How Uber punishes drivers who refuse to use UberPool

[FrodosPet]

How Uber punishes drivers who refuse to use UberPool

http://money.cnn.com/2016/07/28/technology/uber-uberpool-timeouts/index.html?iid=hp-stack-dom

by Matt McFarland @mattmcfarland
July 28, 2016: 11:59 AM ET

Uber drivers who turn down ride requests risk having their workday paused as Uber locks them out of its system for up to 15 minutes. Some drivers wait patiently for the timeout to end. Others just call it quits for the day.

~ snip ~

With UberPool, riders traveling to similar destinations are grouped together in the same vehicle. Riders receive a discount for using UberPool. Uber claims the service can help drivers make more money because they spend less time waiting between rides. (Ride requests are generally sent to the driver who is nearest to the person requesting a ride.)

Yet Uber drivers are generally unhappy with UberPool, according to interviews with two experts, seven drivers and an extensive review of online forums where thousands of drivers congregate, including Facebook and Reddit. The Independent Drivers Guild, which advocates for New York's 35,000 Uber drivers, calls UberPool a top issue for drivers.

~ snip ~

"True independent contractors have the freedom to decide when they want to work and what kind of work they want to do," said Benjamin Sachs, a Harvard Law School professor. "By giving drivers timeouts, Uber is exercising the kind of control over its workforce that employers exercise over employees."

But taxis suck, and people have had good experiences with rideshare, so we should never criticize Uber!

[FrodosPet]

1. IS UBERPOOL DRIVING UBER’S BRAND OFF THE DEEP END?

IS UBERPOOL DRIVING UBER’S BRAND OFF THE DEEP END?

https://everythingadtech.com/2016/03/14/is-uberpool-driving-ubers-brand-off-deep-end/

March 14, 2016 BillColbert

~ snip ~

Uber started as something very luxurious and quickly morphed into something truly world-changing. Black cars, then regular cars on demand. The entire experience was a premium one. The cars were cleaner, the drivers friendlier. The cost? Equal or less to what you were paying a traditional cab driver. “Where has this been all my life?!” you might have found yourself saying. Even in instances where the cost was 4x that of a public transportation alternative, Uber felt like a deal. Book a car, get in, go, get out, have a nice day. Oh, and payment was automated.

~ snip ~

If you have to get somewhere in a hurry, you can forget about it. If you enjoyed going directly to your destination and having confidence that the expected arrival time was accurate, you can forget about that too.

~ snip ~

HOW LONG WILL THESE OTHER PICKUPS TAKE?

I see the estimated time until arrival to my destination on the app, but I don’t have much faith in it. How can they tell if the next passenger is ready to jump in? What if passenger 2 is dilly-dallying in the lobby of their building? Where are we we even going to pickup up the next passenger from?!?! The uncertainty gives me anxiety. When they finally get in I’m like, “Where are they going?” I really don’t want to ride along on someone else’s errand or trip, even if it’s right on the way. It’s going to take a few more trips to get used to this.

WHO WILL BE JOINING ME?

If UberPOOL is going to succeed it’s going to need passenger ratings to be made public. I haven’t had a negative POOL passenger experience yet, but I’ve only taken it during the day. What about at night when the partiers come out? What about today during St. Patrick’s Day Saturday in Chicago? The last place I want to be is with a drunk person I’ve never met, who is about to vomit in the back of a car I’m riding in. Maybe a breathalyzer becomes a new iPhone feature and becomes a required part of getting an Uber? You can’t tell me it’s totally impossible.

~ snip ~

[John Poet]

2. As I understand it, the riders are able to OPT-OUT of any Uber-pools,

but they HAVE to opt-out at the time of their order.

From a driver's standpoint, it ends up being a lot more work for very little more money-- all those extra pickups and drop-offs...

I thought about doing this, but Uber requires a larger and newer car than I have, and as they cut rates drivers make less and less. Uber has been cutting rates, trying to put traditional taxi companies out of business. THEN, when they've wiped out their competitors and think they have a large enough market share, they can raise rates dramatically, and customers will have many fewer options.

[FrodosPet]

3. That seems to be the plan

The company I work with is one of very few survivors in our market. And we are only surviving because of our accounts and the legacy we built.

We are seeing a lot less plain vanilla taxi runs, which kinda sucks, because I want us to score every penny we can. OTOH, we ARE getting a lot less drama and cars taken out of service because of puking and vandalism. Uber drivers get to deal with those fun folks now.

[FrodosPet]

4. As for "UberPoo"

I really think Uber shot themselves in the foot with UberPool. Like you said, it is a race to the bottom with Uber. They want the lowest possible fares to drive volume and get people hooked on Uber.

But Uber is not paying for the extra gas. Uber is not the one using up a limited life asset for less and less money. The drivers take the hit. The drivers are the ones driving longer and harder in order to take home less money while getting the lower ratings that come from pissing people off by taking 10, 20, 30 minutes longer to get to their destinations.

I am impressed with the Uber concept, but NOT with how they treat people.

[KittyWampus]

6. Why would you think about doing Uber? It's Unregulated Capital. It's akin to scabs busing unions.

It'd be like hiring children to work on a factory line.

[KittyWampus]

5. F*ck Uber and AirB&B and all like them. They are unregulated and screw over legitimate businesses

who have to spend money to meet regulations, insure and pay into Social Security/Disability for employees.

FUCK THEM.

If the tagging system on Taxi's needs revision, then do it.

Liberals who used these things are the same as scabs who help bust unions.

[NightWatcher]

7. ^^^^^^^^^ X 1000

I was sitting outside a very nice Buckhead Atlanta hotel one morning and watched Uber drivers trip over each other and jam up the front drive of the hotel while licensed cabbies had to sit in line across the street in a parking lot. The Uber people paid no attention to the rules of the hotel or traffic.

[maxsolomon]

9. Pretty much this

Every day I wonder WTF that car is doing stopping there, blocking traffic, not giving a fuck, and it's always an Uber or Lyft driver.

[kcr]

8. Yep. I refuse to use either.

They are yet another nail in the coffin of the working class in America.

[Sgent]

10. I wish they had that app for local taxis

refuse a fare and can't work for 15 minutes. Its taken hours to get a cab to take me home from downtown (a 20min ride, $20 fare) -- even when I offer to prepay a tip of 2-3x the fare. In theory they are not supposed to refuse any fare within the city limits, and I live comparatively close to downtown compared to New Orleans East or elsewhere. The ask where I'm going then drive off.

I get an Uber within 10 minutes.

Ask me which one I'm going to support for my other cab needs (airport runs, etc.).