow night the other night. Got pinged for 12 minutes away. Drive over. Guy wants to go 4 blocks to the gas station for cigarettes and come back...

Now on the same token, different night, 12 minute away ping but was in my direction of travel. Wound up being a 35 mile run. But I am having serious issues about going running 20 minutes out of an area I am working.


----------



## agtg (Jun 8, 2016)

The problem with this thread is that it's so old. The whole scene has changed since the rate cuts. If you're a driver, you had better be selective or you're never going to have a chance to be profitable. Even when cherry picking, it's a total crap-shoot depending on the market you're in.


----------



## UberLou (May 5, 2015)

Short pings can turn into long pings, playing trip roulette is costing you more than you think it is. If you have a good strategy you will never have to cherry pick.


----------



## uberdude73 (Aug 24, 2016)

In my area, it's not uncommon for a request to come in and they are 15+ mins away. No chance in hell that I'm going to waste my time and fuel driving to them for a mile or two trip. If that's what you define as "cherry picking" then I beg to differ.


----------



## Shangsta (Aug 15, 2016)

944turb0 said:


> "You are an independent contractor sure, but that does not give you power to discriminate the customer base"
> 
> It sure as hell does.
> 
> ...


Slow clap


----------



## Red Leader (Sep 4, 2016)

If I work in my home town, I can get pinged to the neighboring cities.....up to 18 miles away.

Hmmm.....yea....


----------



## Red Leader (Sep 4, 2016)

Oh...and one more thing....

We are not servants. At least I'm not. I don't know about the rest of you. I do not serve these people in any way shape or form. They may pay for a service I provide, but that's it. And it is at my discretion.


The person in my vehicle has booked passage with me. That's it. My only obligation is a safe trip from place to place. Nothing more. Next time you get on a jet liner, cruise ship, train, bus, even one of those donkeys that take you to the bottom of the Grand Canyon......just go tell them how to do their job. Tell them they are a servant.

Post the results on YouTube. Let us know in advance so we can have the popcorn ready.


----------



## Coffeekeepsmedriving (Oct 2, 2015)

Mr Microphone said:


> I am not a fan of cherry picking.
> 
> What is it? Only taking "good" (highly profitable) runs, and cancelling all others.
> 
> ...


yeah so whats the problem...lol


----------



## Red Leader (Sep 4, 2016)

Eh...some guys like virgins....some dont.


----------

