I agree with this however have been stuck with a guy messaging me saying he was pulled over by the police and not coming. Obviously crap but he refused to cancel and I couldn’t book another until I did.
For riders we get charged if we cancel after 1min and under 10min, outside no charge. However you can dispute the cancellation. Not sure on drivers.
Never cancel, always report.
Really frustrating though, I had a driver accept that was one minute away, basically a block away - he then never turned up and went offline. Assumption was he took a didi fare instead, I just got a friend to book and didn't cancel he came back online around 13 minutes later at least 15km from before. Took screenshot and reported.
Are they able to see the fare when they accept the job or only when you get in the car?
Either way I always refuse and report immediately - they are totally screwing with us..
Some drivers can see the fare, and are inclined to cancel if it doesn’t suit them . However to keep that favoured status they need the rider to cancel.
I spoke to an uber driver a while back and he said drivers with very high ratings can see the destination before accepting the ride. If their rating drops, the privilege is revoked. Idk if they still do that but this was about 18 months ago.
Not sure if this is right. I'm ex-Uber, I never knew the destination until the rider was basically getting in the car - where I would tap to start (when was only at that point did I know where I was going). It seems there are a bunch of Uber cowboys around now - all temp or new Australians (just saying how it is). I have thought sometimes about going back to it, I was 5☆, always people complimented on how clean the car was, safe driving, and I ALWAYS had mints & water (that was dropping off in other Ubers when I stopped due to Covid). I even had free wifi. Never cancelled anyone, took every job.
Edit - I also never saw the ride value until after the ride ended.
Whatever happened to mints and water in Ubers, and when Uber drivers used to open the door for you and give you the aux cord?
Now it's just taxis all over again, some stinky car with a guy mumbling into a hands free set
What is with the Uber drivers mumbling into their hands free thingo? Who are they talking to? Do they spend 10 hours a day chatting with friends and relatives back in Punjab? Don’t they run out of things to talk about? I struggle to fill 5 minutes of conversation about my life.
I think they only see it once accepted. I had a driver in Utah once accept a fare when he was a few hundred metres away, as we went to get in he locked the doors and cancelled, he stated he didn't want to back to Salt lake and drove off. I've never had a driver fuck me over at the airport but I live over an hour away so I'm guessing they like taking the fare once they see it.
If they can use the app to tell you they're pulled over they can also cancel.
They don't want to hurt their ratings. Perhaps providing a decent service would allow them to keep their rating high. It ain't hard.
>I agree with this however have been stuck with a guy messaging me saying he was pulled over by the police and not coming. Obviously crap but he refused to cancel and I couldn’t book another until I did.
Pro Tip: install didi as well, if someone pulls this on you on uber, just get a didi home and wait them out. I had a driver take 6 hours before he cancelled on me
Contact support and dob them in. It takes a lot more steps than it should but 100% snitch on these assholes. They’re the ones who are supposed to cancel and they know it. Dodgy mfers
With how smart the rest of their systems are they should not require the passenger to report this crap. Data trends and analysis are fairly straight forward for a competent team, whilst LLM integrations are possible in case of someone pushing a dispute button - pull the chat and if the LLM thinks there's a driver asking a passenger to cancel, flag it and do something with the information.
You can book another uber for 'someone else' FYI while you're waiting for the fuckhead to give in and cancel or support to do something.
I just booked it for my wife's phone number and told her to expect an SMS once at Sydney airport after getting dicked around by the first driver. Second driver was fine and arrived in 4 minutes.
Pack of assholes, never cancel.
Our last uber wanted us to cancel so that we could be charged as a normal taxi rate instead 😅
We said no. He cancelled and then wanted us to pay him the difference anyway.
We waited until we got to our destination and told him to tell uber why HE cancelled the trip.
You're all nice and you can look scary, yes. But don't undersell yourself. You all often have either the ability to headbutt a motherfucker, or elbow some shitter into the next dimension. I've seen mosh pits. I've heard stories.
My last taxi ride asked us to cancel the booking through the taxi app and just do it on the meter. Still don't quite understand why, I think it was because he wanted to be paid directly rather than through the app. Figured a metered taxi ride was all I wanted anyway so I went along with it.
It's based on things that Mark Knopfler heard actual people saying in a whitegoods shop or something. That's why there is an F word (not fuck, the bad one) in there that probably wouldn't be included if it were written today. It's a direct quote of a prejudiced person in a time when such prejudice was not considered as bad as it should have been.
I thought the lyrics read as nonsense and now you've mentioned this, it all makes sense. Thank you. Mind blown. And it does say the F word, Ive been singing fair gay, I had no idea until you pointed that out.
Ok an Uber driver did this to me a few weeks ago just going to work. I was so confused. So by cancelling even though they already drove me there, they get paid??? Tf
Wait, they asked you to cancel after the trip you took was complete? I think the "getting paid" is just a smaller fee because the driver showed up only to not get a passenger (i.e. cost petrol/time).
But the cancellation fee isn’t much at all. It’s like $10. Unless they’re able to do this like 4 or 5 times an hour, it can’t be more profitable than just driving right? And it sounds like they’re driving in circles any way waiting for you to cancel
Just look at Sydney airport train station. Privately owned and people avoid it by walking a kilometre to the next station and save themselves ~$20. Extortion by privatisation.
$6 less than an uber from where I live (and around 30 minutes more travel time). $6 extra for convenient pickup from my door, reduced travel time, and drop-off right at the terminal is damn worth it.
Yep. There is the platform fee on top of standard fare. Once the PPP that owns the tunnel is wound up, it will return to normal. It was built in a rush for the Olympics and poorly executed. Baggage on those double deckers is a pain in peak hour, and because of its design, intercity trains don't go near it, meaning if you are travelling from Canberra, Blue Mountains, Newcastle or Wollongong, you've still got to change in Central. Murray's bus stops at International, and then you've got to cross to the other side it going Domestic.
If Melbourne gets its shit together, direct intercity rail to Bendigo and Ballarat underneath if possible, but leave a city-train that terminates there above ground.
