[Overfloater]

Hello everyone, I'm new to the forum. I've joined Uber in Vancouver BC a month ago. I had some questions if there are knowledgeable people around that can respond.

I've had one day where a ride asked me if I had music in my car and I said "I'm sorry, I don't have" because I don't want to listen to music, she said "that's fine, I'll use my earphones". The next thing, by the end of the day, I got a service quality report. I'm pretty sure it was from that ride, but anyway, can I get suspended for not allowing music in my car?

Secondly, I wanted to ask if ignoring request is fine? Sometimes I get requests that are super far and they end up being a couple of km so I'd rather not risk it and take closer requests. Would that affect my rating? Also, is ignoring the same as tapping (X) to reject, or leaving it until it times out is something else? At the green hub, the employee told me they're different, so what do you guys think?

Last but not least, I wanted to ask about those surge apps with subscriptions. Are they worth it? How do they work? And how do people use them? And what are the recommended apps?

Thanks in advance. I appreciate anyone's response.

 

[0ddj0b]

Welcome! I don't drive yet so I can't respond to any of your points unfortunately, but I am keen to hear any more info about that experience and the gig in general.
Or are you previously a taxi driver? What are the hotspots or areas/times to avoid?

 

[Overfloater]

Welcome! I don't drive yet so I can't respond to any of your points unfortunately, but I am keen to hear any more info about that experience and the gig in general.
Or are you previously a taxi driver? What are the hotspots or areas/times to avoid?

I was not a taxi driver. This is my fifth week on the job in Vancouver, but I did Uber for a couple of years in Greater Toronto Area before. I like it here much more. The people are nicer, generally speaking and the routes are easier, although gas is much more expensive.

It's a great gig if you're a hard worker and willing to do long hours and don't mind driving and having your car and the road as your office, basically. You wanna have a lunch break? If you don't have someone to cook for you, I recommend looking into catering so that you'd have prepared meals rather than having junk food from the street all the time. Bathroom break? If there's a Tim Horton or McDonald's around, you're covered, but make sure to sanitize well since you're more prone to catching the virus that way. The cool thing about working as an Uber driver is that you make your own schedule, so it requires much discipline.

Hope you find my reply helpful. Good luck.

 

[0ddj0b]

Hi, glad to hear your positive experience so far in Vancouver, yes the gas is extremely expensive.

I've never driven around TO but would you say Vancouver is a lot hillier, and is that good?
I've been doing UE for a year, I'm aware of the benefits and traps. I'm just in the final steps of getting approved on the apps, and this will be my first people driver type gig.

/derail

bump for someone to address OP's qs

 

[Overfloater]

Hi, glad to hear your positive experience so far in Vancouver, yes the gas is extremely expensive.

I've never driven around TO but would you say Vancouver is a lot hillier, and is that good?
I've been doing UE for a year, I'm aware of the benefits and traps. I'm just in the final steps of getting approved on the apps, and this will be my first people driver type gig.

/derail

bump for someone to address OP's qs

Vancouver is a mountains terrain full of hills and steep slopes. Also, it rains most of the year here so it worsens gas consumption even more due to less traction, combined with the slopey terrain. Just be careful when you work. Driving night time in the rain is quite challenging, since the roads become very reflective and vision is very difficult.

Good luck.

 

[0ddj0b]

Having finished my first full shift, here are my thoughts:

A hazard of UE was getting the food smell in the car, making the insulated bags a must, plus for other obvious reasons.
But now passengers are sitting down for an extended period of time with their kitchen clothes, it does get covered up partly with a person that stinks of weed. Had to air the car out for 10 mins after.

I am very choosy, since Blue rank means that you cant even see the destination of the rider, so it's just a complete crapshoot on where you end up. Since I can really only see rating and pickup area when choosing (is 3 seconds normal or is that also a blue perk?), my criteria has just been a rider no lower than 4.9, if I'm in a slow area I may dabble in some .85's

I'm going to grind it out until the 500 ride mark where the destination is unlocked.
Had a 43 min ride to Surrey and deadheaded back to bby cause I didn't want to get trapped in abby
I'm not working a weekend or party night until I get my shipment of barf bags.
Everyone has been friendly so far.

 

[Overfloater]

I know, some people do stink. People from certain ethnicities usually smell of curry or their food spices, which forces me to open the window cause I can't tolerate the smell. I did get people reeking of weed, too and that's the worst. It's like having a skunk take a ride with you.

