Author Topic: Crowdfunded Uber Cab Ride  (Read 6128 times)

mystikspiral

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 4
Crowdfunded Uber Cab Ride
« on: November 04, 2014, 08:51:05 AM »
What do you do when you wake up to discover that you've spent too much money partying the night before and cannot afford to pay your rent?

Start a GoFundMe campaign, of course!

http://www.businessinsider.com/women-raises-362-to-pay-for-uber-ride-2014-11

While I wholeheartedly agree that $362 cab fare is insane, she did agree to pay the 9x higher than normal rate. If you're unfamiliar with Uber, here is a screenshot of what their surge pricing screen looks like:

There's no way she got a ride without knowing about the fare hike and agreeing to pay it.

I'm not sure which is worse, blowing 80% of all your money in one night or that people actually donated money toward this "cause".

dude

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2369
Re: Crowdfunded Uber Cab Ride
« Reply #1 on: November 04, 2014, 10:48:45 AM »
Was going to post the same link.  All I could do was shake my head and think, WTF?

These things gall me, and I'd have a hard time ponying up any money for something like this, even if it was my best friend.  Let them learn the hard lesson, they'll probably be better off for it.

Also what came to mind for me was an experience I had in NYC on Halloween night back in '09 -- getting a cab was nearly IMPOSSIBLE.  So I can totally see someone agreeing to pay a premium just to GTF home after a drunken night out (I probably would have on that particular night).  But that's on THEM, not the driver, or their friends.
« Last Edit: November 04, 2014, 10:52:29 AM by dude »

Cromacster

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1695
  • Location: Minnesnowta
Re: Crowdfunded Uber Cab Ride
« Reply #2 on: November 04, 2014, 11:07:00 AM »
I didn't even realize that uber bumped their rates like this.  Granted I have never used it when a peak time would be.  I am not in an area near as large as NYC, so maybe we never hit that high of demand.

sheepstache

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2417
Re: Crowdfunded Uber Cab Ride
« Reply #3 on: November 04, 2014, 11:08:37 AM »
WOW that is a lot of whining. I mean, I would sympathize, but DAMN.

I just woke up from a nap so correct me if my math is wrong, but if $362 is 80% of her funds, she only had $453 to begin with, meaning any kind of taxi ride home would have left her short for $450 rent.

MoneyCat

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1752
  • Location: New Jersey
Re: Crowdfunded Uber Cab Ride
« Reply #4 on: November 04, 2014, 11:12:00 AM »
Why would anyone give her money for that?  Why aren't people donating all this money to food banks or homeless shelters?  What the hell is wrong with people?

RFAAOATB

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 654
Re: Crowdfunded Uber Cab Ride
« Reply #5 on: November 04, 2014, 11:34:19 AM »
Why would anyone give her money for that?  Why aren't people donating all this money to food banks or homeless shelters?  What the hell is wrong with people?

The ripped off by Uber sob story is much more relate-able than the I'm homeless story.  Is the embarrassment level of using  GoFundMe for these mistakes less than that compared to the bank of mom and dad?

Since her sob story worked better than expected I would say good on her.

J'onn J'onzz

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 62
  • Age: 46
  • Location: Dallas, TX
Re: Crowdfunded Uber Cab Ride
« Reply #6 on: November 04, 2014, 02:05:37 PM »
Why would anyone give her money for that?  Why aren't people donating all this money to food banks or homeless shelters?  What the hell is wrong with people?

To be fair, it is there money and they can give it to whoever they want to.

frugalnacho

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5055
  • Age: 41
  • Location: Metro Detroit
Re: Crowdfunded Uber Cab Ride
« Reply #7 on: November 04, 2014, 02:20:34 PM »
Why would anyone give her money for that?  Why aren't people donating all this money to food banks or homeless shelters?  What the hell is wrong with people?

To be fair, it is there money and they can give it to whoever they want to.

And we can pass judgment on them for being foolish with their money.

MoneyCat

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1752
  • Location: New Jersey
Re: Crowdfunded Uber Cab Ride
« Reply #8 on: November 04, 2014, 02:26:07 PM »
Why would anyone give her money for that?  Why aren't people donating all this money to food banks or homeless shelters?  What the hell is wrong with people?

To be fair, it is there money and they can give it to whoever they want to.

And we can pass judgment on them for being foolish with their money.

And we can pass judgment on their grammar, because it's "their" not "there".

johnintaiwan

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 357
  • Location: Tainan, Taiwan
Re: Crowdfunded Uber Cab Ride
« Reply #9 on: November 04, 2014, 05:27:58 PM »
I saw this as well and was going to post it. At least the comments are pretty good. Mostly people taking her to task.

I like how some people are angry at Uber. They say that is a ridiculous price. I feel it is the true price. If more people want that service it will cost more. Like another poster said, cabs can be impossible to get. So if you value your time and dont want to wait for a cheaper option you can pay more for uber. If you didnt think it was worth it why did you agree to pay for it?

If she wasn't attractive and have the sob story about her bday, i dont think it would have been successful. I feel there comes a time when you should stop assuming people will care about your bday, that time is after you turn 8 years old.

randymarsh

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1369
  • Location: Denver
Re: Crowdfunded Uber Cab Ride
« Reply #10 on: November 04, 2014, 06:58:46 PM »
Some guy in Denver got a ~$500 Uber bill over Halloween weekend and of course is bitching about it trying to snag a refund. 90% chance he was super drunk, couldn't comprehend the fare multiplier, and didn't have the motor skills at that point to use the fare estimator.

mystikspiral

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 4
Re: Crowdfunded Uber Cab Ride
« Reply #11 on: November 05, 2014, 01:21:32 PM »
I saw this as well and was going to post it. At least the comments are pretty good. Mostly people taking her to task.

I like how some people are angry at Uber. They say that is a ridiculous price. I feel it is the true price. If more people want that service it will cost more. Like another poster said, cabs can be impossible to get. So if you value your time and dont want to wait for a cheaper option you can pay more for uber. If you didnt think it was worth it why did you agree to pay for it?

If she wasn't attractive and have the sob story about her bday, i dont think it would have been successful. I feel there comes a time when you should stop assuming people will care about your bday, that time is after you turn 8 years old.

The comments I've seen on this story pleased me as well. Uber's pricing structure is brilliant. The only thing that bothers me is that I didn't think of starting a ridesharing company based on it first.

fireferrets

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 98
Re: Crowdfunded Uber Cab Ride
« Reply #12 on: November 24, 2014, 02:41:54 PM »
Didn't have $370 on hand for an emergency? If she had broken a leg, she'd be in the same boat, not being able to pay her rent.