[H grrl]

I’ve seen it asked, but not answered here. Does it count against you some how to decline pool rides?

I haven’t had that many of them, but am in the opinion of the majority, that I don’t like them. One of the first ones I received, I was picking up the pax (Kylie), waiting on them, when I touched the screen and it popped up asking if I’m picking up Kyle. The name was so close, I didn’t realize it was another and clicked yes. I took Kylie home and dropped her off, then it started directing me to another stop. Now confused, I went to end it and realized it was a pool and I didn’t pick up the other pax. I immediately refunded the second one and didn’t think about it again. Until I saw a 1 star rating. I called Uber phone support and explained it. They said they would remove the rating. According to the operator, confusion is a reason they will remove them. Here it is days later and they still haven’t removed it.

I would just rather not deal with pool rides at all. I turned the option off in the app and didn’t get a ping for nearly an hour. Turned it back on and immediately got one. Obviously they have an opinion about it. So how does it affect a driver to decline them?

 

[disp350]

Where in the app did you find an option to turn off pool requests? Never seen that, but my way of dealing with pool is to NEVER accept a second pool request while on the first one. I set the app to stop new requests until I drop the rider off. Of course my main joy is that Uber has a good chance of losing money on the pool ride since I won't accept their meager fee for adding a second rider. But tell me where you see an option to not get pool requests.

 

[H grrl]

Where in the app did you find an option to turn off pool requests?

In trip planner, the menu option on the bottom right. Then you can choose which ride you provide.

 

[Perseus]

You turned off BOTH X and Pool. You cannot turn off poo by itself. I strongly advise drivers to avoid any and all poo rides, unless it satisfies very specific parameters. 2.0+ surge or a 45+ DF.

 

[H grrl]

I have it turned on, just not in that pic. As I said, I didn’t get any pings while it was off, so I figured it out. Stuck with pool. That’s why I am curious if declining them goes against you negatively or not.

 

[wuber88]

I would just rather not deal with pool rides at all. I turned the option off in the app and didn't get a ping for nearly an hour.

I was told that there is no way you can "turn the option off". Nor have I figured it out. How do you do that?
Edit: I should have continued reading the thread before rushing to post this. Apparently it was explained in posts following yours. My bad!
Edit 2: Upon further reading--you've turned off BOTH X and pooling, which in my case is ALL the options I have (I don't qualify for SELECT).
So no, you can't turn off pooling by itself.

but my way of dealing with pool is to NEVER accept a second pool request while on the first one. I set the app to stop new requests until I drop the rider off.

Now where can you set that option (I'm a newbie)?
My experience is that the app automatically adds a second rider without giving a choice to decline it.

 

[JimKE]

I've seen it asked, but not answered here. Does it count against you some how to decline pool rides?

I haven't had that many of them, but am in the opinion of the majority, that I don't like them. One of the first ones I received, I was picking up the pax (Kylie), waiting on them, when I touched the screen and it popped up asking if I'm picking up Kyle. The name was so close, I didn't realize it was another and clicked yes. I took Kylie home and dropped her off, then it started directing me to another stop. Now confused, I went to end it and realized it was a pool and I didn't pick up the other pax. I immediately refunded the second one and didn't think about it again. Until I saw a 1 star rating. I called Uber phone support and explained it. They said they would remove the rating. According to the operator, confusion is a reason they will remove them. Here it is days later and they still haven't removed it.

I would just rather not deal with pool rides at all. I turned the option off in the app and didn't get a ping for nearly an hour. Turned it back on and immediately got one. Obviously they have an opinion about it. So how does it affect a driver to decline them?

Declining a poop ride hurts your acceptance rate -- although I still haven't figured out where to find my acceptance & cancellation rates in the new app!

My experience recently has been that I usually get poop requests either when I first go online, or I go to a poopy area (college campus, millennial territory, etc). But if I decline a couple and take none, I don't seem to get any more for the rest of that shift. I think the algorithm "learns" that I'm not gonna take poop and gives me only X or XL.

At least that's what I saw last week, although last week was one of our busier weeks of the year. Maybe in slower times, I'll get more poop requests.

 

[H grrl]

My experience recently has been that I usually get poop requests either when I first go online, or I go to a poopy area (college campus, millennial territory, etc).

This is my experience as well. I start 40 minutes out of downtown, where the college and bars are, always end up there and get the crappiest pings there. One night 3 pools in a row! Enough to fill up my XL completely. Seriously?!!

I'll try the decline after the first and see how that goes

 

[jazzapt]

I've been declining all Pool for well over a year. There is nothing they can do to force you to take them. It is why every incentive they come out with is all based on trying to get you to take every ride they give you. Because they know they can't force you to take it.

 

[New2This]

2.0+ surge

Unfortunately with the new flat rate Surge you only get a dollar amount for extra riders, not the length of the trip multiplied.

The new rate cuts make Pool even more unappealing.

I have it turned on, just not in that pic. As I said, I didn't get any pings while it was off, so I figured it out. Stuck with pool. That's why I am curious if declining them goes against you negatively or not.

I run with single digit Acceptance rate on both Uber/Lyft every week. It doesn't matter. Do what's best for YOU not Uber/Lyft.

