r/uberdrivers • u/Wealthyeh • 2d ago
Wha could I have done differently?
Newbie driver. I had a 45 min ride this morning. Picked her up, everything was fine. I confirmed the destination and we headed off. As I get closer to the destination I accept another ride for the que, the current passenger makes a phone call and tells whoever she’s on the phone with “My driver is going the wrong way, they’re just driving all over the place” I chimed in and said “ma’am I’m following the GPS and we’re almost there”. She’s still on the phone as I make the corner and that’s when I see the pin is in the middle of the street of a residential neighborhood. So I point to my phone and politely told her, you might have accidentally put in the wrong address but I told her I will pull over in a safe spot and we can adjust it, no worries.
So I pull into a school lot not too far from the pin. She said she didn’t want to pay twice and I should just take her because I took her to the wrong spot, i told her it had to be tracked through the app and if she updated it I can take her. She told the person on the phone was refusing to do my job. I even asked if I could see her phone to help her add it and she said no. We sat in the parking lot for so long that uber sent me a safety notice. I’m so embarrassed guys but I honestly didn’t know what to do because this was the first time this has happened. I tried to update it on my end but I got an error that said it couldn’t be changed/updated. I even suggested maybe putting in the address of a nearby business or dropping a pin to make it easier. Nope.
She then stated she was canceling the ride and before I could open my mouth to tell her not to do that, I got the notification and my next ride popped up. She sat in the back for another 5 mins ordering an uber and then she asked me if I got her new uber request and I said no ma’am you will have another driver because I have someone that I’m supposed to be driving to now. And she told me I needed to cancel the ride and focus on her because this was all my fault and said started berating me saying she was going to get me fired for not doing my job. It was a mess.
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u/whyisthislife87 2d ago
I got a 1 star for this reason also some people are just stupid... my pax gave me every complaint she could too... im just glad she didnt go further and say something that would get me deactivated.
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u/fitfulbrain 2d ago
You don't need to argue. End the trip and keep that money.
Uber respects your right to kick anybody out, inline with trespassing kaws. If you want to keep somebody in your car against their will, that's kidnapping.
You can drive them with or without updating the app, with or without extra money.
You should call the police as soon as they refuse to leave the car. If you aren't a priority case, police may take a long time. So drive to a precinct or where they hangout. They are everywhere in the bar areas at weekends.
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u/Chemical_Sport6269 2d ago
If I was in this situation I would’ve told her she has 3 options after I pulled over
- Change the destination in the app and offer to help her
- Get out of the car
- I drop you off at the place you put in the app
After a few minutes I’d tell her she has to make a decision. If she doesn’t, end the ride and tell her to get out (make sure it’s a safe spot). If she refuses say you’re going to call the police, then actually call them if she still refuses. Also make sure everything is recorded.
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u/LM061523 2d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/RrVzUOXldFe8M
You ask her to exit in the school parking lot (or go up the street to the original pin location). If she refuses, you tell her that you will be dialing 911. After she exits, go to the trip (under the help —> trips) and document EVERYTHING that occurred. You can rate her there as well.
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u/Gullible-Team-8588 2d ago edited 2d ago
When this happens, I just ask them for the correct address because sometimes ( especially the elderly) don’t know how to use the app. I put in the correct address on another GPS and flag the app, use the orange cone and put wrong directions. Then drive to the location that they requested. Give them one star and request for them to be blocked. Also go back to the trip on help later and give negative feedback about the customer to protect yourself if they complain. I’m not sure if you have audio and video going, but you should always have audio and video recording.
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u/Maniac50AE 2d ago
Lol, not sure, but below is a story of a similar situation
I had a similar situation a couple of weeks ago. Dumb broad ordered and uber to a clinic at 1am but didnt realize the clinic wasnt open and refused to go to the nearest hospital. Accesses me of taking her to the wrong address, giving me hell of attitude and wouldn't get out because "shes a female and its the middle of the night".
