[Vagabond1]

Here in Tampa, the weather was not unsafe yesterday (Tuesday), but major areas were under mandatory evacuation orders with up to 60 mph winds and deluge style downpours and flooding from hurricane Ian forecast for the next couple days. The highways were clogged with people getting out of town in the rain.

Uber decides to take advantage of this marketing opportunity and offer free rides up to $30 to local evacuation shelters with a code on every news outlet. Nice. They then promptly went into the driver app and deleted all the boosts and quests. I don't mean they didn't offer extra. I mean they deleted all the ones that were already there, right in the middle of a boost hour and including quests so any rides yesterday wouldn't count toward them. Not a system glitch. They put a message in the app a few hours later that given the weather conditions all Tampa pay promotions would be suspended, while still encouraging us to drive if we felt safe to do so. And again, there was no prediction for unsafe driving weather for yesterday.

So either:

1. They were intentionally ripping us off by asking us to drive these riders in horrible traffic and in the rain for the insanely low base rates now in effect under Upfront Pricing, including not even being able to get the anemic quest bonus for volume rides for the week. Or,

2. They plastered their name all over the media for free ripping off riders by offering something they had no expectation of having enough drivers to fulfill.

Whichever it was, it was a crappy thing to do to everyone. I feel sorry for any drivers who were already out in that mess expecting to make boosts and ending up with a bunch of $4/$5 flat rate rides taking forever in rain and evacuation traffic, and for anybody who had to evacuate and counted on hitching an Uber after seeing that offer only to be left with a huge wait or no ride at all.

Every time I think they've played all their cards about how soul-less they are this year, they do something else. Taking advantage of drivers and riders alike in anticipation of a natural disaster. Now that's weak.

 

[IDriveForUber]

I wouldn't chalk this up to Uber, I would say it has to do with the economic ignorance of the majority of Americans. It's the same logic that supports price gouging laws and Federal flood "insurance" programs.

A less economically ignorant customer base would appreciate something "we guarantee we will have as many drivers as possible everywhere it is legal to do so", then allow prices to settle at their market rate.

Instead, there will be fewer drivers and many people will not have transportation, despite their increased likelihood to rely on cheap transportation based on the communications of Uber.

 

[Vagabond1]

I wouldn't chalk this up to Uber, I would say it has to do with the economic ignorance of the majority of Americans. It's the same logic that supports price gouging laws and Federal flood "insurance" programs.

A less economically ignorant customer base would appreciate something "we guarantee we will have as many drivers as possible everywhere it is legal to do so", then allow prices to settle at their market rate.

Instead, there will be fewer drivers and many people will not have transportation, despite their increased likelihood to rely on cheap transportation based on the communications of Uber.

You wouldn't chalk Uber intentionally cancelling all driver boosts and quests during a major freebie promotion in a hurricane up to Uber? Ok.

 

[IDriveForUber]

You wouldn't chalk Uber intentionally cancelling all driver boosts and quests during a major freebie promotion in a hurricane up to Uber? Ok.

Correct, because they are responding to what they feel will get them more business from the customer base. That's how mass communications is done.

 

[Rampage]

This is messed up. I’m in N. FL and not getting any pings yet it says im in a busy area. Im sure the ants that work for less than a buck a mile are getting the pings.

 

[Vagabond1]

Correct, because they are responding to what they feel will get them more business from the customer base. That's how mass communications is done.

I think maybe you don't know what a boost or quest is. In upfront pricing markets, we get a ridiculous flat rate for rides, often as low as $4/$5 for a 20 minute ride. Then in busy hours we also get a per ride boost of maybe $2 to $6. Most of yesterday's boosts in the late afternoon were $4 per ride. Then the quest is an additional bonus for completing 50 rides Monday through Thursday. Without them, you're basically just making gas money.

I'm saying Uber made this free ride announcement, and then took away all the driver boosts and quests they had already promised so we'd make nothing.

You have no problem with that?

Of course they can offer a promotion. Why would I have a problem with them offering a promotion?

 

[IDriveForUber]

You have no problem with that?

If you spent up to 10 more seconds reading my post and making your best attempt to apply some reading comprehension, you may notice that I'm not stating my opinion on the policy, itself. I'm stating that Uber is acting in its interests based on what is commonly believed in the population.

 

[Vagabond1]

If you spent up to 10 more seconds reading my post and making your best attempt to apply some reading comprehension, you may notice that I'm not stating my opinion on the policy, itself. I'm stating that Uber is acting in its interests based on what is commonly believed in the population.

I don't think what the population believes has anything to do with our pay or it being cancelled. Most of them don't even know what we make. And I don't think most of the population would expect them to cut our pay in half during a huricane.

I think my reading comprehension is just fine. I just also think it was flat out wrong and most certainly Uber's actions should be chalked up to Uber.

 

[IDriveForUber]

I don't think what the population believes has anything to do with our pay or it being cancelled. Most of them don't even know what we make.

If they want to have reliable transportation in an emergency, and understood that higher prices increases supply, while lower prices reduces supply, then they would certainly be concerned about prices. This is my point, and as typical, most people, and this appears to include you, do not understand this basic economic concept.

 

[Vagabond1]

If they want to have reliable transportation in an emergency, and understood that higher prices increases supply, while lower prices reduces supply, then they would certainly be concerned about prices. This is my point, and as typical, most people, and this appears to include you, do not understand this basic economic concept.

