Seems like many Uber riders share your complaints. Not sure about the temperature issue; but the small talk, surge, and last turn connection seem to be universal problems.
- DND (do not disturb mode). It would be easy to add a toggle which would alert the driver that the customer is not wanting any chit-chat.
- Saving pin data. I am not sure if the pick-up and drop-off are still off when you move the location pins to your precise target locations, but that might help the last turn problem. Even if you do set the pins carefully, I don’t think Uber a) remembers your pin position or b) allows a user to save the pin. They should allow a user to add a location note, or save a pin against a location to better improve the pick-up and drop-off experience.
If someone would figure out a way to default from Uber to Lyft (or vice versa) when a surge is on with one interface, that would be a popular solution. Might be something Google or Apple could do. I could see a use case where from the maps app, you could get driving directions, walking directions, public transportation directions or make a ride-sharing request. You could set your pick-up and drop-off location and then Apple Maps could call the Uber api and launch a request. If while calling the api, there is a surge in effect, the app could then ask you if you want to instead switch to Lyft, or something like that.
Considering the potential volume that Apple Maps and Google Maps could originate to Uber or Lyft, I am guessing that these companies would not love the “kill surge” process, but would still want to get the referral business. The customer would win by having a singular request and interface, and avoid the surge pricing.
