Uber Over

I do believe my time driving for Uber is over, for the most part. First, they started charging me $10.00 a week for my phone, which they had already charged me $100 for, I believe was the figure, when I started some months ago. Keep in mind the software in this special iPhone was Uber dedicated, meaning it was no good for my personal use.

Everything was fine though, as it stood then. I was eking out a living with that setup. Then, for some reason, Uber saw fit to start charging the extra $40/month. That made it generally a non-profitable venture. So I sent the phone back, in the envelope they sent me, with the promise to get my own iPhone and resume employment.

Shopping for iPhones it soon became apparent that this is a whole other racket unto itself, the whole smartphone biz, with the two year contracts, fuzzy fine print on thick packets of forms requiring my signature, signing God-knows what, and early cancellation penalties approaching five to six hundred dollars in some cases.

With the iPhone, the only phone that works with the Uber driver app, you can either buy the phone, around $500, depending on the age of the model desired, or pay for it over a two year period, which is added to your monthly phone bill, at around an extra $22.00/month. So you have this two year financing deal and a two year contract, on a phone that will be obsolete in two years, where the whole cycle will then be repeated.

Dear Uber and iPhone providers, feel free to take a hike.

Uber Blues

I did not make a profit in September in my Uber gig... 

Of course it was no help that I worked only half the month, due to another part-time job out-of-state involving farm work, from which driving for Uber is a major break. I just had very bad luck with my low profile Continental brand tires, which are not very tough, and I would highly not recommend for city driving. 

First, I dropped off a couple of gay guys, who flew in from the West Coast, in front of an apparently very popular gay bar here in Nashville, judging from the line to get in, composed of both boys and girls. So, in my attempt to drop them off as close as possible to the front door, I ran up on the curb a little bit and what happens? The frigging right front tire blows out through the sidewall and goes flat.

So I manage to drive the car to the empty lot across the street and ended up paying a homeless guy $25 to help me change it, providing entertainment for the night-clubbing crowd. This guy was actually a God-send, as he really knew cars and prevented me from jacking up the car in the wrong spot on the plastic trim. His name was "Terrel" if I recall correctly.

Luckily the tire was covered under warranty from Discount Tire, but of course I had to buy two tires to balance out the car, so that one new tire hit me for around $200 after sales tax.

Finally getting back to driving for Uber the next Thursday night and I run over something - I don't even know what - and the next morning I notice the right front tire has a deep slice in it.

Amazing it didn't go flat.......

Luckily this is part of the other two tires left, not the new pair on the rear of the car. Back to Discount Tire again and it's covered under warranty-awesome-and I have to buy another pair of tires, $200 for the one new one to make another pair, so I'm getting killed so far in the profits department.

The reality is, as appealing as it is to make my own schedule and get paid to drive around in the car, the income to expense ratio is just not going to allow me to continue working for Uber that much longer. Though my Uber career will probably be short-lived, I will definitely continue to use the service as a passenger. It's a great deal for riders. For the drivers, not so much.

Back out tonight to try again on the busiest and craziest night of the week.......

Update - Sunday, October 5....

Saturday was busy from my start at 2 p.m. through my quit time around 1 a.m., when an apparently very drunk teen girl barfed in my car, into a barf bag luckily. I managed a gross earnings of around $180, after slapping another 220 miles on my unfortunate vehicle, but I managed to earn almost one of my damaged tires back in one night, so a good night, for this business anyway. Met young people from all over the country, so the young-generation migration continues.....