A social media backlash to media reports that said fast-food chain Wendy’s had plans to increase menu prices during its busiest hours shows a limit to where, when and for what U.S. consumers will trade more cash for convenience.
It’s both. The “surge pricing” just means everyone has an increase at the same time. They don’t even give that to the driver anymore.
Maybe people don’t know this: drivers don’t necessarily get the extra money. Drivers have known this since they decoupled the customer price from the driver earnings.
They fluctuate the price a passenger sees based on what they think they can get. They do the same per driver, so sometimes they offer a ride to drivers at a really crappy price in case there’s a dumb driver who’s new or desperate. It’s better for drivers to reject that and wait for a better ride.
That’s what the app is doing when it’s “searching for a driver” for a whole minute even though there are clearly drivers in the area. It’s the algorithm trying to scam some driver out of a couple bucks and you pay the price in extra wait time.
That sounds more like individual pricing than the “surge pricing” being discussed here (and a both/and situation is very possible).
I almost never use Uber/Lyft so I am not terribly familiar with their business models.
It’s both. The “surge pricing” just means everyone has an increase at the same time. They don’t even give that to the driver anymore.
Maybe people don’t know this: drivers don’t necessarily get the extra money. Drivers have known this since they decoupled the customer price from the driver earnings.
They fluctuate the price a passenger sees based on what they think they can get. They do the same per driver, so sometimes they offer a ride to drivers at a really crappy price in case there’s a dumb driver who’s new or desperate. It’s better for drivers to reject that and wait for a better ride.
That’s what the app is doing when it’s “searching for a driver” for a whole minute even though there are clearly drivers in the area. It’s the algorithm trying to scam some driver out of a couple bucks and you pay the price in extra wait time.