Uber drivers have to deal with a lot, especially when it comes to customers making requests. Riders have been known to ask for favors that go way beyond the scope of the driver’s job. Often, these will include making extra stops, carrying heavy luggage, or requesting specific routes that may increase travel time.
Not only are these additional demands stressful, but they are also an added pressure on drivers who already have to be conscientious about maintaining a high rating on the app. Uber also tends to favor customers in disputes, leaving drivers to feel as though they have little recourse when issues arise.
That’s why driver Alex (@fulltimegigworker) drew a clear boundary when a recent customer asked him for a favor. Alex shared the details of the incident in order to get other people’s perspectives on the issue.
The driver says that a passenger going 1.4 miles got into his car that morning. But before they arrived at her final destination, she said she wanted to add a stop.
The Uber driver told her to go ahead. But, for some unknown reason, the woman was unable to add the stop through her app.
“Lo and behold, she doesn’t have money on her account. They’ve got the old credit card. It’s her daughter’s account. Whatever,” the driver recounts her saying. He also says that he wanted 10 minutes as the woman attempted to add this extra stop.
When it was clearly not working, he told her, “I’m going to close this out. You’re gonna have to book another ride.”
The customer’s special request
Then he says the woman asked if he could just drive her to her next location anyway.
“No, I can’t,” the Uber driver said, providing his reasons for denying the request.
“You doing a ride off the app isn’t legal in my state. Unless you have a taxi license, it’s illegal,” he explains. He also adds that an off-the-books passenger would not be covered by his insurance and driving her would be a liability for him.
The woman exited the car. But, Alex asks, “Why do I end up feeling bad for this afterwards?”
The driver adds that on top of feeling bad, he was also afraid that the woman would leave him a bad review on Uber. He ends the video asking other drivers what they would have done in this situation.
@fulltimegigworker #1099 #gigwork #doordash #uberdriver #rideshare #notipnotrip #extraincome ♬ original sound – Alex
The TikTok post received 683 views with many viewers sympathetic to the driver’s situation. Multiple drivers said they would have done the same thing he did.
“If they get out of the car at their stop and haven’t added another stop. I check make sure they didn’t leave anything. End the ride and head on to the next ride,” one person said.
“Don’t ever do cash rides. It’s not worth it. You did the right thing,” another warned.
“You feel bad because you could’ve just took the cash and dropped the lady off, but don’t, you did what was safe for you,” someone else acknowledged.
“I always say: Sorry, I don’t do rides outside the app, because of the insurance,” another driver said.
Can Uber drivers change the destination?
One commenter pointed out that if he wanted to, the driver could have changed the destination on the Uber app himself.
The person explained the steps to do this: “At the top where the destination is. tap it, it’ll open up you’ll see a pencil. tap the pencil and adjust the route. if you had another ride, it will be taken off of you,” this person explained.
“Both driver-partners and riders can edit a trip’s final destination at any time before the driver-partner swipes End Trip,” Uber’s website confirms, before going on to describe the same steps as the commenter above. The website also notes, however, that this feature isn’t available for UberX Share trips.
The Daily Dot reached out to Alex via TikTok direct message and to Uber via email.
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