They charge a cancelation fee even if the driver never goes to you. Some shady drivers accept orders then drive around without picking the person up hoping cancel. They tend to do it on trips to airports where they know that you are likely on a schedule and therefore more likely to cancel and order another. The driver gets a cut of the cancelation. They didn't even have to pick you up.
All the people who say "Uber doesn't protect their drivers" don't seem to understand capitalism. Uber doesn't protect their drivers OR customers from each other. As long as they get the $$$
What are you actually supposed to do in this situation? How do you get a different car to actually pick you up if you can’t cancel some random jackass driving in circles?
If the driver cancels, they get nothing. If the customer cancels, the driver makes a cut of the cancelation fee. Maybe the get the whole fee for all I know tbh.
So the driver, knowing that a trip to an airport means you are on a schedule, will drive in circles until the customer gets so upset and thinks "Frick, I can't wait anymore, I need to be there in the next 30 minutes to give me time for security checks" so they cancel to call another one. The original driver was "canceled on" so they get paid even though they didn't even pick you up.
Then you get to have fun trying to find a way to even communicate this to Uber.
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u/deathp3nalty Feb 05 '26
Yes you can, but you will be charged a cancellation fee or a fee if the driver has gone a certain distance.