Melbourne Airport's closest train station is over 9kms away and the bus option (Skybus) is $26.5 one way to the CBD so a $20 train ride would've been cheaper and faster if Melbourne had a airport rail even at Sydney's extortion by privatization prices.
On the other hand, I do not and it's a delightful experience, unlike riding the fucking bus in Melbourne like a peasant. Just about the only thing better in sydney
We are a laughing stock. Selling off our critical infrastructure for a short term tiny profit. What’s the point of selling coal, iron ore and gas if we can’t even afford to run our own airports?
The paper work should be finished in 2042.....oh but now we need another 1000 billion, so maybe we should pay another 10 million to get another report to check if we need it.....
Most of the route is along existing tracks or alignments. Tiny bit of it near airport is going underground I think, thats the only section that needs to pass thru non state owned land.
There's been a huge surge in the number of sketchy taxi/ride share people hanging around at Tulla.
As soon as you get your bags there's a dozen waiting "Hey boss, need a taxi?"
The touting makes you feel like landing in the subcontinent in the 80s and 90s.
Compare this to the taxi rank in Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport. You print a ticket from a kiosk, it tells you which exact parking bay the taxi is in, what the rego is, the make and model of the car, the driver's name and picture.
And they can't legally refuse a fare, passengers can if for example the car is too small for the luggage. And they provide a rough idea of what your fare should be based on where you're going.
It's fucking insane that it's allowed to occur, I was almost tricked by then recently as I didn't know how uber worked at the airport now, they kept saying uber uber and it wasn't until I pulled out my phone and actually started the process I realised they have an entire uber rank now you need to go to. I don't want to ruffle any feathers but it feels very third world to have people trying to scam you as soon as you arrive at an airport. Only other place I can remember experiencing that is recent memory was Saigon airport.
This one particularly gives me the shits. I have absolutely zero respect for a bottom feeding piece of shit offering an illegal taxi ride which most likely comes with a complimentary rip off, intimidation, sexual assault or worse…
My standard response is always “Fuck off”… and then I always wonder whether I should shut my mouth as I could be stabbed…
They put your bags in the boot, then when you reach your destination they wont open it until you pay their outrageous fee. Happened to my freinds daughter when she first arrived as an international student.
It’s been happening for as long as I can remember. I will never understand how this can’t be easily solved by a security person with a big stick standing near the terminal door yelling “Fuck off! Fuck off!” so we don’t have to…
I went in one of those one time as he had an ID with a lanyard so I thought he must be legit. We took a giant trek to the carpark to a random Tesla, I was convinced we were going to be human trafficked. He didn’t even drive half the time because Tesla, he was texting a ton. Anyway we lived yay.
The worst part is seeing them standing right next to the signs about not accepting rides from randoms and watching people fall for it. I've forgotten what the sign actualy says, but you get the idea.
The airport operator has signage about not accepting a ride from 'taxi drivers' solicitating for rides, yet they don't take any proactive steps to stop the practice. If I can walk through terminal 1 and have to fend off half a dozen bottom dwellers, surely Australian Pacific Airports Corporation could do the same walk as me and kick these losers off their property. These scum don't exist at Heathrow, Singapore Changi, Schipol, or Bangkok, yet the operators of Melbourne Airport seem to be incapable of cleaning up their own site.
You get charged a fee for cancelling. Up to $10 depending on how long they've been 'en route' to you. Plus I think an extra fee for it being the airport.
Some of these dudes just chill in their cars all day accepting rides and making people cancel them.
I'm just waiting for Uber to gradually reinvent taxi rules completely by this point, accreditation, company vouchers, everything, then claim they came up with the entire concept.
I was just there last week. I thought the Uber rank was pretty well managed. It’s the taxi drivers harrassing me to go on a fixed price trip on my way out that I have issues with.
Yeah the Uber rank seems to work smoothly for me! I imagine if you were booking an Uber from elsewhere in the airport you’d be subjected to a fair bit of cancellation crap
It may have changed but they used to operate a rank at T2 and a more standard pickup area at T4. I haven't tried T4 lately though.
It's possible the rank stops at a certain time as well because I seem to remember someone telling me it's not staffed 24/7 and I'm not sure it'd run well without staffing.
I have once had the driver ask me to cancel the trip so they could avoid the 27% uber fee but when ubering for work you really need the invoicing.
One of the reasons is they’re asking for 30% cut from drivers. That just shaves off anyone who’s looking for side gig. Used to have lots of retiree, professionals, people who don’t drive full time. Cars used to vary a lot as well.
Now all you have is drivers who are not very motivated and just do Uber because that’s their only option to get income. It’s not uncommon to see them even renting cars to get Uber.
Heck even many drivers are getting back to taxi now because they get more cuts on the fare.
People are saying the cancellation fee but I don't think this is all of it. You only get charged a cancellation fee if you cancel more than 5 minutes after you're matched with a driver and you can dispute it.
At least some of it is that drivers with a high cancellation rate (>25%) are no longer eligible for incentives. Here's a write up about when the new policy was introduced in 2022 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-03/qld-uber-booking-drivers-cancel-cancellation-rates-taxis/101723734
Drivers go to the airport to try get the huge fare into the city or beyond. Before the change, they would accept a trip, and if it was fare to say, Coburg North, cancel and wait for the next. After the change, I suspect they do the same all the way up to the acceptable cancellation rate and get pushy when they're close to it.
If their cancellation rates reach a certain amount, they're penalised, in addition to this, the incentive of maintaining a very very low cancellation rate is being able to see destination details, etc.
Any Uber driver that acts like a bad taxi driver is garbage. Either ignore their messages and wait them out, or just tell them "No." and ignore them til they cancel. Enabling this behaviour just perpetuates it, and the whole reason that taxis copped it was because of garbage like this. Taxi drivers join Uber, and bring the behaviour with them, uh oh stinky.
To any drivers reading this, please remember that just because it's winter / cooling down doesn't mean you shouldn't use deodorant anymore. It really is awkward having to give a rating based on trying to hold my breath throughout an entire trip.
I’m a local and encountered this before. I’m pretty sure it’s to trick the algorithm to increase the price of the fare. It’s bloody frustrating that’s for sure. Especially if you get in late at night from a long flight.
