6 ms·

Tell HN: New Uber user, Saturday night surge $200 to get home

8 points by hoodoof 11y ago

I'm a new Uber user, and I've never had anything but praise for it. Sat night however, out late in the city, need to drop my friend home and then back on to my house. I live in the suburbs so it's a long cab ride. I've had a few drinks and fumble my way past the surge pricing notification on Uber. Next morning, check the email from Uber to see how much it cost to get home. I was expecting it to be quite alot - maybe $100. $200 to get home on a Saturday night - ouch - I could have flown to a different city for a night out for that. I don't blame Uber - they gave a super clear warning to me. However my pure joy honeymoon with Uber is over.

Albright 11y ago
How much would it have cost you for a standard taxi?
- hoodoof 11y ago
  At a guess, maybe $120? I really don't know. It was 70km and 27 minutes.
  - nanis 11y ago
    Would have been able to find a taxi the moment you wanted it? Would you have trusted a random cab driver in your drunken stupor more than you trusted the Uber driver. Note: I am not an Uber user.
    - pedalpete 11y ago
      From my experience in Sydney, Aus (the author didn't mention what city he was in), every time I use Uber I feel like an idiot standing on the street corner waiting for my Uber driver to arrive while streams of available cabs go by. I've only used Uber 5 times, but I'm not convinced this is the problem they are solving. Not in this city anyway.
      - muruke 11y ago
        Interestingly I have the opposite experience in Melbourne, Aus. I used to stand/walk/chase down empty cabs trying to get home but none would stop or just say things like "not far enough" or "i'm not going that way". This was true even at cab ranks. Now I stand waiting for an Uber for a few minutes and 1. it turns up 2. they never complain about distance or direction and 3. I get home safely. I do however mostly avoid crazy surcharge periods.
        ojm 11y ago
        Same here in Melbourne. Tried to get a cab from cbd to office last week. Thought it would be easy to get a cab as so many around. Nope. None would stop. Uber it was, arrived a few minutes later (and $13.50 vs usual $25 for cab). Work Christmas party last week used a cab app as Uber was surging to ~2x. Did have to offer a $10 tip in the cab app to get one to accept.
        kbart 11y ago
        I used to stand/walk/chase down empty cabs trying to get home but none would stop Not sure about Australia, but in many parts of Europe it's uncommon stopping a cab by waving your hand while standing by the street. Some even charge higher fees if used this way. A common way is to order it by phone or app and wait for notification that it has arrived.
      - Gustomaximus 11y ago
        The beauty of Uber is you don't have to order when you hit the street. Order when you are still in the office/pub etc. Obviously it's not nice to make the drivers wait, but at the same time you can let them almost arrive before heading to the street. Uber sends that 'arriving' pre-warning to let you know.
  - kull 11y ago
    In NYC in 27 min u would make the most 7 miles with uber, if you are lucky - Traffic. I guess dense cities are places where services like uber really work well.
  - alltakendamned 11y ago
    So your driver drove 155km/h (96+ mph) on average? There goes the safety argument...
horofox 11y ago
I guess Uber isn't good in every city and location. Maybe a good idea would be to research about the cheapest way you go back home after having a great night before you get drunk.
davismwfl 11y ago
So I like to look at it a different way, not to say $200 doesn't hurt either way. But my thought is what would a DUI have cost me, or worse, what damage could I have done to someone else or their family. $200 feels wrong until I say damn, I am home safe, no one got hurt and yea it might suck a little but way cheaper then a lawyer or living with hurting someone else. Just a thought.
- hoodoof 11y ago
  I think the same way. Even at $200, getting home safe without talking to the police for any reason is a good outcome. All I'm saying is Uber needs to be used with caution.
  - davismwfl 11y ago
    Yep, totally agree.
  - arnold_palmur 11y ago
    Forgot to mention in my other comment, but I always do a fare estimate before actually hailing the Uber to get some sense of what I'm up against.
arnold_palmur 11y ago
May or may not be relevant, but if I recall correctly, you can actually inquire with Uber whether or not your driver took the most optimal route, in which case they will refund you the difference.

8 points by hoodoof 11y ago

Albright 11y ago

How much would it have cost you for a standard taxi?

hoodoof 11y ago
At a guess, maybe $120? I really don't know. It was 70km and 27 minutes.
- nanis 11y ago
  Would have been able to find a taxi the moment you wanted it? Would you have trusted a random cab driver in your drunken stupor more than you trusted the Uber driver. Note: I am not an Uber user.
  - pedalpete 11y ago
    From my experience in Sydney, Aus (the author didn't mention what city he was in), every time I use Uber I feel like an idiot standing on the street corner waiting for my Uber driver to arrive while streams of available cabs go by. I've only used Uber 5 times, but I'm not convinced this is the problem they are solving. Not in this city anyway.
    - muruke 11y ago
      Interestingly I have the opposite experience in Melbourne, Aus. I used to stand/walk/chase down empty cabs trying to get home but none would stop or just say things like "not far enough" or "i'm not going that way". This was true even at cab ranks. Now I stand waiting for an Uber for a few minutes and 1. it turns up 2. they never complain about distance or direction and 3. I get home safely. I do however mostly avoid crazy surcharge periods.
      - ojm 11y ago
        Same here in Melbourne. Tried to get a cab from cbd to office last week. Thought it would be easy to get a cab as so many around. Nope. None would stop. Uber it was, arrived a few minutes later (and $13.50 vs usual $25 for cab). Work Christmas party last week used a cab app as Uber was surging to ~2x. Did have to offer a $10 tip in the cab app to get one to accept.
      - kbart 11y ago
        I used to stand/walk/chase down empty cabs trying to get home but none would stop Not sure about Australia, but in many parts of Europe it's uncommon stopping a cab by waving your hand while standing by the street. Some even charge higher fees if used this way. A common way is to order it by phone or app and wait for notification that it has arrived.
    - Gustomaximus 11y ago
      The beauty of Uber is you don't have to order when you hit the street. Order when you are still in the office/pub etc. Obviously it's not nice to make the drivers wait, but at the same time you can let them almost arrive before heading to the street. Uber sends that 'arriving' pre-warning to let you know.
- kull 11y ago
  In NYC in 27 min u would make the most 7 miles with uber, if you are lucky - Traffic. I guess dense cities are places where services like uber really work well.
- alltakendamned 11y ago
  So your driver drove 155km/h (96+ mph) on average? There goes the safety argument...

horofox 11y ago

I guess Uber isn't good in every city and location. Maybe a good idea would be to research about the cheapest way you go back home after having a great night before you get drunk.

davismwfl 11y ago

So I like to look at it a different way, not to say $200 doesn't hurt either way. But my thought is what would a DUI have cost me, or worse, what damage could I have done to someone else or their family. $200 feels wrong until I say damn, I am home safe, no one got hurt and yea it might suck a little but way cheaper then a lawyer or living with hurting someone else. Just a thought.

hoodoof 11y ago
I think the same way. Even at $200, getting home safe without talking to the police for any reason is a good outcome. All I'm saying is Uber needs to be used with caution.
- davismwfl 11y ago
  Yep, totally agree.
- arnold_palmur 11y ago
  Forgot to mention in my other comment, but I always do a fare estimate before actually hailing the Uber to get some sense of what I'm up against.

arnold_palmur 11y ago

May or may not be relevant, but if I recall correctly, you can actually inquire with Uber whether or not your driver took the most optimal route, in which case they will refund you the difference.