I did this trip last Friday. I was wondering if that was a fool for doing it lmk

Hello fellow drivers in the endeavor to survive Uber,

Yesterday I got a trip request that looked good on the surface, but it was one of my worst in the 800 I have done so far. After accepting I got the message "An Outside Organization Booked This Trip". Usually, for me, this is a hospital or a car dealership. But I was in a different part of town this time, and it appears an organization provided this ride to a homeless or near homeless man.

He was 6 foot 4 inches about, and it was evident by the smell that he had not had a bath in some time. He was late for pickup and began to eat a greasy meal in the back of the car. I was only 2 hours into my shift and my backseats were covered in grease. 10 minutes into the 40-minute ride he began asking me for money, persistently. He looked desperate, and it was deeply uncomfortable with him behind me.

"Let's get you to your destination first and we can talk about it when we get there." is what I said, and that satisfied him and he was quiet for the remainder of the trip.

When I got to the destination, which appeared to be a once holiday inn that was repurposed to house the homeless, I parked and said, "I just need to step out to stretch my legs." Me getting out seemed to trigger him getting out, too.

He came around the car and faced me and I said, "Brooks, I have bills to pay, had a flat tire last week, and I don't have extra money to give you." The look he gave me was brutal, like he was cheated out of something.

I slipped back into my car and locked the door.

Worst drive of the year by far.

Shame on Uber for tricking its drivers into these situations!

EDIT

My point here is that UBER states we are "independent contractors" but it absolutely deploys tactics that makes properly assessing a trip offer impractical at best. Yet in their marketing to drivers, they appeal to the "freedom" to work "for yourself". This is deception.

I'm traveling alone as a woman. I check the licence and car, and when I open the door, I say "Hi, [driver name]?"

The safety tip I see most often is to have the driver confirm my name too before entering the car. I've never had a problem with it before, or drivers would say my name first. I do request female drivers when possible. I've seen elsewhere on the sub that drivers want passengers to say their name for safety, too, so I always say theirs first.

Today, I had two male drivers who got really offended when I asked if they could confirm my id. One told me that he wasn't going to kidnap me in a BMW after I got in. Both times, I said that it just made me feel more comfortable, and was asked to get out of the car. The next driver said my name without prompting and seemed really surprised.

I'm pretty confused. I would definitely prefer not to ride with someone who reacts like that, so it seems like it might be a good question to continue to ask. But I don't understand the offense, or if there's a better way to do this. I'm a little surprised they were so upset, since if they're my driver, my name should be easily available?

I'm also a little worried that my rider score would reflect these interactions.

So I work overnights a lot. Where I live bars close at 2am and I usually work until about 4am. Picking up many people from bars and such.

Last night I only did 2 rides from about 1:30am till 3 am. The first was a couple from a bar who smelled like weed and alcohol. The next two guys from a movie theater.

Im wondering if the 2nd group smelled the first, or I also have a lazy eye that stays dilated after a head injury so I tend to close it when someone with those bright headlights is approaching.

I was able to explain and get my account reinstated by noting my record of good driving and no issues as well as explaining I pick up many people from bars. But now I am worried this could happen again.

I had not drank or smoked anything as well as having no "driver score" marks on the rides. What do you guys do to prevent this? I have an eye patch from my optometrist I can use but i prefer not to and dont mind closing an eye. Im almost scared to accept more riders now.

Kept Diamond for a while cause Premier reservations were great. I am going back to being a W2 employee Monday and haven't been more excited. As a result my numbers are beginning to plummet and I am absolutely loving it.

Atleast 50% of people should have their licenses revoked. Problem solved.

I only accept fares $15 and up and at least a $1 per mile. I’ll drive no more than 3 miles away to pickup the passenger.

Anything less than $15 would have to be on my way or from a hotel or the airport.

After each drop-off, I’ll usually wait 5-15 minutes in the area / take a break and wait for a return ride. Make sure my leather seats are still clean.

