180 Days of Change

by Harry Campbell on August 22, 2017 62 Comments

Uber Launching Two New Features: Arrival Times and Long Trip Notifications!

Uber’s been making some big changes to the driver experience over the past few months and today they launched two brand new features called arrival times and long trip notifications while also improving existing features like destination filter and trip type preferences.

The changes come as part of Uber’s 180 Days of Change initiative focused on improving the driver experience. Today’s Chapter 3 announcement is all about flexibility. You probably remember Chapter 1, which was announced on June 20, 2017, since the headliner was that Uber was adding a new tipping option. Since that announcement, Uber has actually doled out over $50 million in tips to drivers and done two days of ‘tip matching‘. Tipping has been live everywhere for just about a month, and while the tip amounts haven’t been that high on a per ride basis, the total number of $50 million sure seems like a lot.

Chapter 2 was announced about a month ago and focused on customer support. You’ve probably noticed by now that Uber drivers now have 24/7 phone support and, in my experience, the agents are very quick to answer the phone. Uber tells us that they have fielded over 200,000 phone calls in that time period and that the average wait time to speak with an agent has been 30 seconds with an 85% satisfaction rate. I’ve seen short wait times myself, but the 85% satisfaction seems a bit high based on my experience and from talking to other drivers.

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by Christian Perea on August 18, 2017 26 Comments

Will These New Features Make Driving for Uber and Lyft Better?

Uber and Lyft are competing to make their apps and driver efficiency better, but will these changes really improve the driver experience? Today, senior RSG contributor Christian Perea outlines potential upcoming changes to our Uber and Lyft driver apps – some that will make a big difference to drivers.

Over the next few days, Uber is set to announce even more information as part of their 180 Days of Change. Stay tuned for an announcement here on Tuesday, when Uber is set to unveil Chapter 3 of the 180 Days of Change.

We’ve seen competition heating up between Uber and Lyft ever since Uber started to put the heat on Lyft with their “180 Days of Change”. We’ve compiled a list and roundup of all the leaked screenshots, rumors, and tests that are going on for drivers that haven’t even launched yet. Whatever happens, hopefully we will get some more money out of it!

Uber and Lyft are almost always testing features among different drivers throughout different markets. Some of these features make it out to the public while some are quickly put back in a box and never heard from again. Right now though, both are testing a lot of interesting changes to their apps that I think have a strong chance of being rolled out to everyone.

And of course, we’ve already seen some big changes in the last few months. Tipping on Uber, 24 hour phone support, increased pay for Lyft Line rides, and showing PrimeTime on incoming requests.

All of these are part of a big push right now to make the app better for drivers.

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by Christian Perea on July 25, 2017 30 Comments

Uber Announces 24 Hour Phone Support, Ratings Protection and More

More big announcements from Uber! Staying true to their ‘180 Days of Change’, Uber has announced some big new changes for drivers coming to the platform this year. Senior RSG contributor Christian Perea outlines all the upcoming (positive!) changes for drivers. Let us know in the comments which ones you’re looking forward to the most.

Uber announced their second round of changes for drivers in their “180 Days of Change” campaign this morning. The second round focuses on making support better, faster, and more reliable for drivers who have long complained of slow response times, inconsistent answers, and policies around ratings that punish drivers for things outside of their control.

This includes the launch of 24-hour phone support for all drivers in the US and Canada, Ratings Protection, and other improvements that should reduce the amount of mystery and stress drivers experience when dealing with support.

It’s pretty tough to top the first round of changes, which included adding a tip option in the driver app, but this round is still significant because Uber is finally addressing enduring and structural problems that I have heard drivers complain about for a long, LONG time. I’ve included all of the changes below along with my take on the ones that matter most.

If this round seems underwhelming to you, Uber still plans to announce four or five more waves of changes for drivers in the coming months. So stay tuned.

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by Harry Campbell on June 20, 2017 150 Comments

Uber to Add a Tipping Option and Other Big Changes to Driver Earnings

The day we’ve all been waiting for is finally here and Uber drivers and couriers will now be able to accept tips through the Uber app.

The new tipping option is part of a larger ‘180 Days of Change‘ that aims to fix the Uber driver experience. Uber is calling today’s announcement Chapter 1 and it’s focused on improving the earnings experience of Uber drivers across the United States. Over the next 180 days, Uber will release one new chapter approximately every month and aim to tackle issues like flexibility, customer support and more.

For years, Uber has struggled with high turnover and low satisfaction rates among drivers. And although they’ve always said that they care about drivers’ future, today’s announcement actually proves it. I’ve always been frustrated by Uber’s lack of empathy towards drivers and although this won’t shift the perception overnight, it is a big step in the right direction.

Like with any job, there are positives and negatives about driving for Uber, but I’ve always felt that the experience could be so much better. There are over 2 million drivers on the Uber platform now though and fixing their relationship with the company is bound to have a big impact on a lot of people. So what’s new to the Uber driver experience?

Join us tonight at 5pm PT on Youtube Live to go over ALL of the big changes that Uber just announced. You can subscribe to our Youtube channel here and be sure to turn on notifications (instructions here) so you know when we go live.

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