First time I used the uber courier service, last week...

TL; DR ... what's the shit with uber drivers using tolls that are unnecessary for the trip, and then secretly passing on this cost to the customer ??

I selected the "save" option; which allows the driver to come to me "4 min to 23min" from the booking confirmation...

Quoted total $28.73

Driver actually arrived 35 minutes after the booking confirmation, crap already!.. But whatever...

But the kicker was that:

  1. I was slugged an unknown about $6.50 toll fee.

2.. It actually took the driver all afternoon to get to my delivery destination

  1. Her car was a battered up looking corrola hatchback; full of litter and junk; as well as some random friend in the passanger's seat; one kid in the back seat; as well as a baby seat/carrier in the back seat...

And as well as all of this; also a box for another delivery, for another customer/destination.. WTF...

  1. To deliver my item does not require any toll roads whatsoever. Fact.

  2. She took all afternoon; and used a toll road; because of the other item she had to deliver for another customer...

  3. Hardly seems fair or right.

  4. Looked at the uber app; but I could not see a customer complaints phone number, (yeah I know, AMAO); or an email address...??

  5. Please provide here, if anyone has one?

  6. And is this random toll add-on scam a common thing?

thanks...

  • Sounds like they charge a toll fee to all parcels in the car ..whilst only paying a single toll fee for the one car. This means they get paid 3 times for a single expense.

    AirBnb charge you a cleaning fee then the owner smack talks the fck out of you in review if you don't give the place a thorough clean before you leave ..and is why I don't use AirBnb anymore.

    Every one of these apps has scammy ways and why I use neither anymore.

    parent

    I don't use Airbnb for the reason I just want someone else to clean it. I'm not doing housework. AirBnB was for renting out your house or bedroom or whatever. Now it's just a crappy hotel.

    parent root

    I just use booking.com never had issues

    parent root

  • As an ex uber eats driver.

    The app just tells them where to go. It's on them to determine if the app is taking them via a told road. It's caught me out a few times.

    Blame uber, not the driver.

    As for the condition of the car. Don't like it? Get it yourself next time. Uber will stack jobs all the time even if you have priority which is a joke lol.

    Uber are a terrible company who nickel and dime the drivers, the passengers/restaurants at every turn.

    The reason why uber offers deliveries is for same day deliveries. I turn them all off personally. I absolutely refuse to take personal deliveries from people.

    If you use uber for literally anything. Expect the absolute bare minimum. The drivers get paid sweet fuck all. Want actual good service? Then hire an actual company.

    parent

    As an Uber passenger, I have had to ask to take a different route as the Uber app would always give directions to a notorious crash spot. 😑

    parent root

    A notorious crash spot? Exactly how dangerous do you think this spot is?

    parent root

    OP said he was given a price for one particular journey and then the driver changed the journey and charged more. So yeah , fuck the driver.

    parent root

  • Who would have thought that uber drivers would start behaving like taxi drivers when uber relaxed their driver conditions and caring about the customer experience

    parent

  • It’s a courier service just like any other courier service. Your not hiring them just to do you job and only your job, you are hiring a courier to collect something for you and drop it off.

    It’s no different to using any other courier service they are always going to have multiple drops going at once.

    parent

    True, but you shouldn't be slogged for a toll road that isn't needed for your delivery.

    parent root

    How do you know it’s not needed. You not just paying for the courier from the collection spot to you, you are paying for the courier to go from where they are located to the collection spot and then to you. That’s what the cost of convenience is.

    You don’t know where the courier is starting there journey to collect your parcel. If you don’t want to risk paying tolls you go collect it yourself and avoid the toll roads.

    parent root

    No - because

    1. The app gave me a set, quoted price. (NO toll road required in my journey).

    2. Most significantly; I have delivered an item previously to this exact same address myself;

    3. And between where I am; and the end point destination - NO Toll Roads are required...

    Not even within plus minus 15km if you go "off track"...

    No, the problem was that:

    (A) this uber courier driver kept grabbing jobs for hours after collecting my item ..

    (B) But eventally found herself approx 20km or 30km off route; where she needed a toll road to complete my delivery, and

    (C) Then decided to take (steal) that money / toll road expense from an unrelated transaction... (Me)

    parent root

    you are paying for the courier to go from where they are located to the collection spot and then to you.

