"UBER"ly Screwed"

Hello,

This involves the app based ride share company UBER. I came across an ad for UBER, guaranteeing that you could make 5k a month if you worked a 40 hour week as a driver. They also offered an opportunity to be able to purchase a vehicle if you did not have one that met their criteria. UBER's auto financing program states that if you purchase a vehicle through their financing program that you will get a $4k to $5k discount toward the car, (at the time it was Chevy Malibu, Dodge Charger, Toyota Prius, Toyota Camry, and Chevy Cruze all 2015) providing you purchase one of the approved models they prefer, at the auto dealership they refer you to...

I told my husband about this opportunity and we purchased a car through this avenue. At this time in our lives, we were looking for possible ways to improve our lives , and this seemed like a light at the end of the tunnel. Instead, it ended up being a ball and chain, a trap that left us worse off than ever. . .

Allow me to explain as briefly as possible what transpired, and you can judge for yourself wether you deem it worthy of consideration. I do so hope you do, as at this point, we are at the end of our rope, with no solution in sight.

The dealer at the lot that Uber sent us to didn't take us to the main lot. Instead, he took us to a side lot and we were given only 2 choices, both were KIA Optimas, and this car wasn't on Uber's list of preferred cars, but we didn't worry about this because we were told he was very familiar with the Uber auto financing program since he had worked with Uber many times, and he was aware of the discount. So, we figured he knew what he was doing.

Unfortunately though, we didn't get the promised discount, but we didn't find out about this until later. The agreement we signed up for was supposed to be a 3 year term, with a total purchase price of about $34,000 after financing. Instead, we got a 4 year term with a price of $48,000, with an interest rate of 22.75% COMPOUNDED DAILY, (which basically took a car that was supposed to cost $21 or 22K (with the discount) ended up costing $40+ thousand). This is an astronomical rate and not something we would have agreed to, but we didn't find this out until we received a phone call from t financing copany. In addition, the dealership charged us $1500 over the MSRP which was $25,400 and they charged us $27,000. My husband had asked the sales man twice to see the MSRP and he gave some answer about having to go get it, and we didn't see it until 2 weeks later folded in the back of the document packet. Also, they included a warrenty that cost $2,500 but the warrenty was only good if the vehicle were not used to "transport people for hire".

Why would they sell us a warrenty like this if they knew we were buying this car for this very reason??

Now normally, we would go over all the paperwork very thoroughly. Very carefully, but since we were working with Uber we thought we were going to be taken care of, and so it didn't occur to us that this would end up being the financial nightmare it became.

When we told Uber we were interested, we also told them we wanted to make sure we would earn enough to be able to manage this large car payment every month, and they GUARANTEED 5k a month as long as we worked a 40 hour week. So we went ahead and purchased the car.

We did make a lot of money that first month, but soon after Uber slashed the rates several times and drivers couldn't make near what they made that first month. The monthly payment for this new car we just bought was $950 mo, not to mention the $450 in gas a month, and the $200 mo. insurance, $90 for fastrack, $100 for the cell phone use, and $75 mo. cleaning, not to mention the wear and tear on the car. Totals to almost $2000 every single month to run this car for this job. In addition to this, we have to pay taxes at the end of the year.

Why would UBER offer discounts and guarantee we could make enough for this vehicle and then cut the rates to the point that it was impossible to do?

Both my husband and I were driving to pay for the car, but UBER deactivated me a month after buying the car for low rating of 4.2 out of 5 with no notice, no advice, no chance to improve, and given no opportunity to correct any mistakes. I found out on my own one day when I set out for work and couldn't get on the app. I told UBER that we just made a huge commitment to them in buying this car and that I was needed to help with these payments, but I was basically shut out, and that was the end of that. Cold is the word I would use to describe them. We drivers are a disposable commodity.

Why would UBER have us go through their financing program, make such a large commitment, and then deactivate one of us soon after, making it even harder to make the payments?

So, for the next several months, we struggled to keep this car to do this job and we would have to actually take from my husbands retirement (he is a retired corrections officer) every month to make up the difference for this payment and expense. So basically, we were paying to work. My husband used to have a motorcycle, but I suggested to him he sell it because we needed to try to get out of the hole we were in, but even though he sold it, the money wasn't much and only paid a bill or two, so now he has no bike as well. (That bike was his baby so now I feel twice as bad). Every dime my husband made went to the car payment.

After almost a year of this, the financing co hooked up our car in our driveway and dragged it away. We were only past due $98 dollars. Ninety-eight. Dollars. It just really sucked. We really, really liked our car. We had it for almost a year. We ended up a month later getting another car, less expensive as the KIA, but we are still trying to get the down paid on it, and we are still so far in the hole we are having one hell of a time catching up. It's very overwhelming.

This is a gross example of "predatory marketing", or a "predatory business", and I'm sure there are other drivers out there that have fallen victim to this auto leasing deal they have. Its a trap. Eventually, the person can't keep up with the payments so the leasing company takes the car back, and then screws the person out of their pensions, retirement, etc.. not to mention the fact that their credit is now ruined and they can't get another vehicle so they are left with ruined credit, no car and no way to get one, so this means no work and now what... can't pay the bills and I am sure this has ruined some people that have purchased these cars through this "opportunity" that Uber offers.

We tried repeatedly to get Uber to help us out with this, since they required we go to this particular dealer, but no effort on their part was made.

My husband is a good person, and one of the nicest people I know. He deserves something good to happen to him for once.
We wanted to improve our lives and thought we finally might be able to get ahead. We actually got excited and loved doing this job, but this has turned out to be the worse experience we have ever been through. Quite frankly, I am not seeing a way out, and UBER and the financing company are too big to fight.

This is why I made this T-shirt. Maybe some good can come out of this experience, and hopefly othr driver will avid this trap, or at least learn how UBER treats it's drivers. I'm hoping to be able to help my husband repair some of the damage financially. I have to do something to try to turn this around, and I had this picture of UBER walking on the driver's backs, all the way to the bank, so I made this shirt.

Uber has made millions walking all over its drivers, all the way to the bank. They are laughing all the way to the bank and is walking on the backs of the drivers to get there. This company cares not at all for the drive's that ave madeit the millions it has today. It is a predatory business, and looks out for itself only.

On behalf of all of us, I want to thank you all for taking the time to read this, and for your consideration and support. So, if you feel you would like to help out, then by all means buy a shirt. It is for a good cause. If not, that's ok too, or maybe you can show your support by sharing the link... We are many, lets spread the word.

Barbaralynn