Has Uber gone to shit in Mexico City?
Or anywhere else in the world?
It used to be the case that everyone loved Uber so much but now more and more people are bitching about it.
Like those complaining about the rising prices and how it can be cheaper to take a taxi in some cases.
Or how you got drivers who might cancel on you if you don't agree to pay in cash instead of card.
But, on top of that, you got a certain scam that Uber drivers and Uber Eats drivers seem to be doing a lot these days.
Though, to be fair, I use Uber Eats quite a bit and Uber Eats is still pretty damn good overall.
I just had a bunch of tea delivered to my place and it only costed me 2 bucks more than walking a full hour back and forth from the Soriana supermarket.
I'll be the first to tell you that I take forever in adapting new apps or technology and so I'm like an old man happy that this new technology that we didn't have back in MY day was able to get me my tea!
However, on the same day that I got that tea, I also ordered some boneless wings again from a place I tried out before.
....And did I get the wings?
Yes but it came with a certain oddity!
That oddity revealing another issue that people have more commonly with Uber (and Uber Eats) these days in Mexico City and quite likely most of the world if we're being honest.
The Lost Uber Eats Driver
So last night I was waiting for my boneless to show up.
There's this place near me that sells like 20 pieces of boneless for just 10 bucks and they taste good!
I just save half for later. Warm them up and all good.
And, like I said, I've had plenty of issues with Uber but never with Uber Eats really.
Except last night.
So I wasn't expecting any issues this time around either (especially how happy I was getting all my tea for the month).
So I put the phone down, poured myself a drink of vodka and black tea and began listening to this song here.
Guajira Guantanamera
Sometimes I like to imagine I'm a 50 year old Cuban with a cigar and mojito in hand while listening to classic Cuban music.
Perhaps sit on a balcony in Havana with the mojito and cigar.
This music be playing.
And you got a crowd of 50 people below my balcony all looking up confused at first by this gringo singing in a foreign accent (I might imagine I'm an old Cuban guy but they ain't no fools easily tricked).
But they are curious!
And they begin holding their hands and singing along the song with me.
GUAJIRA GUANTANAMERA!
And so my eyes are closed.
Waiting for my boneless and thrown into a reality where I got a crowd of 50 Cubans holding hands and singing with me.
Give it about 5 minutes when the song is over.
And I look back at my phone.
And, oddly enough, I notice the driver is making some odd moves.
Right away, before I even put the phone down, I noticed that he was beginning his journey driving the wrong direction but I chalked it up to nothing to think about.
However, I noticed he was down going north towards the street he was already on like you can see here.
And right away I notice what is going on here.
I've seen this before plenty of times with normal Uber drivers.
So I began to screenshot his movements!
Here is the rest of his journey until a certain point.
As you can see in the last photo, the dude is now stuck waiting in this exact spot and I watched him sit there for 3 minutes until 5:50 PM.
That's when he got moving again.
And, as you can see here, he moves back south again.
That generally was how he was moving anyway.
He'd be on that northern street heading left (the opposite direction of the restaurant) and then move south.
Once he was at a certain street, he'd turn around up north and then turn right onto the northern street.
Before then turning around again to go left and then back down south and then back north and then back to the right and back to the left.
Moving most of the time without any stops but occasionally giving it like a 3 minute break.
Assumingly whenever he had his barrio HB 3.5 gal "with extra curves" (read: obese) texting him for child support.
But, as you can see here, he had a change of heart!
He began moving to the left after already moving south (which made me think he was finally going to get my food).
I thought about texting him saying some smartass shit but I figured against it because what if this dude does pick up my food and spit in it?
If he was just a normal Uber driver, I'd fuck with him then as I have before like you can see here.
But I keep watching anyhow.
And the dude ends up stopping at this point here.
By this point, he stops completely and gives it another 3 minute break.
It was at this point that the dude then sent me a text on the app calling me a "pendejo."
Literally.
Just "pendejo."
Which I thought was a bit funny and was in the moment of texting him something back but then he ghosted as you can see here.
Before I could say anything or take a screenshot of it, he just cancelled the order himself (I didn't cancel it) and the app got me a new driver right away.
The new driver literally showed up to the restaurant in like 2 minutes immediately after being given the job and was at my place in a second.
Due to the first dude's erratic driving, the app assumed I wouldn't get my meal until 6:15 (originally it was like 6:05).
But then the second dude -- who I didn't even message -- hurried the fuck up and got it to me at around 6:10.
Which is nice because I was wondering for a second if my food was going to get cold or some shit.
Here it is.
Final Thoughts
To be honest, I never took Uber or used Uber Eats until like two or three years ago.
I tend to take my sweet time adapting to new technology because, if I'm comfortable with what I got, why change?
It's like my sister trying to get me to try Spotify when I'm genuinely fine with Youtube (even with the annoying ads).
So I can't tell you what Uber was like before 3 years ago but I have heard stories of Uber drivers being much more generous back then (even handing their customers bottles of water or whatever).
And, even over the last year or two, I have noticed a change anyway in Mexico City.
While the price increases on Uber don't bother me (they aren't terrible compared to the shit you deal with when using a taxi), this is a certain annoyance I hate about Uber or Uber Eats that rubs me the wrong way.
Just retard behavior, isn't it?
I genuinely don't get how these dudes make extra money trying to scam me this way.
The idea is supposed to be that the Uber or Uber Eats driver will basically just delay as long as possible their arrival to frustrate you out of hopes that you'll cancel and they get a cancellation fee.
I never cancel.
Unless I was going to the airport (and I'd give myself plenty of time in that case), I'm never in a hurry.
Now, had that first driver showed up at 6:15, I would've not given him a tip and he'd get the bare minimum of what Uber Eats would've paid him (including a few insults my way).
But the second driver -- who wasn't trying to scam me -- got an alright tip of 40 pesos or 20%.
While it's not going to make the bank, I'd imagine it pays more than the gas this dude wasted driving around constantly with only the occasional break.
Not to mention the extra work he could've gotten if he did my trip quick enough and then took on another order.
It really is some retard logic of "drrr drrr drrr, I'm going to earn a SMALL cancellation fee versus the money and tip I'd make. DRRR DRR DRR."
It doesn't make any fucking sense.
I was talking with a friend of mine named Blayde about this before and we both don't get the logic of it (especially when you factor in the gas this dude used to drive in circles for a good 15 minutes).
And, in the case above, he didn't get a cancellation fee anyway because I didn't cancel. Probably explains the "pendejo" message I got.
When you take away the cancellation fee, this dude probably lost money versus gained any when you factor in the gas he used going in circles.
Really just comes down to the dude being a lazy, retarded fuck.
And, from other people I have heard from, that seems to be the issue in Mexico City (and other areas?) when it comes to Uber and Uber Eats.
Too many "bottom of the barrel" people who work on this app.
Though, like I said, it's rarely an issue with Uber Eats as I use that weekly and much more of an issue with Uber itself in my experience.
But that likely is a large part of the issue with Uber these days.
One could argue that they need to be more strict on who they let drive.
Though, in comparison to taxi drivers as we touched on that before, I'd argue that your typical Uber driver isn't worse than them either.
They also play plenty of dumb scams, often have low IQs and so forth.
So it doesn't change what service I prefer to use.
And, to end it on a good note, at least my boneless came in hot and wasn't cold at all when it finally got to me.
So there's that.
Anyway, that's all I got to say.
Leave any comments below.
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Thanks for reading.
Best regards,
Matt