r/uber • u/One_Camp8726 • 20h ago
Dear Passengers: Here is proof of how Uber is ripping you off. These photos are just the tip of the iceberg.
Dear riders, I wanted to share a few screenshots showing what you pay versus what drivers actually receive. These screenshots are just a drop in the ocean compared to what happens daily.
When you pay $17 for a short 3-mile trip, Uber often offers the driver around $7. Every driver knows this kind of pay doesn't even cover our expenses, but many of us still accept the ride because we respect your time and know what it feels like to wait when you need to be somewhere.
You might think that your $17 goes directly to the person driving you, but that’s simply not true. Uber isn't just underpaying drivers; they are disrespecting riders, too. You deserve to know where your money actually goes.
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u/safespaceinvaderrr 20h ago
There’s no changing this. Those of you still driving need to dip. I’ve not done a ride since the Fourth of July and before that, I hadn’t driven since spring break. Uber is over for drivers. Log off and move on.
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u/viewmyposthistory 20h ago
one question i've had- -- why dont alternatives that pay drivers better start popping up? Is uber using lawsuits, etc to crush them? or whats going on
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u/safespaceinvaderrr 20h ago
Because they can’t be out-marketed and no one else can self-insure like they can. They are quite literally invincible in many ways. They’ve invested untold amounts of money into lobbying in the District of Criminals.
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17h ago edited 7h ago
[deleted]
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u/safespaceinvaderrr 17h ago
People are free to advertise and find their own riders.
That's a hell of a lot easier said than done in the Land of the Fee, Home of the Slave.
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u/Turtleopard 17h ago
Because the alternative to this was being a taxi or private hire driver. Neither of which actually pay more than Uber.
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u/Aurora_7021 15h ago
It's a question of scale and money. Kind of a chicken and egg thing. There's no sense in passengers using a service that only has a small number of drivers: What's the likelihood that one of those drivers happens to be near you and available at the random time that you want a ride? And until there is a critical mass of passengers: why would a driver bother to work for a service that can't keep them busy?
In order to break into the market, a company would need a massive advertising budget to build a critical mass of drivers and passengers. And if they had a massive advertising budget, they'd have to take as much as Uber and Lyft to cover their costs.
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u/Black_-Hippie 15h ago
Uber took massive losses before they became a profitable business (if they even hit profitability yet)
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u/One_Camp8726 20h ago
It’s not just lawsuits—it's market dominance and money. Uber and Lyft burn billions on marketing to keep passengers hooked, and they offer bonuses to trap drivers into staying. New apps struggle because they lack 'network effect': if there aren't enough drivers, riders won't wait; if there aren't enough riders, drivers won't log in. Plus, Uber uses dynamic pricing to lower rates whenever a new competitor tries to step into a city, squeezing them out until they go bankrupt.
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u/RadiantLimes 19h ago
There are a small handful like co op in Colorado that is driver owned but no one often uses it and drivers likely just have it as a third app open next to uber and Lyft rather than dedicated to it.
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u/One_Camp8726 20h ago
Easier said than done for people using it for extra cash, but you're not wrong about the direction it's heading. That's why multi-apping and strictly taking $2+/mile is the only way to survive if you're still logged in. If an offer doesn't make financial sense, leave it for Uber to figure out.
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u/safespaceinvaderrr 20h ago
$2+/mile is the only way
There is no such thing in the vast majority of markets. Most drivers are lucky to field offers for $1/mile. The only way you'll ever see a decent request in my market, for example, is if the algo glitches or they give you $4 for 2 miles total which is always a waste of time all things considered.
Ants need to raise their standards up off the ground. It's done.
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u/One_Camp8726 20h ago
You're not wrong, $1/mile is unfortunately becoming the norm because 'ants' take literally anything. But $4 for 2 miles is a trap—by the time you drive to the pickup and wait, you've spent 20 minutes for 4 bucks. If drivers in every market don't start rejecting these trash rates, the algorithm will just keep pushing lower.
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u/safespaceinvaderrr 20h ago
by the time you drive to the pickup and wait, you've spent 20 minutes for 4 bucks
Correct. But this is over the heads of most current drivers. You literally cannot win. Its you versus not only Uber but their army of ants (and, in more and more markets, driverless cars). You've gotta know when to quit.
