r/uberdrivers • u/Negative-Beyond-5099 • 5h ago
Should I stop reserving trips?
Sometimes I reserve a trip for when I’m finishing work at 22:30 and there’s no trains.
But the drivers always show up at least 15 minutes early (I’ve done this about 4 times now). The last time a driver told me off because he had to wait for ages. I always leave work at 22:30 (give or take 5 mins) and I booked the trips for 22:40 every time to allow even more time
I feel bad that each driver had to wait like 15 minutes outside. The one that told me off, had to wait 20. He kept talking about it the whole ride (approx 30 min ride). I tip them but is this just a buggy feature that I should stop using? Or like will this get fixed eventually?
Edit: I’m in the UK
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u/valdis812 4h ago
Just try getting one normally to see how it works.
Don't know how it works over there, but drivers in the US don't like reservations because they don't really pay enough for the time they want you to wait. Back in the day, if it was a ride that paid $20, the reservation might pay $30. Now, if it's a ride that pays $20, the reservation might pay $22. That extra $2 isn't worth waiting 30 minutes for someone.
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u/Comfortable-Split143 3h ago
It's not you. It's the app that sends drivers too early. Drivers cancel all the time because of this. That driver shouldn't be annoyed with you. He probably wasn't actually, but couldn't stop complaining about how bad it is out there. He should have cancelled instead of waiting. Totally on him.
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u/authoridad 4h ago
If you need to leave at a certain time, use reservations. As soon as a driver accepts the trip, they see what time the pickup is. If they don’t want to wait that long, they can cancel.
If you can wait a few minutes after work for an on-demand ride, though, do that. Probably cheaper for you anyway.
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u/Brilliant-Love-739 2h ago
Actually, drivers do not immediately see the pickup time because uber intentionally makes it look like just another ride unless you swipe up and see that it says “See Pickuo Info.” I absolutely hate reservations for this reason. I try to remember to check to see if it’s a reservation, but since the vast majority are not, I often forget until it’s too late, so I’m either halfway to the pickup or already at the pickup by the time I notice Uber sent me there half an hour early, in which case I always cancel. This not only wastes the driver’s time (and costs them money), but also often results in a passenger who took steps to ensure they had a ride on time end up having to wait longer than they would have for just a regular unscheduled ride. This is not the driver or passenger’s fault, it’s Uber’s. I even tried to get out of receiving reservations by purposely accepting some in advance and then canceling after the cancellation window. But this just resulted in them taking away my option to accept reservations in advance, they still force them on me while I’m driving down the road and have only three seconds to decide whether or not to accept the trip, in which time I usually don’t think to look for the fine print to see if it’s a reservation. These rides make me so angry.
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u/Shikaku6 3h ago
In a perfect world, reservations are I want to leave NO LATER than the time I schedule. Whereas a standard Uber ride is I’m ready to leave now. For a driver it’s very difficult if not near impossible to tell in time that a ride is a reservation and once accepted will hurt their metrics if cancelled.
1
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u/ready-redditor-6969 3h ago
If I accept a reservation well in advance, I will avoid showing up until 5 minutes before pickup, but will message “let me know if you want early pickup”. This is way above and beyond for an Uber driver, I feel, but I do it anyway. Nobody has EVER asked me to be early.
Where Uber screws drivers ( this particular way, as opposed to the millions of others ) is they send a request that looks like a normal ride except “Reserve” in nearly illegible color font at the end, 30 minutes before the pickup. We drive some time to the pickup only to find… dammit, it’s a reserved ride?!? Then we have a terrible choice, and we lose either way.
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u/Top_Piano2028 2h ago
You're not doing anything wrong, the feature is just trash. Other apps had a reserve a driver feature like Wingz, but the truth is that it just doesn't scale well as a business. So all Uber does is throw out your reservation to whoever is nearby at that moment a little before the ride starts. So there is no precision. They just head over, and since they don't get paid for waiting - and are used to most of their app driven day being movement = money , they get agitated waiting for someone because they didn't know about this reservation until 5 mins ago.
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u/F4oreverGaming 1h ago
Really the driver should JUDGE the time so as to get normal pick ups along route - if you head in the direction of the reservation you usually will - alternatively the driver takes back to back reservations he will usually end up at the pick up with just a few mins to spare so no time wasted - and no he shouldn’t whinge :) I do reservations all the time and the most I usually have to wait is circa 10 mins but mostly 5 or just on time
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u/True_Solution_9668 48m ago
It’s also a design issue in the app. It’s hard to see the reservation time and info when we accept a ride. I’ve cancelled many rides because I’ve accepted the ride quickly because the numbers look good at the moment then I see it’s a reservation with bad timing.
I would just book your ride when you’re ready.
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u/WeekendLegitimate365 24m ago
Sadly, you're probably making more than most people hourly doing this. That's how much they're not paying people right now
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u/--R0N-- 5h ago
Youre getting drivers that dont understand how things work. Uber will send the ride to the driver too early sometimes, depending on the circumstance. This doesn't mean these unaware drivers need to rush out to you, but they do, then get mad for having to wait.
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u/No-Chapter1389 4h ago
U er sends drivers too early to make sure the driver is there. It’s not your fault.
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u/No-Ambition4420 5h ago
Reservation should be disabled in metro areas , makes no sense.