
Tell HN: New Uber user, Saturday night surge $200 to get home - hoodoof
I&#x27;m a new Uber user, and I&#x27;ve never had anything but praise for it.<p>Sat night however, out late in the city, need to drop my friend home and then back on to my house. I live in the suburbs so it&#x27;s a long cab ride.  I&#x27;ve had a few drinks and fumble my way past the surge pricing notification on Uber.<p>Next morning, check the email from Uber to see how much it cost to get home.  I was expecting it to be quite alot - maybe $100.<p>$200 to get home on a Saturday night - ouch - I could have flown to a different city for a night out for that.<p>I don&#x27;t blame Uber - they gave a super clear warning to me.  However my pure joy honeymoon with Uber is over.
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horofox
I guess Uber isn't good in every city and location. Maybe a good idea would be
to research about the cheapest way you go back home after having a great night
before you get drunk.

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davismwfl
So I like to look at it a different way, not to say $200 doesn't hurt either
way.

But my thought is what would a DUI have cost me, or worse, what damage could I
have done to someone else or their family. $200 feels wrong until I say damn,
I am home safe, no one got hurt and yea it might suck a little but way cheaper
then a lawyer or living with hurting someone else. Just a thought.

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hoodoof
I think the same way.

Even at $200, getting home safe without talking to the police for any reason
is a good outcome.

All I'm saying is Uber needs to be used with caution.

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arnold_palmur
Forgot to mention in my other comment, but I always do a fare estimate before
actually hailing the Uber to get some sense of what I'm up against.

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arnold_palmur
May or may not be relevant, but if I recall correctly, you can actually
inquire with Uber whether or not your driver took the most optimal route, in
which case they will refund you the difference.

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Albright
How much would it have cost you for a standard taxi?

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hoodoof
At a guess, maybe $120? I really don't know. It was 70km and 27 minutes.

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nanis
Would have been able to find a taxi the moment you wanted it? Would you have
trusted a random cab driver in your drunken stupor more than you trusted the
Uber driver.

Note: I am not an Uber user.

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pedalpete
From my experience in Sydney, Aus (the author didn't mention what city he was
in), every time I use Uber I feel like an idiot standing on the street corner
waiting for my Uber driver to arrive while streams of available cabs go by.

I've only used Uber 5 times, but I'm not convinced this is the problem they
are solving. Not in this city anyway.

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muruke
Interestingly I have the opposite experience in Melbourne, Aus. I used to
stand/walk/chase down empty cabs trying to get home but none would stop or
just say things like "not far enough" or "i'm not going that way". This was
true even at cab ranks.

Now I stand waiting for an Uber for a few minutes and 1. it turns up 2. they
never complain about distance or direction and 3. I get home safely.

I do however mostly avoid crazy surcharge periods.

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kbart
_I used to stand /walk/chase down empty cabs trying to get home but none would
stop_

Not sure about Australia, but in many parts of Europe it's uncommon stopping a
cab by waving your hand while standing by the street. Some even charge higher
fees if used this way. A common way is to order it by phone or app and wait
for notification that it has arrived.