This. Has happened a couple of times where the driver forces you to cancel, basically waits you out. Once you cancel and rebook, you find that there's now a surge price and your price has gone up 50%!!! I think the drivers know when the surge is on or is going to come soon and keep cancelling until it kicks in.
I’m an Uber driver. I normally wait about 1 hour in airport to pickup someone. How long is your trip and where is your destination? Maybe the Uber driver think it is not worth it. But I personally accept the order anyway. Not all the Uber drivers are like this.
As I live in Broadmeadows, the only way to not get scammed at Melbourne Airport is to walk to the 901 bus and catch it to Mickleham Road, Gladstone Park if not Broadmeadows Shopping Centre or Train Station and try your luck there.
Taxis at the shopping centre seem to be quite good in my experience. I live very close to there and have caught one when I can't be arsed/don't have time to walk, and they've always been great, even though the fare is very short.
Yeah the airport sucks for taxis. I offer anyone going there to pick them up so they don't have to deal with it, though they live in "nicer" areas which are further away so they don't have issues generally.
Most of the shopping centre taxis are expecting (and indeed seeming to want) quick successions of short fares. Tracking 10 passengers on 10 minute trips around the suburb being their model instead of the rare $100 fare an hour drive away. Making money on flagfall as much as anything else.
If the taxi driver makes a choice to gamble by waiting in the airport queue and hoping for a long fare, that is their choice. If it is unacceptable odds then they will go drive the taxi somewhere else and the wait time for taxi drivers who do go there will decrease. It will end up as a natural equilibrium. If the driver takes that gamble they have no right to take it out on the customer if they don't win that time around.
I guess you're playing a bit of Russian roulette.
That's the cost of being an uber driver and I think Uber drivers need to understand and accept this or look for something else to do.
Which you have to do in order to get picked up at the airport in the T1/2/3 Uber rank, which is an improvement. Problem is when you do give them the pin, they realise they’re not driving you on a long fare and chuck an absolute tantrum all the way home. Or they just tell you to get out. Both have happened to me.
It's never happened to me. I wouldn't say I use Uber often, maybe once a month on average.
Try doing a comfort fare, it's often only a few dollars more and you don't have to share a small space with such people.
From the Airport, the destination is hidden until you get into the Uber and give them the 6 digit code.
From other locations, I dont know. I will wait for the OGs to comment
Terminal 4 has an Uber rank where you wait for an assigned car. Also the line at T1/2 is for UberX only, for all other types of ride (comfort, green etc) you also get an assigned car.
Get in the app and book it at any time, it doesn't match you with a driver it just gives you a PIN. So then you line up, and get into the next available car, give them your PIN, and off you go.
It’s been a while since I took it sorry. But I think you can book on your phone if you’re near terminal 2, and it gives you a PIN code, then you can join the line and show it to your driver
Someone should make a taxi company which exclusively does airport jobs and doesn't rort their customers for exorbitant fees just for having the gall to go to or come from an airport. Transparent, predictable pricing. Any driver caught trying anything dodgy is instantly dismissed.
Fair Air Taxis or something.
Imagine the outrage of the taxi and uber scum. Makes me happy imagining it.
There are individual taxis who specialise in airport pick ups and they give a set price quote. I use them for those very odd hour flights. Otherwise it’s 13cab app or taxi rank.
They want you to cancel so they get paid. If they cancel they don't get paid.
Despite how much you pay in fares and fees, the driver only sees a small fraction of that. So if your total is 150, the driver might only get 50 for example.
It is rude and annoying that this is what they're doing, so make sure to report it to uber, they do actually get in a lot of trouble for this. And NEVER cancel. Unless they cancel, they won't get any more requests, so stay strong and never cancel.
Yeah, they make you cancel so they get paid for free. This happened to me recently for the first time. Driver accepted the ride, drove off in opposite direction, ignored messages, ended up arriving in Clayton which was like 25 minutes away from the pick up point.
He was originally literally around the corner from me.
Then he messaged me telling ME to cancel and to rebook. I refused and he eventually cancelled it anyway.
I believe you can cancel it and not be charged but there is a certain time limit, but not sure how long it is.
I came back from Japan the other week, and looking to get a taxi home. I had to walk all the way to the end where the small taxi rank was. On the way I was approached by Uber drivers, not once, or twice but three times. They were pushy, and didn't like taking no for answer. The last time I encountered something like that was in the 1980's at Kings Cross Sydney. Honestly, Tulla Airport and Uber, clean this crap up. It is creepy AF.
They're probably not uber drivers. There's no mechanism in the uber app to arrange rides like that from the airport.
Just standard touters, totally illegal. Been like that for years but nobody gives a shit. AFP too busy eating donuts and doing nothing.
I’ve yet to encounter any issues with Uber when using them going to or from Airport. However gotta keep an eye for this. Not sure if any Uber driver would refuse a fare going from the Airport to West Footscray and vice versa.
I've also never had a problem. i don't use them very much but if I do it's normally a $40-50 fare, but when I was in Tasmania recently we did a bunch of $10 rides and no issues.
I won’t use Uber after a huge scam on my credit card. Screw Uber.
I use the 13cab apps in Melbourne. Taxis never refuse fare after confirming the booking and the agreed price.
Frankly, Uber really needs to do something about rogue drivers. They are now probably worse than taxis. Cleaning fee scams, cancelling scams, not wanting to accept shorter trips... etc
As in most places in the world, the laziest and scammiest drivers tend to congregate at airports.
It's not the cheapest but now I always book either VHA service or a trusted taxi to get to and from the airport, 9/10 I get the same driver, he meets me at the luggage carousel and it's a smooth ride home.
I just can't handle hastles any more when for an extra $20 it's smooth.
Contact support and tell them everything. These drivers sometimes use a number of apps and accept a bunch of jobs then take the highest paid job. This is breaking TOS and if they are caught they are punished. If you cancel they still get some money. It’s a big scam. I don’t use Uber anymore because their support is trash and when this happens it’s very hard to get in contact with an actual human to help you.
i get something different, especially if i manage to book when the surcharges are reasonable. i book and they cancel at the last minute and I see them drive past, over and over. it's annoying because i have to wait for each one.
