[Libertyfare]

Annoyed. I was just outside the surge area and heading back to the action when I get diverted to a just outside the surge ping. Go toward the location almost there and cancel. So I continue back toward the action. Get about a mile away and same location pings again. Since it is a loop I just circle back almost make it to the location and again cancel. Keep in mind I am missing out on surge potential for this game. So I U turn in the neighborhood and head back toward the action. Then I get a cancel with no ping same location again. I turn off the app and head toward the bar district to get away from this clown. Wonder if it is another Uber driver pulling this crap to keep other drivers out of the surge area in hopes they will either run around to a non-existent fare or get put in Uber time out for not accepting pings.

 

[fiyawalker]

Annoyed. I was just outside the surge area and heading back to the action when I get diverted to a just outside the surge ping. Go toward the location almost there and cancel. So I continue back toward the action. Get about a mile away and same location pings again. Since it is a loop I just circle back almost make it to the location and again cancel. Keep in mind I am missing out on surge potential for this game. So I U turn in the neighborhood and head back toward the action. Then I get a cancel with no ping same location again. I turn off the app and head toward the bar district to get away from this clown. Wonder if it is another Uber driver pulling this crap to keep other drivers out of the surge area in hopes they will either run around to a non-existent fare or get put in Uber time out for not accepting pings.

If I am in the middle of a surge and get a non-surge ping, I ignore it! If I take what appeared to be a surge and it isn't, I cancel it! I don't play Uber trick you surge games!

 

[Stephen]

I've gotten that...ping, cancel, ping, cancel, ping, cancel...and then my app goes offline because I didn't start three trips in a row or whatever BS algorithm Uber uses to put drivers in time out.

 

[Disgusted Driver]

I got that and called the person after the third ping and they apologized profusely, said they were just playing with the app.

These days on the third ping, I accept, signal arrived and head away. It sometimes startles them so they wait for you and you can collect a cancellation fee after 5 minutes. Otherwise, at least you should be far enough away so you don't get them again.

 

[Bill Wirth]

So if you hit arrived even though you have not made it to the destination you can still get cancellation fee after 5 minutes?

 

[Disgusted Driver]

So if you hit arrived even though you have not made it to the destination you can still get cancellation fee after 5 minutes?

That is correct. Obviously if the pax contests it, Uber will look and see that you weren't there and credit the charge but 9 out of 10 times I get it. I use this technique primarily for late night calls, it's surging, the pin is in a funky area, I'm 5 or more minutes away. I call you. If you answer, I verify location. If you don't answer, I click arrived and start heading your way. When I get there, if I don't see you, I call once more then click cancel, no show. Now I'm downtown, ready to grab the next fare I can get while the surge is still on.

It's also useful to shave a few seconds off the 5 minute wait. When I'm in student areas where they like to make you wait, I'll hit arrived when I'm 2 blocks away, gets them started getting out of the house and cuts my wait time by 20 or 30 seconds.

Ethical? Don't know, it's what I feel I need to do to make money.