this is just effed up. and if i was on the opposite coast? Iâd offer her rides to and from.
One of the hardest parts of chemo infusion for me? was getting rides to and from. I was very fortunate to have friends who took me, helped me, and gave needed hugs.
Toward the end of my cisplatin? I was so weak, I could not really walk. I still have VERY VERY clear memories of two of my friends actually carrying me to their cars, like a baby, (iâd lost a lot of weight) I will never EVER forget them for this.
I am so sorry she had to deal with this. and I KNOW Uber will do something (sadly, ONLY after it has gone all viral)
and? I hope someone brings her a warm beverage and tells her ti will get better.
Uberâs success depends on a predatory business model.
Uber loves to talk a big game about the benefits and pay their driverâs supposedly enjoy, but in practice they make poverty wages. The ride-sharing service says its median driver makes close to six figures, but the math just doesnât add up.
This driverâs behavior was not classy, but consider it from their perspective:
They are straight up desperate for fares, when one cancels on them, itâs not like Uber is going to compensate them for the time/resource spent. They lose out on the fare, they lose the gas they used, and the time that maybe couldâve gone to another client.
My advice: Avoid Uber. Pay a little more to travel with a less predatory transit option.
I am not familiar with Uber, although Iâve heard it being mentioned on Boing Boing quite a bit. Now Iâm very confused about what it is (the Uber site isnât very informative, and the Wikipedia article doesnât really go into any more detail). I thought it was a P2P car-pooling type thing, like Bla Bla Car, but reading the comments here, itâs sounding like this is more just a regular olâ taxi company that has a cool name? If itâs P2P, then the driver is a douche and should be banned from the service. If itâs a taxi company, then, yeah, they should consider something a bit more than a $30 voucher.
Desperate people can be very rude and self-centered. I know I have been, a few times. Too bad we live in a time and place that makes so many people desperate.
Thatâs sort of the game theyâre playing. Thereâs a lot of feel good marketing about âsharingâ rides by connecting you to âindependent driversâ (third party contractors), but in reality itâs a cab company that has configured their employment scheme in such a way to avoid unions or any semblance of fair wages.
Agreed.
Big week for the Uber PR departmentâŚ
SheeshâŚ
Bite the Big Apple, donât mind the maggots.
I was coming back after a chemo treatment, having stopped off at the pharmacy on the way home, got home and discovered in my exhaustion and confusion I had somehow lost one of the prescriptions so went back to the pharmacy and FINALLY was rounding home base for the second time: got to the point at which I have to turn a certain way because I am on a one-way street from a one-way street and the LEO acting as crossing guard for the local school would not allow me to turn. In those few minutes, an orange cone had been put up because of some street maintenance issue (I could have easily driven around it). I tried explaining to him that I had to go on that street, but he wouldnât listen. He made me turn off in the wrong direction, which ultimately forced me to drive over a mile (and multiple street lights) to get to the one other entrance point I could use to go home. Iâm still not sure how I held it together long enough to make it.
Every single time I make that turn, EVERY SINGLE TIME, I remember that officer. It was years ago now.
If Dante were writing today, there would be a 10th circle of hell, and it would be for people who make life harder for those incapacitated by either disease or medical treatment (or both).
I want to know if the driver is still âemployedâ by Uber. Wake up Uber and make a statement about this.
No excuse.
Itâs basically a taxi company, but on paper thereâs less bullshit when compared to taxi companies. On their app itâll ping your location and the nearest driver will find you, longest iâve had to wait was 5 minutes compared to 30-60 minutes for a cab. The driver will typically have a description of their car along with a picture of the driver so you can spot them easily. The app will also pay for you so you donât have to worry about payment if youâre in a rush.
Itâs really convenient when compared to cabs. Once i called a cab to pick me up during a bad storm in Denver and i didnât know where i was other than the street intersection and the cab company refused to send a driver because i couldnât provide a physical address. Bullshit i say, but itâs apparently fairly common as i had this happen in Vegas as well.
However Uber has a lot of inherent problems as well, those are easy to find if you do a quick google. But so far iâve used them dozens of times in Austin where i live now and iâve never had any issues. Been a bit more wary with more and more news of problems with drivers (and their awful CEO).
This is basically the tech all taxi companies have now in the UK. How come itâs not being adopted by them in the states?
It changes the status quo for long time cab companies. Most of the cabs like to focus on servicing customers coming to-and-from airports and certain other major business locales, and they will typically charge quite a bit. A 20 minute ride to the airport in Vegas cost me 50-60 bucks. Compared to Uber and Lyft the cost is reduced by a lot. They will also make customers wait long times to be picked up, i had a cab company tell me to expect the drivier within the hour and they delayed to 2. I ended up having to call 3 more companies to see who could pick me up ASAP and i lucked out and got one that had a driver available. This is rarely an issue with Uber.
ainât you hungry for success?
Well, OK, Uber sucks and their drivers are under a lot of pressure. I note the lady who just got out of chemo, presumably a fairly high pressure situation as well, managed not to impune the driverâs âcaracterâ or suggest he see a âhead doctorâ.
So he doesnât get a pass, and she doesnât deserve that kind of treatment for the crime of using Uber.
Sum of situation with all competitive factors accounted for: guy is a fucking dickhole.
Youâre absolutely right - but sometimes itâs all right to understand without excusing.
As an Uber driver, and a cancer survivor, I just wanted to come in here and say a few things.
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As a driver, you can not contact the passenger after they cancel. You canât call them. You canât text them. Uber uses a relay service that only allows Driverâ> Passenger communication while you are paired with the driver. That alone makes this fishy. Passengers can call and text drivers until they request another ride, but drivers canât respond.
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The driver wasnât exactly knowingly âabusingâ a cancer patient. He thought she was lying. There is clearly more to this story. Who texts âYou arenât humanâ to someone for wasting a single minute of their time? I would never pull over and waste my own time texting someone for a single minute lost. It just makes no sense. Also, the driver probably would have waited for you to run in and get your scarf.
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You deserve respect from the driver because you are a) A human being and b) a customer of theirs. Itâs a sort of defacto respect. There is no need to call the driver out on being rude and throwing cancer around like you deserve âextraâ sympathy, or âextraâ respect. As a cancer survivor myself (although everyone has a right to their opinions) I find this incredibly offensive that this wouldnât even be a story if it werenât for the fact that you have health problems. Parading it on your twitter as âUber doesnât like cancer patientsâ is irresponsible as well, given that Uber doesnât employ its drivers (they are independent contractors). Nothing but media manipulation here no matter how you slice it.
All that being said, I am certain there is more to the story, and wish I knew what it was. I am sure there was a conversation going on before the guy texted you âYou arent humanâ and there is a reason itâs not being shown. What it was is just for me to speculate.
Iâm with Jon_Hall on this. Something is missing from that conversation.
