TEN REASONS THAT YOUR UBER DRIVER CANCELS ON YOU

You need a ride, desperately.  Your car is in the shop, or for some other reason you do not have transportation.  Unfortunately, you didn’t plan well and you are running late to work, or the airport, or a meeting, and you need a reliable car service to pick you up and drive you there NOW.  So, you get your phone, open up your trusty Uber app, and order a car.  Yay!  You gotta love technology.

There is an UberX 12 minutes away.  You can work with that!  You order the car.  And then three minutes later, the driver cancels on you.  You note that the driver texted you asking your destination and confirm the ride and you ignored it because you already put the destination in the request and you are just TOO busy for such nonsense.  They should be able to figure it out.  It’s not your fault if the driver is too stupid to figure out where you want to go.  Right?  So you send the driver a nasty text threatening to get them fired for cancelling and order another car.  

Nervous now, you patiently watch the car on the app and notice that it is not moving, so you call the driver and let them know in no uncertain terms that you can see them and that they aren’t moving and you are running late.  The driver explains that they are in traffic, but you go ahead and vent on them anyway.  You abruptly hang up and next thing you know, that driver cancels.  OMG!  WTF is wrong with these jerk drivers?

Now you are totally in panic mode, so you order another car.  It is 17 minutes away (because the two drivers close to you are not even accepting your requests at this point and have noted your name and address and will never pick you up ever at this point).  You watch and notice that the driver is moving steadily toward you.  The driver arrives two minutes early, but you aren’t ready.  You need to go to the bathroom after waiting so long and need time to put your coat on.  The driver texts that he is there and needs the code to get into your complex, but you are too busy going to the bathroom and putting your coat on to respond.  After waiting five minutes for you to respond, he cancels also.  

The above may seem extreme, but this happens much more than you would believe and could have been prevented by the passenger just being polite, communicative, and cooperative.  

I have been driving for Uber for a little over a year, and I often hear from passengers that they get cancelled on frequently, and they just can’t figure out why.  After talking with other drivers, and hearing their stories, I have compiled this top ten list of reasons why you may be getting cancelled by your Uber driver.

