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| At night a whole new world awakens. |
That all changed yesterday when I saw a reservation request through UZURV for a 1:30 am pick up at a well known destination, Emerson Biggins, or just Biggins as we say here. The reservation drop off address looked vaguely familiar, there was a $15 incentive and upon realizing I was the only one that saw it, that I was their preselected driver, I went ahead and tapped, "I'm Interested." And about 15 anxious minutes later I was confirmed and found that yes, I did know the person who placed the reservation. He and his cousin were favorite passengers of mine, I had shared the app and my code with Casey a few days before. Well that explained the larger incentive, they both know that I'm not a night owl.
So now my task was to stay up late. And since I'm an Uber driver you know I was going to be on the app and driving. First I took Andy to a block party a bit further west than my location, this fact becomes important later. Then Tanner (dressed like Kurt Cobain) and friend to Rock Island via the QT for unknown reasons (also an important fact for later). And then things start getting interesting - well okay maybe the Kurt Cobain thing was a give away to how the night would go.
After dropping off Tanner I got a ping for Botanica, the botanical gardens. It was about 10:30 by now and I was thinking that it was odd to be going there at this time of night. Indeed it seemed very dark and quiet on the sleepy streets as I headed over but once I turned into the somewhat secluded parking lot - BOOM! Mass chaos. Apparently there had been 2 weddings with receptions and everyone was scrambling for a ride because of an apparent miscommunication with hotel transportation.
So I pulled up to someone waving me into the melee and he is telling me to pick up and come back. I could see MINI Pearl (my car) getting rushed so I said "only 4, only 4" (this becomes my mantra of the evening). "Sure," he replies as he relays the message to the group. And then they start to pile in . . . a 12 year old up front, a heavyset grandma with an infant, another child in the middle and another woman with a toddler. If you are counting that's 6 and NO CARSEATS!!
At this point I'm thinking it's getting late, drunkenness, police out watching for issues . . . oh hell no! I am not getting tickets for kids not in car seats!! So I ask about the car seats and remind them it is the law and I really don't want to get that ticket. So everyone gets out and a whole new set of 4 get in. This time it's really 4. A man, his drunken wife, and 2 older children. The "coordinator" who is trying to get everyone a ride is telling me one location while the app says another. I figure it out and start driving. They were actually a tame group and I got a small tip when we arrived.
That was all the excitement for the moment so I headed back to my home base and a short while later was pinged to the apartments across the street. Before I got there I had a text, "I'm in building 12 of SS" with an address correction. So I go there, but just as I find the right building another text comes in, "I'm sorry, I'm not at those apartments, I'm in RT 12." I considered cancelling but hey it's just across the street from home so why not indulge the inebriated soul and see if I can find them. I get to the correct building in the correct complex and wait . . . counting down the minutes . . . and there's cancellation fee number 1. I mean really, if you are too drunk to know where you are then I certainly can't help you.
Next I got a ping that simply said "Drive to Pin." Very strange. So, I drove to the pin, got the green "arrived" bar and waited. Clearly this person did not know where they were or was playing with the app. And this would be cancellation number 2 - or would it? Because after waiting the allotted time and then hitting cancel my app suddenly would not cancel out, it kept bringing me back to the waiting on passenger screen, over and over like I had entered the Twilight Zone.
I figured it was a glitch so I turned my phone off and began driving the very short distance home. As my phone came back up and I got to the Uber icon I tried to bring it back online and . . . server error. What? All I could get was "connection time out," "server error," and "no service." Very strange!
Getting back to my home base I checked my computer and sure enough, Uber crashed from shore to shore... wow! When the app finally came back up (although not all features were in tact) I was still with the last passenger over 1/2 hour before when I had tried to cancel. So this time I was able to cancel at least.
Now it's about 12:50 and Andy pings - he's ready to go back to his place. Thing is, I'm supposed to be in Old Town at 1:30 to pick up the cousins. So, after a brief conversation with Andy, who assures me he'll be ready and waiting I head over (the opposite direction) to get him. But the address in the app isn't where I dropped him off. And I've got a sneaky suspicion that the pin dropped wrong so I went to the house I dropped him - got there at 1:05am . . no Andy. Drove to the pin . . . no Andy (now it's 1:07) - finally he calls and I drive back to where I dropped him, he's there and gets in... now it's 1:12am. Thank goodness the lights all change in my favor at this time of night.
I drop Andy at 1:18am and now I have to really scoot to get to Old Town by 1:30am. I use the UZURV app to let the cousins know I am on the way. The traffic lights and highways were my friend and just as I cross the downtown fly over (flying at 63 MPH) the cousins text back that I need to pick up on Douglas as Rock Island is blocked with police. I reach the destination at 1:34am. Ben & Casey hop in and we're off. They ping me on Uber and it's a surge rate so bonus!
They were so jazzed about the reservation system they couldn't stop talking about it and even shared the app with their friend Miles. And Miles actually puts in a reservation for 2am that pops on my phone as I'm driving down Douglas. But the app wouldn't let me pick because I already had Ben & Casey. No matter they are excitedly telling me how they know I don't do late night and they had hoped that since it was them I would pick them up and they had a great night etc.
I get the cousins dropped of and my Uber goes off to head back to Old Town and pick up Tanner aka Kurt Cobain - it's 12 minutes back but I know they will be heading towards my home as a destination so I accept and head back. But 1 block before pick up they cancel. This would be cancellation number 3 for the day.
No worries, app goes off again and it's right down the block so I head that direction where I find several young people in a huddle. The "leader" approaches and I tell him "only 4." He replies, "Can't we take 5?"
"No," I reply, "Only 4" as some of the girls try to get in. I stop them and tell them to wait. I am thinking no one is getting in until this is settled because I would rather cancel than get the evil low rating because someone doesn't understand max capacity. We do the "only 4, please take 5" dance for a couple of minutes before everyone acquiesced.
They all discuss it, the girls go off to call daddy and the token male in the group (who does not have the uber app on his phone, the ride was pinged by one of the girls) says he has another friend coming and it will just be the two of them. That's fine. I cancel and wait because this is now a different ride. (Cancellation number 4)
Girlfriend shows up and they get in. I tell them they need to ping me for the ride. Neither one of them has the app on the phone. Seriously. The guy says it won't work on his phone (mentally raising an eyebrow) and the girl says "how do I do this?" too drunk to work her phone. After she fumbles around for a few minutes my app goes off to pick up another group. I tell them to get out. Then the begging starts... the guy offers to pay $25 in cash for me to take them to a friend's house. Absolutely not!
I tell them that insurance won't cover if anything happens while on the ride and I am not taking that risk this late with all the drunks around. I then get out of the car, turning it off, and just wait outside the car. They don't move. So I said, "The next cop that comes by I will stop and have him remove you from the car." They finally got out and I go to the next pick up which is just around the block.
I find the location . . . there are random people milling around but no one comes up (and I do have my pink Uber light on).... so I wait. . . . cancellation number 5.
Okay enough fun for one night. Don't know how drivers do this every single weekend. I think the only way I'll pick up in Old Town is by reservation... so use the UZURV app. Otherwise I'm staying home!
As an aside and in all seriousness these things also happened last night. One of our local Uber drivers was involved in a hit & run - no one was hurt but there was damage. A white van was poaching Uber passengers - who knows if this person is insured or just taking advantage - but this could be where I (and other Uber drivers) lost passengers.
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