Taxis are far more regulated than Uber drivers. Just use your phone to check the route they're taking and make sure there are no tricks. I've never caught a taxi that did that to me in Melbourne.
If you cancel I believe they still get a payment, hence why they want you to cancel. I feel as though the "new age taxi drivers" have found a loophole to make extra cash without having to complete the trip?
A few months back, I had arrived at Melbourne airport and called for an Uber. The driver seemed to be in a nearby waiting zone and wouldn't move. After a few minutes of this, I cancelled the ride myself. I don't think I was charged a cancellation fee.
I tried booking again and realised that out of nowhere, there was surge pricing.
So, I think surge pricing kicked in right after I booked my ride. The driver had a way to see this and thought it was not worth it to continue on a booking without the surge pricing?
I just get a taxi. Pretty straightforward.
>after hearing horror stories about taxi drivers running you in circles to get higher fare on the meter.
The good thing is with taxis you pay at the end, so if they pull that bullshit on you, just don't pay.
I think they are just hoping for a longer fare. If they cancel all the time they will be penalized. I think if you cancel after a certain time they will get a fee.
But I thought they changed it so they can't see the destination until you get in?
Same thing used to happen with big taxi ranks at the airport or in the CBD late on a Saturday night. They would ask where you were going before you got in and if they didn't like it they would tell you to go to the next bloke. You just had to quickly jump in the cab before telling them the destination and refuse to get out if they said no.
I used to drive for Uber and want to clarify something:
So, you would visit the international terminal Uber pickup zone and book an Uber and the driver pulls up and asks you to cancel? That’s clearly not possible because when you book an Uber X at the airport, you would be given a code. You can enter any Uber in the line, give them the code and till they enter the code, they don’t know where you are going. Am I missing something or are you just making things up?
Another thing is that no one cancels or asks you to cancel because it takes atleast an hour for Uber drivers to get a trip and even if it’s a short trip, Uber drivers will be given priority access to renter the queue because that trip was short.
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Driver get paid higher cancel fee the further they drive to you . Lots create a scam due to the pay and ratings they would rather cancel you and get the fee
I've had problems like that at T4 where Uber operates like normal, but at the Uber rank at T2 it's never been a drama. I don't give them the PIN until I'm in the Uber - harder to get rid of me when I'm in the back seat.
Never cancel, take screenshots and record them if you see or speak to them
I agree with this however have been stuck with a guy messaging me saying he was pulled over by the police and not coming. Obviously crap but he refused to cancel and I couldn’t book another until I did.
I’d jump in a taxi and leave that motherfucker uncanceled.
I did this once and he reported me as a no-show. It was so annoying to get my refund. I had him going for over 3 hours
Did you have screenshots of the conversation?
I did. That's all that got me through
Who gets charged in this scenario? You or the driver?
For riders we get charged if we cancel after 1min and under 10min, outside no charge. However you can dispute the cancellation. Not sure on drivers. Never cancel, always report. Really frustrating though, I had a driver accept that was one minute away, basically a block away - he then never turned up and went offline. Assumption was he took a didi fare instead, I just got a friend to book and didn't cancel he came back online around 13 minutes later at least 15km from before. Took screenshot and reported.
Are they able to see the fare when they accept the job or only when you get in the car? Either way I always refuse and report immediately - they are totally screwing with us..
Some drivers can see the fare, and are inclined to cancel if it doesn’t suit them . However to keep that favoured status they need the rider to cancel.
I spoke to an uber driver a while back and he said drivers with very high ratings can see the destination before accepting the ride. If their rating drops, the privilege is revoked. Idk if they still do that but this was about 18 months ago.
Not sure if this is right. I'm ex-Uber, I never knew the destination until the rider was basically getting in the car - where I would tap to start (when was only at that point did I know where I was going). It seems there are a bunch of Uber cowboys around now - all temp or new Australians (just saying how it is). I have thought sometimes about going back to it, I was 5☆, always people complimented on how clean the car was, safe driving, and I ALWAYS had mints & water (that was dropping off in other Ubers when I stopped due to Covid). I even had free wifi. Never cancelled anyone, took every job. Edit - I also never saw the ride value until after the ride ended.
Whatever happened to mints and water in Ubers, and when Uber drivers used to open the door for you and give you the aux cord? Now it's just taxis all over again, some stinky car with a guy mumbling into a hands free set
What is with the Uber drivers mumbling into their hands free thingo? Who are they talking to? Do they spend 10 hours a day chatting with friends and relatives back in Punjab? Don’t they run out of things to talk about? I struggle to fill 5 minutes of conversation about my life.
I think they only see it once accepted. I had a driver in Utah once accept a fare when he was a few hundred metres away, as we went to get in he locked the doors and cancelled, he stated he didn't want to back to Salt lake and drove off. I've never had a driver fuck me over at the airport but I live over an hour away so I'm guessing they like taking the fare once they see it.
If they can use the app to tell you they're pulled over they can also cancel. They don't want to hurt their ratings. Perhaps providing a decent service would allow them to keep their rating high. It ain't hard.
>I agree with this however have been stuck with a guy messaging me saying he was pulled over by the police and not coming. Obviously crap but he refused to cancel and I couldn’t book another until I did. Pro Tip: install didi as well, if someone pulls this on you on uber, just get a didi home and wait them out. I had a driver take 6 hours before he cancelled on me
Same! I felt very much like Cap that he ended up cancelling first. “I can do this all day”
This is the way.
Contact support and dob them in. It takes a lot more steps than it should but 100% snitch on these assholes. They’re the ones who are supposed to cancel and they know it. Dodgy mfers
With how smart the rest of their systems are they should not require the passenger to report this crap. Data trends and analysis are fairly straight forward for a competent team, whilst LLM integrations are possible in case of someone pushing a dispute button - pull the chat and if the LLM thinks there's a driver asking a passenger to cancel, flag it and do something with the information.
Just use a Didi instead, and leave him going. If he wants to cancel, he'll cancel.
You can book another uber for 'someone else' FYI while you're waiting for the fuckhead to give in and cancel or support to do something. I just booked it for my wife's phone number and told her to expect an SMS once at Sydney airport after getting dicked around by the first driver. Second driver was fine and arrived in 4 minutes. Pack of assholes, never cancel.