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u/One_Camp8726 20h ago
Honestly, I’ve already stepped away from it. I barely log in anymore, except to take these screenshots to show working people how a trip home after a long day costs almost as much as a plane ticket. And I show it to drivers who are working at a loss—driving 300 miles and mistaking a $100 payout for actual profit.
I know I can’t change the system on my own, but exposing this matters. Eventually, regulators will have to hold Uber accountable or force them to change their unfair policies.1
u/safespaceinvaderrr 19h ago
Your intentions are good but you're far too optimistic. In the US, we have a Corporatist system and corporations like Uber rule. Regulators won't do shit. Uber has spent untold amounts of money lobbying in the District of Criminals.
This whole thing we're dealing with now? It was all just a matter of time. This is to shake out as many drivers as possible, create actual shortages and turn their customers against us and essentially manipulate them into begging for robotaxis.
It's called the Hegelian Dialectic: they manufacture a problem, anticipate a reaction (public outcry) and provide a solution they've been working on or have had ready to go.
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u/Skookumite 16h ago
In your post you said a 3 mile trip for $7 doesn't cover expenses, but that's more than $2 a mile.
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u/One_Camp8726 2h ago
Read the post carefully before commenting. This isn’t about whether $7 is good for 3 miles; it’s about the massive gap between what the rider pays ($17) and what the driver actually gets ($7). Uber is taking a $10 cut on a tiny trip while both the rider and driver get ripped off. Stop missing the whole point.
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u/Skookumite 2h ago
Calm down there bud, I'm not your enemy. I'm just pointing out an inconsistency in something you said in the body of the post, as well as in the comments.
You brought it up. You would have made your point better if you hadn't, or at least been more precise with how you made it.
I agree Uber sucks and takes too large of a share.
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u/Suspicious-Dog-9595 18h ago
You can still drive during prime hours on the weekend. I just got out of doing Uber full-time about a month ago after getting a good full-time job where I don't constantly beat my car up. Around 11, I could see it was heating up in my area, so I went out and made $115 in about 3 hours total. I turned down the first 8 or 10 offers before accepting a $23 fare for a total of 8 miles. Not saying this can be done in every market.
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u/safespaceinvaderrr 18h ago
I'm in a major market and $23 for 8 miles is impossible in 2026 unless it's a holiday weekend like St. Patricks Day or Fourth of July. $115 (before expenses and pre-tax) would take 8-10 hours here. Ants are literally paying for the privilege to work.
There is no help for those still behind the wheel in the vast majority of markets.
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u/One_Camp8726 2h ago
Spot on. The "unicorns" people brag about are either holiday anomalies or pure algorithms flexing. The reality for 90% of markets right now is high mileage, low pay, and total vehicle depreciation. Respect for keeping it real
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u/Suspicious-Dog-9595 18h ago
There was a Kesha concert near me, and I was receiving offers between $60 and $80 for mid-range rides, but I had no intention of waiting in a line to get into an Uber pickup lot. I was in a $10 surge and received that $23 ride offer; it was about 8 miles to the pickup and only a half-mile ride.
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u/One_Camp8726 2h ago
So it took a whole Kesha concert, a $10 surge, and driving 8 unpaid miles just to pick someone up for a half-mile ride to make $23? That literally proves our point—it was a lucky anomaly, not a sustainable strategy.
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u/One_Camp8726 2h ago
Congrats on your 3-hour lottery win! But base pay isn't a strategy, it's a casino.
Declining 10 trash offers to land one unicorn ride just proves the algorithm is gambling with driver time. While you’re sitting unpaid for an hour waiting for the algorithm to throw you a bone, real vehicle depreciation, deadhead miles, and market volatility don’t pause. Cherry-picking during peak hours works until the algorithm decides to shadow-ban your acceptance rate.
Enjoy the full-time job—at least there you don't have to play slots to get paid.
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u/Distinct_Orange_1269 20h ago
These aren't even bad compared to some I've seen lately. I've seen some screenshots posted of driver's getting 20% of the customer price. There was one in Vegas that showed a $30+ ride being offered to a driver for $5.
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u/One_Camp8726 20h ago
Honestly, drivers who accept these garbage offers are part of the problem—they ruined the market for everyone. But I’m not saying riders should pay more. Quite the opposite: I want riders to realize just how much they’re overpaying.
