0 min left
Uber Drivers Caught Cheating The System To Drive Up Fares
Meg Butler August 10, 2017
Ever get surge pricing even when it’s far from rush hour? You might have been the victim of Uber drivers in the area. A recent investigation found that Uber drivers in London and New York have been cheating the app into thinking there’s a shortage of cars when there isn’t in order to initiate surge pricing.
Researchers interviewed several Uber drivers to discover how they pull off the trick: several drivers in an area coordinate via online forums and log out of the app at the same time. Uber’s algorithm thinks there’s a driver shortage and fare prices go up due to “high demand.”
At least one driver said that Uber already knows about the practise “cos it happens every week.”
To read more on this story, go to The Telegraph.
This happened to me in Brussels. I have submitted a dispute to my credit card, asking for a credit back to the original amount when I booked the ride.
I am an Uber driver. I drove full time for 2 years (I do it part time now). I am very active on the Uber Driver forums, slack channels, group texts, facebook, reddit, etc. and as much as I wish it were true, I can confirm that this article is 100% false. There just is no way to get enough drivers to coordinate with each other to make any significant impact on surge pricing. 99% of drivers would not cooperate with such a price fixing tactic either because they don't know about it, don't care, won't be online in the right area at the right time, or just don't want to wait around with an empty car and risk losing money. Sure, there are times when drivers will wait around for surge, but this really only happens when there is an event occurring where the drivers can anticipate upcoming demand, such as a concert or Sunday night at the airport, or rush hour surge, etc. There aren't any drivers getting together and purposely going offline in order to decrease supply and induce surge pricing. It's just not possible to organize such a thing. There have been attempts to strike in the past, which failed miserable for the same reason.
This does not surprise me in the slightest. Only problem is that most taxicab drivers are even more dodgy. Driverless cars- bring it on, the faster the better!
Isn't it just typical of this new age, the smarties find a way to game the consumers!
Yes we are guilty since Uber rips of the passenger and the driver, we have every right considering this is going on for years. some of us veterans drives do not drive under non-surge conditions, that is set for the new ants who think they will become millionaire's in a year, but they realize in 1 month they have lost money or worked below minimum wage.