Uber jacking prices to give discount

TimOfEastBNE on 29/03/2021 - 08:34

I regularly get offers 20% to 25% off uber rides… However, the other day I compared the full (prediscount) price on my phone to another's account at the same time and their full price was the same as my discounted price. I thought this was odd so have checked several times since, two phones (different accounts) requesting at the same time to the same destination. Most recently the discounted price was cheaper for sure, but on the back of a full price that was more expensive but roughly 10% over the app request where no discount was to be supplied.

Am I the first one to see this?

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Comments

  • dailynotsomail on 29/03/2021 - 08:45
    +5

    100% correct. I have seen discounted pricing inflated. still works cheaper but the true discount is less than the offer.

    no surprise for a company that continues to make billion dollar losses….. their model isn't sustainable so prices overall will increase and discounts will drop off…..

    you see it with eBay sales too. pre sale price vs pre discount price is often different

    • TimOfEastBNE on 29/03/2021 - 09:11

      "no surprise for a company that continues to make billion dollar losses".. understood, but pretty sue it's something the ACCC would take a dim view of. I wonder if we got enough comparative screenshots if we could get ACCC to take it on?

      • orangetrain on 29/03/2021 - 09:56

        ACCC will listen to your individual complaints, but generally action on many complaints. Send it to ACCC

        • pharkurnell on 29/03/2021 - 11:09

          Cant believe anyone bothers sending anything to the ACCC..

          biggest waste of time shambles in AU..

          • orangetrain on 29/03/2021 - 11:18
            +1

            @pharkurnell: Americans want an ACCC. Don't sell them short, they've been great with the big fish and many small fishes.

          • MuddyClear on 29/03/2021 - 11:22

            @pharkurnell: Your comment is the biggest waste of time!

          • Chandler on 29/03/2021 - 13:54
            +2

            @pharkurnell:

            Cant believe anyone bothers sending anything to the ACCC..

            biggest waste of time shambles in AU..

            Probably because of opinions like yours.

            ACCC will listen to your individual complaints, but generally action on many complaints. Send it to ACCC

            If people don't complain because the ACCC won't do anything, then they won't do anything because not enough people are complaining.

            • pharkurnell on 29/03/2021 - 14:41

              @Chandler: What like naming and shaming fuel companies? So useful.

              People do complain - quite often to them…. but when nothing comes of it people give up. its just human nature.

  • Xistn on 29/03/2021 - 08:50
    +3

    Welcome to Business model 101.

  • JimmyF on 29/03/2021 - 09:27
    +2

    Am I the first one to see this?

    Nope, I assume you're talking about the up front fix price fares? Yeah been like that for 4 years or so.

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-19/uber-s-fu…

    https://www.smartcompany.com.au/startupsmart/news/behind-ube…

    Price discrimination is a firm’s attempt to capture the difference between the value a consumer puts on a product and how much they actually pay. Firms do this by charging different prices to different consumers and exploiting differences in willingness to pay.

    Uber thinks you're willing to pay more, so charges more. The odd 'discount' they toss you (back to normal prices BTW, so not really a discount) is a feel good move, so you think that being a 'valued' customer they are rewarding you, but really they have been seasoning you to pay more all this time!

  • CyberMurning on 29/03/2021 - 09:35
    +1

    huh whats new about that..
    basically this is what all business people learn in their elementary study.

    • jv on 29/03/2021 - 09:44
      +1

      How to piss off customers?

  • jv on 29/03/2021 - 09:43
    +3

    Why are you surprised?

    Since when has Uber ever been an ethical company?

    They don't really care if they do the right thing or not, or even if it's legal…

    • JimmyF on 29/03/2021 - 10:14
      +2

      Since when has Uber ever been an ethical company?

      The most surprising thing about Uber is for such a unethical company, they can't make money!!

      Also don't get me started on the ubereat side of the company taking 30-35% cut of the food order + delivery fee + service fee.

      Uber is pure scum, it needs to disappear.

      • mbck on 29/03/2021 - 10:35

        Are they making money on ubereats? Or they mix their revenue with the parent uber company?

