Changes to Uber in California | Hacker News Reader

Changes to Uber in California

sfchronicle.com

16 pointsjonluca9 comments

Screenshot of email here https://i.imgur.com/3kSiNQs.png

Full text:

What’s changing?

From upfront price to estimated price range You will now see a price range rather than a set price before you request any non-Pool ride, which is our best estimate of what the trip will cost you. The final price will be calculated at the end of your trip, based on the actual time and distance traveled. You can see the final price on your receipt or in the app.

Schedule rides with your favorite drivers After you give a driver a 5-star rating, you can now add them as a Favorite Driver. Next time you request a scheduled ride, your favorite drivers will have the opportunity to accept your reservation. If you give a driver a 1-star rating, you won’t be matched on future rides.

Changes to Uber Rewards benefits We unfortunately have to discontinue some Uber Rewards benefits, like price protection on a route and flexible cancellations, for trips in California. To learn more, see the Rewards hub in your Uber app. We’re actively working on new benefits for California riders, so stay tuned for future announcements.

>If you give a driver a 1-star rating, you won’t be matched on future rides.

Will this change also apply for UberEats? I can imagine this being gamed by people who don't like tipping so that they can avoid getting the same driver twice. That really sucks. Not only you don't get tipped, but you get 1-stared and your livelihood is now threatened.

I suspect Uber usage will dramatically plummet after this. Because they have introduced uncertainty in the consumer experience/pricing.

Has any business that has adopted this ever NOT lost customers? What other commodity is offered at ‘flexible’ pricing?

Interesting that it’s only in California. How long before this spreads.

Also: [..] For riders, there are potential downsides. Short hops might get rejected. “If you just have to get across town quickly at rush hour, will drivers say, ‘Forget it, I won’t make any money,’?” Miller said.

Drivers also could refuse to take trips going to certain neighborhoods, a form of discrimination against lower-income areas.

Uber, which cautioned in its blog post that drivers should not engage in discriminatory rejections of trips, said it will monitor trips to guard against these issues.[..]

They already reject plenty of rides, they just don't do it until they get to the pickup location. I've had drivers I've called in oakland cancel my ride to my face once they see that my destination is over in SF. Usually saying something like "I don't go over the bridge". Pisses me off every time.

Here in London Uber has been showing a flexible price range for as long as I remember and people don't seem reluctant to use them.

If it shows £15-£18 I just assume the higher end, it's not like I don't know the price ceiling and get hit with unexpected charges

Hmmm not a fan of price estimates. I’ve had Uber drivers take a long and/or incorrect route and it ends up taking more time but I was always OK because the price was fixed anyway. But this now incentivizes this behavior.

Before Uber, I used to call taxi dispatchers in Oakland to get a ride to the airport from my house. The taxis would rarely show up. One day I was getting a ride home in a taxi and I asked why this was the case. The driver explained that most drivers would not accept calls to certain "more dangerous" neighborhoods. I guess I won't be getting Ubers now for the same reason.

Basically, precisely what they promised back in Dec: https://www.uber.com/blog/california/keeping-you-in-the-driv...

IMHO the lack of precise pricing will hurt them a lot.

In my experience the price you were shown and the price you paid were occassionaly different already.

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