My first uber

[LADoug1]

If you are riding in Lyft something's else to keep in mind Is that if you tip on the app the driver gets it included on his 1099 and has to

Pay tax where they don't pay tax if it's cash. Well they should pay tax but I'm sure like most service people they don't claim it

 

Tips are income. They should be reported.

[LADoug1]

If you are riding in Lyft something's else to keep in mind Is that if you tip on the app the driver gets it included on his 1099 and has to

Pay tax where they don't pay tax if it's cash. Well they should pay tax but I'm sure like most service people they don't claim it

 

Tips are income. They should be reported.

[LADoug1]

Right. Uber/Lyft know where you're going and how much it will costs. But the driver doesn't know where until you are picked up.

 

This keeps the drivers from cherry picking the higher dollar value rides.

 

I understand their reason but recently I rode with a Lyft driver who told me that if he's just about through for the day he doesn't want to be surprised by a 45 minute one way fare.

I sympathized with him and wouldn't want to be driven by a resentful driver.

[LADoug1]

Right. Uber/Lyft know where you're going and how much it will costs. But the driver doesn't know where until you are picked up.

 

This keeps the drivers from cherry picking the higher dollar value rides.

 

I understand their reason but recently I rode with a Lyft driver who told me that if he's just about through for the day he doesn't want to be surprised by a 45 minute one way fare.

I sympathized with him and wouldn't want to be driven by a resentful driver.

[handiacefailure]

I guess you don't have a family so that you seldom go to the supermarket for shopping. It is very inconvenient if you don't have your own car.

 

In some cities it's impractical to have a car. If I lived in midtown manhattan or in chicago proper there'd be no way I'd have a car. I'd do grocery shopping at neighborhood stores every couple days or use a delivery service. There's always zip cars for the times you need car

 

The city I live in requires a car. I live 1/3 if a mile from work and downtown but need a car for things like the grocery store and getting to the airport.

[caliguy]

Uber lies so much. They lead the public to believe the tip is included. The drivers don't make shit so it's just another evil thing they do. Their leader Travis Kalanick is a complete duchebag and a big Trump supporter. I dumped their app for Lyft.

Edited April 15, 2017 by caliguy

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Uber lies so much. They lead the public to believe the tip is included. The drivers don't make shit so it's just another evil thing they do. Their leader Travis Kalanick is a complete duchebag and a big Trump supporter. I dumped their app for Lyft.

 

Let's be frank: Most companies that large are evil in one way or another. They ALL lie. We either just choose to ignore the lies or accept them and move forward.

 

Kalanick quit Trump's business advisory council and has basically severed public ties with him. The same can't currently be said for Lyft:

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2017/04/06/lyft-exec-may-join-trumps-dot/100154370/#

 

I'll be curious to see if they push forward with this and what public reaction to it will be.

[LADoug1]

Uber lies so much. They lead the public to believe the tip is included. The drivers don't make shit so it's just another evil thing they do. Their leader Travis Kalanick is a complete duchebag and a big Trump supporter. I dumped their app for Lyft.

 

Just as I expected. Thanks for more information.

[+ Axiom2001]

After having one hell of some hot play with a former escort in San Francisco-- he rang Uber for me to get me back to my hotel. I can't remember if I tipped the driver or not, for I was so in such a great euphoric state! It's one night that I'll always remember, especially "my Billy," a Eurasian who had the greatest 10 incher with lots of overhang! Damn, I miss him and his "succulent blessing!"

[+ glutes]

Yes, Uber lies, just like most escorts. Ignore them or just accept?

 

Heck, Uber even has terrorists driving for them!

[+ GregM]

I've used both and found both to be fine. Although I'm more inclined to use Uber since I get cash back with each use. A dollar saved is a dollar earned. Last time I used Uber was in July in Vegas. There was some confusion on where I was to meet the car at the hotel. Luckily I found him and made it to the show with 5 mins to spare

 

Hugs,

Greg

[amused1]

I've been using Uber for a little over a year. I've only had one bad experience. At the end of the ride I spoke to the driver about the fact that he consistently drove at least 15 mph over the speed limit (at one point going 45 through a dense residential area speed limit 25 mph), consistently slammed on his breaks, overshot my destination by a block and had a dirty car and so he wasn't getting a tip. I then reported his poor driving habits to Uber. I suspect my customer rating took a hit.

