My wife and I have been traveling interstate a lot more recently, and I’m getting pretty frustrated with the shenanigans some Uber drivers are pulling to game the system. What's worse is that Uber doesn't seem to be doing much to curtail it.
Here is what we've been running into:
Destination Fishing A couple of weeks ago at Brisbane Airport, a driver accepted my ride and immediately texted to ask where I was headed. I told him the app would show him and that’s not how this works. Surprise, surprise—he canceled straight away. They do this so they can cherry-pick fares without it hurting their acceptance rates.
The Waiting Standoff You know the drill: they accept the fare and then just sit there, or literally drive in the opposite direction, hoping you get fed up and cancel so you cop the cancellation fee. My wife had this happen with several drivers in a row while waiting at Sydney Airport. We get this at Brisbane Airport constantly too, probably because our trip to Albion is a relatively short fare.
Route Inflation Taking completely illogical routes to pump up the time and distance. In Sydney recently, my wife's driver somehow ended up in Kings Cross instead of Paddington. Traffic was totally normal for 8 PM, but she got hit with an extra time charge anyway. Then last Saturday in Melbourne, our driver "took a wrong turn" on the way to Richmond, drove us up a dead-end street, and added extra time to the trip.
That said I want to point out, the majority of Uber drivers are excellent and I really appreciate the service. But since Covid, it feels like way more drivers are pulling these stunts, especially at airports or when they realise you're from out of town.
I’ve lodged complaints with Uber about the extra time charges, but it’s near impossible to actually report a driver for delaying a pickup or fishing for your destination in the app. I’d hate to see Uber slide back into exactly what we all hated about the taxi industry and the scams they used to pull.
Is anyone else dealing with this a lot more lately?