Last Updated on June 10, 2020 by Mike Dean
Uber’s Upfront Fares Aren’t quite Upfront…are they?
According to the Rideshare Guy, Uber’s new “Upfront Fares” which is how riders are now charged by only showing the total cost of an “estimated” ride without details or a fare breakdown, aren’t quite upfront. In fact based on information drivers collected, including comparisons of their earnings or gross fare compared to what a rider is charged, there seems to be a difference in which the rider is either being overcharge, or the driver is being underpaid. So wheres the difference, overcharge, or leftover amount…Uber keeps it!
Heres Uber’s explanation on how Uber’s Upfront Fares or Pricing works:
Upfront fares are calculated using the expected time and distance of the trip and local traffic, as well as how many riders and nearby drivers are using Uber at that moment.
https://newsroom.uber.com/upfront-fares-no-math-and-no-surprises/
In other words, Uber doest uses the metered system to calculate fares like the use to. Instead they just sort of guess how much the fare will be. Additionally, a rider has no details or breakdown of the actual ride cost such as base, time, distance, surge applied, surge multiplier (ex. 1.5), tolls, another fee, or subtotal. Nope. Just a grand total based on an educated guess. Since riders trip or fare details are now “hidden” or remove, they can’t do any math, and if they could I’m sure they’d find a ton of surprises!
Oddly enough, Uber actually tells drives the exact opposite on how rider are paid in the Uber partners help section for drivers:
The trip fare you see at the end of a ride is calculated by adding:
– base fare: the price for pickup
– time: from start to end of trip
– distance: miles or kilometers of route
– surge pricing (if applicable)
– tolls (if applicable)
This amount is charged to the rider.
Notice at the bottom it says “This amount is charged to the rider.” Well if a rider was charged based on the drivers metered fare calculations you wouldn’t be reading this article or watching the video on how “Uber’s Upfront Fares Over Charges Riders Without Paying it to Drivers.” But instead, this seems to be the case.
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Mike (Dean) Gumora is the founder and owner of Ridesharreport.com. I’m also the first official rideshare driver in the industry vetted by the first Rideshare/TNC startup, Sidecar in 2011. I have completed hundreds of trips and deliveries for companies such as Uber, Lyft, Uber Eats, DoorDash and Postmates. My hands-on industry experience in rideshare began in 2011. The rideshare industry is my passion. I have followed and studied the industry since 2012. But, my real passion is supporting the ever-growing community of drivers and riders.