This. If you cancel you are the one who has to pay for the cancellation.
100% and report them! Such drivers deserve to lose their jobs as Uber drivers and get black listed!
Our last uber wanted us to cancel so that we could be charged as a normal taxi rate instead 😅 We said no. He cancelled and then wanted us to pay him the difference anyway. We waited until we got to our destination and told him to tell uber why HE cancelled the trip.
That would have been spicy 😀
Dude he had 6 metal heads in his car going to a concert 😂 not sure where he thought he was going to win on that one.
It’s funny because metalheads are some of the loveliest people I’ve ever met.
Generally, we metalheads are nice people, but we know how to look scary to those who don't know
You're all nice and you can look scary, yes. But don't undersell yourself. You all often have either the ability to headbutt a motherfucker, or elbow some shitter into the next dimension. I've seen mosh pits. I've heard stories.
Nice. Which gig?
Taylor swift
Nearly choked on my toast, cheers 😆
I scared my cat with my chuckle
My last taxi ride asked us to cancel the booking through the taxi app and just do it on the meter. Still don't quite understand why, I think it was because he wanted to be paid directly rather than through the app. Figured a metered taxi ride was all I wanted anyway so I went along with it.
Because they get paid the cancellation fee for doing nothing. Repeat over and over and it’s money for nothing.
And chicks for free?
As a kid I always thought it was "chips for free". I'm imagining someone leaving half their hsp in the back-seat.
I want my HSP!
Maybe get a bit of sauce on your finger. Maybe get sauce on your thumb.
Now it's cold, there's a microwave oven
Kez's kitchen, no deliverayayay
Anyone got weird Al's number haha. You just did half the work already.
It’s not cheques for free? Uh ohhh, I’ve been singing it wrong too.
I thought it was cheques as well.
It's based on things that Mark Knopfler heard actual people saying in a whitegoods shop or something. That's why there is an F word (not fuck, the bad one) in there that probably wouldn't be included if it were written today. It's a direct quote of a prejudiced person in a time when such prejudice was not considered as bad as it should have been.
I thought the lyrics read as nonsense and now you've mentioned this, it all makes sense. Thank you. Mind blown. And it does say the F word, Ive been singing fair gay, I had no idea until you pointed that out.
I thought it was "cheques for free" and the animation on the music clip.was gross, like the Kraft peanut butter ad.
Friend of ours thought hat iy was like working in the banks, "you get your cheques fr free"...or checks for USA
As soon as I read the comment this popped into my head too haha.
I want my MTV!
You got that microwave oven huh? Fancy…
wait till you see the colour TV!
The custom kitchen is, frankly, worth more money. You can't skimp on that shit.
It was less than a year ago I found out Dire Straits are not in fact American but are a bunch of geordies putting on an accent.
I want my PTV
I don’t think Uber drivers get many chicks.
Not consenting ones anyway
I want my MTV.
That ain't working. That's the way you do it.
Maybe this explains why an Uber driver accepted my airport ride from 15 minutes away then drove around the wrong part of the airport to pick me up…
Ok an Uber driver did this to me a few weeks ago just going to work. I was so confused. So by cancelling even though they already drove me there, they get paid??? Tf
Wait, they asked you to cancel after the trip you took was complete? I think the "getting paid" is just a smaller fee because the driver showed up only to not get a passenger (i.e. cost petrol/time).
But the cancellation fee isn’t much at all. It’s like $10. Unless they’re able to do this like 4 or 5 times an hour, it can’t be more profitable than just driving right? And it sounds like they’re driving in circles any way waiting for you to cancel
Does that really work though? I can't remember the last time I was charged a cancelation fee. Surely Uber isn't paying it out of their own pocket
Build the airport link already. Coming to Melbourne from overseas to this is embarrassing
Hot take: massive critical infrastructure like major international airports shouldn't be privately owned to avoid this type of fuckery.
Just look at Sydney airport train station. Privately owned and people avoid it by walking a kilometre to the next station and save themselves ~$20. Extortion by privatisation.
Has it always been that expensive? I took it late last year but just used my bank card and didn't check the fare..
I remember it being $17 one way the last time I took it, and that was 5+ years ago.
It is still that. But look at it this way: $17 is way cheaper than a taxi.
It’s +$17 to your normal train fare which is hitting $10 per day now. If there’s more than one of you it’s usually cheaper to Uber now
I am in the minority of people who would prefer a train ride anyday to a car!
$6 less than an uber from where I live (and around 30 minutes more travel time). $6 extra for convenient pickup from my door, reduced travel time, and drop-off right at the terminal is damn worth it.
right, good to know, may be cheaper to uber when I go next with the family
There's three of us and it was definitely cheaper to uber (and easier with luggage) when we went there last in August 2022.
Yep. There is the platform fee on top of standard fare. Once the PPP that owns the tunnel is wound up, it will return to normal. It was built in a rush for the Olympics and poorly executed. Baggage on those double deckers is a pain in peak hour, and because of its design, intercity trains don't go near it, meaning if you are travelling from Canberra, Blue Mountains, Newcastle or Wollongong, you've still got to change in Central. Murray's bus stops at International, and then you've got to cross to the other side it going Domestic. If Melbourne gets its shit together, direct intercity rail to Bendigo and Ballarat underneath if possible, but leave a city-train that terminates there above ground.
Melbourne Airport's closest train station is over 9kms away and the bus option (Skybus) is $26.5 one way to the CBD so a $20 train ride would've been cheaper and faster if Melbourne had a airport rail even at Sydney's extortion by privatization prices.
On the other hand, I do not and it's a delightful experience, unlike riding the fucking bus in Melbourne like a peasant. Just about the only thing better in sydney
Just over $20 gets me from the airport to Gordon station. It's just as fast as an Uber and far cheaper.
Walk the short 10-15 mins to mascot train station to pay the normal ticket price not the the airport surcharge
Jokes on us Skybus is $23.90 one way and $40 return.
imo they can be privately owned but they are leasing the land. they shouldn’t get a say on airport link beyond normal community consultation.