[+ Tarte Gogo]

A nice uplifting post. But still I would expect this from any professional service provider.

True, but a yellow cab wouldn’t have known how to reach you.

With Uber you have an on-going relationship, you can call them, they can you, and you can both lookup the records of each interactions. It did help in this case.

[samhexum]

Uber, the ride-hailing company, has had a bad year — capped off this month by the murder of a British diplomat by an on-duty Uber driver, and, less tragically, a European court determination that it’s a transportation company, not a tech company. Uber’s woes wouldn’t be a surprise to the company’s investors if they hadn’t assumed that technical innovation equals financial success.

 

To the average Uber customer, the company is successful. Seven years ago, it launched a concept that now seems obvious: Use an app on your phone to hail a car.

 

In New York, Uber has improved the quality of life for people who live far from mass transit and where traditional yellow cabs don’t want to go. It’s also convenient for Manhattanites who don’t want to chance waiting for a cab, particularly at rush hour.

 

None of this, though, guarantees a payoff for the global investors who valued the company at $69 billion early this year. Tech is colliding with the real world — and the real world, for the moment, is winning, with Uber’s value down an estimated 30 percent in the past few months.

 

Uber’s first problem is government power. For all its pretensions otherwise, Uber is nothing new: It is, as the European Court just ruled and as New York City has long held, a for-hire car service, subject to all the local rules around the world that govern such services.

 

The fact that Uber makes taking a car easier and cheaper actually means it needs more regulation, not less. As Bruce Scaller, former deputy traffic commissioner at the city’s Transportation Department, just noted in a report out last week, cheaper and more plentiful cars have caused oversaturation.

 

According to Scaller, although total taxi and for-hire car trips in Manhattan’s central business district increased by 15 percent on the average weekday between June 2013 and June 2017, total mileage for these cars in the same area increased by 36 percent.

 

The number of taxi and for-hire vehicles increased by 59 percent, but the number of unoccupied vehicles increased by 81 percent, with each for-hire driver waiting 11 minutes between fares. During the afternoon rush, between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., 10,000 for-hire vehicles are trawling Manhattan. Taxis and other for-hire cars now account for more than half of daytime traffic on major avenues.

 

The conclusion: The only way Uber and its competitors can make each trip so convenient for its passengers is to flood the streets with empty cars. You may not wait standing on the street for a cab, but now you wait on the street in a black car, behind all of those other black cars.

 

This situation won’t last forever. When Gov. Cuomo unveils his congestion-pricing plan next month, as expected, he’s going to have to tackle Manhattan’s idle Ubers. Roughly the same problem — and solution — exists in other dense cities, Uber’s most lucrative markets.

 

Uber’s second problem, paradoxically, is government weakness. For all of its promise that algorithmic solutions would reduce the need for government-required background checks, Uber needs such checks to keep its customers safe. The driver in Lebanon who strangled British diplomat Rebecca Dykes passed a government-mandated background check despite a criminal record.

 

Places where Uber wants to grow and provide a genuinely needed service — a safe ride home — are also places where fake documents, corruption and unsolved crimes are rife.

 

Uber also has more than its fair share of terrorists in the West, from the driver who committed a sword attack at Buckingham Palace this summer to New York’s bike-path killer, who had previously worked for the service.

 

Uber’s biggest problem, though, is that its technology is not that special. The company has formidable competitors, from Lyft at home to Gett in Britain to Didi in China, which has already won the battle for market share there.

 

Allegations that Uber stole trade secrets and spied on rivals aren’t just indications of the company’s poor culture. They also suggest the company is desperate for some advantage.

 

All this is why Uber lost nearly $1.5 billion last quarter alone, with no indication that it will stop losing money.

 

It’s a risk of capitalism that the world’s savviest investors, from the Saudi Arabian sovereign-wealth fund to the wealthy clients of Goldman Sachs, didn’t grasp. Uber spawned e-hailing — but e-hailing could well outlast Uber.

 

Nicole Gelinas is a contributing editor to the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal.