1. You Don’t Answer Your Phone or Texts.  After you order the car, the driver calls you or texts you for more information and you don’t answer.  Once you order the car, you need to keep an eye on your phone and answer it if you get a text or phone call.  We are running a business, and you need to be respectful and answer back even if it is something as simple as “where are we going?”  You may have put the destination in when you requested the car, but we do not see it until you actually get into the car.  We are not trying to annoy you or frustrate you; we simply need this information.  Talking to you gives us a “feel” for what kind of ride it is going to be.  Ignoring texts and phone calls will get your ride cancelled.  
2. Distance.  You are too far away.  If we accept the ride and see you are more than ten minutes away, there is a good chance you will get cancelled, especially if you don’t answer texts or phone calls.  If you are going a very short distance, we end up paying out of our pocket for the gas expense and time wasted.  You are less likely to get cancelled on a long pick up time (more than ten minutes) if you answer your phone or text to let the driver know it is a short trip.  An even better thing to do is if you see a long pick up time, text the driver and tell them it is a short ride.  Better yet, if you are going a short distance don’t accept drivers who are more than ten minutes away.  I had a particularly unpleasant experience once when I received a call for a mall pickup.  It was in the summer and it was hot.  When I arrived, four teenage girls piled into my car and had me drive them across the parking lot because it was too hot for them to walk to their car.  The entire ride was not even a minute.  They then gave me a low rating because I took too long to get to them and didn’t provide them with bottled iced water.  I made $2.00 on a ride, got a lower rating which could cost me my job, and spent almost half an hour of my time on the ride.  Please be considerate of the driver and don’t expect them to drive ten minutes to drive you half a mile to the grocery store.  If a driver is close by, then by all means order the car, but be considerate.  If it is a short ride, TIP your driver.  Contrary to public belief, Uber does not factor a tip into your fare.  There are actually two class action suits against Uber for misleading both customers (you) and drivers (me) into thinking tips are included or unnecessary.  While your minimum fare may be around $5, we only get $2 of that.  If we have spent 20 minutes picking you up and taking you somewhere, we aren’t even making minimum wage and we still have to pay for gas and maintenance.
3. Low Rider Score.  I personally won’t pick up anyone whose score is less than 4.5, and I know drivers whose cut off is 4.75.  That may seem harsh, but most drivers don’t give ratings under 5 unless the passenger has caused serious problems.  These problems can range from being extremely rude, to damaging the vehicle, to obnoxious back seat driving.  If your score is less than a 4.75, most likely you have done something to earn a low score and you need to reassess your own behavior and work on getting your score up.  Keep in mind also, that when you let your friends use your account, you can get low ratings if they act obnoxious, damage the vehicle or are overall jerks.  Be careful doing this.  I once had a man send a car to pick up his new girlfriend’s son.  This kid was a real piece of work, yelling at me, kicking my seat, making fun of me, and just being an overall jerk.  The owner of the account had a good solid 5 rating, and I didn’t ding his rating because I knew the problem was not him, but many drivers would have kicked this kid out and given this man a 1 rating.  So don’t share your account.  It’s against Uber policy and it could give you problems if you plan to continue using the app in the future.
4. You Are a Jerk On The Phone.  If the driver reaches you by phone or text and you are short-tempered, arrogant, or act entitled with them and/or you refuse to answer their questions, there is a reason they are asking, don’t assume they are stupid or annoying you for asking it.  Give your driver attitude, and they will likely decide you can walk.  This is a no brainer.  If the person who is allowing you in their car has a question, answer it politely. Uber is not your typical taxi service, it is a person who is using their personal car to provide you with an extra service while they make extra money.  I have also kicked people out of my car who were obnoxious and hateful toward me, and I know other drivers do the same. The sharing economy doesn’t make room for people who are jerks.  No one wants a rude person who is going to give them a hard time in their car.  Be aware and be respectful.
5. Bad Location.  You aren’t where you say you are.  Watch your pin!  If you are not where you say you are, we will cancel and leave.  Uber is starting to eliminate cancellation fees in some cities, which gives the driver no reason to drive around five minutes looking for you.  Our time is valuable.  If you are in an apartment, come to the front of your complex or building and wait for the driver, especially if you are in a gated community.  If you can’t do that, text the driver with directions to your apartment building once they get into the complex and provide an access code.  If I don’t have good directions, I will wait by the leasing office and most likely will cancel if I don’t have an open line of communication.  I had a passenger request a car who did not give directions to the apartment.  I drove around and around trying to find her, and when I finally did find her, she opened the door and started to berate me and call me all sorts of names.  I told her I would not take her and cancelled the ride with her standing there.  Don’t be rude, and be where you say you are.
6. You Aren’t Ready.  Don’t order a car if you aren’t ready to be picked up.  We often arrive very quickly, and you are given a fairly accurate ETA.  If it is more than five minutes, we will cancel.  And with the elimination of cancellation fees, many drivers are not even waiting five minutes anymore.  Be ready! Your driver’s time is valuable too and they want to be doing work that will make them money.
7. Harassing the Driver with Texts and Phone Calls.  You bombard the driver with numerous texts and/or phone calls demanding to know where they are.  Uber provides a map showing you where we are, but unfortunately this does not always work accurately.  Calling us and yelling that we aren’t “moving” is a sure way to cancelled.  You know there is a thing called rush hour traffic and traffic lights, right?  
8. You Have a History.  They’ve gotten calls from you before and it is clear you have rated them low or were rude to them.  I had a woman who lived in my neighborhood who always requested these little short rides.  I was okay with doing them because I didn’t have to drive far and I knew she needed the rides.  One day, we were nearly hit by, of all things, a beer truck.  Through my quick thinking, I avoided a serious accident, and she thanked me profusely and then proceeded to give me a low rating because, through no fault of mine, the ride scared her.  After that, I cancelled on her every time.  I avoided a serious accident, and she punished me for it on a short ride.  She later saw me in the grocery store and asked why I wouldn’t pick her up and then was astounded when I told her why.  A lot of the drivers know each other, and we do give each other head’s up warnings about bad passengers.  Also, please be aware that our ratings affect your ability to get a driver, but your ratings could affect our livelihood. The ratings system is designed to keep bad people out of the system, it is not designed to ruin someone’s life because you are having a bad day.
9. Illegal Behavior.  Do not walk up to the car carrying an open container of beer or a glass that clearly has alcohol in it.  Not only is having an open container against the law in most states, it is strictly against Uber policy.  If I see you walking up to my car with a drink in hand, I will lock the doors, cancel and drive off.  You’ve shown me disrespect by even attempting to do this and expecting me to accept the responsibility and liability for your selfish illegal behavior.  The same with smoking.  If you have a cigarette in hand and are reaching for the car handle, I will lock the doors and cancel.  Be considerate.  If I pull up and you are stupid drunk, I will lock the doors and cancel.  I don’t need your vomit or uncontrollable behavior in my car.  Another illegal behavior is if we arrive and you have a small child and no car seat.  Don’t ask us to break the law for your convenience.
10. We Are Not Your Personal Moving Company.  I have had pickups where people have had three grocery baskets full and wanted to load them all in my car.  I have had pickups at Ikea where a man had purchased a bunch of furniture and wanted to tie them to the top of my car and have me drive them to his home.  Needless to say, the ride was cancelled.  However, I did offer to drive him to UHaul to rent a truck.

Basically, to avoid getting cancelled by your Uber driver just be a decent human being and recognize that the driver is a human being also.  Just because we are allowing you to come into our car and are willing to drive you somewhere, does not entitle you to treat us disrespectfully.  If your behavior would get you kicked off an airplane and possibly subjected to a body cavity search at an airport, don’t do it in an Uber.