Uber Quiet Mode Is Here: Silence Your Driver By Button

Uber announced the new feature called quiet mode for Uber Black and Uber SUV passengers. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve already heard about it. In this video, I’m going to break down some of the details. And stick around because at the end of the video I’ll share with you what I think of this new ride feature.

I’m going to give you some details, show you some screenshots and then I’ll tell you what I think of this new feature. All right, so this new feature is called quiet mode and you’re going to look out right here is what’s, what Uber is saying is offered in this new suite of offerings.

What is Quiet Mode for Uber?

First, there is quiet mode where you can tell your driver that you don’t want to talk, or that you want to chat, or that you have no preference sell. If you want to have help with your luggage, you can tell them to make the car really cool or hot and then there were a few other things there you can see a extended pickup period, premium support, professionalism, consistent vehicle. Those are the things that are now offered if you take an Uber black ride.

What Quiet Mode looks like in the app

The second thing I want to do is show you is exactly what this looks like. What you’re seeing here is some screenshots from uh, an Uber black request. So first you make the request, then it brings up the second a screenshot you see there, the ride preferences. And there you can control the conversation, the temperature and the bags.

Then as you can see in the third screenshot, I actually made my choices. And this all happens before you get matched with a driver.

What’s the reaction to this? Well, it’s mixed. Some passengers have said it’s long overdue, that they’ve wanted something like this. There are some female passengers that really love this because they’ve been hit on by drivers. That’s one reaction.

I don’t like being told what to do!

The other reaction is my reaction, which is I don’t like it. I don’t like being told what to do in the first place. And I certainly don’t like being told that I can’t talk or that I can talk. I’ve seen the term dehumanizing, and that’s how I feel. I’m grateful that Lyft has not done this, although they might.

And I’m grateful that it’s only in the Uber black and Uber Black Suv, so I don’t even really have to deal with it because my little black Honda accord hybrid does not qualify to be an Uber black car.

Quiet Mode is only for the most expensive Uber services

Fourth thing I want to say is that this is only for people that are willing to pay for it. It’s pretty expensive. So what you’re looking at now is I looked at, booking a ride to the airport from my home. And as you can see, if I did the Uber Pool, it would be $11.52. But the Uber black is $43.77. That’s almost four times the price. Since the passenger is paying all that extra, does that kind of soften the blow? They’re paying a premium price in order to have more control over their ride?

That’s a judgment I have leave up to you. I still don’t like it. I think if you’re going to pay that extra price, Uber and Lyft should make sure that their drivers are trained. Obviously if a passenger sits in the back of your car and doesn’t want to talk, you can tell that it’s not that difficult. And if they do want to talk, then you have a conversation.

Uber is trying to further dumb down the skill of drivers

This is sort of sort of ridiculous. And that this is a simple conversation, a simple interaction between two people and it’s now being controlled by a corporation, a telling you through the passenger now how you should behave. This is just another example of how Uber and Lyft are dumbing down the role of the driver.

Even three years ago when I started, there was a certain skill that was required. Long rides paid the highest dollars per hour, and it still does, but not as much because they lowered the per mile rate and they increased the per minute rate.

We used to have legit surge, that two, three, or even four times. If you could time it right, you could really get what I call a Unicorn, a really amazing ride. And there was a certain gamesmanship to it. Now those days are gone. Now you’ve just got to drive into a zone, boom. And it tells you, you make a few dollars here and there. And now Quiet Mode is taking away the opportunity for the driver to shine, to have a conversation and to earn a better tip. Almost all my tips come from people that I have a conversation with. When they eliminate this conversation with this new feature, that’s going to make tips fewer and far between. So in summary, I don’t like this.

Why can’t drivers get a Quiet Mode for passengers?

Here’s my idea. Uber, why don’t you come up with some driver enhancements? How about you give us a quiet button so that we can tell the passengers to shut up? I get tired of all the questions, like, what’s better Uber Lyft? Uh, how do you like being a driver? How much money do you make? Can you really make a living at this? What’s been your longest ride? What’s been your weirdest, ride?

We’re sort of like performers. I don’t know how many times a day I get asked those questions. How about if we have a button? You know, I don’t feel like talking today. I’m just going to tell all my passengers to just get in. Just say hello and sit in the back seat.

I’m really grateful that Lyft isn’t doing it. And if they do do it, and it comes down to our level where it’s just regular Lyft and Uber, Uber X, well then I’ve got to make a good decision.

Thank you so much for watching. If you liked the video, go let us know. If you have a comment, I’d love to hear your comments on this quiet mode. Be safe out there!