The new tipping feature seems to be working out well for me. Granted, I only do this part time a couple of days a week, mostly as a 'hobby', but now that Uber has included tipping in the app, it is becoming worthwhile for me to drive again. I have gotten quite a few $5 - $10 tips, and the percentage of people tipping has gone from 1 in 15 rides to about 1 in 4 rides.
Now, on to the rant - I loaded 4 guys, late 20's/early 30's Friday night from Gatsby's in Gahanna to the Arena district - About a 12 minute ride down 670. As soon as they get in my car they ask if I have a USB connection in the backseat and if they can plug into it. Yes I do, and I show them where it is. While the one guy is screwing around with his phone, the other three are being just generally loud and obnoxious and all asking me distracting questions simultaneously while I'm trying to drive on the highway. Now, I don't get distracted easily and I was doing fine until the guy in the backseat hands his phone up to me and asks me to plug it in up front because he cant get it to work in the back. As I'm plugging his phone in up front, the guy in the front seat starts dicking with my radio, pushing buttons, turning the volume up etc. I ask him what he's looking for on the radio, and he says "I'm trying to help you get Spotify on here".
Well, I don't have Spotify, never used it, don't really care about it. I tell the guy I don't have Spotify, but I do have XM. Now they all get pissed because they cant listen to their music for the last 3 minutes of the ride and proceed to make comments about how this is one of the worst Uber rides they've ever had and something about not giving me 5 stars. Yeah, whatever. I drop them off, pull up a little, park and get out to check out my backseat only to find 3 empty beer bottles that they snuck into my car and left on the floor.
I avoid campus and late night weekends for this very reason - Idiots that really don't care about their safety or mine and distract the crap out of their driver while he has your life in his hands driving down the highway at 65-70 mph. Not worth it to me. This was the first Friday night I've driven in over a year, and most likely my last.
And I don't understand the whole Spotify thing either. I usually keep my radio on 97.9 or one of the pop stations on XM and that seems to appease 99% of my pax. It's very rare that anyone ever asks to change the station and no one ever brings up playing their own music - Unless I'm on campus or Short North late night loading multiple drunk pax. Then it's all about "Do you have Spotify so that we can listen to 30 seconds of a song while you drive us two blocks down the road?" Gesh, just get in the damn car, be quiet for two minutes and let me get you home safely. You don't get any extra amenities for your $6 fare that you are splitting 4 ways, you entitled millennials.
Another Lyft pax that I loaded was telling me about an Uber ride he had earlier in the week and why he will never use Uber again - He got picked up from a bar at Easton around 1 in the morning. He got in the front seat because the non-English speaking driver had trash in the back seat. The Uber driver changed lanes on Morse road around Menard's and hit another car. He pulled over, got out of the car and started arguing with the guy he just hit saying it was the other guys fault. When the other guy said he was calling the police, the Uber driver got back in his car, ended the trip and told pax to get out and then took off! The other driver starting yelling at pax and then police showed up and wanted to detain pax. He explained the situation to the police and they got his info and the guy that got hit actually drove him home once he realized what had happened. He was still working with Uber on the whole issue.
It's amazing - We have both crazy, stupid pax and drivers out there.