[+ Gar1eth]

Last February while I was driving in the Capitol Hill Area in Seattle on a street where I had the right of way, I was T-boned on the driver’s side by Lyft driver. He had a stop sign. I’m sure he was looking at his app and not at the road.

 

I was really shaken up by the accident. I could barely get the front door open

 

http://Dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/86zrh0ly31j95h7/File%20Dec%2025%2C%208%2015%2006%20PM.jpeg?dl=0

 

 

The guy was a youngster in the Navy. He drove for Lyft on the weekends. Here is his car.

 

http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/cas25bnn3it4fuu/File%20Dec%2025%2C%208%2016%2024%20PM.jpeg?dl=0

 

 

Less than 2 months before the accident I had had to replace the coil packs in my car. I had also recently bought a new battery, and had replaced both front headlight bulbs. I was really upset at first having had to spend all that money. But the repairs actually helped me as once I sent the receipts to the appraiser, he upped the value of my car by about $1200.

 

Gman

[coriolis888]

 

I prefer to use Lyft - it allows you to tip within the app.

 

I tip Über drivers almost always.

 

 

I did not see it mentioned here regarding tipping Uber drivers, but, it is possible to tip "within the app" when using Uber.

 

That feature was added sometime during this year.

Edited December 27, 2017 by coriolis888

[bigvalboy]

Christmas eve, my Uber driver blew a red light and almost got us killed. He wasn't looking at his phone, so I'm not sure if he dosed off or just wasn't paying attention. I opted not to tip...

[+ ArVaGuy]

I’ve been using Uber since the service began in DC five years ago. I’ve used both Uber and Lyft and find no difference between the two basic services as drivers often sign up with both companies.

 

However, my personal preference is for Uber Black which was the original service before the company went mass market. The Uber Black drivers are required to have a commercial drivers license and proper insurance. Uber X, Uber Pool, Uber Whatever, as well as Lyft are not required to have commercial insurance. If they are in an accident it’s on their personal insurance.

 

While both Uber and Lyft claim to offer riders up to one million dollars in insurance coverage in most cases that is SECONDARY to the driver’s personal automobile insurance. Insurance companies are scrutinizing claims to determine if the drivers were operating as a ride share vehicle.

 

Since most of my Uber Black rides are for business purposes the monthly trip report is a godsend for expense tracking purposes. Also since the black car drivers are professionals they tend to know where the major hotels and office buildings are located. I can’t say the same for Uber X or Lyft. There’s a couple of hotels in DC outside the downtown core on more than one occasion business associates have been late to meetings because the Uber X or Lyft driver had no clue where Maryland Avenue Southwest was located despite having GPS. (It’s near the Department of Agriculture.)

 

I’ve had a couple of “interesting” Lyft and Uber X rides the last couple of years. There’s the DC Lyft driver whose dashboard is covered in shag carpet with action figures mounted on it. In center console was a plastic Viking helmet. A work colleague had an Uber X driver who brought her child along for the ride in a car seat. He tweeted out the photo of this child sound asleep.

 

The straw that broke the Uber X back for me was in Indianapolis when I inadvertently ordered an UberX instead of my usual Uber Black. The driver got lost twice on the way to the hotel. But that was nothing. The front dashboard was festooned with anti abortion stickers. Turns out the guy was running for the Indiana legislature, had run for mayor three times and lost as well. When he finally pulled up to the hotel after a harrowing u-turn he handed me a copy of his campaign manifesto.

 

I gave the guy a one star rating. Uber contacted me about the low rating and wanted to know what had happened. I told them the app wouldn’t let me give a zero rating. I related the entire experience and the details about the stickers and the manifesto. Uber gave me an instant credit for the ride and $15 off the next ride.

[+ sniper]

Neither of them is politically pure. Lyft was partially funded or founded by Vichy Gay Peter Thiel.

[Dave]

I did my first uber ride last night. I had to drop my car off at the shop and didn't feel like bugging the friends who usually give me a ride to and from there again. Quite pleasant once I got signed up. One oddness - I tried to set up my pickup before I brought the car to the shop (a delayed pickup at 7:15 from the shop), since I knew I'd be there by then. It told me "delayed pickup was not available in that area" (only about 10-15 miles from me). I wonder what that restriction is for?