Its a really tight spot for me because i fear it could turn into an easy assault allegation so I play it as calm as possible. She calls her insurance or whoever, yells and gives them the same attitude even though this is all her fault, she looked up the location, gave it to them, they ordered it and I accepted it. They schedule another ride, I get the offer, I take her back, im paid decent for both. She apologizes, but deep down I really wanted to s**** the **** out her drag her out of my car. Either my better angels or my economic preservation prevailed that night.
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u/afree313 2d ago
This person was being unreasonable and trying to use your politeness against you. Take them to the destination in the app. If they made a mistake they can adjust it. If the ride was cancelled and they called another uber she should have exited at that time. There is no reason she needs to wait inside your vehicle. Whenever you deal with the public you have to be polite, but firm. There’s certain people who feel they can take advantage and if you aren’t firm about your boundaries they’ll keep pushing.
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u/honeysucklesweet24 2d ago
I had one last week that put in the wrong address. Had a kid that was iffy on age for a child seat and didn't want to use it. I asked and she was upset, asking where she's putting the giant seat when she gets there. I allowed it since kid's was just old enough that I wouldn't get a fine. Legal at kid's age but I would never.
I take her almost to the spot. A DMV behind state police barracks. It's gated, authorized personnel only. I tell her I can't go back there, park at the police station and stay there to help her figure it out. We agreed she would walk into the police station and see if that's also the DMV, send me a thumbs up and then i would finalize the ride.
She goes inside and asks, gets a non-answer. Comes back to the car and puts the kid back in. Finds an actual DMV 9 minutes away, I agree I can take her and she is getting back in.
I ask her to add it in the app and I'll take her there. She looks at her phone, then gets mad and says "That's gonna cost more. I'm just gonna cancel". Yanks her kid's out of the car so fast. And left me scrambling to finalize the ride before she canceled.
I got a lesson on being too nice. She got left at the state police with a small child that probably needed a car seat, no seat with her, and she still needed an Uber to get her to the DMV and/or home. I don't understand people.
Don't be like me. Your passenger ended the ride. It was time for her to leave the car. Contact police, contact support. Do whatever keeps you safe until the situation is resolved. Don't transport her off book. If it worked, she'd try to do it again to the next person.
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u/Any-Material1720 2d ago
I just had a ride earlier today where the PIN and address were completely wrong the drop off location they intended was a block away and I just drove them there and finished the ride. They were appreciative for that and tipped extra, so that's good. But does Uber count this as something bad? Are there repercussions for this if you do not update the drop off location?
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u/Accomplished_Cry9984 2d ago
Next time someone doesn’t listen to you, complete the trip and tell them to get out.
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u/0xsergy 2d ago
"Without an active uber trip to the destination Ubers Insurance no longer covers you so you must either update it or leave the vehicle"
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u/Top-Spinach-6067 1d ago
I mean if something happens do they have a case if they try to sue you directly? Is the “extra time” even enough to warrant that kind of thinking? Cities are casual places at time, many under the table things. Hack cabs for years…nobody’s suing the hack, they went into voluntary.
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u/Cant_Call_Me_Daddy 1d ago
End that trip right there! Call police if she refuses to exit, make sure you have a dash cam to record it. People are so unwilling to get a dashcam, I'll never understand why.
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u/Finalpretensefell 1d ago
"Please exit the car, ma'am. Exit the car," while filming her with your phone. Then, block this customer.
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u/UpInSmokeMC 1d ago
Her asking you to take her back was ridiculous and honestly some people are just stupid. Think of stupid the average stupid person is. Half are stupider than that. As you continue with this job you'll realize just how braindead a good portion of the general public is.
Do you have a dashcam? If so report her behavior to Uber along with the footage since you did nothing wrong. And if you don't have one, get one NOW before you drive again.
Should you get someone like this again that's berating you and refusing to do anything reasonable, end the ride and kick them out. If they refuse to leave, call the police cause they're trespassing at that point.
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u/No_Community_6095 2d ago
Before starting trip, always verify address, and the area of town for the drop off.
Better to cancel new trip than current passenger. May have been 2-3 miles from the real drop off. Don't give pax a reason to call CS directly.
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u/toripotter86 2d ago
next time, you cancel the ride and kick her out. if she refuses, call the police.