Smiley Sharing Uber St. Louis Ride-a-longs

Smiley Ridesharing: Pretrip Mental Checks and 5 Star Service (PMCS)

Good morning! Michael and I took yesterday off from rideshare driving to catch up on other things that needed doing, such as laundry. While providing five-star service is great, it’s also important to find time to rest and do household chores. Balance is essential to success!

Smiley Sharing Uber St. Louis Ride-a-longs:Drivers & Short Trips

After we got fueled up and ready for another day of ridesharing, we had our first ping. The gentleman was carrying a twelve-pack of Pepsi, and he apologized for calling a Uber for such a short trip. Drivers, let us address this! A passenger should NOT feel the need to apologize for using our service for short trips. We’re here to give a service, regardless of the duration of the trip. If we show kindness, courtesy, and five-star service to a passenger taking a short trip, they’re certain to use us for their longer trips as well.

Smiley Sharing Uber St. Louis Ride-a-longs: Riders with Special Needs

Our next ping was an interesting one. As soon as Michael accepted it, the passenger called, asking Michael if he used any chemicals in his car such as air fresheners. Michael explained that as a part of his five-star service, he uses febreze to support a pleasant-smelling vehicle. We may transport a variety of people on a regular basis, but there’s no reason that a passenger should be able to figure that out by the way the vehicle smells!

Unfortunately, the woman had to cancel the ping because she has an allergy that makes it difficult for her to be around certain chemicals. While we feel bad for her, we’re not going to give up using the methods we use to keep the car clean and pleasant-smelling. Allergies like hers aren’t that common, but we don’t know anyone who likes to ride in a funky-smelling vehicle. We do hope that she was able to find a driver who was able to meet her needs, though. Do you know of a method to keep a vehicle smelling fresh that doesn’t aggravate certain allergies or respiratory conditions? Let us know in the comments, and we’ll check it out.

Smiley Sharing Uber St. Louis Ride-a-longs: Ping and Pang 

Michael was feeling a bit down about losing the ping and having to wait for another one. He began to wonder if working today was a waste of time. Fortunately, he got a ping for a trip that helped bring his confidence level back up. The ping was from a person who had ridden with us before, and Michael had a great time catching up with him while we took him where he needed to go.

Smiley Sharing Uber St. Louis Ride-a-longs: Uber, cheaper than a DWI

On a sidenote, Michael just got a notice from Uber that he’s completed 300 late-night trips. We’re looking forward to the next 300, and we strongly urge our readers to use our service, especially if they’ve been out drinking. Statistics show that in cities that allow rideshare services to run, the instances of DUIs and DWIs drop dramatically, as do alcohol-related accidents. Have fun, but be sure to use us for a safe ride home!

Read More: Ride-Sharing, Fatal Crashes, and Crime

Smiley Sharing Uber St. Louis Ride-a-longs: St Louis Airports

We’ve had three pings, but only two trips. The reason for that is because one of the pings was from a person who gave Michael one address, then called and asked if Michael could pick him up at the airport. While Uber operates legally in St. Louis City and County, we are not now permitted to pick up passengers at the airport. Uber has even blocked the ability to use the airport as a pickup place to protect drivers from getting ticketed. The rider became irate and told Michael that he wouldn’t get a ticket if he picked him up at the airport, but Michael restated Uber’s current policy on airport pickups and politely declined the request. While Michael was sad to lose the trip, our next ping was for an XL headed downtown. It just goes to show that while doing the right thing seldom pays off right away, there are times that it does!

Rideshare Bill Missouri: Airport Updates 

With the passage of the Missouri ride share bill, all this will change. Read More: Smiley Sharing Uber St. Louis: Rideshare Bill Missouri

Smiley Sharing Uber St. Louis Ride-a-longs: Driver App

Michael has been a longtime user and lover of all things Apple, but his iPhone doesn’t seem to like the Uber app too much. Michael kept on losing pings before he even knew he had them, and per the Uber knowledge base, it was a known issue with iPhones. Michael tried everything the knowledge base suggested, including a factory reset of the phone, but the problem persisted. After a lot of thought, Michael decided to switch phones and carriers and is now using a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. (Yes, we found the droids we’re looking for.)

Smiley St Louis Uber Ridesharing: Going Offline

The rest of the evening passed pretty happily. We didn’t lose any other pings (yay!), and we got to transport a group of passengers who were in St. Louis to celebrate a wedding. If you’ve got family living all over the US, St. Louis is a great place to converge for a wedding, since it’s pretty much in the middle of the country, and we have lots of great, low-cost attractions to visit before or after the wedding itself. The home opener for the St. Louis Cardinals is tomorrow, and it’s bound to be a busy day for us here at Smiley Sharing, so we’re done for today. We’re going to rest, and Michael is going to church and to a potluck at Rebecca’s church before turning on his light, so it’s going to be a busy day overall. Have a great day!

 Take Me With You!

I hope you know that with me you’re never riding alone and that I may bring a smile to your face. 🙂

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