Yet Another Open Letter To Uber

If you look online for any kind of information and news regarding Uber these days, you are bound to find numerous articles, twitter feeds, and blog posts that highlight how unhappy most Uber drivers have become. If you don’t believe me, stop reading and Google “Uber News” and see what comes up. Many of these drivers have written an “Open Letter To Uber” in an attempt to explain their frustrations and hopefully trigger some kind of change. While I see little to no chance that anything I would write would have any kind of impact, none of the open letters I’ve read so have summed up my particular feelings toward Uber. Don’t get me wrong, for about ten months or so I loved my Uber experience and had very few complaints. That was in 2015. 2016 is turning out to be a different story. That being said, this part-time Uber driver from California’s Inland Empire is going to put his two cents in on some of the most common Uber complaints.

First, the 800 pound gorilla. Tipping. I see this complaint more than any other. Uber has no built-in tipping feature and no known plan to implement one. I’m sorry, but if this is a deal breaker for drivers then why sign up for Uber at all? They make it very clear that Uber is a no-tipping service. Its part of Uber’s service philosophy and, right or wrong, its not a secret and also not likely to change. If you can’t accept that then maybe Uber isn’t for you. However Uber has tried to dissuade passengers from cash tipping and, while I can somewhat understand why, I feel Uber may have pushed it a bit too far. Some passengers are under the impression that tipping an Uber driver is actually illegal, which is obviously not the case. One area that I wish Uber would improve is how they explain the policy to passengers. Many I have spoken to think that Uber actually pays us a tip on top of the 80% (or 75% for new drivers) that we get on each trip, much like the “Safe Rider Fee” that Uber tacks on for themselves. Well as we all know, they don’t. Uber just feels that our percentage is high enough so that no extra tip is needed. Now I’m not gonna debate that particular point here, but I will say that when passengers learn the truth, they are sometimes more likely to tip us. So Uber, I’m not asking for a policy change here, just a clear and concise explanation for passengers so they know what drivers really make and can base any tipping decisions on actual facts.

Another common complaint I see, especially here in California, is that Uber drivers are classified as independent contractors rather than employees. Now if I was doing Uber full time and it was my primary source of income, I might prefer to be an employee and have a much more stable work situation. However, most drivers are part-timers like me, and being an idependant contractor gives us a lot of freedom. We set our own schedules, work as many hours as we like, and can work in virtually any area we like. As employees, there would likely be for more rules and restrictions placed on us that would make Uber impractical or even impossible for part-time work. Don’t get me wrong, it would be incredible if Uber offered both options. I can only imagine how tough it is for those of you who drive for Uber full time. I’m just saying that, if Uber was ever forced to re-classify us, that it wouldn’t all be rainbows and unicorns. Still, as of late Uber has started graying the contractor lines a bit. Many of the restrictions placed on the incentive programs practically force us to work certain areas at certain times and follow stricter rules or risk making less money. Uber, I’m fine being an independent contractor, but you can’t (or at least shouldn’t) have it both ways.

Now a complaint I don’t hear much from drivers but I do hear a LOT from passengers is price surging. To be honest, I don’t really like surging either except on special occasions like big sporting events or nights like New Years. I understand the logic behind it and it does serve an important purpose by getting drivers out where they are needed, but short, frequent surges at random times turn Uber into a game of automotive Whack-A-Mole with passengers trying to order between surges and drivers trying to only accept during surges. It degrades the service, makes it tougher to do our jobs, and any surge, no matter how low, will generally irritate the rider. Surge pricing is the number one passenger complaint we all hear. Having a constant and fair rate that we can all rely on is the better move most of the time. Save the surges for the Super Bowl and St. Patty’s Day.

Finally, lets talk about virtually every driver’s complaint these days. Price cuts. When I started 1 year ago, Uber charged $1.40 per mile in my county. Now its at 64 cents. That’s well over a 50% cut in one year. I’m not going to plead for driver sympathy here. Lets all be very honest. Uber values happy passengers way more than they do happy drivers and unhappy drivers aren’t all that hard to replace. That may sound cold, but its nonetheless true and probably the appropriate mindset for a growing company in a price war. I wish that wasn’t the case, but it is what it is. Lets instead look at this from a pure business perspective. No one denies that lower prices are more attractive to customers, but that only works if the quality of service can be maintained. I only have first-hand knowledge of the Inland Empire, but I can say without the slightest doubt or hesitation that out here, both quality of service and customer satisfaction have noticeably dropped. Yes, I have heard a few positive comments regarding the low prices, but I hear far more complaints now about surging and there being no cars available. Drivers out here now only keep about 51 cents a mile, so many have moved to other areas, switched to Lyft, or only drive during incentive periods or surges. I’m told Lyft usage has seen an upswing and some riders are now trying to make cash deals with drivers they know since Uber has become less reliable. Keep in mind, no one has EVER complained to me that Uber was too expensive unless prices were surging. Its 40–50 percent cheaper than local cabs. Surging out here was usually limited primarily to weekend nights, early hours of the morning, and special events like the Insomniac raves. Since the price cuts you can usually see a surge pop up almost every hour of every day. Often parts of town like the San Manuel Indian Casino have no cars available (in any Uber class) for an extended period of time. That was almost unheard of before.

So Uber, you “fixed” something that wasn’t really broken (prices) and in the process increased by a factor of ten the very thing that makes passengers the most angry (surges) and put a huge dent in one of Uber’s greatest strengths (speed and reliability). New passengers are finding the service to be unreliable and older passengers are making other ride arrangements that don’t involve Uber at all. I’m certainly no economic mastermind, but from my perspective out in the field Uber has definitely reached and passed the point of diminishing returns. Its clear you are in a price war with Lyft, but it seems like there’s enough work out there for both of you to exist and have sort of a Coke/Pepsi kind of relationship. Stop trying to be the ONLY company and focus on being the BEST company. Until recently many thought that was already the case, so stop losing ground. Keep your drivers at over a buck a mile and keep surging to a minimum. This is what will keep Uber in the top slot.

~Ryan D Carter~