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Frustrating/amusing pre-ride Cancellations? (where you made contact?)

6K views 58 replies 39 participants last post by  Rockaholic 
#1 ·
Just curious to hear if anyone here has any particularly frustrating/amusing Cancelation experiences they wanted to share/get off their chest? Hopefully nothing mid-ride--where the person was being difficult/threatening you-- but maybe something where looking back, you probably dodged a bullet?

Was it some entitled jerk who you arrived for and they were insisting on-- or just trying to fool you into-- bringing an open container into your car?

Were they just really passive-aggressive/demanding about it?

One particular example that came to mind for me was a pickup one evening in DTLA. I'd arrived outside of an apartment building to pick up some dude on a one-way street, the pin/location was a bit vague, the driver behind me wasn't letting me over, so I had to drive a few cars past the building once I determined where it was, then hit "Arrive."

Almost immediately I get a call from the pax-- I guess he was watching from outside of his window-- to say that I was not RIGHT out in front of the building. Taken aback, I apologized, but said I was a few cars down. This man whined to me that "it's dangerous outside at night!!" I said well, I could TRY backing up on a one-way street, or circling back around the block if he'd like.

Within the span of like 5 seconds, he hangs up on me, and I get a notice that the ride is Canceled. What a diva, I thought. But in the grand scheme, as annoying as it was, if they were that paranoid/demanding, the ride had it happened probably wouldn't have been any fun either.

How about you??
 
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#2 · (Edited)
I had a lady who, as soon as she boarded, asked if she can lower the window. Luckily, I had not swipe the Start bar.

The ride was immediately cancelled.

Another incident-

Had a request first ride this morning. Noticed the name and pick up location. I recalled she was a former rider. This was a pax who wore heavy perfume, cussed on the phone, was not deserving of the 4.8 her rating suggested, and did not tip.

My car didn’t move an inch. A few minutes after a text and an unanswered call, my screen displayed a nice Rider Cancelled message.

Then I started my wonderful day.

It pays to have good memory.
 
#3 ·
I had a lady who, as soon as she boarded, asked if she can lower the window. Luckily, I had not swipe the Start bar.

The ride was immediately cancelled.

Another incident-

Had a request first ride this morning. Noticed the name and pick up location. I recalled she was a former rider. This was a pax who wore heavy perfume, cussed on the phone, was not deserving of the 4.8 her rating suggested, and did not tip.

My car didn't move an inch. A few minutes after a text and an unanswered call, my screen displayed a nice Rider Cancelled message.

Then I started my wonderful day.

It pays to have good memory.
Lyft ride, longish distance to a well-to-do area of town I don't mind picking up, but the address was ringing BELLS. I recalled it was a woman who rubbed me the wrong way because she was a total back seat driver on a minimum ride to a grocery store and no tip. Redeemed once when I picked her up with her doctor husband and she was actually... nice. Picked her up again to take her with her mother in law to take a meal to husband at hospital. That stinking shit could have spilled in my car, but I held my breath. Wait for husband to come out and get the pot and then took wife and MIL over to a nearby shopping center. Again, no tip after all this business. So, the night I received the call to that address and I even started toward the destination, but the more I thought about it, I thought, naw... and cancelled. Another time I should have cancelled was a ping to a local urgent care and as I drove to it I thought, probably has the flu. I almost cancelled, but proceeded, dreading the potential. Sure enough, he's got the flu and I drove him to a nearby hotel. Two days later, I come down with symptoms. I should have listened to my intuition. I'm sorry, you're sick, but how do you not ask a friend to pick you up instead of spew your germs on some poor grunt making $3 to give you a ride? That's not the first time I've gotten sick, it happens all the time. I'm with another driver who says she's going to start wearing a face mask.
 
#4 · (Edited)
Just curious to hear if anyone here has any particularly frustrating/amusing Cancelation experiences they wanted to share/get off their chest? Hopefully nothing mid-ride--where the person was being difficult/threatening you-- but maybe something where looking back, you probably dodged a bullet?

Was it some entitled jerk who you arrived for and they were insisting on-- or just trying to fool you into-- bringing an open container into your car?

Were they just really passive-aggressive/demanding about it?

