My experience working with Uber has been terrible, and I strongly recommend thinking twice before…read moresigning up as a driver.
I drive for Uber in Sydney, financially, it often simply isn't worth it. The way fares and tolls are handled can leave drivers earning almost nothing for long trips. For example, I recently completed a trip of around 25 kilometres from Sans Souci to Sydney CBD. The trip took approximately 50 minutes. The fare was $35, but around $15 went straight to the toll, meaning I received only about **$20 net** for almost an hour of driving.
The app itself is also extremely unfair to drivers. You often don't know where a trip will actually take you or whether you'll end up somewhere that requires tolls until you accept the ride. You can accept a trip thinking it's reasonable, only to discover that it takes you to a remote area, far away from the places where you can get another ride. Then you're forced to drive back empty, wasting your time, fuel and vehicle costs with absolutely no income. Uber takes the commission and the risk is pushed onto the driver.
On top of that, the app is constantly full of bugs and incorrect warnings.
But the worst part is what happens when you actually need support.
Uber blocked and deactivated my driver account before my driver's licence had even expired, simply because I had scheduled my renewal for the final day. I had planned it that way because of my financial situation, but Uber decided to stop me from working before my licence had actually expired.
On the exact day they blocked me, I went straight to Service NSW, renewed my licence, received the official receipt/protocol, and immediately uploaded the required documents.
Then the nightmare with support began.
My first call was disconnected before I could properly get help. On my second attempt, I was connected to a support agent whose communication was extremely difficult to understand. For context, I have lived in Australia for 10 years and have no problem understanding people with different accents, but in this case communication was simply not working.
It wasn't until my third attempt that I finally received a notification saying my document had been accepted.
And even after Uber accepted my updated licence, they still kept me locked out.
By the time they finally responded through chat, I had already been unable to work for two full days, resulting in a direct loss of around $500 in income. That is not insignificant money for someone who depends on driving to pay bills and support a 5-year-old child.
To make matters worse, they then claimed that my vehicle sticker was missing, even though I had already submitted the required photo. At the same time, the app was displaying completely nonsensical warnings about my driver's licence, despite the fact that it had already been renewed and the documentation had been submitted.
Their support system is incredibly frustrating: days to receive a response, automated messages, repeated requests for documents that have already been provided, outsourced support that often doesn't actually solve the problem, and absolutely no sense of urgency when someone's ability to earn an income is being taken away.
I am now going into my third day unable to connect and work, losing several hundred more dollars through no fault of my own.
Drivers are the people who actually keep this platform running. We provide the cars, fuel, maintenance, insurance, time and labour, yet when something goes wrong, Uber treats us as if we are disposable.
This experience has shown me that the biggest risk of driving for Uber isn't just the low earnings. It's having your livelihood controlled by an app and a support system that can stop you from working with little explanation and then take days to fix its own mistakes.
If you are thinking about becoming an Uber driver, think twice. Understand the real costs, the tolls, the unpaid kilometres, the uncertainty of where trips will leave you, and most importantly, how little support you may receive when something goes wrong.
Completely unacceptable.