Late to catch your Uber? You may face some new fees.
The company is testing out policies in New York, New Jersey, Phoenix, and Dallas that may make the service seem less appealing if you've got a problem with timeliness.
According to Uber, if you make your driver wait for more than two minutes, you'll be charged a per-minute rate. You'll also face a fee if you cancel a trip more than two minutes after you requested it. Uber users in the trial cities will see this news appear as a "rider update" that's titled "Request When You're Ready." The update launched briefly but was pulled back for a system fix and will be rolled out again starting today.
As for its rollout to other cities, Uber says it will determine expansion after looking at the results from a few weeks of the trial.
These changes may make Lyft, a similar car service, seem like a more attractive option. For Lyft, you will only be charged $10 after a driver has already been confirmed for five minutes. You also won't be charged a no-show fee ($10 in NYC and $5 in most other cities) unless the driver has arrived, tried to contact you, and waited for five minutes.
Uber points out that the trial policies have the best interests of the company's drivers in mind. It can be stressful for a driver to wait on a busy street for an undetermined period of time, and it's only fair that you should compensate them for their time.
One thing is for sure: The fear of getting charged by the minute will certainly get us out the door sooner.
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