One particular example that came to mind for me was a pickup one evening in DTLA. I'd arrived outside of an apartment building to pick up some dude on a one-way street, the pin/location was a bit vague, the driver behind me wasn't letting me over, so I had to drive a few cars past the building once I determined where it was, then hit "Arrive."

Almost immediately I get a call from the pax-- I guess he was watching from outside of his window-- to say that I was not RIGHT out in front of the building. Taken aback, I apologized, but said I was a few cars down. This man whined to me that "it's dangerous outside at night!!" I said well, I could TRY backing up on a one-way street, or circling back around the block if he'd like.

Within the span of like 5 seconds, he hangs up on me, and I get a notice that the ride is Canceled. What a diva, I thought. But in the grand scheme, as annoying as it was, if they were that paranoid/demanding, the ride had it happened probably wouldn't have been any fun either.

How about you??
Last week a first time user called while I was en route asking how to cancel the ride . She actually didn't need a ride for another 2 hours. Just testing to see how this Uber app thing worked. That pissed me off. Was a nice 2.7 surge request on an otherwise surgeless day. Then she told me that now that she knows how to get a hold of me, to be at her place at 11:00 sharp when she does need a ride. ???. Mentioned it will be a busy errand day for her, and she'll be making 5 different stops if I don't mind. Put her quickly in my black book of addresses to never pickup from again .
 
#24 ·
LMAO.
Talk about missed opportunities.
I would have:
  • Gotten a breakdown of the places she's going.
  • Left it on her trip.
  • Drive lyft in the meantime
  • Show up, pick her up.
  • Get paid $15/hr plus $2/mile to go shopping with her.
  • Drive a few lyft trips when she shops. :eek:
  • Convince pax to also tip me & buy me lunch. :cool:
#HUSTLE
 
#22 ·
I was on my way to a casino but had to do a detour because of construction. The pax calls and says exactly this, "What the F*** are you doing?"
Cancel
No one talks to me like that and gets a ride. Funny thing, the casino is way out in the boondocks so he probably had to wait another 20-30 for the next uber. :D
Where the f**** do you have the right to cancel?
 
#6 ·
Over the years, I have had a number of cancels on my way to pick up. The high surge, Select/Premier ones ouch the most. In that those are the best paying and rarer to come by.

However, this one (which happened just a few days ago) it's my quintessential missed a bullet Cancel.

Whenever I get a Select or Premier ping that is over 6 minutes away, I call or text them to let them know I am on my way. Want them to hear a live person telling them everything is going to be okay...nice Uber driver on his way to make things all better. Have never had one of these rides cancel following our personal communication call ;)

Last Friday night, having called it a 'slow night' - was driving home on the freeway and I get a 45+ Select ping 4 minutes away. I'm like hells yeah...this will make my slow night a nicer night. I don't call, they are right next to the freeway off ramp that is just an 1/8th mile ahead of me. I'll probably get to them in 3 minutes rather than 4.

As I am exiting, they CANCEL. :( A 45+ Select around midnight in the area I was in, is a $100-$150 pay-day. I actually said passengers name out loud...Oh, Heather....really? really?

As I am finishing the round-about of the off-ramp, I tap my navigation screen to reset it to Home. And, I notice the pickup is at the Chase bank just across the intersection. Curiosity got the best of me and I follow Lil Miss Cancel's navigation across the intersection, rather than turn right towards home.

Remember, it's midnight, so not a soul around, but the navigation does show passenger was standing behind the bank, by the bank parking lot. So I turn into the parking lot. As I slowly round the back corner of the bank, I see Heather...

Early 30's - a bit disheveled (dressed okay, but cloths a bit mussed) standing about 3 feet from the ATM, barefoot with her purse and shoes on the cement next to her. She is alone and staring off into space, deep into a heated conversation on her cell phone. Angry tears stream down her cheeks. I drive right past her, but she never so much as notices me, she is that into her pissed off rage...

As I get back on the freeway, I can't help but smile like this girl that literally missed a bullet!