 

Other than that, the driver showed up within 10 minutes once I got to the shop and requested the pickup from my current location, and we had a nice chat (in her very-clean car) about our dogs on the way home.

 

I'm curious - does one tip an uber driver? I've heard conflicting advice on this.

 

Damn... I was totally up for reading a hot Uber story where the rider ended up having some sex with the driver. Oh, I forgot, I'm in the Lounge. Still - isn't this the stuff porn is made of?

[bigvalboy]

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/mexican-uber-driver-us-illegally-200110745.html

 

Uber driver in US illegally charged with 4 California rapes

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Mexican man living in the U.S. illegally used his job as an Uber driver to target intoxicated young women and was charged Monday with raping, assaulting and robbing four victims, California prosecutors said.

 

Alfonso Alarcon-Nunez drove women to their homes, assaulted them, and stole property including cellphones, computers and jewelry, officials said. He collected his fare payments through the smartphone app Venmo to disguise his identity and his Uber records.

 

DNA evidence helped lead detectives to Alarcon-Nunez, who was arrested at his Santa Maria home last week, San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow said at a news conference.

 

The alleged crimes occurred over four weeks starting in mid-December in San Luis Obispo, a city of about 45,000 that is home to California Polytechnic State University. Alarcon-Nunez's victims are between 19 and 22 and three were drunk at the time of the crimes, Dow said.

 

Alarcon-Nunez, 39, faces 10 criminal charges, including rape of an intoxicated victim and first-degree burglary. He pleaded not guilty to all charges at his arraignment and remained held in the San Luis Obispo County Jail with bail set at $1.47 million. His next court date was set for Jan. 29.

 

Detectives are looking for potential witnesses and trying to determine if there are additional victims in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties northwest of Los Angeles, where the Alarcon-Nunez had been driving for Uber since September, Dow said.

 

Alarcon-Nunez has also gone by the name "Bruno Diaz" and his Venmo username was "Brush Bat," prosecutors said.

 

Officials said Alarcon-Nunez was not always driving for Uber when he picked up women. Sometimes, drivers in cars parked outside bars or restaurants "jump in front of the actual Uber driver and they will take someone unsuspecting to their home. And that's a way of putting someone at risk, and in this case that's exactly what's alleged to have happened," Dow said.

 

He said the alleged crimes show that the company should improve its driver screening process, Dow said. Dow urged Uber users to make sure they are getting in the car of the correct driver by verifying the license plate and other information provided to clients.

 

"What police have reported is absolutely horrifying, and something no person should ever have to experience. We have been working with law enforcement to provide them with information for their investigation, and the driver has been permanently removed from the app," Uber spokesman Andrew Hasbun said in a statement Monday.

 

Alarcon-Nunez returned to the U.S. illegally after a voluntary deportation from New Mexico in 2005, officials said. Dow did not have details about why he was deported or whether he has a criminal record in the U.S.

 

California issues driver's licenses to immigrants in the country illegally and Alarcon-Nunez had a valid license since 2015.

 

Alarcon-Nunez's immigration status will not have a bearing on the prosecution, Dow said. He could face life in prison if convicted on all charges.

 

___

[+ glutes]

BVB, I can top your news article. Look at the 'background check' Uber did with their driver involved in Tempe AZ fatal crash:

 

TEMPE, Ariz.—The test operator in the Uber Technologies Inc. self-driving car that killed an Arizona woman was a felon with a history of traffic citations who wasn’t watching the road before the accident happened, facts that raise new questions about the company’s testing process for autonomous technology.

 

The accident and its resulting disclosures are a potential setback in the progress of self-driving cars and to Uber, which has grappled with a number of problems including legal woes and clashes among its board and investors that led to the replacement last year of its founder and chief executive.

 

The driver, whom police have identified as Rafael Vasquez, is seen in a video looking down for several seconds as the car moved at about 40 miles an hour, right before it hit and killed a pedestrian.

 

According to Arizona Department of Corrections records, the driver was convicted and received a five-year sentence in Maricopa County for attempted armed robbery in 2000 and served the sentence concurrently with a one-year sentence for a false-statement conviction in 1999. In 1998, the driver pleaded guilty to driving with a suspended, revoked or canceled license in Tucson City Court and was cited for failing to produce proof of insurance and for driving without a current registration.