You clearly have no idea who you're talking to. You also don't seem to understand Uber's pricing formula. They take 50%+ from us all the time in upfront pricing markets so they can afford surges and boosts where they only make 10%, or sometimes nothing. It's not a linear equation where they offer a cheap ride and automatically cut our pay.

Those boosts were in the system already and promised pay. There is no excuse for cancelling that while still expecting us to work. Public opinion or a rider promotional offer has nothing to do with that.

 

[IDriveForUber]

Public opinion or a rider promotional offer has nothing to do with that.

I'm pretty sure it does, because if you and others understood just the very basics of economic principles, you would understand that the next go-round with similar conditions drivers will be less likely to be out driving due to these policies. This conversation has stalled because you keep repeating the same thing and making assumptions that are not correct.

 

[Vagabond1]

I'm pretty sure it does, because if you and others understood just the very basics of economic principles, you would understand that the next go-round with similar conditions drivers will be less likely to be out driving due to these policies. This conversation has stalled because you keep repeating the same thing and making assumptions that are not correct.

I'm a retired accountant. I understand what you're trying to say just fine. I'm repeating myself because what you're saying is not relevant to the actual gripe of this thread.

With all due respect, if you insist most people don't understand your very basic economic concepts, which we all learned in high school though you seem to believe are something very sophisticated and beyond our meager intellects, it might be because you're applying them inappropriately and demanding everyone just agree with you instead of you making sense first.

We can agree on the stalled conversation part. Have a nice day.

 

[IDriveForUber]

I'm a retired accountant.

I have dealt with many accountants, and most of them are terrible at economics and mass communications. Knowing tax laws or where to place transactions in a ledger system is an unrelated skill set.

If "we all learned in high school" these basic concepts, why do price gouging laws exist and with broad public support for them?

Please stop with your attempt at the ad hominem that believe I know something so sophisticated and everyone else has meager intellects and am thus a superior human to all others. It's a terrible way to communicate.

 

[Stevie The magic Unicorn]

Offering free rides,

Good move, good PR.

Deleting promos and offers for drivers?

That's a bullshit move, I mean come on.


Reality is that if I lived in Tampa i'd GTFO rather than driving paxholes but that's just me.

 

[Vagabond1]

Offering free rides,

Good move, good PR.

Deleting promos and offers for drivers?

That's a bullshit move, I mean come on.


Reality is that if I lived in Tampa i'd GTFO rather than driving paxholes but that's just me.

Exactly. Lookee here. Common sense. Thank you.

 

[Vagabond1]

I have dealt with many accountants, and most of them are terrible at economics and mass communications. Knowing tax laws or where to place transactions in a ledger system is an unrelated skill set.

Thanks for the morning laugh. It's very amusing you think that's all any accountant does, as opposed to, say, budgeting, sales forecasting, variable pricing formulas and on-the-fly pricing algorithms, etc for Fortune 500 companies. But hey, why ask first?

Anyway, we're way off track here. The unicorn summed it up nicely. Let's move on.

 

[IDriveForUber]

budgeting, sales forecasting, variable pricing formulas and on-the-fly pricing algorithms

You talk like you're the only person in here who has ever done anything in his life. We're all just losers and the only things we are capable of is driving a car for a living but you are the lone one with "real" life experience.

I have also worked in major corporations and if we followed the advice of the accountants, to quote the company president, "we end up with zero inventory and zero revenue". Accountants demonstrated themselves to generally have no concept of what is required to make a sale, why customers purchase things, when changes are required, or why we need healthy vendors for us to stay in business.

To the extent that accountants are involved in these activities is to formalize the input from the other departments, not generate the input, themselves.

 

[Vagabond1]

You talk like you're the only person in here who has ever done anything in his life. We're all just losers and the only things we are capable of is driving a car for a living but you are the lone one with "real" life experience.

I have also worked in major corporations and if we followed the advice of the accountants, to quote the company president, "we end up with zero inventory and zero revenue". Accountants demonstrated themselves to generally have no concept of what is required to make a sale, why customers purchase things, when changes are required, or why we need healthy vendors for us to stay in business.

To the extent that accountants are involved in these activities is to formalize the input from the other departments, not generate the input, themselves.

I think you've got the first paragraph backwards, which is how this all started. I only said anything about what I've done because you insisted none of us understand economics.

The rest of that gibberish is just a bunch of preconceived notions you seem to have about what a job title means. I mean, really, you're going to tell me what my role actually was?

Let it go. Uber used a hurricane to cancel promised bonuses for working those hours at the last minute and then still wanted us to work. That is the topic. Your economic prowess or presumptions about my career are irrelevant. I shouldn't have responded in the first place. My bad. I won't again.

To repeat myself, have a nice day.

 

[IDriveForUber]

To repeat myself, have a nice day.

What I did was state the likely motivations for Uber's actions, which is nothing to do with whether these are moral or ethical.

It is you who keeps changing the topic, continues to make assumptions, and snubs his nose at others while putting on the face of some sort of moral crusader.

 

[Atom guy]

The proper response to this move by Uber is simply not to drive. Get yourself to a safe place for the hurricane. Uber will end up making sure they only charge regular fare after the hurricane, so no one can complain that they are gouging the customers after a disaster.