Columbus Uber Driver

Slate: Lyft Isn’t Reinventing City Buses. It’s Undermining Them. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIwg7KVmjU

CNET: After Uber: Navigating a nation that lost ride sharing. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIwncb9mjU

One thing I have learned about waiting at the airport is that,if there are 31-40 cars queued you will get a text explaining wait times are long and you would be better off seeking rides in the city.  When I get this text I take the hint, and drive on through.  I may stop to use the porta-pot or clean out the car to the trash cans provided, but I’m not going to wait two hours for a $15 ride.

On mother’s day I got out there early. There were 11-20 cars queued. When the queue dropped to 1 to 10, you could count them down as they left. So my page for pick-up comes and it’s an airport employee going to a local fast food for breakfast!

It’s a crapshoot!

One late late night at the airport.  I was paged to pick up on Steltzer Rd, but they cancelled before I arrived. I assume the call came from a dancer at the nearby gentlemen’s club. Then when she cancelled, the waypoint was stuck and did not clear. The last destination routed me thru a sketchy side road a couple times before I realized she must have cancelled.( You don’t always see a cancelled by rider message) I saw one once, but they are fleeting messages,if you see them at all!

Then there was the time I got called out of the airport queue to take a local employee home from somewhere in the industrial complex adjacent to the west green lot

My point is that thinking you waiting on a decent cross- town fare, is a good probability, but there are also local runs that occasionally come in – from your 2 hour wait.

Total crap shoot!

I picked up a  young savvy Rider, who was traveling to a friends apartment,  to watch a Penquins Hockey game. We were heading south on 1-270 on the west side  In a construction zone.  Engaged  in conversation, I was  in the wrong lane as we approached the exit ramp, and  heavy traffic  prevented me from making the exit. As  we passed  the  ramp, Shane  saw my Navigation reroute. His 6 minute ETA shot up to 11 minutes.  I told  him we  could  get his fare adjusted, (but I had never  done that yet!)  So when we arrived at  the destination, he  asked  about  the  adjustment. I opened, account/ help/Trip issues and refunds/other, ( the cookie cutter pulled downs did not cover my issue). It did show  the calculated  charge was currently over $11, (already).  Then in the “describe your issue” text box,  I simply asked “Can we  reduce this by half?” Then I submitted the  issue.  Shane  indicated  that  “half”  would  be OK. I did not  know  how soon he  would see the  adjustment, but I told him to expect  to see it in his application notifications.  I had  read, or seen, that resolutions  could  be resolved within 24 to 48 hours.  I was  amazed  that  within 10 minutes, I had  a new “message from support” which said  one of my  fares  was  adjusted. The fare had been reviewed, and evidently, they used  the  start  and  end waypoints, and rerouted the  trip, perhaps as originally charted,  and  the new  charge,  or  payout  to my account,  was now $6.16, no longer over $11. I was  surprised  how quickly this adjustment  came back.  And, I assume,  my rider  also  saw  this new adjustment in his account  notifications, as quickly.  There  was  also a follow-on email that  hit my inbox which showed I can continue this support “conversation” thread  by  further  reply to  the  email, ( which I did “after hours” from my  desktop – providing  more  detail on what  transpired, and expressing  my gratitude  for the quick settlement.)    Overall,  I had  to trust I could make  an adjustment  to the fare, before I knew how  to do it.  The  resolution was based  on route  history, and  the ability to re-create perhaps, the  original route, which is fair.  My suggestion to support  was  to reduce  the fare  by “half”,  their solution was  to reduce  the rate by a better route.  Their initial message  suggested  that  either the start, or end point, was  perhaps  mis-entered.  I have  yet  to see  whether  they posted a different  route  map to my account  detail, maybe just the start and end points.  Just  know,  or  learn, that  their  route  resolutions will be made  using  rerouted or  revised prospective  trip detail. – based on  “re-routing” or  reviewing the course taken vs course projected.

I was  discussing Uber Eats delivery  with an Uber employee. Having  read through the payout  description it was apparent  to me that  with independent pick-up, mileage, and  delivery payouts. that  the pricing was likely modeled to “stack” or “Batch” orders.

You could  be paged  to pick-up multiple orders  at a foodsource / kitchen  and sent  on an area-wide, “uber-routed” delivery with multiple drops, based  on area-grouped  end points, following some  pre-agreed delivery criteria between Uber and  the food provider. ( Not  to exceed  some  travel time limit, some  number of orders for customer inter-action, etc)

Also  revealed  was  the occasion where Uber staff “ordering-in”  from area restaurants, realized that multiple parties in their office  had ordered independently from the same source,  on happenstance,  wondered  whether  their orders  would  be “batched” and delivered together in one  trip.  She  assured me  that food was “ready” when the dispatch is made.

It makes me  wonder if  the batch process has  a look-ahead queue, or a batch delay for collecting other potential orders,  before  the orders  are placed to the source.  Or, whether  sources  are likewise batched, so you could make multiple pick-ups for delivery at a single destination drop?

What experiences  have Uber Delivery drivers  had  with batched delivery trips?  Please  comment, if you can shed  some  light on this topic.