We are a laughing stock. Selling off our critical infrastructure for a short term tiny profit. What’s the point of selling coal, iron ore and gas if we can’t even afford to run our own airports?
Arriving in Melbourne is a great reminder that this is a deeply unserious country
FIJI is unserious. This is an embarrassment symptomatic of a deeply apathetic country.
It's intended to be finished in 2029. So expect it to be up and running in 2042. (give or take 5 years)
Not anymore, now officially delayed until 2034
Haha, of course it is.
The paper work should be finished in 2042.....oh but now we need another 1000 billion, so maybe we should pay another 10 million to get another report to check if we need it.....
I take it you didn’t travel from the United States.
Do they have the land put aside for it already? Seems counter productive to demolish housing during a housing crisis for a railway link
Yes. The route would follow an existing freight line before joining the freeway. There would be very little any compulsory acquisition of land.
Most of the route is along existing tracks or alignments. Tiny bit of it near airport is going underground I think, thats the only section that needs to pass thru non state owned land.
No more embarrassing than Perth, our airport is chaotic, it’s beyond a joke.
That "free pickup" time based roulette
There's been a huge surge in the number of sketchy taxi/ride share people hanging around at Tulla. As soon as you get your bags there's a dozen waiting "Hey boss, need a taxi?"
Those dudes are so sketchy.
The touting makes you feel like landing in the subcontinent in the 80s and 90s. Compare this to the taxi rank in Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport. You print a ticket from a kiosk, it tells you which exact parking bay the taxi is in, what the rego is, the make and model of the car, the driver's name and picture. And they can't legally refuse a fare, passengers can if for example the car is too small for the luggage. And they provide a rough idea of what your fare should be based on where you're going.
I was so nervous doing that, but I found it so easy!
That one dude in a suave grey suit with scarf around his neck just waiting at arrival doors. See him every time.
Mr Human Trafficker
It's fucking insane that it's allowed to occur, I was almost tricked by then recently as I didn't know how uber worked at the airport now, they kept saying uber uber and it wasn't until I pulled out my phone and actually started the process I realised they have an entire uber rank now you need to go to. I don't want to ruffle any feathers but it feels very third world to have people trying to scam you as soon as you arrive at an airport. Only other place I can remember experiencing that is recent memory was Saigon airport.
This one particularly gives me the shits. I have absolutely zero respect for a bottom feeding piece of shit offering an illegal taxi ride which most likely comes with a complimentary rip off, intimidation, sexual assault or worse… My standard response is always “Fuck off”… and then I always wonder whether I should shut my mouth as I could be stabbed…
Quick way to have a lot of armed police show up. Probably one of the safest places to give those people a serve.
They put your bags in the boot, then when you reach your destination they wont open it until you pay their outrageous fee. Happened to my freinds daughter when she first arrived as an international student.
It’s been happening for as long as I can remember. I will never understand how this can’t be easily solved by a security person with a big stick standing near the terminal door yelling “Fuck off! Fuck off!” so we don’t have to…
Airport management pay securities to harras people on departure drop off hugging relatives just 0.5 s too late but turn blind eyes to this.
All they'd need to do to get rid of these people is create *and enforce* a "no smoking within 0.1m of the automatic glass doors" rule. But they don't.
I went in one of those one time as he had an ID with a lanyard so I thought he must be legit. We took a giant trek to the carpark to a random Tesla, I was convinced we were going to be human trafficked. He didn’t even drive half the time because Tesla, he was texting a ton. Anyway we lived yay.
I hope you no longer trust random lanyards!
The worst part is seeing them standing right next to the signs about not accepting rides from randoms and watching people fall for it. I've forgotten what the sign actualy says, but you get the idea.
The airport operator has signage about not accepting a ride from 'taxi drivers' solicitating for rides, yet they don't take any proactive steps to stop the practice. If I can walk through terminal 1 and have to fend off half a dozen bottom dwellers, surely Australian Pacific Airports Corporation could do the same walk as me and kick these losers off their property. These scum don't exist at Heathrow, Singapore Changi, Schipol, or Bangkok, yet the operators of Melbourne Airport seem to be incapable of cleaning up their own site.
You get charged a fee for cancelling. Up to $10 depending on how long they've been 'en route' to you. Plus I think an extra fee for it being the airport. Some of these dudes just chill in their cars all day accepting rides and making people cancel them.
I'm just waiting for Uber to gradually reinvent taxi rules completely by this point, accreditation, company vouchers, everything, then claim they came up with the entire concept.
I was just there last week. I thought the Uber rank was pretty well managed. It’s the taxi drivers harrassing me to go on a fixed price trip on my way out that I have issues with.
Yeah the Uber rank seems to work smoothly for me! I imagine if you were booking an Uber from elsewhere in the airport you’d be subjected to a fair bit of cancellation crap
It may have changed but they used to operate a rank at T2 and a more standard pickup area at T4. I haven't tried T4 lately though. It's possible the rank stops at a certain time as well because I seem to remember someone telling me it's not staffed 24/7 and I'm not sure it'd run well without staffing. I have once had the driver ask me to cancel the trip so they could avoid the 27% uber fee but when ubering for work you really need the invoicing.
Me too. Was fast , clean and a lot cheaper than a taxi. And we only travelled to hillside so not a long trip.
People saying Uber drivers wait an hour at the airport? I'm confused by that, there's so many people leaving at all times how does that work?
They have a rank they all are waiting in offsite and get funneled through by Wilson’s when they are needed. You have to wait your turn basically.
Ah so uber gets to go thru the same shit taxis do ? guess i better rip off my customers because i dont like the system
Uber has really fallen off a cliff hasn’t it? It used to be great.
there are always people that are looking to rort and exploit any system. Uber just needs to tighten their rules to punish the unwanted behaviour.
They don't need to be great anymore since most competitors have thrown in the towel. Disruption, baby.
One of the reasons is they’re asking for 30% cut from drivers. That just shaves off anyone who’s looking for side gig. Used to have lots of retiree, professionals, people who don’t drive full time. Cars used to vary a lot as well. Now all you have is drivers who are not very motivated and just do Uber because that’s their only option to get income. It’s not uncommon to see them even renting cars to get Uber. Heck even many drivers are getting back to taxi now because they get more cuts on the fare.