[bigvalboy]

BVB, I can top your news article. Look at the 'background check' Uber did with their driver involved in Tempe AZ fatal crash:

 

TEMPE, Ariz.—The test operator in the Uber Technologies Inc. self-driving car that killed an Arizona woman was a felon with a history of traffic citations who wasn’t watching the road before the accident happened, facts that raise new questions about the company’s testing process for autonomous technology.

 

The accident and its resulting disclosures are a potential setback in the progress of self-driving cars and to Uber, which has grappled with a number of problems including legal woes and clashes among its board and investors that led to the replacement last year of its founder and chief executive.

 

The driver, whom police have identified as Rafael Vasquez, is seen in a video looking down for several seconds as the car moved at about 40 miles an hour, right before it hit and killed a pedestrian.

 

According to Arizona Department of Corrections records, the driver was convicted and received a five-year sentence in Maricopa County for attempted armed robbery in 2000 and served the sentence concurrently with a one-year sentence for a false-statement conviction in 1999. In 1998, the driver pleaded guilty to driving with a suspended, revoked or canceled license in Tucson City Court and was cited for failing to produce proof of insurance and for driving without a current registration.

 

Uber apparently is just as bad at 'background investigations' as POTUS is:

 

[rvwnsd]

BVB, I can top your news article. Look at the 'background check' Uber did with their driver involved in Tempe AZ fatal crash:

 

TEMPE, Ariz.—The test operator in the Uber Technologies Inc. self-driving car that killed an Arizona woman was a felon with a history of traffic citations who wasn’t watching the road before the accident happened, facts that raise new questions about the company’s testing process for autonomous technology.

 

The accident and its resulting disclosures are a potential setback in the progress of self-driving cars and to Uber, which has grappled with a number of problems including legal woes and clashes among its board and investors that led to the replacement last year of its founder and chief executive.

 

The driver, whom police have identified as Rafael Vasquez, is seen in a video looking down for several seconds as the car moved at about 40 miles an hour, right before it hit and killed a pedestrian.

 

According to Arizona Department of Corrections records, the driver was convicted and received a five-year sentence in Maricopa County for attempted armed robbery in 2000 and served the sentence concurrently with a one-year sentence for a false-statement conviction in 1999. In 1998, the driver pleaded guilty to driving with a suspended, revoked or canceled license in Tucson City Court and was cited for failing to produce proof of insurance and for driving without a current registration.

I work in Tempe and can tell you that the Uber self-driving cars zip around above the speed limit all the time. I HATE having to cross the street in front of one.

[+ Gar1eth]

I work in Tempe and can tell you that the Uber self-driving cars zip around above the speed limit all the time. I HATE having to cross the street in front of one.

 

 

I was taking an Uber with my Mom today. She lives inside a retirement complex. The signage isn’t great because it’s a high class joint. And I’m told the powers that be didn’t want big, ugly signs marring the ambiance of the grounds.

 

There’s a gated entrance with an immediate left turn after entering, but the main building is straight ahead on the left after going thru the gate. I texted the following to the driver before he arrived.

 

“Come straight thru entrance off xxxxx. Then go straight don't take first left. Main building is straight ahead on left. Circular drive with fountain.

The complex is off of xxxx and yyyyy But entrance is on west side of yyyyy”

 

I know it can be difficult to read texts, drive, and navigate at the same time. Plus the fountain can be difficult to see. But the driver totally disregarded the instructions. We never even saw the car. He may have passed us up. But the entire complex is a circle. Even if he passed us up if he had followed my instructions when I talked with him by phone, he would have ended up back where he needed to be.

 

I’m going to confess however that I was a bit po’ed. Mom and I had an appointment to get to. It wasn’t just a pleasure jaunt to the store. I know I didn’t sound too happy when I spoke with him on the phone, and he admitted he hadn’t followed my directions. The next thing I know even though he’s on the retirement complex grounds, he’s canceled our trip. We had to wait for an new driver.

 

We were on time for the appointment though.

 

Gman