On my very first ride, I made a huge mistake.
I didn’t know what I didn’t know and was just really excited to be making some money.
A passenger asked for my personal cell phone number so she could contact me personally for rides. The premise was that she could save money and that I could keep more of the money I earned. I was all about the more money part!
At first, I didn’t really hear from her, but eventually, she started calling and texting quite a bit. She needed very long rides and wanted to make sure she had a driver.
For a while, I drove for her, took the cash money, and called it a day. But it was never enough money, and it became a huge hindrance to the money I could have made if I had simply used the apps during that time.
Now, no matter what customers say, they never get my actual phone number to reach me for anything. If they want a call, text, or anything else, they can do it through the app.
Your Safety Is Important
The very first reason to never give out personal information, and why even your last name is blocked in the app, is your safety.
Regardless if the companies actually care about our safety or are simply trying to make sure that they aren’t involved in any lawsuits, it doesn’t matter. They don’t want you to have direct contact with customers’ information or the customers to have your information.
It protects everyone, so if you give out that information, then you lose that protection.
Not only are you less safe, but you could also be more annoyed. My customer eventually stopped reaching out to me, but I had to ghost her for a while and finally got a message saying, “Sorry I upset you so much.” But, sometimes, the messages never stop, or it’s just not at a good time for you.
Regardless of the reasons you choose not to give out your phone number, stick to your guns. No matter what the customer says or does, protect your safety and peace of mind.
Get A Different Number
If, for some reason, you do feel the need to give out an actual contact phone number to customers, then simply make sure that it’s not your main phone number.
You could get an entirely different phone, and people would accuse you of doing some sort of illegal activity. Another option is to simply get an additional number that goes directly to your phone.
Google Voice is a great free option that can give you a local number that you can give out that will ring directly to your phone but not give them access to you directly.
It is just one extra layer of protection for you.
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Other Things You Should Never Do For A Customer
Besides giving out your number, there are other things that customers will ask you to do from time to time that you should absolutely not do.
Take Extra Passengers
The amount of times I have been asked if I can take more people than my car can legally fit is unreal.
The number of times I actually did it is once.
They swore to me they would tip and make it worth it to me. They tipped one whole dollar, which is not worth potentially getting a huge fine by any means.
After talking with other drivers, I guess I should simply be happy they tipped at all, as that’s the experience that many drivers had when they gave in and did it.
Grab Something Extra
At times, passengers will request you to grab something extra when you’re picking up their food.
Usually, this is something like salt and pepper packets, ketchup, or duck sauce, things that you would usually grab if you were getting food.
Other times, though, they’ll ask you to stop somewhere completely different and get things that you can’t get through a delivery app. Things like cigarettes seem to be the most popular, but other things are asked for as well.
They say they will either pay you in cash when you get there or add to the tip the difference.
I genuinely cannot think of a time when this works out. Even if you do get paid back for it, you don’t get extra for it, and it is a lot more work and especially risky for not much payoff.
Delivery companies like Uber Eats, DoorDash, and GrubHub don’t deliver first and hope to get paid later. They get paid first and then assign a driver. If a huge company like that doesn’t take on risk, why would you as a driver?
Drive Fast
Whether you have a passenger late for work or an extremely hangry delivery customer, never drive faster than you feel comfortable with and what the legal speed limit is.
First, they will never compensate you enough to make up for the risk or the additional wear and tear on your car.
Second, if you do get a ticket, not only do you have to pay the fee, but you now risk being deactivated and not being able to make money anymore. So, never speed.
Passengers and customers ask for things all the time, and it doesn’t make you a bad person to say no to doing them a favor. You’re doing what you need to do to protect yourself and continue to make the money you need.
