[benatkin]

Today I missed getting picked up by an Uber. I think the driver must have waited like 30 seconds before giving up. Still, it was my bad.

He apparently accepted the ride before cancelling it, because the pickup and drop-off addresses were different. I got a $6.50 charge instead of the normal $5.00 cancellation charge. I wrote into Uber about it, and instead of refunding me $1.50 they refunded to full $6.50 amount.

Sometimes my Uber fares are super cheap. I paid $3.00 to go a mile in snowy weather in Denver the other day. It was a shared ride but nobody picked up.

I think Uber is spending lots of money, and could probably make their numbers better by tightening up. They'd lose some of my rides, but probably less than half of them. In more than half of them public transportation is inconvenient or unavailable for the full route (the last mile problem is relevant to me).

[liquid153]

Has happened to me, I was uber pissed. The Uber driver waited less no more than 2mns Max.

[nostromo]

It's fairly rude to make them wait at all. They're not being paid while they're waiting for you.

[jessriedel]

When you order an Uber, you are buying an included 2 minutes of wait time plus the option to pay by-the-minute for wait time thereafter. This is part of the contract. One way you can tell is that if they wait 90 seconds for you and then you cancel, you get a bill for ~$5.

Shared rides (Uber Pool) is different. In that case, you're making other riders wait and, unlike the driver, there's no reasonable way to compensate them for the time. Thus, being late is rude.

[sangnoir]

It's entirely possible for something to be both legal and rude. In some jurisdictions, passers-by (e.g. hikers) have right-of-way on private land, yet not saying "hello" to the farmer whose land you're on would still be rude, should you cross paths.

[jessriedel]

I argued it isn't rude because it is part of your purchase, not because it is legal.

[sangnoir]

Part of the purchase as defined by the contract, not common courtesy.

[maaaats]

If one could reliably order an Uber that would be great. But no way Im waiting outside in -10C while the app lies about someone about to pick me up.

[jartelt]

More accurate pickup times would really help. I've rushed outside numerous times after being given a 2 minute ETA. Pretty much every time I end up waiting outside for 5-10 more minutes after the ETA changes to a longer time.

If I knew the ETA was accurate, I would be more vigilant about being roadside at the correct time.

[cwkoss]

I have never had an Uber arrive as fast as the estimate. Usually takes about twice as long as app displays when requesting the ride.

Also, there is absolutely no recourse if a driver starts driving in the opposite direction of you. I had a 3 min estimate, then driver drove 15 mins away. Called driver and he had the audacity to ask me to cancel the trip (so I'd still be charged). Was 30 minutes late and had to contact support to get the cancellation fee waived. Uber used to be the faster way to get to work than walking/bussing, but no more.

[hopler]

In Lyft you just cancel when the driver is late and Lyft automatically voids the penalty fee before charging you. And I hope they give an internal demerit to the driver.

[NoodleIncident]

This happened to me days ago and I wasn't charged for the cancellation, as far as I can tell. Not sure if it's because I called and cancelled sooner, there's no reason to wait to call if you see them driving the wrong way. Either that, or they detect a driver not making progress towards the pickup location when they decide whether to charge for the cancellation.

[mrep]

Could you not stand near the door once you saw the Uber was getting close? I always head to the door once it is getting close and wait for them inside.

[cameldrv]

Somebody is going to wait for somebody. When you order the Uber, you don't know exactly when it will arrive, so if you don't want to make the driver wait, you have to go to the curb ahead of time and wait there. The implicit assumption is that the driver's time is more valuable than yours.

I would very much like to have an option for the driver to simply be fairly compensated for their waiting time so that if I want to leave at 12:00, I can order it at 11:45, and they'll just wait until I'm ready to go. Higher end traditional car services will often show up half an hour or more before the scheduled time so that they can be absolutely sure to be ready when their customer wants to go. It would be nice to be able to get this level of service from Uber (for a fair price) without the driver being upset about waiting.

[masonic]

  an option for the driver to simply be fairly compensated for their waiting time

Like a tip, you mean?

[sexyflanders]

It should be an option to pay for them to wait in a way that’s fair to the driver. There are valid reasons for a few minutes wait. For example, getting picked up from a train station in bad weather.

[MAGZine]

Maybe i'm in an a/b pool, but uber charges me if I make them wait longer than 2 minutes.

So yes, they are being paid. And even so, it wouldn't be so much of a concern if uber just paid drivers fairly.

[liquid153]

1mn-2mn wait is rude? What world do you live in?

[mrep]

If you are downtown and set your pickup spot to a place that doesn't have a loading zone and thus they have to put their hazards on and block traffic, then yes.

[joshe]

Why make a driver wait?

[jmalicki]

Because they're waiting for me a 3 minute walk away from the location where I requested they pick me up?

[hopler]

If you picked a spot where it's possible to stop, then not coming to your pickup is grounds for a low rating.

[ummonk]

Yeah, a lot of them don’t stop at the location you requested.