An Uber driver from Texas shared his story of how he taught a rude customer a lesson in manners and money. The customer, who was in a hurry to catch a flight, wanted the driver to wait for him while he packed his bags. However, he refused to pay the waiting fee and asked the driver to cancel the ride. The driver complied, but not without a twist.
How Uber charges for waiting time?
According to Uber’s website, wait time fee is calculated based on the time driver-partners spend waiting after they have arrived at the pickup location. Wait time fees are charged automatically and cannot be triggered by driver-partners manually.
In some locations, a rider will be charged a per-minute wait time fee, which will begin 2 minutes after the driver-partner arrives at the rider’s location. The rider will be notified that the charge has started, and it will continue until the driver begins the trip.
If the trip is cancelled and the rider is charged a cancellation fee, they will not be charged for wait time. Additionally, this fee may not apply to airports or certain other venues.
What happened to the rude customer?
The Uber driver, who goes by the username u/StarsBear75063 on Reddit, posted his story on the r/MaliciousCompliance subreddit. He said that he had been driving for Uber for over seven years and had encountered many rude customers, but this one was particularly memorable.
He said that he received a request for a ride from a customer who wanted to go to the airport. He accepted the request and arrived at the pickup location within 10 minutes. However, when he called the customer to let him know that he was there, he was shocked by what he heard.
The customer told him that he was still packing his bags and that it would take him another 30 to 45 minutes to get ready. He then asked the driver to cancel the ride and wait for him, saying that he did not want to pay for the waiting time.
The driver tried to explain to him that if he cancelled the ride, he would have to pay a cancellation fee, which would be more than the waiting fee. He also told him that he could not guarantee that he would be available when he was ready, as he might get another request in the meantime.
However, the customer did not listen to him and rudely cut him off. He insisted that he cancel the ride and wait for him, saying that he knew how Uber worked and that he was not going to pay extra for nothing.
The driver decided to maliciously comply with his request. He said:
I went into my humble contrite mode while apologizing and asking his forgiveness for me being presumptuous. I told him that, certainly, I would cancel the trip and it would be no problem for me to wait the 30-45 minutes that he required.
He then proceeded to cancel the ride and collect the cancellation fee, which was $5. He also turned off his app so that he would not receive any other requests. He waited patiently for the customer to come out of his house with his bags.
When the customer finally came out, he looked surprised to see the same driver waiting for him. He asked him why he was still there and if he had cancelled the ride. The driver confirmed that he had cancelled the ride as per his request and that he was still available to take him to the airport.
The customer seemed relieved and thanked him for waiting. He then asked him how much it would cost him for the ride. The driver told him that it would be $35, which was $10 more than the original fare due to surge pricing.
The customer agreed to pay and got into the car. The driver then restarted his app and accepted the request from the same customer. He drove him to the airport without any further issues.
How much did the rude customer end up paying?
The driver said that when they reached the airport, he ended his trip and gave the customer a one-star rating. He then checked his earnings and saw that he had made $40 from this one customer: $5 from the cancellation fee and $35 from the fare.
He also noticed that the customer had tipped him $5, which was unexpected but appreciated. He said:
I guess my malicious compliance made an impression on him because when I checked my earnings later I saw that not only did I get paid $40 ($5 cancellation + $35 fare) but also got a $5 tip!
He concluded his story by saying that he hoped that this experience taught the customer a lesson in being polite and respectful to service providers. He said:
Maybe next time he’ll listen when someone tries to give him good advice or at least be polite about it.
