Uber - Request a ride

I heard so many good stories about people using Uber and being pleased with its service, but when my wife and I reached Los Angeles and decided to use it I found out the harsh reality. Unfortunately, Uber has become a master of deception using its large user base to suggest confidence, but after getting a quote for a little over 40 dollars, my wife and I ended up getting charged almost 100 dollars because of difference in “time” and “distance.” I would be fine if that were the truth, but instead we had a driver that wasn’t focused and missed his exit, then his phone died and we had to use our own phones to guide him. This resulted in us having to drive another 30 minutes just because their own driver didn’t plan ahead or pay attention to the road. I will NEVER use Uber again because the only thing they did to “fix” the problem was give me 5 Uber bucks without any notification and then ignore any requests sent via app to find a proper resolution. So much for customer “support.” UPDATE After a few days of trying to find out how to talk with support staff directly I was able to reach a satisfying solution. I believe the best way to avoid situations like this would be to make the app send a notification when support staff message you, instead of you having to dig and find out where to talk to them. Because of their understanding I may use Uber again, but just be wary about knowing where to contact anyone in case of a bad ride.

I have used Uber on several occasions, mainly without issue. I have always been pleased with their quick response, but today was a horror show. I ordered the Uber at 8:50 am. My confirmation said the car was 2 minutes away. I could see on the app where the car was and where it was trying to go. The driver was trying to follow the GPS which was telling it to drive through a school complex. Living just the other side of that complex, I know that no public traffic is allowed through those roads during school hours. What was frustrating was watching on the app not once, but 4 times, the driver trying to drive through the complex on roads that were closed. When all was said and done, after getting directions from a school security guard, she finally made her way to pick me up at 9:20am. I was waiting on the street with my bags for 30 minutes as I watched all of this unfolding on the app. The driver was very polite and apologetic, but the bottom line was this...I was aggravated, and late for my appointment because of the GPS sending the driver through non public roads, and the driver not figuring out that it was not possible to go the way the GPS wanted her to go. Waiting until your fourth fail attempt is too many before you ask for help or find a plan B. I have always been a supporter of Uber in the past because of their past service, but after this episode, I may have to think twice about using them.

I had a great experience with uber so far, but just recently, I had an issue where many of my recent drivers got lost along the way, taking a wrong turn from what their GPS said, some of them asked me where to go next. I was polite and helped those who asked, and I still tipped each driver despite the inconvenience. However, one of these drivers apparently gave me a terrible score, dropping my perfect 5 star passenger rating. Uber drivers can refuse to pick you up if they don’t like your passenger rating. It’s not fair that I can’t explain what happened or contest the rating, or that I’m getting the backlash for their mistake and they get to keep the tip, anyway. Completely unfair and uber does nothing about it. I don’t take uber that often, so the one rating was enough to drop my average quite a bit! One fluke rating should be either canceled out, or I should allow a chance to explain the situation and revoke a tip if the driver is going to be so rude and unfair. In addition, I’ve read many uber drivers saying they will intentionally give riders poor ratings if the trip was inconvenient for them: if it’s too far out of the way, if they didn’t feel the trip was far enough (and a big enough fare), or apparently if they don’t like the route to get there and can’t figure out their GPS. It’s not fair for drivers to be able to do that at all. Poor ratings should be for poor behavior, not for frustrations with the standard expectations of their job.

Firstly, let’s talk about the poor GPS system Uber has as of late. I’ve have three Uber’s cancel on me in one day while I was trying to make it to work on time bc Uber put the wrong location for my pickup even after I chose my home as the pickup location. This has happened on several occasions and I had to dispute cancellation fees and ride fees. Then, on more than one occasion I had the unfortunate case of my Uber starting the trip without me in the car and I had to cancel the ride and again dispute cancellation charges. And last but not least I want to touch on the Ride Pass and why I advise that you don’t waste your money on it. The way the Ride Pass is advertised you would think that you get a set fare for all of your rides as long as they’re within New York City. Well that couldn’t be further from the truth because as it turns out the “set fare” only applies to the places (to and from) in which you were going when you purchased the Ride Pass. So let’s say you were going from home to work and they gave you a set pool price and a set X price that only applies to you going from home to work and back. Every other ride is priced at the flat rate fare and it’s subject to change every time. All and all it’s a scam, ten dollars isn’t much but it’s the principle and the false advertisement that’s going on with the purchase of a Ride Pass. So if you want to save yourself ten dollars I say skip on the Ride Pass and just stick to the regular prices.

If you need a cheap ride and you need to get somewhere then I agree Uber is for that. However they need to fix some issues that keep me from wanting me to. For starters the seller fees are absolutely ridiculous! I should not have to be charged for my drivers errors. I have had numerous occasions of being charged a $5 fee for my driver not being able to find my house. Which brings me to my next problem. The GPS navigation they have going is a mess. My old house was a difficult yet not impossible location to find. The u-turn by the gas station was right by the driveway to my house which is easy to miss. However I have tried contacting my Uber drivers giving them guidance. Some still ended up canceling. I have had drivers that would decide it was better to take a longer way for certain places rather than back ways and shortcuts. That also makes everything 10 times worse, because I have been late to work even scheduled ahead of time since these problems with your system have occurred. I’m also currently disabled and can’t/shouldn’t drive, because of it. However I can’t blame Uber for being late for work even though it most certainly is. I take my job seriously so apparently I need to go back to Lyft since I haven’t had any of these issues personally. They even found my house in the dark! Uber needs to fix some stuff before I even think of trying to rely on them again.