As for being picky with your rides, I personally don't pick my rides based on their ratings. That's the least I care about since most people in Vancouver are nice. However, if the ride is below 4.5 I start getting concerned. I only declined a 4.4 before once. I want to keep my acceptance rate relatively high so that the Uber app wouldn't punish me and cut on the requests. I've had some friends who got punished on Halloween weekend due to their low acceptance rates. They're using a surge app so they only accept surge rides to maximize their earnings. I don't do that - maybe only on special events, like Halloween. Not sure what you mean by 3 seconds? You mean the time you're given to accept the ride? I think that's the standard for anyone.

Yes, we only get see their destination if we're Gold. And still, even if you did see where they're headed and that was somewhere inconvenient to you, you should try to minimize rejections to keep your acceptance rate high as much as you can so that you can pick the surge rides on special events. I also hate going to Surrey cause it's usually long distance between rides. Working in Vancouver is the most profitable from what I've experienced. Also, I've come to realize that short trips in Vancouver are actually more profitable than long trips taking you out of Vancouver since the distance between trips are short in Vancouver but when you get a long trip, it throws you off to somewhere like Langley or Surrey where the distance between rides are very long and then when you get to the rider, they usually want to go to a distance that's shorter than what you've travelled to get to them.

Good luck!

 

[0ddj0b]

I acknowledge that declines or timeouts are tracked negatively, but I'm willing to bite the bullet and tank my numbers for this quarter just to give myself the best chances as I see it. As long as i'm not severely punished (like a whole day of no rides) then I'll continue giving myself my best opportunity by only taking those 'high rated' and 'ideal pickup spot' riders.

What was very annoying when doing Uber Eats was getting new job offers on the last minute before dropoff. While you're already driving slowly to find that house or make a corner at a certain spot, you're prompted with this thing so half the time I would accidently accept it, and the other half I had to X out at the corner, it was unnecessarily inconvenient but whatever, you could just cancel that job after the fact or X out if its not distracting to find as your main focus is driving, but with UberX its just a hazard.

New 'rider' prompts and zooms out the map, disorienting when taking exits, especially compounded at night and with heavy rain. It happens repeatedly of course, it's pretty brutal.
They should definitely add a "never distract driver with new rides until current ride is dropped off" mode.

People are taking hits from their hand sized ******flutes in the backseat all day long. I guess I provide a comfy ride Shoutout to the riders that at least roll down the window
Even though I haven't yet worked a night, I had a drunk rider who I was almost certain would vomit, but luckily he held it in, at 7pm. My body is ready.

Ah ok, if 3 seconds is the standard then so be it. With UE its around 20-30 secs, DD its up to 60.

 

[0ddj0b]

I didn't notice "turn off new requests" right on the main page where the pickup and dropoff points are listed. Now used often.

Unrelated, I had an interesting experience with a drunk lady. I'm sure it happens everyday but this was my first ejection. I would like opinions or feedback on how I handled it.
I am not trying to put this lady on blast, or make this video go viral or anything. I spent time editing to keep things as anonymous as possible but still having some fun, but please advise if I should modulate the voices for that extra layer of protection.

edit: so I got my first 1 star, if it wasn't from the above then it was the following day:
I pickup an older lady WITH a beer in hand, but it was in the afternoon and she seemed older and more frail than the last lady, so I let it slide. Maybe half influenced from the previous night's exchange with the added elements of it being afternoon and her being older we rode on after ensuring seatbelts are on.
We seemed to have pleasant conversation throughout the ride, up until the end. Before leaving she said she thought I was very rude and deameaning. I was shocked and ended my day there.

Is there a way to provide footage to Uber to expunge 1 star ratings? I like making videos for fun, but if its to clear my name repeatedly then this will feel like homework.
Would it be cheaper for Uber to install a livestreaming dashcam on my car? Let's save everyone time. Otherwise I'm going to have to spend money on storage.

 

[Overfloater]

I just try to be more lenient and friendly with my riders. I start with "please buckle up for your safety" followed by "ready? Let's go!", then "how's your day/evening going so far? ". If a conversation erupts from there, I tend to try to make people's day better through our conversation. Try to make them feel good about themselves and be kind. If you do not allow eating or drinking in your vehicle, I recommend putting a sign on the passenger seat's back to be visible for your riders, or simply tell them respectfully "sorry but, I do not allow eating or drinking in my car because I get thousands of riders in my car per year and if I allowed it, you won't be enjoying a clean ride as you currently are, right now. I appreciate your understanding.". I also keep a small garbage basket in the front seat floor next to me me just in case someone has garbage. Thanks to Uber's new pandemic 3-only-backseat-passengers policy, we can now use the passenger seat to put anything we want in it. It also helps during weekend night shifts or events if someone has to puke 🤢🤮.