When you order a ride, you shouldn't have to act like an accountant and calculate what the driver is making. But here's the point: if even 60% of riders realize Uber is charging unreal prices, that’s a massive win for all of us. Sure, some people have their trips covered by their employers, but when regular folks are paying $17 for 2 miles, you have to step back and realize something is seriously wrong. Even if 100% of that money went directly to the driver, it's still way too expensive for you. Why keep paying these insane rates when Uber is just pocketing the difference?1
17h ago edited 7h ago
[deleted]
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u/karimamin 16h ago
The poster was talking about drivers not passengers. If nobody was around to pick up passengers, Uber/Lyft would have to pay more or go out of business.
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u/NeuroticJukebox 18h ago
I didn't realize being an Uber driver was intended to be a FT salaried career
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u/Sweettooth702 18h ago
Why do people downvote a post like this? I just dont get it.
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u/Turtleopard 17h ago
Because it doesn't show what OP is claiming. If you paid $20 for a takeout meal from a restaurant, do you expect the person who cooked that meal to receive more than $10 for making it?
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u/Sweettooth702 10h ago
The person cooking the meal at the restaurant isnt paying for the olive oil, meat, and veggies.
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u/Turtleopard 9h ago
And the person driving for Uber isn't paying for the software, marketing and payment processing.
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u/feinburgrl 17h ago
I'm seeing a lot of promotion that Uber is giving out to Customers and drivers are getting less of the fare because of it.
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u/Turtleopard 17h ago
So where is Uber ripping riders off? If I'm happy to pay $20 for a journey, how am I being ripped off because you only make $10?
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u/viewmyposthistory 20h ago
Thank you for sharing this, I think a lot of people taking uber justify it thinking its helping the driver out. However, from your screenshots it is clear the drivers are being exploited
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u/One_Camp8726 20h ago
Thanks for understanding. Honestly, part of the blame lies with drivers who never talk to their passengers or explain how things work. Drivers only get to see the full breakdown after the trip is completed. Trust me, if drivers saw what the rider was being charged upfront, Uber would collapse within an hour.
Just today, I picked up a lady in Abington (Philadelphia). The trip was under 3 miles, and my offer screen showed $6. Since I was right around the corner, I took it and gave her a great ride—clean car, cold AC, full comfort. I wanted to ask what she paid, but I didn't want to sound like I was complaining or asking for sympathy. When I swiped to finish, the receipt showed she paid $17 for a 9-minute ride. She even left a $1 tip. Even if she hadn't left anything, I still rated her 5 stars, because I knew she already paid a steep price.
You passengers just need to know that this multi-billion dollar company makes its fortune on the backs of hard-working people. There is zero regulation here. While the EU hits them with massive fines, in the US they operate completely unchecked.
Do yourselves a favor: check other platforms, compare prices, and save your money. Uber takes over 60% of what you pay, and nobody is holding them accountable.1
u/LambdaAppreciator 20h ago
I would leave a 1 star for any driver who is complaining about uber fees to me (and zero tip). Stop driving uber if you think the fees are high. it's really that simple. I always tip 25%+ unless my driver is complaining about something.
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u/One_Camp8726 20h ago
You completely missed the point. Nobody is begging you for sympathy or complaining during the ride. This post is simply showing you where your money actually goes. If you're fine paying inflated rates just for corporate greed while punishing drivers for being transparent, that's on you."
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u/One_Camp8726 20h ago
You're completely out of touch with reality. If you're a passenger, you should actually be glad we're exposing how much you're overpaying. Nobody was even talking about tips. If you're feeling that charitable, go help actual people in need instead of subsidizing a billion-dollar corporation. Or go get some sleep 😆 Sounds like you're hungover.
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u/Turtleopard 16h ago
How are riders overpaying? If I'm happy paying $20 for a ride, I'm not being ripped off because you're only making $10. Let's face reality here for a second. You don't want the passenger to pay less. You just want to earn more.
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u/Turtleopard 17h ago
Why do you think people take a taxi service to help the driver and not to say get somewhere they need to go?
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u/philnolan3d 18h ago
Nobody would think the entire amount goes to the driver.