 

[disp350]

Ok, it makes sense now. You didn't mention that you are also a Select/XL driver. Those that only do X do not have the option off turning off pool, that's why I don't see that option. There are hundreds of threads on whether or not to accept pool, pro and cons. That's one of the few choices each driver gets to make and nobody can force you otherwise. I will take them, but only one party at a time. But, I despise Express Pool, since they are the real cheapos and I end up cancelling almost half for no show the second the screen says I can. And since Uber no longer tells you that a pool is Express, I have been on a self imposed strike and declining them of late. I don't know whether Uber sends less pings your way, but there is nothing they can do deactivation wise for your acceptance rate. It's your cancel rate that can get you into trouble.

 

[Perseus]

Unfortunately with the new flat rate Surge you only get a dollar amount for extra riders, not the length of the trip multiplied.

The new rate cuts make Pool even more unappealing.

I run with single digit Acceptance rate on both Uber/Lyft every week. It doesn't matter. Do what's best for YOU not Uber/Lyft.

We still have the multiplier in our market, although it doesn't mean much if you don't work smart. We are flooded with ants taking cow poop promotions that kill surge.

 

[New2This]

And since Uber no longer tells you that a pool is Express, I have been on a self imposed strike and declining them of late

Base rate Pool are still awesome for Shuffling.

ExpressPool are too. They usually can't make it to the corner in 2:00.

 

[SJCorolla]

The only thing that counts against you is driver cancellations, regardless of the reason. Try to keep them below 10% of your total accepted trips.

 

[TDR]

Declining a poop ride hurts your acceptance rate -- although I still haven't figured out where to find my acceptance & cancellation rates in the new app!

My experience recently has been that I usually get poop requests either when I first go online, or I go to a poopy area (college campus, millennial territory, etc). But if I decline a couple and take none, I don't seem to get any more for the rest of that shift. I think the algorithm "learns" that I'm not gonna take poop and gives me only X or XL.

At least that's what I saw last week, although last week was one of our busier weeks of the year. Maybe in slower times, I'll get more poop requests.

No worries for rate( acceptance or/and cancellation). As long you not deactivated it's perfect

 

[mmn]

Now where can you set that option (I'm a newbie)?
My experience is that the app automatically adds a second rider without giving a choice to decline it.

You can stop new requests when on any trip. Click on the bars in the bottom right when you start the trip and hit the button to cancel new requests. As soon as you complete the trip you automatically go off line.

I use it when I get a long trip, like to Miami, so that I can set a df and get back to Fort Lauderdale without getting stuck driving around Miami, but can still get a trip if they're going my way. And I do usually get one.

 

[JimKE]

I use it when I get a long trip, like to Miami, so that I can set a df and get back to Fort Lauderdale without getting stuck driving around Miami, but can still get a trip if they're going my way. And I do usually get one.

When you're out of town, be careful with setting the DF for a distant point if you don't know the areas between your location and your destination. If you're on the beach and your destination is also on the beach, you may be fine. But if you're at MIA, Wynwood, or anywhere downtown and set the DF to Broward, you have a whole lot of hood to potentially go through that would fall within your DF.

 

[reg barclay]

I've seen it asked, but not answered here. Does it count against you some how to decline pool rides?

If you decline pool rides it counts against your overall acceptance rate, but your acceptance rate doesn't really matter since Uber does not deactivate drivers' accounts for low acceptance rates, they only do that for high cancellation rates.

AFAIK there is no way to switch off pool pings without also switching off Uber X pings, as the app considers them one category for that purpose. Like I said though, you can basically decline them without consequence.

 

[Oscar Levant]

I've seen it asked, but not answered here. Does it count against you some how to decline pool rides?

I haven't had that many of them, but am in the opinion of the majority, that I don't like them. One of the first ones I received, I was picking up the pax (Kylie), waiting on them, when I touched the screen and it popped up asking if I'm picking up Kyle. The name was so close, I didn't realize it was another and clicked yes. I took Kylie home and dropped her off, then it started directing me to another stop. Now confused, I went to end it and realized it was a pool and I didn't pick up the other pax. I immediately refunded the second one and didn't think about it again. Until I saw a 1 star rating. I called Uber phone support and explained it. They said they would remove the rating. According to the operator, confusion is a reason they will remove them. Here it is days later and they still haven't removed it.

I would just rather not deal with pool rides at all. I turned the option off in the app and didn't get a ping for nearly an hour. Turned it back on and immediately got one. Obviously they have an opinion about it. So how does it affect a driver to decline them?

I know for a fact that some regions have more pool rides than other regions so if you're working in the area that has a high pool ride count you will be losing serious money if you turn them down. When I go out to the burbs there is 3/4 in the pool rides but if I go downtown only about a quarter of them a pool rides. So the answer depends on the demographic of where you're working

I believe that Uber gave up caring about driver ratios a few months back

Also because there are more X rides downtown I notice my rating goes up but when I work pool rides out in The Burbs it goes down. Most people aren't that happy to pool rides but they do it because they're cheap. I'd rather cater to the non cheap happier crowd . That being said this is just a casual observation I haven't made a scientific study of it