 
#7 ·
I accepted a request from a bar in Center City Philadelphia a couple weeks ago on a Friday night. It took me almost 10 minutes to get to the pickup location due to bumper to bumper traffic. I pulled up and waited 2 about 2 minutes before I sent a text. “I’m parked outside whatever bar when your ready” the female pax replied “Cancelled”. Rather than taking the time to reply that she actually didn’t cancel the trip, and is wasting my time, I waited until the 5 minutes was up and no-showed her. At least I got the $3.75 instead of her actually cancelling the ride while I was stuck in traffic on the way to pick her up.
 
#8 ·
I don't have one where the rider cancelled on me after I made contact, but I have one where I cancelled on the rider.

Me: "Hi, PAX. I am enroute, but am stopping shortly to put gas in my car. Don't be worried if my car stays "still" on the app."
PAX: "Okay, but could you hurry it up? I'm already late as it is."
Me: "Sure thing. The Lyft will be there as soon as possible.:

Proceed to instant CANCEL.

Sorry, your tardiness and lack of time management skills is not any of my concern.
 
#9 ·
I spoke of this a little bit in another thread, but one time I had a pickup at a downtown bar. I get to the location and I find the young lady who ordered the ride saying they're going to a part of town about twenty minutes away. She then waves to a group of women saying "this is our ride" and another young lady and three "me-maws" walk up. As they start getting into the back, me-maws first. I ask how many people are in their group. They do a quick count and say five. I say I cannot take five people my limit is four. One of the me-maws says "Oh, you won't let us stack up?" I say no and the account holder says "dammit, your the 4th driver to refuse to take us!" I tell her she needs to order an XL. She tells me "F you!" and slams the door. I pull out into the traffic waiting for the timer to count down but she does me a favor and cancels herself.

As I was driving away I was thinking, "your me-maws let you use that language in front of them?" and was also surprised that the me-maws were willing to cram into my sedan for a twenty minute ride.
 
#11 ·
Get a pickup request at the local strip club. Two guys come out and ask me to wait for their third friend. This big dude comes stumbling out and has trouble getting in. I turn around to look to see if he's really okay or brought anything like beer. He immediately says, " I think this guy has a problem with me". " Excuse me?" " I'll give you a real problem, you (homophobic slur)!" " Nah. I don't have a problem. You guys might though. This ride is cancelled. Please exit the vehicle".

The two others cajoled and tried to offer money while the drunk threatened physical harm. I told them I wasn't asking again and if they didn't cooperate, I'd have to call the police and whoever was the account holder would lose their access to Uber (a bluff but whatever). The two apologized and had to drag out the belligerent drunk friend. I guess he didn't have a nice time at the strip club? Lol. Definitely dodged a bullet or at least a sizable helping of more disrespect. I still reported them to Uber for making threats and Uber actually did follow up to their credit.
 
#35 ·
I still reported them to Uber for making threats and Uber actually did follow up to their credit.
No they didn't. How you know that?
Did Uber tell you?

What Uber did was send you and the pax a canned email.
"No response needed" ... know what that means? That means "get back behind the wheel, we are done dealing with your little ant problems."
 
#13 ·
Get a Plus request 17 minutes away, I say to myself, “self, don’t bother, ehhhh it’s a plus ride ok I’ll go”. So I start heading in that direction. 16 minutes out I get a phone call. Where are you? I’m 16 minutes away. Can you not be 16 minutes away and be here in like 10 minutes. Absolutely, I’m gonna hustle it up. Hang up. Cancel.

I’ve told this one but it never gets old. Thanksgiving Eve i get a ping for a ride 3 minutes away. When I’m 1 minute away I get a call, WHERE ARE YOU? I’m pulling up now. OH, is that you with he wreath on your car??? Yup, is that a problem? No it’s very festive, you are going to park right there and wait for me until I’m done with what I need to do. So I stopped for a second and then started driving away. He was still on the phone yelling at me to stop right there right now. I kept him on the line yelling at me until I was a few blocks away and then hung up. He called two more times and then I cancelled. Just wanted him to see in the app that I was still driving away :)
 
#26 · (Edited)
Get a Plus request 17 minutes away, I say to myself, "self, don't bother, ehhhh it's a plus ride ok I'll go". So I start heading in that direction. 16 minutes out I get a phone call. Where are you? I'm 16 minutes away. Can you not be 16 minutes away and be here in like 10 minutes. Absolutely, I'm gonna hustle it up. Hang up. Cancel.
I thought this was going another direction, until it u-turned. PURRRFECT! LOVED IT!
 