I find that the way things are said have a huge impact - one thing can be said in many ways. You could tell someone that you do not allow beverages in your vehicle in one way and get 1 star 👎🏼 for it, or you can say it in another way and get 5 stars 👍🏼✨ for it. Try to be nice and not just enforce your vehicle rules. That would only make people feel oppressed and uncomfortable. Instead, try to be more friendly and welcoming. Treat your riders as if they're your guests. I tell my riders that they are my guests and I value my guests.

 

[ANT 7]

Your AR does not matter. I drove for 2 years before they started giving drivers time and direction with a 85% AR. I’m at 72% and as profitable as I ever was. I just don’t pickup anyone more than 10 min away. I just let them time out.

Here’s how I deal with pax........

Hello Bob, sit down and make yourself comfy.

Swipe app

You’re going to such and such, correct ?

Pax confirms.

Perfect. I’ve got my heater/AC on so if gets too hot or cold back there please let me know.

Then I start driving and STFU unless they decide to engage me in a convo. Then I am polite, accommodating (use a mirroring technique) and lie. The self loading freight has no business knowing your truth. STFU after you answer.

Always STFU.

If they want to stop, roll down a window, or listen to country music go along with it. Most rides are under 15 min anyways.

Always STFU.

Over 11,000 rides and a 5.00 rating at present. If you STFU you will have good ratings.

 

[Overfloater]

Your AR does not matter. I drove for 2 years before they started giving drivers time and direction with a 85% AR. I’m at 72% and as profitable as I ever was. I just don’t pickup anyone more than 10 min away. I just let them time out.

Here’s how I deal with pax........

Hello Bob, sit down and make yourself comfy.

Swipe app

You’re going to such and such, correct ?

Pax confirms.

Perfect. I’ve got my heater/AC on so if gets too hot or cold back there please let me know.

Then I start driving and STFU unless they decide to engage me in a convo. Then I am polite, accommodating (use a mirroring technique) and lie. The self loading freight has no business knowing your truth. STFU after you answer.

Always STFU.

If they want to stop, roll down a window, or listen to country music go along with it. Most rides are under 15 min anyways.

Always STFU.

Over 11,000 rides and a 5.00 rating at present. If you STFU you will have good ratings.

Good to know. I always stay quiet, too. But I greet people just to be nice.
What's pax?
Also, from friends experience, they have reported that they didn't get a single request on Halloween because they have a very low AR cause they have a surge app and they only pick surge pricing. I find it pointless to get a surge app at all. They can just go offline and see where surge is 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[ANT 7]

Pax is an airline term which we use here for passengers.

Surge apps are useless. Surge trips are rare here in Calgary anyways. Surges are often totally fake and used to manipulate drivers into relocating to where there are no cars sitting. Pax will sit for 15 min checking for trips that are non surge. They are adverse to paying unless it's for 2-5 min.

I've played games with the app.....sat in blood-red surges getting base rate trips 10 minutes away. Decline 4-5 then I get one 3 min surge trip.

Do not chase surge or wait for it. Just drive. The app is full of manipulative tricks. You will believe this in due time.

Best.

 

[Overfloater]

Pax is an airline term which we use here for passengers.

Surge apps are useless. Surge trips are rare here in Calgary anyways. Surgea are often totally fake anyways, and used to manipulate drivers into relocating to where there are no cars sitting. Pax will sit for15 min checking for trips that are non surge. They are adverse to paying unless it's for 2-5 min.

I've played games with the app.....sat in blood-red surges getting base rate trips 10 minutes away. Decline 4-5 then I get one 3 min surge trip.

Do not chase surge or wait for it. Just drive. The app is full of manipulative tricks. You will believe this in due time.

Best.

No I believe you already from experience. Also another irrelevant tip I've learned from experience: airport waiting lot is pointless. You wait and wait even if you have 1-5 cars ahead of you and end up with just a regular trip like any other trips you'd get while working anywhere. And you can get airport requests even when you're outside of the airport. One time I waited for 1 complete hour in the waiting lot and I only had 1-6 cars ahead of me. All the cars that were waiting when I got in left and new cars came and left while I waited. Another time I went to the waiting lot hoping that things would change, but then I changed my mind after 5 minutes, left the lot and on my way out to the main road (where the app keeps alerting you to "head to waiting lot" I got an airport request when it's supposed to only send me airport request if I'm in the waiting lot. It's not a fair queue system. Almost everything in the app is to trick us to do their bidding.

 

[ANT 7]

Never sit in the shitter lot unless the math makes sense. We have 15 hotels within 5 min of our airport. Guess where you might end up going.

 

[Overfloater]

Never sit in the shitter lot unless the math makes sense. We have 15 hotels within 5 min of our airport. Guess where you might end up going.

😂 🤣 @ sh* lot loool!

 

[ANT 7]

It's where the chemicals toilets are.

 

[0ddj0b]

caught another live one