Ride-hailing company Uber announced it’s debuting Pickup Corrections and updating its Driver Support Policies. In a release published on Thursday, the San Francisco-based tech giant explained how both changes were meant to improve the overall quality of life of its drivers and customers. The Pickup Corrections feature is currently rolling out in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, but only to iOS users, while it’s still unclear when the Android app will be updated with the new functionality. Regardless, once it does, users will easily be able to change their pickup location by simply tapping the “Edit” button in the app and entering the new pickup address once their ride is already on its way. Following that course of action, drivers will automatically be notified about the new pickup location and the app will update their navigation route. Uber’s spokespeople said the company already tested the new feature in several cities and concluded it led to fewer cancellations, which is why the firm is now rolling it out to more users. A demonstration of the new Pickup Corrections functionality can be seen in the gallery below.
The company is also overhauling its Driver Support Policies that will now take driver history into account when reviewing rider complaints. Likewise, Uber is now implementing its Real Time ID technology into the process of identifying drivers when receiving reports that drivers don’t look like their profile pictures in order to resolve such reports more quickly. Furthermore, the company is changing the way in which it’s handling reports about drivers picking up wrong riders and won’t resolve such situations based on rider’s word alone anymore, in addition to providing drivers with a say in fare adjustments. The latter will allow drivers to dispute certain fare adjustments in cases like when a rider accidentally cancels a trip before they arrive at their destination.
All of the changes to Uber’s Driver Support Policies were made based on the feedback from its drivers, many of whom felt the old rules placed riders’ interests above theirs in all circumstances, even when such a course of action wasn’t reasonable, the company said. Uber representatives noted that more similar changes to Driver Support Policies will follow in the future as the firm continues reviewing and replacing its old practices.