#15 ·
[QUOTE="I've told this one but it never gets old. Thanksgiving Eve i get a ping for a ride 3 minutes away. When I'm 1 minute away I get a call, WHERE ARE YOU? I'm pulling up now. OH, is that you with he wreath on your car??? Yup, is that a problem? No it's very festive, you are going to park right there and wait for me until I'm done with what I need to do. So I stopped for a second and then started driving away. He was still on the phone yelling at me to stop right there right now. I kept him on the line yelling at me until I was a few blocks away and then hung up. He called two more times and then I cancelled. Just wanted him to see in the app that I was still driving away :)[/QUOTE]

All great stories!!

Yeah sometimes it makes me wish both apps had an option of "frequently used reasons" or something where you could pre-select why you Canceled... something like, "too many pax," "pax tried to bring open container into car," "pax didn't have child seat/unaccompanied minor," "pax made threat" etc. would be really great (and I mainly say that because, you figure if a pax is pissy because you won't break the law/let them bring an open container into YOUR car, they're probably just going to try again till they find some poor sucker who will, so it's a good idea to red-flag 'em...

Another Cancelation example that stood out for me: I personally am not a fan of pickups when clubs/sporting events are getting out, because you're competing against 5-6 other rideshares/cabs to squeeze in to people up from the same completely packed curb (and naturally, few if any of them are considerate enough to cross the street/try to get AWAY from the crowd to make it easier for you).

I had one such pickup outside of Staples Center one evening. Some young woman called, both lanes out front are packed, and I'm forced to navigate some one-way streets to get to her-- literally takes like 8 mins. to even pull up to the curb... and I'm still like, 6-7 cars away. I've already been on the phone with her, so I've been giving her updates/essentially a play-by-play, and explained what I'm driving. I select the nearest landmark I can:
"hey XXX! I'm here, behind the limo."
"I don't see you."
"Yeah, to your right, about 2 cars down? There's a limo, I'm right behind it, my blinkers are on."
"Uh yeah, I don't see you."
"You said you were facing XXX? If you look to your right, there's a limo. (pause) This is about as close as I can get for the moment..."
"I don't--"

Having had enough of this person's laziness/complete lack of effort, I just hang up in frustration, Cancel the ride, and drive off, looking for another fare.

Fortunately I get one like 15 seconds later, in about the same spot, I call to try to pinpoint their location. A polite young woman answers, then is suddenly interrupted. I hear a familiar voice:
"You canceled my ride?!"
"Who is this?" But I already know who it is, and frankly, I don't care.
"You canceled my ****ing ride!!"
"Well hey, I can Cancel THIS one too, if you like?"
Before she can answer/continue picking and choosing her battles poorly, I hang up, Cancel on her entitled ass a 2nd time... and yes, drive a LITTLE further away before I go Online again.

I mean, I'm still kinda incredulous about it: like, what were you hoping to accomplish, taking the phone from your friend and getting confrontational before I've even picked either of you up?? If you were at all shrewd, you could've just shut your mouth, sat through the ride, and brought it up AS I was dropping you off, and/or taken it out on me in my rating... but thankfully, that didn't happen, and so she had to answer to her friend how she got HER friend Canceled, too.

But yeah, bullet definitely dodged there...
 
#19 ·
About a month ago just finished a drop off at Disneyland. Get a lyft ping. Hotel on harbor across from Disney, went to make a u turn at katella.

While waiting at the signal pax calls. “Hi, please tell me you’re on you’re way? You’re the third driver assigned to me.” I assure her I’m on my way, just making a u turn and will be there in a few minutes. She thanks me and we disconnect.

Next thing I hear is “lyft pickup changed, rerouting.” I’m now supposed to pick up a different pax 10 min away, so I cancel and log on to uber instead. Not sure if she ever got her lyft or not.
 
#23 ·
Got to pick up. Lady and dude standing next to boxes and furniture. (Side note: expresspool on HIGH surge) Lady comes over and asks to help them load.

I inform her that it’s express and she needs to leave room for other people

In the middle of the above, another person that was supposed to be in the pool comes over.

