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Well, it was just a matter of time wasn’t it? To the delight of hackers, now there’s an app to dance away from Uber surge pricing.
Today, I received an email from PureWow discussing the SurgeProtector App:
Here’s how it works: It’s a separate but similar-looking app that you fire up instead of Uber (it taps into its network). A map appears. Above, it lists your current surge pricing. Below is a button that says “Goodbye Surge.” Tap it and a purple pin will drop you at the nearest no-surge zone.
Goodbye Surge! Catchy! SurgeProtector is free and is available on iTunes.
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A New York frequent flyer who elegantly combines her passions for worldwide travel, running a gazillion marathons all over the globe and staying fit ... without sacrificing her fancy for good wine and food.
Any Android version yet?
I don’t know. Have you checked?
Sadly, there is no Android version yet. I look forward to it, especially here in SF where you can definitely walk a few blocks to avoid a surge.
And if you are in many markets (like here in Dallas), when you call the Uber driver to tell them your actual location, they will cancel you and go back to their regular driving. This might be a no-biggie in a market like NYC where the surge zone is a few blocks… but somewhere like Dallas, the nearest spot outside the surge zone might be several miles away… and you are going to get the driver closest to that spot, not closest to where you are in the surge. If I get a request from someone who is actually 15 minutes away from me, I’m cancelling the ride and reporting it to Uber as “passenger not in location” – and the rider can fight it out with Uber as to whether the cancellation fee was warranted.
If the pricing is divergent in one small vicinity, such that you could walk across the street and get one price, and around the corner and get another price, I see nothing wrong with knowing the available prices and choosing which one to accept. IMHO, this is about knowledge – not manipulation, and certainly not fraud. Doesn’t Uber pride itself on being user-friendly and transparent?
Walking across the street to get a different price is one thing. Intentionally staying in the surge zone and entering a false address is fraud, It’s okay to hate the business practices of the large corporation, but keep in mind that those drivers are independent contractors. They are not being compensated for the time or gasoline to drive the further distance to the correct location. Beyond that, I think defrauding individuals is just tacky… akin to finding a way to somehow short a waitress on a tip.
FWIW, I checked with a local rep from Uber – and while not an official statement from the company – I was told (as a driver) that if riders do this, we are to cancel the ride and tell them to re-request with their correct location. And if users show a pattern of doing this, they will review and suspend their accounts.