        That's crazy if they've taken hat much and they're still not on positive revenue

        • jv on 29/03/2021 - 10:45

          and they're still not on positive revenue

          You'd probably have to look at their expenses and pay careful attention to where the money is really going and who is benefitting from it…
          Negative revenue is also good for tax deductions.

          • mbck on 29/03/2021 - 11:44

            @jv: Negative revenue is great if the company ever does go into positive territory….it sounds like they won't.

            I suppose the upper echelon are using this time to milk any benefits (penthouse, car,etc) but if the company goes under…all those assets are gone.

            Maybe they're classified as bonus (thank you for minimising loses to just x billion, here's a penthouse) lol

        • JimmyF on 29/03/2021 - 10:51

          Are they making money on ubereats

          They don't report to this level, so just mixed in to the parent company. Most likely are making money as the margins are insanely high, and its offsetting the other areas.

          That's crazy if they've taken hat much and they're still not on positive revenue

          It is crazy that Uber has NEVER returned a profit, yet people still keep tossing money at them like it is the next big thing. In November 2020, Uber announced that it had lost $5.8 billion USD. Sure 2020 was a tough year, but they lost $6.2 Billion USD in 2019. So can't be blaming covid too much ;)

          This company is never going to repay the investment put into it. The sooner people wake up to this, the better.

          • mbck on 29/03/2021 - 11:42

            @JimmyF: That's crazy. I suppose there is some value in the actual network in all the counties they have built. But that's a lot of red still.

            They also had that regulatory change recently in the UK, where all their drivers are now classified as employees. I'm anticipating that may happen here sooner than later too.

            • JimmyF on 29/03/2021 - 14:00

              @mbck:

              I suppose there is some value in the actual network in all the counties they have built. But that's a lot of red still.

              Is the value MORE than the red though? That is the question.

              Uber has lost over $25b USD in the last 5 years….. Are they REALLY of any value to world?

              https://cdn.statcdn.com/Infographic/images/normal/12059.jpeg

              They also had that regulatory change recently in the UK, where all their drivers are now classified as employees. I'm anticipating that may happen here sooner than later too.

              See above, losses have been mounting way before that change happened! So can't really blame the UK for Ubers issues.

    • Quantumcat on 29/03/2021 - 10:36

      You failed Lent jv

      • jv on 29/03/2021 - 10:43
        +2

        I've decided to give up Uber instead…

    • TimOfEastBNE on 29/03/2021 - 15:03

      I'm surprised as they still advertise a fee structure based on time taken and km travelled. So 2 punters should get the same price when requesting at the same time from the same location to the same destination. But now it has been pointed out to me that this is all smoke and mirrors. What a surprise, not. Gives me an excuse to get my significant other to request "your price is lower than mine love"!!!

  • Pufff on 29/03/2021 - 11:14

    Dominant businesses have all done this. Standard oil, amazon etc.
    Crush the competition even if it means making a loss then jack up the prices.
    The taxi industry especially cabcharge has made ubers job really easy though.

  • Brian McGee on 29/03/2021 - 13:05

    Blame people that support this bully business. If you need to take public transport take one operated in the public interest.
    Taxi and bus fares are set by distance and time, not time of day and how busy the system is.

    • TimOfEastBNE on 29/03/2021 - 15:05
      -1

      Go back to taxis? no thanks…. and yes, I use buses, ferries and trains quite a bit. But don't say that public transport in SEQld is in the public interest. $3.50 to go 2 stops on a train is a joke. Several years ago BCC hiked the bus fares because too many people were using the buses, so instead of getting more buses they increased prices to reduce demand.

      • Brian McGee on 29/03/2021 - 16:11

        Several years ago BCC hiked the bus fares because too many people were using the buses, instead of getting more buses.

        That's just poor planning from the state gummint.

        $3.50 to go 2 stops on a train is a joke.

        You wouldn't even book an Uber for that price. What would you think is a fair fare to go 3-5km or so in air conditioned comfort? You can always walk on a 40 degree day and save the money for a gatorade.

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