First Lady blurted out “the OTHER drivers didn’t mind and nobody else had to get into the car”

Here comes the new lady and she starts getting at the First Lady about how idiotic and self centered the couple were for taking advantage of the ubers.

New lady comes over and hands me a couple bucks cash and asks me to cancel and says I don’t get paid enough. I cancel don’t charge her and new lady leaves.

Now, comes the First Lady back over “since you’re REFUSING to take us; I demand that you don’t charge me the cancel fee” I chuckle and hold the phone so she could see and cancel no show.
“That’s for wasting my time, the other ladies time and because screw you”

Then I drove off
 
#32 ·
Got to pick up. Lady and dude standing next to boxes and furniture. (Side note: expresspool on HIGH surge) Lady comes over and asks to help them load.

I inform her that it's express and she needs to leave room for other people

In the middle of the above, another person that was supposed to be in the pool comes over.

First Lady blurted out "the OTHER drivers didn't mind and nobody else had to get into the car"

Here comes the new lady and she starts getting at the First Lady about how idiotic and self centered the couple were for taking advantage of the ubers.

New lady comes over and hands me a couple bucks cash and asks me to cancel and says I don't get paid enough. I cancel don't charge her and new lady leaves.

Now, comes the First Lady back over "since you're REFUSING to take us; I demand that you don't charge me the cancel fee" I chuckle and hold the phone so she could see and cancel no show.
"That's for wasting my time, the other ladies time and because screw you"

Then I drove off
You did it ALL wrong

You should have taken the nice lady and left cancelling up to furniture couple then reported them
 
#30 ·
I like the ones that come out to the car and say "My friend isn't ready yet, can you wait?"

"Sure, how long will your friend be?" I ask pleasantly.

Pax says "About 10 more minutes."

"No problem, I can do that. Can you go back and make sure he'll only be 10 more minutes?"

"Okay," he says, then rambles off.

I wait 4 more, then cancel, collect my fee, driving off with a smile.

I never argue with pax anymore. I just agree to whatever their ridiculous request is, then wait a few more minutes, then collect a cancel fee. I sometimes yell "NEXT!" out the window as I drive off.

Back in the dark times, when we didn't get paid on cancellations, two dudes walk up and say "We've decided we want to keep drinking, what do we do?"

"Just cancel the trip, no worries," I sigh, perhaps a bit nonplussed, resigned to my fate, once again.

Then one hands me twenty dollars, and apologizes.

I just smile, say "Thank you," and all is right with the world, for at least another few minutes, as I drive off into the night.
 
#31 ·
Just curious to hear if anyone here has any particularly frustrating/amusing Cancelation experiences they wanted to share/get off their chest? Hopefully nothing mid-ride--where the person was being difficult/threatening you-- but maybe something where looking back, you probably dodged a bullet?

Was it some entitled jerk who you arrived for and they were insisting on-- or just trying to fool you into-- bringing an open container into your car?

Were they just really passive-aggressive/demanding about it?

One particular example that came to mind for me was a pickup one evening in DTLA. I'd arrived outside of an apartment building to pick up some dude on a one-way street, the pin/location was a bit vague, the driver behind me wasn't letting me over, so I had to drive a few cars past the building once I determined where it was, then hit "Arrive."

Almost immediately I get a call from the pax-- I guess he was watching from outside of his window-- to say that I was not RIGHT out in front of the building. Taken aback, I apologized, but said I was a few cars down. This man whined to me that "it's dangerous outside at night!!" I said well, I could TRY backing up on a one-way street, or circling back around the block if he'd like.

Within the span of like 5 seconds, he hangs up on me, and I get a notice that the ride is Canceled. What a diva, I thought. But in the grand scheme, as annoying as it was, if they were that paranoid/demanding, the ride had it happened probably wouldn't have been any fun either.

How about you??
Yes, u dodged a bullet

I don't have one where the rider cancelled on me after I made contact, but I have one where I cancelled on the rider.

Me: "Hi, PAX. I am enroute, but am stopping shortly to put gas in my car. Don't be worried if my car stays "still" on the app."
PAX: "Okay, but could you hurry it up? I'm already late as it is."
Me: "Sure thing. The Lyft will be there as soon as possible.:

Proceed to instant CANCEL.