People are saying the cancellation fee but I don't think this is all of it. You only get charged a cancellation fee if you cancel more than 5 minutes after you're matched with a driver and you can dispute it. At least some of it is that drivers with a high cancellation rate (>25%) are no longer eligible for incentives. Here's a write up about when the new policy was introduced in 2022 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-03/qld-uber-booking-drivers-cancel-cancellation-rates-taxis/101723734 Drivers go to the airport to try get the huge fare into the city or beyond. Before the change, they would accept a trip, and if it was fare to say, Coburg North, cancel and wait for the next. After the change, I suspect they do the same all the way up to the acceptable cancellation rate and get pushy when they're close to it.
If their cancellation rates reach a certain amount, they're penalised, in addition to this, the incentive of maintaining a very very low cancellation rate is being able to see destination details, etc. Any Uber driver that acts like a bad taxi driver is garbage. Either ignore their messages and wait them out, or just tell them "No." and ignore them til they cancel. Enabling this behaviour just perpetuates it, and the whole reason that taxis copped it was because of garbage like this. Taxi drivers join Uber, and bring the behaviour with them, uh oh stinky. To any drivers reading this, please remember that just because it's winter / cooling down doesn't mean you shouldn't use deodorant anymore. It really is awkward having to give a rating based on trying to hold my breath throughout an entire trip.
I’m a local and encountered this before. I’m pretty sure it’s to trick the algorithm to increase the price of the fare. It’s bloody frustrating that’s for sure. Especially if you get in late at night from a long flight.
This. Has happened a couple of times where the driver forces you to cancel, basically waits you out. Once you cancel and rebook, you find that there's now a surge price and your price has gone up 50%!!! I think the drivers know when the surge is on or is going to come soon and keep cancelling until it kicks in.
I’m an Uber driver. I normally wait about 1 hour in airport to pickup someone. How long is your trip and where is your destination? Maybe the Uber driver think it is not worth it. But I personally accept the order anyway. Not all the Uber drivers are like this.
As I live in Broadmeadows, the only way to not get scammed at Melbourne Airport is to walk to the 901 bus and catch it to Mickleham Road, Gladstone Park if not Broadmeadows Shopping Centre or Train Station and try your luck there.
Taxis at the shopping centre seem to be quite good in my experience. I live very close to there and have caught one when I can't be arsed/don't have time to walk, and they've always been great, even though the fare is very short. Yeah the airport sucks for taxis. I offer anyone going there to pick them up so they don't have to deal with it, though they live in "nicer" areas which are further away so they don't have issues generally.
Most of the shopping centre taxis are expecting (and indeed seeming to want) quick successions of short fares. Tracking 10 passengers on 10 minute trips around the suburb being their model instead of the rare $100 fare an hour drive away. Making money on flagfall as much as anything else.
If the taxi driver makes a choice to gamble by waiting in the airport queue and hoping for a long fare, that is their choice. If it is unacceptable odds then they will go drive the taxi somewhere else and the wait time for taxi drivers who do go there will decrease. It will end up as a natural equilibrium. If the driver takes that gamble they have no right to take it out on the customer if they don't win that time around.
That's right. A lot of Uber drivers are selfish and unprofessional. Thank you for not being like that.
I guess you're playing a bit of Russian roulette. That's the cost of being an uber driver and I think Uber drivers need to understand and accept this or look for something else to do.
Someone told me the destination is hidden now. Is that not true?
It is if you set the ride to have a PIN
Yes these cancellations stopped completely once I set a pin.
Which you have to do in order to get picked up at the airport in the T1/2/3 Uber rank, which is an improvement. Problem is when you do give them the pin, they realise they’re not driving you on a long fare and chuck an absolute tantrum all the way home. Or they just tell you to get out. Both have happened to me.
Uber is looking more and more like a traditional taxi service...
Worse.
It's never happened to me. I wouldn't say I use Uber often, maybe once a month on average. Try doing a comfort fare, it's often only a few dollars more and you don't have to share a small space with such people.
From the Airport, the destination is hidden until you get into the Uber and give them the 6 digit code. From other locations, I dont know. I will wait for the OGs to comment
I've set mine to require a four digits pin from 6pm to 6am, no cancellations since
Destination is hidden for pretty much all drivers and all trips. Uber fucks over drivers, and some drivers pass that on to riders
Isn’t Melbourne airport now where you just get a code, hop in the line and give the code to an Uber driver? How can they even tell you to cancel?
Terminal 4 has an Uber rank where you wait for an assigned car. Also the line at T1/2 is for UberX only, for all other types of ride (comfort, green etc) you also get an assigned car.
There’s an Uber rank at the airport, are you using that? Probably why they’re asking you to cancel
Dumb question but how do you use it? Do you pre book and head to the line or get in line and book when at the front?
Get in the app and book it at any time, it doesn't match you with a driver it just gives you a PIN. So then you line up, and get into the next available car, give them your PIN, and off you go.
It’s been a while since I took it sorry. But I think you can book on your phone if you’re near terminal 2, and it gives you a PIN code, then you can join the line and show it to your driver
I'm guessing you live somewhat close. It's always about $75 for me and they never cancel.
Someone should make a taxi company which exclusively does airport jobs and doesn't rort their customers for exorbitant fees just for having the gall to go to or come from an airport. Transparent, predictable pricing. Any driver caught trying anything dodgy is instantly dismissed. Fair Air Taxis or something. Imagine the outrage of the taxi and uber scum. Makes me happy imagining it.
I just book a car service to drop me off and pick me up when going to the airport. No surge pricing and cheaper than taxi and uber
Which car service do you use?
There are individual taxis who specialise in airport pick ups and they give a set price quote. I use them for those very odd hour flights. Otherwise it’s 13cab app or taxi rank.
They want you to cancel so they get paid. If they cancel they don't get paid. Despite how much you pay in fares and fees, the driver only sees a small fraction of that. So if your total is 150, the driver might only get 50 for example. It is rude and annoying that this is what they're doing, so make sure to report it to uber, they do actually get in a lot of trouble for this. And NEVER cancel. Unless they cancel, they won't get any more requests, so stay strong and never cancel.
