Uber drivers at CNS routinely cancelling rides to manipulate surge pricing

[XWu]

Hi I’m a Uber driver in cairns and we have our own group. It’s not the legit drivers it’s actually the taxi drivers, they all have two phones and accept a Uber ride only to cancel and they all do it together knowing that the customer will get upset and decide to go to the taxi rank which is now directly across the road.

I will admit that their are Uber drivers that do pretty much the same to try and create a surge for a larger fare. I have had some of them come up to me after I have dropped a passenger offf at the airport and have gone to the waiting area and ask me to turn my app off.

Cairns airport and Uber moved the waiting area and the pickup area so now for both waiting and pickup we are directly opposite each other and since then the surge tactic is even worse as so many of the one group know each other and work both Uber and taxi and have access to both.

Just recently most taxis in cairns have placed a sign on their vehicles saying No Surge Charges.

After 25 years as a GM for a very respectful company I drive to pass time while my partner is working and as I’ve travelled to 27 countries I love picking up tourists from all around the world.

Happy to discuss and open up all the honest drivers know.

The Uber app when we drop someone at the airport tells us how many Ubers are waiting in line before you, so often it will tell me 1-5 and there is 18 in the queue.

Regards

A

Welcome to AFF, thanks for contributing

So the finger of cartel behaviour is pointing to taxi drivers, the plot twist! Makes plenty of sense

just wondering being Uber-naive, surely there can only be a limited number of times for a Uber driver to cancel a ride before being flagged and banned, and limited avenue for a driver to apply for an Uber driver account?

So unless a large number of taxi drivers are doing this to spread the love and minimise the risk of getting their Uber account suspended (and needing to apply for a new one) otherwise how can this go on for years (just search other online social media forums reddit etc) , the situation in cairns, not just CNS, is so bad that it attracts an ABC News journalist’s attention Why are so many Uber drivers cancelling?, and

how Uber doesn’t realise what’s going on at CNS (surely the number of cancellation at a specific location is disproportionate to the size of the region it serves) and

more interestedly how another top status cairns Uber driver who also recently just joined the AFF to contribute either did not know or did not share this knowledge?

Not accusing of anything here, just asking questions

 

[Quickstatus]

just wondering being Uber-naive, surely there can only be a limited number of times for a Uber driver to cancel a ride before being flagged and banned, and limited avenue for a driver to apply for an Uber driver account?

For Uber Gold plat and diamond drivers it's <3%. It does not sound like much but as I said before drivers need 2500 completed trips on a rolling 3 months to qualify for and maintain (amongst other requirements). Per month that's 830. 3% =25 /month cancellations. Less for others. Gold for instance is 500trips/3months so they can cancel <5/month.

Overall not a lot to drop to lower tier. So while cancelling would occur within the parameters set above, I suspect the strategic and coordinated turning off of apps + some cancellations are at play. If they have cancellations up their sleeve to play with why would they take a fare perceived to be low value to them. Only Gold/Plat/Diamond have visibility into approx length of trip and general compass direction - eg 10minutes north or 40minutes south

For regular Ubers there is no % but Uber the headmaster can ban for ovecancelling. My earlier theory was that only the tiered drivers cancel - for above reasons. Non tiered don't cancel because they don't like the trip because they don't have any trip visibility . But maybe they cancel to drive pax to the taxi rank as per @AjMcN

 

[aikman]

So the taxi drivers are rejecting a guaranteed Uber booking in exchange for the possibility that the customer may take a taxi instead?

Sounds like too much of a gamble to me and doesn't make commercial sense.

 

[Captain Halliday]

it’s actually the taxi drivers, they all have two phones and accept a Uber ride only to cancel and they all do it together knowing that the customer will get upset and decide to go to the taxi rank which is now directly across the road.

If true, you’ve confirmed what most in this thread have been saying because people doing this would have to be registered as drivers with Uber.

In other words, Uber drivers in CNS accepting then cancelling rides in order to inflate prices.

 

[Aeryn]

I dont know about CNS but in Sydney many taxi drivers are now also registered on uber, despite complaining about Uber and Taxi owners being awarded a huge compensation payout.

I had the misfortune of booking an uber the other day in Sydney and the ride being assigned to a Taxi.

I certainly wouldn't put it past Taxi drivers sitting at the airport rank, accepting uber rides then cancelling to drive passengers back to the taxi rank. Positive taxi experiences in Australia are IME very very rare.

 

[jastel]

Im 90% certain Cairns Taxis are not dispatched to pick up Uber jobs...yet...yes this DOES happen in other areas but not here. I will check with my mate tomorrow.

Some drivers do drive for both, but NOT at the same time as far as I know.

If the "surge" suddenly happens as the planes disembark, which is what everyone says is happening, (and is plainly obvious and commonsense as there are suddenly fares at the airport when there were not any 10 minutes earlier) the Taxi Drivers on the rank will be getting fares in the Taxi anyway from the first off hand luggage crowd and will be driving away, so they wouldnt be bothered playing on the uber app to raise fares for their competitors following.
That makes ZERO sense.

 

[Quickstatus]

despite complaining about Uber and Taxi owners being awarded a huge compensation payout.

Taxi drivers are generally not also taxi owners

 

[docjames]

One reason I cancel trips is because Uber will say an estimated wait time of 3 mins but then a driver 15 minutes away gets the job. Usually I am in a hurry. And Uber minutes take longer.

