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Uber drivers?


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#1 Anthus

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Posted 26 April 2017 - 11:27 AM

I'm driving for Uber now part time. Any one else here drive for Uber/ Lyft? Any tips for a n00b? I live in a fairly large city with a lot of night life, a massive university (one of the largest in the country) and a busy airport, so I think it'll be alright, but we'll see.

#2 Item

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Posted 26 April 2017 - 11:34 AM

Here's a tip

 

 

 

Don't be a getaway driver.


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#3 Anthus

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Posted 26 April 2017 - 11:46 AM

Lol, right, "Hey pick me up at the bank, I'm the guy in the black ski mask holding the bag with a dollar sign on it."

Do they even make bags with dollar signs on them?

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Posted 26 April 2017 - 11:50 AM

That's in cartoons 



#5 strike

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Posted 26 April 2017 - 12:04 PM

Don't let random pop singers from New Zealand put you in a music video.

Actual tip though. Check and see if it is legal in your city.

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#6 Colin

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Posted 26 April 2017 - 02:11 PM

I don't drive for them but I ride in Lyft probably at least once a week. My worst experiences with drivers were drivers that were

  • trying to text while driving
  • too aggressive
  • and least importantly, trying to force a conversation. This one's a bit tricky I've heard. I was talking with one of my drivers once and he said that it was important he got a feel for if the passenger actually wanted to talk or if they were content to take the whole trip silently. I've definitely been in both boats as the passenger.

You'll probably make a killing on bad weather days/holidays like St. Patrick's Day. Especially if you resolve to drive all night for a holiday. I've seen surge prices on these days up 400% the usual price.

 

My general feeling is I've always been happy if the driver takes me from point A to point B without me fearing for my life. As long as you can nail that, you'll probably be fine.


Edited by Strato, 26 April 2017 - 02:12 PM.

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#7 Anthus

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Posted 26 April 2017 - 03:25 PM

Yeah.. The conversation part is tricky. Most guys don't care, but there are some people who just don't wanna talk, which is fine. I'm that way too, as a passenger, unless they are interesting, and not just making meaningless small talk about the weather. Female passengers are a more fickle bunch. Most are friendly, and some ask a lot of personal questions, and others (and guys do this too) get in the backseat with headphones in, and don't say peep. It's cool though, it makes it easier for me to focus on driving if I'm not talking, and always looking over to make eye contact. I haven't done any weekends yet. I'm just kinda testing the waters.

Oh, and if my driver texts and drives? Instant 0 star rating, cause fuck that.

#8 Lüt

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Posted 26 April 2017 - 04:27 PM

not just making meaningless small talk about the weather.

Not if you do it Laurel & Hardy style - "Nice weather we had tomorrow."

 

That'll always get a response.


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#9 Anthus

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Posted 26 April 2017 - 06:02 PM

Back to the point about conversation, I'm reminded of the Sienfeld episode where Elaine pretends to be deaf in the taxi to avoid conversation.

#10 Eggman666

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Posted 26 April 2017 - 06:16 PM

I had a friend from work take Uber home every night.
He said that because it uses an app and visa or MasterCard to pay. He would build clientele, usual customers, so that if they ever wanted to be picked up on the regular he didn't have to go through the app. He would just get a phone call and get paid in cash basically negating all costs Uber itself charges.
I'm assuming this is sorta illegal? I don't know how it couldn't be. Not saying do this. Just an interesting idea.(start your own company?) All its really doing is using Uber to build a client base. 

But anyways, he said he was making around 300$ Canadian a night.

About conversation, I honestly haven't tried Uber to know.
I have heard some pretty funny stories occasionally though. 


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#11 Anthus

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Posted 30 May 2017 - 09:19 PM

I had a friend from work take Uber home every night.
He said that because it uses an app and visa or MasterCard to pay. He would build clientele, usual customers, so that if they ever wanted to be picked up on the regular he didn't have to go through the app. He would just get a phone call and get paid in cash basically negating all costs Uber itself charges.
I'm assuming this is sorta illegal? I don't know how it couldn't be. Not saying do this. Just an interesting idea.(start your own company?) All its really doing is using Uber to build a client base. 

But anyways, he said he was making around 300$ Canadian a night.

About conversation, I honestly haven't tried Uber to know.
I have heard some pretty funny stories occasionally though. 

 

Yeah, it would technically be illegal, but then again, maybe not. I mean it's your car, you're contacting this person on your own, and they are giving you cash. How is it different from giving a friend gas money? ... I'd say in court. But yeah, when I lived on an island, people drove golf carts everywhere, and my one friend would always rent a golf cart, and drive people around for money, and he made like 50 this one night, and this was just on a lark. He did it a few other times, with varying degrees of success. 



#12 SpikeReynolds

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Posted 28 July 2017 - 06:57 PM

Now that I finally have a car that qualifies, I'm gonna start driving. I'm not sure if I'm gonna do Uber or Lyft.



#13 Anthus

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Posted 28 July 2017 - 08:03 PM

A lot of people do both. Just look around on the 'UberPeople' forums for your area and see what people say. They are a forum for mostly uber but they talk about other ride share companies too. (I'd post a link but I'm on my phone in a hurry :P)

#14 SpikeReynolds

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Posted 01 August 2017 - 07:14 AM

Just got all signed up. Now I have to go get my ride inspected. Probably gonna do it Friday morning. It took me longer than expected because I just got my car and had to wait for my registration to come in the mail.


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#15 Anthus

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Posted 01 August 2017 - 11:14 AM

Just got all signed up. Now I have to go get my ride inspected. Probably gonna do it Friday morning. It took me longer than expected because I just got my car and had to wait for my registration to come in the mail.

 

I actually stopped doing Uber, and this is probably worth mentioning here for any would-be drivers. You need to have "commercial insurance" to be fully legally protected when driving for Uber. They claim to have their own insurance, but there are horror stories about drivers getting into wrecks, and their insurance companies being like "no, you were using your car as a "business", you need to give us that good dough for commercial insurance". I'm not sure if the laws are different in Michigan, but I'd definitely check it out. Also, here, you are apparently not allowed to use any car that is still being paid for for any kind of "ride sharing" service.

 

So, I'm doing OrderUp, and DoorDash now. Don't have to deal with actual humans as much, and it's seems not as stressful. Just waiting for the process to move along. Gotta go to an orientation thing.




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