This Hack Helps You Avoid a Cancellation Fee From Uber If Your Driver Doesn’t Show Up

No more wasting those dollars.

Let’s face it: like most people, you've probably been stranded somewhere before and called an Uber to get a ride home.

Unfortunately, even after waiting a solid 10 minutes (and freezing your butt off) your Uber driver is no where in sight. You may as well have ordered a car from Mars, ‘cos there’s no way you’re getting picked up at this rate.

The worst part about all this isn’t even the fact that you’ve gotta find another way home, it’s that you’re now going to have to fit the bill for a cancellation fee when it’s not even your fault that you’ve gotta cancel.

Now, thanks to a cheeky new setting in the Uber app, this First World problem could be a distant memory.

Essentially, this super simple hack prevents Uber drivers from starting your trip until they actually get to you, all with a simple pin code.

This also allows for an extra safety feature, so that someone who isn’t your Uber driver can’t pick you up.

(Image: Uber)

All you gotta do is head to the 'Settings' section of your Uber app and click on ‘Verify your rides’ in the safety section.

From there the app will auto-generate a unique PIN for each ride. You then share that PIN with your driver when they pick you up in order to start your trip.

This isn’t the first time a rideshare service has introduced a PIN code feature to start trips. In 2019 Ola automatically introduced the feature to all riders and drivers in an effort to match the right car with the right customer.

While this feature has been available for some time now, most of us didn’t know the exact deets until heroic TikTok user @jbellemusic_ spilled the tea in response to a hilarious TikTok of this exact situation by @max_baledge.

*Warning: this video contains explicit language.*

“In your settings, on your Uber app, you can actually go in and select to add in a PIN code,” she said on TikTok.

“That PIN code will be randomly generated every time and it refrains your Ubers from starting trips before they are actually getting to you.

“Which therefore means they can never pull that stupid cancellation s*** on me.”

Max Baledge’s series of Uber TikToks are a gift to behold. They’re both equally hilarious, relatable, and are more than enough to convince me to turn on this feature.

*Warning: both videos contain explicit language.*