This particularly irritates me with Uber. If i'm on a cbd street, i'll look at Uber and get "3 mins(and acceptable price) then wait 10-15 mins to be collected -0 if i'd known it was a 10-15min wait i'd have hailed a passing Taxi.....

Feels very intentional and the quoted time is totally made up.......to how you in (and make you cancel).

 

[moa999]

But starting with a fare quote of $17, then re-booking at $21 and again quoted at $23

Ita certainly not super-surging (which could end up with double fares etc).

Does Uber ever do discounts in slow periods??
I can certainly understand drivers who might have waited at an airport say an hour for a flight, cancelling a discounted trip knowing they would get a normal fare shortly after

 

[anat0l]

Does Uber ever do discounts in slow periods??

No. You pay the base price according to the standard charges.

 

[Quickstatus]

i'll look at Uber and get "3 mins(and acceptable price) then wait 10-15 mins to be collected

Often the app quotes the time the closest car for your class of car will take to get to you. However the car that grabs the job first may not be the closest car when the Uber driver app sends out a request to the group of cars in your area. I don't know how wide the net is cast though.

 

[docjames]

Often the app quotes the time the closest car for your class of car will take to get to you. However the car that grabs the job first may not be the closest car when the Uber driver app sends out a request to the group of cars in your area. I don't know how wide the net is cast though.

Yes, and it's misleading. But Uber are happy not to fix this. They could easily do an average of the 5 closest cars, or average of all the cars the fare is offered to. But they don't.

This one is on Uber itself (not the drivers).

 

[Rich]

Yes, and it's misleading. But Uber are happy not to fix this. They could easily do an average of the 5 closest cars, or average of all the cars the fare is offered to. But they don't.

This one is on Uber itself (not the drivers).

I find I will see 5 drivers within 2 minutes of my house and the app says 2 minutes, but then the job is immediately picked up by someone 5 km away who has a drop off on the way. It will say for example 12 minutes but that blows out to 15+.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I dont know about CNS but in Sydney many taxi drivers are now also registered on uber, despite complaining about Uber and Taxi owners being awarded a huge compensation payout.

I had the misfortune of booking an uber the other day in Sydney and the ride being assigned to a Taxi.

I certainly wouldn't put it past Taxi drivers sitting at the airport rank, accepting uber rides then cancelling to drive passengers back to the taxi rank. Positive taxi experiences in Australia are IME very very rare.

I wonder if this might be the case!

Arrived early evening into Sydney this last Tuesday… I waited 1hr30mins for a ride share. Tried uber and didi. Rides kept cancelling. Yes I should have caught the train but I didn’t know how long it would take!

When I finally got an uber I asked how busy were they? ‘Not at all’ was the response… ‘we have been driving around with no fares’.

I do a ten minute journey, fares were over $30 for both. But chopping and changing all over the place. Got my uber for $20 (same price as the train), but i wonder if it is the taxis accepting the fares and cancelling?

 

[Aeryn]

Arrived early evening into Sydney this last Tuesday… I waited 1hr30mins for a ride share.

Which terminal? At T1 there are ubers waiting out front no longer necessary to go to the ride share area in the carpark. At T3 the ubers also have a dedicated pick-up area next to Taxis that Didi cant use.

I do wonder if they are avoiding pick-ups in the old carpark area as its much more of a maze to get in and out of.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Which terminal? At T1 there are ubers waiting out front no longer necessary to go to the ride share area in the carpark. At T3 the ubers also have a dedicated pick-up area next to Taxis that Didi cant use.

I do wonder if they are avoiding pick-ups in the old carpark area as its much more of a maze to get in and out of.

T2 unfortunately.

When I finally did get an uber, they changed the pick up to T3 qantas, but the driver called asking to meet at the priority pickup anyway.

I lost track of the number of times i walked between the priority pickup and T3 pickup that night!

Lucky the weather was mild

 

[jastel]

Cairns Taxis do not dispatch uber jobs to drivers.
If you call a Taxi in Cairns you will get a proper marked Taxi who must use the meter.

If you call an uber and a Taxi turns up they would love to hear about it.

 

[Aeryn]

If you call an uber and a Taxi turns up they would love to hear about it.

Given uber is a mobile app I dont see how the taxi company can stop drivers taking and/or cancelling uber jobs on their personal phone?

FYI Taxis have been on Uber in NSW for almost a year: Welcoming taxis onto Uber in NSW: an update to our vehicle eligibility requirements

 

[kookaburra75]

I find I will see 5 drivers within 2 minutes of my house and the app says 2 minutes, but then the job is immediately picked up by someone 5 km away who has a drop off on the way. It will say for example 12 minutes but that blows out to 15+.

That happens at home too where there are many drivers in the neighbourhood. Although I asked a driver why it took longer than 5 minutes, and he explained he was at home, waiting for a job to come in before he finished his cup of tea, got into the car etc. I now always add five minutes to the time for them to arrive.

 

[I love to travel]

This thread so motivates me to use public transport or the shuttles to and from airports where possible!!
If the behaviour of tax drivers deliberately cancelling rides is true, that is (criminally) distorting the market,
Personally I would be quite happy with the state based taxi boards banning taxi drivers from being rideshare drivers. Yes restraint of trade, but on the other hand how many hours a day should people be driving anyway for safety reason!!
If only we could tag the ACCC into this thread.