have you had a really big range of estimates or have the estimates been way off?

My estimates are usually like 10-20% range on the low end, and 5-10% on the high end, for example $9-$11 and $19-$22, and are usually dead on.

Borg,

With this new thing they're testing, there's no longer an estimate.

right but i'm just curious why you like it so much?
it's a little better but my estimates are usually pretty accurate and within a small range.

borg,

I just like that it takes away all uncertainty. Especially during high surge times and longer rides, the estimates can be somewhat wide, and the fare sometimes ends up being higher due to route, traffic, etc. With the new system the price is the price, period.

Today I got a sandwich that was $7. I just prefer that to it being priced at "$6-8, maybe a little more."

that hurts the drivers right? there's a lot of people who request stops for example.

^ ^ The man's got no gamble!

Drivers still get paid by mile and time. So if a trip takes very long or the route is overly long due to traffic conditions then Uber itself can lose $$ on it.

Of course when you lose $2B every year as a company, what is an extra couple $$ added on top.

TR,

It says the fare is subject to change if you add stops or change destination.

nice. in the very least uber has been fair with drivers lately. they raised the wage on a min fair by a dollar here, and I've been compensated well when riders have spilled **** in my backseat -- in comparison to lyft which angles to not pay you for cleaning fees/time.

I count myself lucky in the 1500+ rides I gave I never had anyone throw up, urinate or defecate in my cR, although I did have a few close calls.

worst I had was someone snuck in and spilled some light beer in my back seat which actually cleans up pretty easily. And someone did some lines of coke once, but didn't spill anything. And a teenage couple had what I think was intercourse, but might have just been dry humping. Again, nothing spilled though, so I count myself lucky.

I saw the fixed price thing in Boston this week. I realized that's how they hide surge pricing because took two rides to the airport and one fare was almost double the other. Still cheaper than taking a taxi, though.

However, the second ride was the most terrifying Taxi/Uber ride I have ever taken, and that includes the 26 years I spent living in Peru where drivers are legit insane.

Took Uber to airport, Wednesday around 8am. The dude picked us up and from the beginning I could tell he was a reckless driver, speeding like crazy and then hammering on the brakes. Traffic was bad so he was changing lanes and routes all the time. He was going to take 1A to the airport and then abruptly changed 4 lanes and exited because there was a bad accident. He then proceeded to take us to Cambridge and then all the way to Chelsea, where to overtake a truck almost killed us because "he though it was a one way street". We finally made it to the airport and both my boss and I were totally shook.

The only nice thing he did was to stop the fare midway because he said he didn't want us to get charged for all the driving around. Gave him 2 stars because of that gesture.

I'm taking the T next time.

Take the shuttle from Copley to the Airport for $7.50 one way ($3 if you have a T pass). It's a direct trip from Hynes/Copley, and runs every 20 minutes or so.

Hermes and Cartier, rough living masked man

At least he had the comfort of being quoted exactly $5.24 instead of $5-$7. That way he can budget exactly how much he can spend at Hermes and Cartier!

I'm registered with both lyft and uber. Waiting on the background checks to go through and then I'll be driving. The sign up process was slightly annoying. It might depend on each market but in Portland you have to get your car inspected and have a business license. It seemed like there were a lot of people at both places signing up and dealing with other issues. I'm curious how things go. Market seems like it might be saturated but only time will tell.

Word, black Mazda with an unintentional poker related license plate.

Black Mazda 3 with leather. (if that matters)

My friend said that tipping is priced in. Is that true?

^ Short answer: no.

Long answer: read previous pages

Medium answer: it is "included" in the same way that tips are "included" in the price when you go to McDonalds; employees of McD and Uber are both told not to expect tips when they are hired, but they both make very little money without tips and appreciate it if they get tipped.

Chill,

Wait, McDonalds employees sometimes get tipped, what!?

Maybe not, but I assumed they would accept tips if offered. At some fast food restaurants there is a tip jar. Haven't been to McDs for years so don't know if they have them; figured they probably did not, just like Uber doesn't make it easy to tip.

nobody tips at McDonald's.

Uber wants nobody to tip at Uber too.

Had a driver ask me if it was ok to pick up his wife. Told him I was in a big hurry, which I wasnt, and still gave him 5 stars. Am I doing it wrong?

If he did it anyway, and you gave him 5 stars, then yeah, you're doing it wrong.

I'd likely have responded with a genuinely confused, "Are you serious?" That'd probably be the end of it, but if not then I'd give him a low rating. You're not paying him to run his personal errands.