Gave 2 identical rides,same amount of miles and time! 1 paid $15 1 paid $24 why?

Friday at 6 pm I gave a girl a ride 15.2 miles, duration time was 23.58 minutes.
My phone said the fare was $24.84.
I then got a ping from the same location as the previous drop off and 2 girls got in the car at 6:28 pm.
I drove them 14.8 miles, duration 23.17 minutes. After I hit complete trip my phone said fare was $24.64.
Now I just looked at my payments on the computer and the first ride says fare is $24.84 like my phone said.
The second trip says the fare is $16.50.

Does anyone know why the fares would be so different?

One note: one of the girls on the second trip said while we were driving that I should have went a different way.
I explained politely that I followed the navigation built into the Uber app. She replied with (No problem.)
Is it possible that they complained to uber and uber just made the fare cheaper without notifying me?
I would email or call uber but I cant find anyway to ask a specific billing question.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

Yes
Check for a blue arrow to the left of the trip in question on your current pay statement. If there click on it. It may say, trip adjustment, inefficient route.

 

Thank you for the response, That is exactly what it is. I just can't understand how it is my fault that uber navigation
is my fault? I did not write the F-ing nav app!

 

Navigation: that Uber phone app with gps is worthless. Waze is better and usually will give a shorter route.
Also...
I had a guy last night start giving me direcions half way into the ride. I always say something to the pax like "I am always open to a better way". The pax know faster ways especially through neighborhoods or side streets.
Also the area I drive in I actually know very well and just let the pax advise me. I know already if its ok or not. I yet to have anyone take me down a street that was sketchy.

 

Shortened that for you to look more correct. Since they adjusted it by more than $8 that means your route was horribly inefficient, you need to find a better way to get there or listen to the pax when they know a shorter route. If a pax suggests a route you should probably take it, it will make them happier, and often it's actually a longer route that results in a larger fare (not in this case, but it happens often enough).

One big point here is that Uber does not provide navigation, Uber provides an Apple ios based phone that comes with ios maps. It's well known that ios maps are quite terrible. Best suggestion use the byod option (bring your own device) so you can return the locked phone from Uber and use your own. You can get non-contract plan phones with plenty of data for less that what Uber is charging you to use their phone. Once you have your own phone you can choose your own nav software.

Be warned though, just because you might switch to Google or Waze does not mean that you should always follow the direction it gives. Look at the route and look at alternate routes before you take off. Even if alternate routes aren't given you should know your city well enough (after a couple of weeks at least) to see when the navigation is sending you on an inefficient route. I use Google most of the time myself, but sometimes it wants to tack on an extra 5 miles or so just to save 2 minutes. Make a judgement call or ask the passenger if they prefer speed or price of fare.

Every time a customer has the fare reduced because of the route that means you just racked extra dead miles, since some mile that were paid were changed over to dead miles. Better routes means fewer fare adjustments which means less dead miles forced on you...unless you can get away with charging them for those extra miles like you did with that first group. Fewer adjusted fares also means you maintain a higher rating as pax who email in to Uber for an adjustment after the ride aren't likely to rate you as well as pax who think everything went perfectly.

 

All the advice above is good and correct. If a trip is more than a mile or two, you might start asking the pax if they have a preferred route.

That being said, since your pax in this case did not tell you to take a specific route, if it were me I would send an email to Uber with the trip number explaining that I took the route THEIR nav on THEIR phone said to take... explain that the pax did not object, and request that your full fare be reinstated (noting that you don't care if they reduce the fare to the pax - that's Uber's business... but that you did not authorize a reduction of the fare credited to you and are respectfully instructing Uber to reinstate it).

You might have to go back and forth with a CSR a few times over it, but if you are persistent, they will pay you the full fare.

(Note: While you should be persistent, also be polite and direct - CSRs don't like being yelled at any more than we do)

 

Agree with the above posts. Ask Pax for a different route. Did this the other day and managed to skip about ten miles of highway traffic during rush hour.

 

Click on the trip and report that you had a problem with the rider. Write in there that you took the quickest route and should be compensated as such. You have 48 hours to do so, so do it quick.

 

Don't admit mistakes to the riders.

I have decided to use Google Maps on Android with my partner app. It usually takes the FASTEST route with traffic taken into consideration. On more than one occasion, it has routed me a significantly longer route that is 3 minutes (or less) faster.

Miles pay more than minutes! Not only that, Google Maps is what Uber uses on their fare estimator. So, if you take the Google Maps route, you should typically come within the fare range predicted to the passenger. So long as you're meeting their expectations, you should get 5*.

 

WOW! Thank you all for the great responses! I totally understand now why this happened! I looked at the map print
out that uber sends with there pay statement. The route was horrible that was selected by my waze app.
From now on I will take my time when I pick up a Pax and go over the different apps and routes available to their destination.

Thanks again everyone!

 

Woah there, partner. Doing that could a) make your passengers uptight waiting. They want to speed off as soon as they shut the door. b) you could end up picking a slower route and losing revenue by picking shorter miles. For the most part, plug in the address (if they haven't done so already) turn on the Nav, and drive. The quickest route is generally what is chosen, AND it's what is used for the fare estimator. If the riders are cognizant to a shorter OR preferred route, only then take the time to take their suggestion into consideration.

 

Complain to Uber. They re adjust to what it is before.

 

I use waze and set it to fastest route in options.
Never had fare adjusted.

 

Same here, Waze is what I use now, takes the fastest route. Also, when I look at the route options the fastest route is usually a little under a mile difference. Example: from where I live I could easily catch the 10w, but by taking the 1st option, I save some minutes and the mile difference isn't really noticeable. Now, the shortest (miles) option is gonna take too long. Pax end up paying more because of the minutes added.

 

Where exactly is the blue arrow? Now I'm curious, is visible on the app? Or email? Or where can I see this(if it applies) anyone can post a screen shot?

 

As probably mentioned, demand you get your money. As you stated, not your fault. They can give a credit but you should be damned it comes out of your pocket.

 

I always use Google Maps and have only had a few funny trips (but since I know the area good enough I usually can ignore the app) haha

Never a bad idea to ask the customer if they have a preferred route (if they're from the area).

I usually say, "If you have a preferred route please feel free to let me know, in the meantime I will follow the GPS directions."

 

J

You have to log in with desktop, look at your current pay statement, and you cant miss it.

 

Whenever they say "You should have gone another way", you should answer "Oh, I didn't hear you say that"- that puts it on them, since if they knew a better route, they should have told you in time to take that route or just be satisfied you got them where they wanted to go.

They can't keep silent, then complain about the route after the fact.

 

Agreed. Always use a better nav app. Google Maps or Waze, all the way.