Sorry, your tardiness and lack of time management skills is not any of my concern.
Good one!
 
#37 ·
I was sitting one day under my favorite shade tree, reading. Got ping, five min away. Accepted, started the car ... canx.
Cussed, turned off the car.
Ping, five min away, accepted, started car, put in gear ... canx.
Cussed, turned off car.
Ping, five min away, accepted ... waited.
Started car ... canx.

NOW I'm getting as overheated as my starter motor.
Ping. Accepted. I went back to reading.
Didn't move. Five minutes later phone rings.
"Are you coming?"
"No, I'm just breathing heavy. Waiting for you to cancel again."
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
"Are you coming?"
"Not yet, are you ?"
"I ordered a ride five minutes ago.."
"No. You ordered a ride six minutes ago, then you ordered a ride ten seconds after that, then you ordered one fifteen seconds after that ... looks like you ordered four cars beside me; from what I can tell you have a fleet of Ubers headed your way. You must have a large party. Looks like you hit the system so hard they're bringing in cars from other cities. It's going to get real crowded there pretty soon."
"Oh ma gawd" he says, "what should I do?"

I'm having fun now.

"Well, there is a way to solve the whole thing. Are you home? Good, go back in your house and get a piece of paper and a heavy marker and write on the paper NO UBER. Then go out to the fount lawn and stand out there and hold the sign up to every car that comes down the street. That way when the Ubers show up they will cancel without a fee and without even stopping. Oh, and just cancel this ride now (you know how to do THAT right?)"
He sounded real uptight; I think he went for it.

As soon as he cancelled I started to drive over there, but got a ping ... so.
 
#38 ·
I was sitting one day under my favorite shade tree, reading. Got ping, five min away. Accepted, started the car ... canx.
Cussed, turned off the car.
Ping, five min away, accepted, started car, put in gear ... canx.
Cussed, turned off car.
Ping, five min away, accepted ... waited.
Started car ... canx.

NOW I'm getting as overheated as my starter motor.
Ping. Accepted. I went back to reading.
Didn't move. Five minutes later phone rings.
"Are you coming?"
"No, I'm just breathing heavy. Waiting for you to cancel again."
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
"Are you coming?"
"Not yet, are you ?"
"I ordered a ride five minutes ago.."
"No. You ordered a ride six minutes ago, then you ordered a ride ten seconds after that, then you ordered one fifteen seconds after that ... looks like you ordered four cars beside me; from what I can tell you have a fleet of Ubers headed your way. You must have a large party. Looks like you hit the system so hard they're bringing in cars from other cities. It's going to get real crowded there pretty soon."
"Oh ma gawd" he says, "what should I do?"

I'm having fun now.

"Well, there is a way to solve the whole thing. Are you home? Good, go back in your house and get a piece of paper and a heavy marker and write on the paper NO UBER. Then go out to the fount lawn and stand out there and hold the sign up to every car that comes down the street. That way when the Ubers show up they will cancel without a fee and without even stopping. Oh, and just cancel this ride now (you know how to do THAT right?)"
He sounded real uptight; I think he went for it.

As soon as he cancelled I started to drive over there, but got a ping ... so.
Omg It'd be great to see if he did the sign thing
 
#39 ·
No they didn't. How you know that?
Because instead of Rohit sending me a message that said "Resolved", it was an open ticket from a female named Jenny or whomever asking for a detailed account of what had transpired. THAT follow-up, saying his account had been flagged for this behavior and he was sent a warning, may very well have been horsecrap after being deems not bad enough (as it should) but in my experience, a threat of physical violence was escalated beyond the initial line of Filipino/Indian drones. But maybe your experience is different....

Forehead Jaw Beard Collar Happy


(still enjoy your posts though!)
 
#41 ·
Because instead of Rohit sending me a message that said "Resolved", it was an open ticket from a female named Jenny or whomever asking for a detailed account of what had transpired. THAT follow-up, saying his account had been flagged for this behavior and he was sent a warning, may very well have been horsecrap after being deems not bad enough (as it should) but in my experience, a threat of physical violence was escalated beyond the initial line of Filipino/Indian drones. But maybe your experience is different....