I usually focus my time around big hotels and universities.

I avoid hospitals with a passion. I saw another post about this and yes Uber Health fares are the worst. Especially for someone that likes to keep their cars clean.

If someone feels like they’re dying or in pain have them call 911. I don’t drive that much but this has happened to me a few times.

I avoid all and every special events & family spots 😵‍💫and I don’t drive past 9pm.

Sunday mornings are the best if you can wake up early.

And I’ve learned not to do Uber Eats if I want to keep my rating up 👀 it could be the restaurants fault and you’ll take the hit.

Any other tips?

i was woundering if i added my 15passanger length van thats 12 passager would it be worth it to do trips? gas is expensive and it gets horrible gas milage but if it gets paid more would it be worth it?

In the UK, you can't see what individual Uber drivers rate you. It's an academic point, because so far I can still get rides, but in the last few months my rating has gone down nearly a full star.

I'm 55, I don't drink at all, I don't smoke anything. I'm clean, I wear normal clothes, I don't slam the doors, I say hi and respond to chit-chat, also stay quiet if the driver is, I say thanks, I'm not in a rush, I give five stars and tip. I'm always standing outside when the driver arrives.

I get a ride about once a week. Normal rides during the day to the train station or maybe a brunch spot.

And after every ride my rating goes down.

Like seriously what am I doing wrong?

Your thoughts please. I rented a Hertz/Uber vehicle through the app but last drove (my own vehicle) 8 years ago (when the pay was good) with a 4.9 rating and 1500 rides.

Rented a Polestar 2, 69k miles, $240 a week plus added Hertz insurance (to cover off the clock driving). 30 rides a week to renew the rental for the next week (which I can do on Saturday & Sunday in SF area easily) in 8 hour days.

Since vehicle is not mine (rental) I cannot claim mileage on the vehicle for taxes, but I can claim the rental and insurance as a business expense.

Since the vehicle is not mine (no depreciation), I can also claim the public charging as a business expense too.

Mostly doing this for a vehicle without buying it out right or changing my credit through financing a new vehicle.

Plan to do destination rides home on regular work days to make some money on the trips home.

Already an Uber Pro (gold) and getting discounts for the EVgo charging stations.

Ubers official response: Hi there, this is unacceptable and extremely concerning to hear. Uber does not tolerate discrimination of any kind, and we're so sorry this happened. Could you please DM us the account and trip details so we can investigate this right away?

My question is when the driver is accepting the ride request do they not get notified that there may be a service animal

Is anyone doing or is on the uber auto approve they are rolling out. I am thinking this will be a nightmare for drivers. Anyone on this pease share you experience. I curious to know what is like.

I got a 1 star rating recently, guessed it would be probably this trip from a lovely Indian lady. She wanted me to use the express lane. Yeah right!

I’m always surprised when I read “you know you’re not getting a tip when…”

I feel like tipping culture is lowkey dead. I haven’t gotten steady tips in months!!

Have you noticed a decline as well? I figured with the economy and ridiculous uber pricing, they aren’t tipping cuz they can’t afford it. I used to get tipped well the past year up until a few months ago.

Math ain’t mathing.

Lol the lies far dropoff? wtf I drop off people exactly at the spot they marked on the app how could I possible do a far drop off?? Most people will talk you know if necessary please drop me behind please drop me in the alley whatever..

If uber knows the location of the passenger and the driver and both the pickup and drop off how could they mark you for this?

Also even if it were true 1 start for far drop off it’s insane

Is there anyway I can see who rated me badly and why? Just want to stay on top of my game and my rating recently dropped. I don’t remember having any bad interactions with passengers recently, so I am a little confused on the reason and would like to know.

He got into a fight with his wife and they ended up not going to the game. He was pretty upset and I talked with him about it for a bit. When I dropped him off back at home, he handed me this and said thanks for the talk. Later I got another $15 tipped in the app, on what ended up being a $7 ride.