    No, you are paying them to go from the pick up location to the delivery location. Where they start should have nothing to do with the customer.

    parent root

    No courier costs is for point A and B only, any other travel is the couriers problem

    parent root

    No - my main point is that the uber app quoted me one price which I accepted.

    But the driver decided to use tolls to suit her other deliveries / customers / schedule / and decided to not pay the toll road herself.

    Decided to make me pay for it... Even though my delivery was not near any toll road...

    Struugle to see this?; well its no different to the driver taking $20 out of my wallet without permission (theft) to help with her fuel costs...

    parent root

  • First time I read this post - my brain's response was...

    TL;DR... get a grip and delete your phone

    1. The condition of the woman's car counts nought to her ability to deliver something that isn't a person; it's not like you had to be in the car with all of her things
    2. Uber drivers gotta get shit moving; toll roads help with that... And Uber might have added the toll to your fee automatically if the driver had to take the toll - or if Uber told them to take the toll
    3. I've never used this Uber courier service, but is it specified that the driver will only be couriering your item? How do you even know that it was a box for someone else? It could have been hers or her friend's!
    4. How and why are you so aware of the condition of this person's car? And, again, why does it matter?
    5. Why are you ragging on a woman who you've painted as being someone having a really shit time of life and is trying her utmost best to make ends meet?
    6. Nobody knows what AMAO is and I don't understand why people like to make up their own acronyms and then use them like it's a thing everyone will understand, as if they just made fetch happen
    7. You're complaining about the time the delivery took but we don't know the distance or the route; it could well be the case that the toll is the best way to go between the two points, especially for the time of day or other conditions we're not privy to
    8. Absolutely no bloody idea why this is a numbered list
    9. Maybe you shouldn't use Uber anymore if this is how it makes you feel about the world

    Thanks...

    parent

    Not sure why you’re getting downvoted, their story reads like bullshit. And I’m no fan of uber.

    parent root

  • You should absolutely make a complaint about a woman with a cheap car trying to make extra cash at Christmas while looking after her kids. What would a standard courier have cost?

    parent

    Cheaper actually, for a regular professional courier.

    And no option for a professional driver to charge above the set price for a toll road used for his/her other deliveries - that were way, way nowhere near where my job was...

    Next time, just be happy if this driver charges YOU for a whole day's fuel then, hey?

    parent root

    Not sure if it's still the same or not, but I drove for a courier service many years ago. We weren't allowed to use tollways or freeways. This was so they could load us up as much as possible with jobs on the way, and afterwards.

    parent root

    Cheaper actually, for a regular professional courier

    Well, I hope you've learnt something here.

    parent root

    TBH, I knew about the reasonsble service and ethics of regular courier services already.

    But fool is me, I thought I would try an uber courier...

    Yes, leason learned... NEVER again..

    parent root

    1. What's with the numbering?

    2. Its been overused

    parent

  • I can't say how Uber courier works, but for Uber passenger, the driver just follows the Uber navigation app, and almost all the time the app will use a toll road, even if it does not make sense or the toll road actually takes longer, it still will use the toll road. And there is no option to switch it to non-toll.

    parent

    Regarding my (OP's) original message - why this is a scam is because the uber courier cost was quoted as a set price.

    However, the driver went to several other delivery drop offs over about 3 hours, which took them far away (approx 25km) from the general direction and area of where my item had to be delivered.

    Great that "my" uber courier driver was getting more income doing this...

    However, it was unprofessional and unfair that the driver then needed to take a toll road to get back on track to where my job destination point was; AND decided that I should be the one to pay that toll; not the uber courier driver..

    The toll expense was a small matter - but its not honest to conduct business in that way...

    To be certain, no toll roads are required anyhere near my end destination... fyi...

    parent root

  • Drivers mainly get paid on distance not time… unlike a taxi. I’ve had passengers tell me to avoid tolls and the trip cost $20 more.

    parent

  • So they are scamming you out of $6.50 by driving on a toll road that costs them $6.50?

    They should break even on this one.

    parent

  • Pays for a cheap service expects rolls royce service then with free tolls 😂

    parent

    Did you read anything?

    Your assumptions are wrong...

    parent root

  • OP must drive a ranger

    parent