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Comment by cactus2093 | Hacker News Reader

cactus2093

I wonder if you've opted out of promotional emails from them in the past? Do you still have the app installed on the same phone you used as a driver?

As a consumer I get push notifications and emails from them every week if I haven't ordered food in a while with new deals, etc. I would strongly suspect they're doing the same thing for drivers these past couple months and maybe they just don't have a way to reach you. If they aren't even doing that it would be truly bizarre, there are billions of dollars on the line and it's their entire business.

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We used to communicate by email, which hasn't changed and is still valid. They have reems of personal data about me including my bank routing number, my phone number, my driver's license, etc... I got one email from Lyft offering a $200 bonus for 10 rides in a day, but nothing from Uber. $200 for 10 rides is not exactly incentive to get off my retired butt and do some driving again. I'm now looking at python freelancing for a little extra cash.

Edit: I logged into my Uber driver app. Nothing beyond the usual promos (bonuses for driving in San Francisco.) Nothing like, "Hey, we noticed you haven't been driving. We want you back! How can we help you get started again?"

my uber driver told me she was offered $100 bonus after giving just 3 rides if she started driving again...

I see that offer for San Francisco, which is not much incentive because SF is a nightmare to drive. Between potholes, construction, getting trapped in city traffic and terribly rude passengers it's not worth it to me, when I could drive the nice wide boulevards of Palo Alto and Stanford University and possibly have an interesting conversation with a student or professor. I took a guy from Santa Cruz to Palo Alto who was going to do his startup pitch to a Japanese company. I told him I was a retired computer programmer so he asked me if he could practice his pitch on me while I drove. That was interesting. Another time I picked up one of the top VR developers in the world at the San Jose convention center. He reported directly to John Cormack at Oculus. He sold me on buying Oculus Quest glasses. That was also a long ride, so that was fun. Hmmm, maybe I will start driving again...

What's a typical rude passenger like?

I don't mind grumpy or depressed passengers. I don't like the wealthy passengers the treat me like the butler or servant. Uber is not that kind of service. I'm a regular person sharing my car with them, not the shoe shine boy. Weirdly, I only got that in San Francisco.

The shoe shine boy is also a regular person.

Sure, but it's a question of status in society and how you are treated according to your status. A butler accepts money to be subservient to their employer and attend to their needs. An Uber driver isn't like that. He or she is captain of the ship navigating a vehicle through sometimes difficult circumstances and if the passenger doesn't like it, they are welcome to get out.

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