View attachment 221407

(still enjoy your posts though!)
I'm sure that it is different in every market area - and even different as to which Rohit gets the message. Not all Rohits are the same. There are several models out there. Most recent is Rohit v2.3
You got a Jenny. Pretty up to date model. Prolly a Jenny 4.1
 
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#40 ·
Frustrating?

About a month ago we had a big snowstorm hit the area during a Friday evening. The map turned blood red as a bunch of drivers quit due to conditions. I started getting pinged to the airport from outside the pen (this NEVER happens) and immediately pax start calling me telling me they are trying to get to a local ski town and the drivers keep canceling on them. That is like a 40 mile drive and we are 3.0 and climbing. I am thrilled as I drive an all wheel drive SUV with snow tires so I am perfectly setup for this.

So I go to the airport, get them all loaded up and think "maybe I should check the chain controls on the highway before I leave." This is when I discover the highway is closed due to whiteout conditions. Not just controlled - closed to all traffic. So I have to cancel. And I have to keep canceling the pax calling me from the airport over the next 6 or so hours. Doing the math, those would have been $150 rides. :(
 
#42 ·
One time dropped off at a bar called White Owl where the bartenders overpoor, high chance of vomiters. I never go there on purpose, but since I was already there, may as well wait for a ping.

PING! Pick up at White Owl. Already sitting, now I just watch the endless crowds going in and out. I normally call after 4:45, but I was antsy so I called at 1 minute.

She answers. "Hello? Where are you?"
I am at White Owl.
"That's great! We are (2 miles away)."
Okay, I am here at White Owl by the front door.
"We are (2 miles away), are you coming to get us?"
It will take me about 10 minutes, do you want to cancel or do you want me to start the ride and come get you?
"Come get us please, we are at the corner of (2 miles away)."
Got it.

8 minutes later I pull up and there are 5 drunks waiting for me. I tell the girl I can't take 5, she needs to order a larger vehicle. She walks away but one of the guys starts talking to me. Mr Smooth says "Hey man, it's no big deal, we can squeeze in, we will be your best customers ever. You won't even know we are in the car. We are just going to White Owl."

"Mmm hmm. No can do, if I get caught, that's my job. It's not worth it."

Another guy, listening over his shoulder, says "Man, F that! F him! Don't play his game! We'll just order another ride. Don't play his game!"

Drove away, gave her a 1*. Probably got one in return. Best 1* I have never earned.
 
#43 ·
Got a request just before ending a ride in Laguna. New pax calls and asks if I'm going pick him up. Told him I just finished a ride and was heading his way. Says he was waiting for 10 minutes and that he talked to me before. Told him he must have talked to someone else, bc this was my first conversation with him. So he asks again if I'm on the way. I said I was heading there, but I'm not now, because of his patience. Hung up, cancelled ride, and turned off app.

Another guy put in a pick up at a "yellow curb"in downtown HB. Apparently, he was at a "yellow curb" one block away. He asks where I am, so I say at the yellow curb in front of a certain restaurant (which was the one indicated on my GPS/Pick up point). He says I'm in the wrong spot. Hang up and cancel.
 
#45 ·
I love these stories!

I keep re-learning the lesson I keep forgetting: The FIRST WHIFF of negativity, just cancel. If they call and there's even a hint of impatience, one iota of negativity in their voice, I will either cancel on the spot, or figure out how to collect a cancel fee for my trouble.

No fare is worth picking up a potential 1-star pax that will 1-star me. In my experience, they are the ones that do things like file false complaints that get me wait listed. No, thank you, I'll pass.

Anyone makes a threat of violence? NOPE. Verbal assault? NOPE. If they tell jokes with the intent of maligning my character, or insinuate things about my gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, race, blah, blah, blah? NOPE. I just pull over at the first place safe for ME, and curb kick 'em.

Uber's made it abundantly clear to me that I don't have to drop pax off in a place safe for them; I can drop off on the side of the Interstate, in the country on the side of a dark road, or in the worst ghetto. My safety trumps theirs, 100% of the time.

Once a pax crosses the line, there's no telling where it will go, so the best move is to get them out of the car immediately. If I had a Trunk Monkey, or a James Bond style ejection seat, I'd have used it by now.
 
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