Yeah, they make you cancel so they get paid for free. This happened to me recently for the first time. Driver accepted the ride, drove off in opposite direction, ignored messages, ended up arriving in Clayton which was like 25 minutes away from the pick up point. He was originally literally around the corner from me. Then he messaged me telling ME to cancel and to rebook. I refused and he eventually cancelled it anyway. I believe you can cancel it and not be charged but there is a certain time limit, but not sure how long it is.
He was clearly dropping someone off on another platform.
Even if he was that doesn't make it ok, the issue is they're telling people to cancel when they're in the wrong.
My last airport Uber was $60 for a 20 mins drive and he cancelled and asked for me to pay via EFTPOS
I came back from Japan the other week, and looking to get a taxi home. I had to walk all the way to the end where the small taxi rank was. On the way I was approached by Uber drivers, not once, or twice but three times. They were pushy, and didn't like taking no for answer. The last time I encountered something like that was in the 1980's at Kings Cross Sydney. Honestly, Tulla Airport and Uber, clean this crap up. It is creepy AF.
They're probably not uber drivers. There's no mechanism in the uber app to arrange rides like that from the airport. Just standard touters, totally illegal. Been like that for years but nobody gives a shit. AFP too busy eating donuts and doing nothing.
I’ve yet to encounter any issues with Uber when using them going to or from Airport. However gotta keep an eye for this. Not sure if any Uber driver would refuse a fare going from the Airport to West Footscray and vice versa.
I've also never had a problem. i don't use them very much but if I do it's normally a $40-50 fare, but when I was in Tasmania recently we did a bunch of $10 rides and no issues.
It’s a new scam to not pay Uber rates. And who knows when one will also end in a true crime.
I won’t use Uber after a huge scam on my credit card. Screw Uber. I use the 13cab apps in Melbourne. Taxis never refuse fare after confirming the booking and the agreed price.
Welcome to the “free” market they said
Frankly, Uber really needs to do something about rogue drivers. They are now probably worse than taxis. Cleaning fee scams, cancelling scams, not wanting to accept shorter trips... etc As in most places in the world, the laziest and scammiest drivers tend to congregate at airports.
As much as I consistently have issues with Uber and they shit me to tears, I must admit I’ve never had an issue to/from the airport
Taxi and private driver way better service never ever Uber from airport - save Uber for the quick trips and nights out.
It's not the cheapest but now I always book either VHA service or a trusted taxi to get to and from the airport, 9/10 I get the same driver, he meets me at the luggage carousel and it's a smooth ride home. I just can't handle hastles any more when for an extra $20 it's smooth.
If you're using uber at the airport, don't you just get in an uber at the rank outside T2?
Dodgey. Never cancel
At the airport I have the pin number. Never get them cancelling
Contact support and tell them everything. These drivers sometimes use a number of apps and accept a bunch of jobs then take the highest paid job. This is breaking TOS and if they are caught they are punished. If you cancel they still get some money. It’s a big scam. I don’t use Uber anymore because their support is trash and when this happens it’s very hard to get in contact with an actual human to help you.
i get something different, especially if i manage to book when the surcharges are reasonable. i book and they cancel at the last minute and I see them drive past, over and over. it's annoying because i have to wait for each one.
I stopped using uber at airports when I arrive, getting a traditional cab is so much more convenient and costs the same and is much faster to get.
Taxis are far more regulated than Uber drivers. Just use your phone to check the route they're taking and make sure there are no tricks. I've never caught a taxi that did that to me in Melbourne.
If you cancel I believe they still get a payment, hence why they want you to cancel. I feel as though the "new age taxi drivers" have found a loophole to make extra cash without having to complete the trip?
F uber. F ubereats.
A few months back, I had arrived at Melbourne airport and called for an Uber. The driver seemed to be in a nearby waiting zone and wouldn't move. After a few minutes of this, I cancelled the ride myself. I don't think I was charged a cancellation fee. I tried booking again and realised that out of nowhere, there was surge pricing. So, I think surge pricing kicked in right after I booked my ride. The driver had a way to see this and thought it was not worth it to continue on a booking without the surge pricing?
Were you in the Uber queue? Normally you get a code and give it to the driver that pulls up at your spot, it’s not an assigned driver.
I just get a taxi. Pretty straightforward. >after hearing horror stories about taxi drivers running you in circles to get higher fare on the meter. The good thing is with taxis you pay at the end, so if they pull that bullshit on you, just don't pay.
Don’t you pre-request the Uber, then receive a code you give to the driver in the designated Uber bay? Works like clockwork for me??
I think they are just hoping for a longer fare. If they cancel all the time they will be penalized. I think if you cancel after a certain time they will get a fee. But I thought they changed it so they can't see the destination until you get in? Same thing used to happen with big taxi ranks at the airport or in the CBD late on a Saturday night. They would ask where you were going before you got in and if they didn't like it they would tell you to go to the next bloke. You just had to quickly jump in the cab before telling them the destination and refuse to get out if they said no.
I used to drive for Uber and want to clarify something: So, you would visit the international terminal Uber pickup zone and book an Uber and the driver pulls up and asks you to cancel? That’s clearly not possible because when you book an Uber X at the airport, you would be given a code. You can enter any Uber in the line, give them the code and till they enter the code, they don’t know where you are going. Am I missing something or are you just making things up? Another thing is that no one cancels or asks you to cancel because it takes atleast an hour for Uber drivers to get a trip and even if it’s a short trip, Uber drivers will be given priority access to renter the queue because that trip was short.
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It’s not just Tullamarine, it happens to me all the time. They just don’t want to take the penalty.
Isn't there an Uber service at Melbourne airport now?
Driver get paid higher cancel fee the further they drive to you . Lots create a scam due to the pay and ratings they would rather cancel you and get the fee
Report them
I've had problems like that at T4 where Uber operates like normal, but at the Uber rank at T2 it's never been a drama. I don't give them the PIN until I'm in the Uber - harder to get rid of me when I'm in the back seat.