Uber/Lyft Experiences

Mine have been overwhelmingly positive, where I've been very pleased at meeting such interesting drivers. Yes, a few I've thought would make good dating material. I haven't had any real problems with other passengers on shared rides, although on my last one the woman sharing the backseat didn't seem pleased to have to move her stuff to make room for me.

I would say probably my most negative experience had to do with a driver who seemed to be possessed by the spirit of Mister Magoo. She would pretty much disregard the GPS directions in favor of driving by some sort of "instinct" instead; so, we all arrived significantly later than the Uber estimates.

I have had a couple of Chinese drivers whose English was fair at best - one of whom was a real speed demon!

The book referenced below was written by a gay Uber driver. I didn't really identify with him, especially his drug use, but it was overall an interesting read.

We tried to become an uber/lyft driver but our car is a 2 door and one must have a 4 door to qualify/

I use them both interchangeably depending on price, ETA etc. I find Uber vehicles to be worse so I’ll often go for the upgrade. I canceled one last night because the “select” was a Nissan rouge. I reordered a black and got a Ford Edge.

Sometimes I’ll order extra seats in the hopes of getting a Nice SUV It works and the driver will say “where’s everyone else”

I was a 4.86 and now I am a 4.81 and it pisses me off.

I know why. Uber says that cars are "2 minutes away" or "arriving now" so when it is freezing outside, I don't go outside until it says that it's here or "arriving now"....

HOWEVER - that is wrong 90% of the time. They've called me from being right in front of buildings when Uber says they are "2 minutes away". Drivers hate waiting and on their end, they actually get a countdown of how long they've been waiting (they can leave after 5).

Also, at airports, Uber is still not ironed out. There will be signs pointed to one place but the drivers pick up 300 feet from there. Again, drivers wait.

Any time a driver waits, they give you less than 5. Even if you tip in cash at the end of the ride (which I do).

I drive for Uber on my days off sometimes.

I am a bit dismayed that my rating is only a 4.80. One sympathetic driver told me that he understood there are some folks who refused to give a full five stars for what they consider a short, local trip.

I don't think I have ever made a driver wait. I did have one driver lie and an airport and Mark me as a no-show, when I was exactly where I was supposed to be, keeping an eye out for him. The replacement driver told me that he felt the first guy was definitely a scammer. I objected the no show to thd company, with the trip removed and the assessed penalty reversed as a $5 credit on my account.

I ordered an uber in LA to take me to the airport. He accepted the fare then when he got there said he wasn't going that direction. I had only used uber once before. He used my phone and gave himself 5 stars and I got charged a $5 service fee.

On the Uber Subreddit, the drivers say they give you shitty scores for using Uber Pool and for certain kinds of trips. It's so asinine. I can't stand uber pool but how is it the rider's fault? The rider doesn't even know they're being penalized for it.

And you are right about short trips, r5. You have to give a cash tip. I was getting low ratings too until I gave cash tips. They don't see the app tips until its too late. They sometimes rate you low (some uber drivers have said on reddit) for no cash tip - even if they find you later tipped in the app! Oh and some will lower your rating if there is no tip. The uber subreddit is full of interesting anecdotes. Still, taxis are worse on average, in terms of the actual service provided, cleanliness, etc...

Uber should let drivers see how many rides that riders have taken. I may be a 4.81 but I've paid into uber like $1000+ by now. It's not a 4.81 from 5 rides.

I see drivers record fares on YouTube. That’s creepy. Can the passengers see the drivers are doing it?

Usually the cameras are pretty obviously placed on the dashboard. Maybe some are hidden. I assume all of them record everything.

I understand that some drivers have gone back and reviewed individual rides to see if it's linked to a subsequent tip a day or two later, and then have down rated the initial 5 at that point. I had two trips in a row where I decided not to tip at all, as others have said that they don't, where my perfect 5.0 score plummeted to 4.66 right away. My score has not moved at all in a while, even though I've had several trips all, or at least most of them, we're likely five stars.

I had one older immigrant driver who was distraught as it came up that a hotel had recently double billed him for a room via prepay and check out. When I explained to him that he had the right to dispute the charges with his bank, he was ecstatic. He said he never would have understood that had I not told him exactly how to proceed. The hotel check-out charge was long enough past that he wasn't confusing it with a temporary authorization.

I haven't had any drivers who had a problem with shared rides, as long as all passengers understood the rules of the game up front. They have said they are more pissed off when someone books a shared-ride, and then seems all upset about the fact that he needs to accommodate other added passengers.

I don’t have a cam in my car and so far I’ve given 5 stars to everyone. I don’t grade on tips.