Broke Driver After 10 Years Of Rideshare And Hertz Rental Hidden Charges! 

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I was paying $2400 a month for the Tesla when I was renting it. It's a complete scam.

Uber has become a terrible platform. Been doing it for 3 years, over 13k trips, a 4.99 rating and they treat me like trash. Uber used to be so so good. I’m looking for an out now.

Assuming $1 a mile, in order to make 50k a year, you have to put around 50k miles on your car. That is unsustainable and your car will rack up insane mileage. Of that 50k, gas, repairs, maintenance, license fees, etc will eat a significant chunk. Working full time for Uber/Lyft is not realistic. I think it is only feasible if you have another part time job which pays more and use rideshare to supplement your income.

Its all a predatory game that they inflict on us drivers. After almost 6.5 years and close to 4500 rides I'm going to move on.

I have a question, how is it that these Rideshare companies are not regulated? How can they get away with this

After my Hertz rental was returned after 2 months they just forced through a $700 charge without warning. Now, in all fairness there was a cracked windshield (so I just that charge off as payment for the window) but then O get a letter 2 MONTHS later telling me I owe $1000 for damages to the car and that the agreement says it f doesn’t matter whose fault it was, I have to pay $1000 or be banned from ever renting from them again. I was like…oh….you don’t have to worry about me EVER renting from yall again so I’ll keep my $1000

Absolutely crazy these rental surcharges. It can’t possibly be legal. Thank you Sergio and Doug for alerting everyone!

Just ended my tesla rental on 4/14/24 and my experience is exactly the same as Doug.. Identical.... Double charged me every week. Turned my account negative $617, fought the charges and Still waiting for the holds to drop. I called to inquire every week. And he's absolutely right when he states that the rebill is not explained at all and noone can explain it. Hertz nor Uber explains it to me.

The minute you quit Uber/lyft and do a real job you will be happy. I did Uber for 8 years and I've never been happier since finding a real job. That company abuses the drivers and takes advantage of them. IF laws were passed that forced them to pay a higher wage, then I'd consider doing it with my spare time but now it's not worth the time or effort.

As of today, Uber is automatically logging us out of the app again if you decline 2 or 3 trip requests in a row. It’s a major annoyance when we have to skim through countless low-ball offers to find the trips we need.

The cost of living and what rideshare pays it is hard to save money.

9k rides over 10 years really isn't that impressive at all. When you break it down over the course of 10 years. It's only an average of 17 rides per week. That is not full time numbers.

Great interview and story. Glad Doug Shared.

Sergio awesome video thank you brother!

I made 30% less money I 2023 from 2022! I'm so close to quitting.

Awesome video Sergio. There are many reasons that us drivers continue to drive for these disloyal companies. In my case, I am a caretaker for a 97 year old lady and I have to be available to tend to her needs, I am not putting her in a nursing home. I have been offered great salaried jobs but there is no way an employer will tolerate my need for flexible work schedule. When I started driving for rideshare I made $100k in a year and thought this would go on forever, not any more, now it is only $25k last year. Now I have working on building another source of income that I can do from home. I do not advise anyone to get into driving for Lyft or Uber. My best paid rides are from my regular riders who pay me cash. We need another rideshare company that allows us to keep 90% of the fee or 100% and charging us a subscription fee. Uber and Lyft are just blood suckers

People, they want drivers to quit! They transition to Ride-Hailing! They transition to autonomous cars.

We have to stop calling ourselves "drivers". Yes, we are driving but we are much more than that. We are independent contractors/owner - operators of our own vehicles and labeling ourselves just as "drivers" reinforces public perception, and making it that much more difficult in our struggles for earnings equivalent to an owner/operator. More and more of our daily pick ups are medical/insurance patients, automotive dealerships, businesses that have account with Uber and Lyft, therefore, we are being perceived as poor people's taxi service / alternative public transportation. So when the customer is notified of their ride, it should be - Your rideshare vehicle has arrived and the owner/driver's name is Sergio.

Nice info from Sergio

I had the EXACT SAME experience with hertz’s billing. I haven’t found the energy to fight them for $250 in late fees that they assessed b/c of a glitch over Thanksgiving Wknd 2023

I got double charged every time i rented from hertz,,this company needs to be investigated!!!

Appreciate you sharing this story. It’s so true these rideshare companies are exploiting the hell outta people. It saddens me and frustrates me bc what do u do? (I’ve been driving for Lyft express drive the past month and a half and it sucks)

I only 'made' 37k last year and still owed over $1,300 in taxes. People that make so little money should never pay that much in taxes

Hertz is totally scammers. No one gives you detailed information about your payments. I just give up on so many unknown charges.

Great Video!!! Totally agree thought I was going to have to rent a car temporarily because mine was going to be in the shop, glad I didn't, won't ever! Thanks for the information!!!!

Dang dude! This was depressing AF!

I've rented an EV6 from them 4 times and it's always $345 including tax. This is crazy what this guy went through

Don’t rent.

Have 20,000 rides over 8.5 years, a lady complained, (not sure what she complained about), but what happened was she would not buckle up, I told her my newer car had an alarm which goes off when not buckled up, and it was not safe if not buckled, told her I could not give her a ride, and she should get another driver who would maybe give her a ride without buckling up…. Uber blocked me almost immediately on a busy Thursday evening, no explanation….They can absolutely terminate you for anything…..immediately. My record was spotless for almost 9 years….so I haven’t driven yet… not decided to continue yet …. Scary employment when they can fire you at will. They did unblock me the next morning, but I just don’t feel right about this treatment…. More to come

Omg I can imagine this easily!! What a horrible way to treat drivers Makes me angry 😡

This gentleman did approximately 10K rides in 10Yrs, it’s a low number for 10Yrs. It seems like his been using Uber/Hertz rental to do is acting gigs.

Took my tesla to pep boys to have a tire repaired. Hertz tried to put a charge on my account for four new tires saying that it was time to replace them. They did not get away with it.

Thanks for posting this video. I just bought a used MS with 70K miles for ride shares, but as a side hustle and to have an excuse to get out of the house, since I already have a very rewarding career as primary income. What you said about "Not using your car as an ATM" resonated with me because it validated my intentions for the car - not using it as an ATM as 100% of the funds go towards the car itself for upgrades, out of warranty service, FSD fees and whatever else. Based on what I make in my neck of the woods, I will be able to do really well and not even come close to the pitfalls encountered by your guest (unless there's something hidden I don't know about). Good luck out there.

This is exactly that I won’t rent a Tesla from Uber if push comes to shove to shove. I’ll just crank up another one of my hustles because those charges are insane!

They will not even send a breakdown of the charges hours and hours and hours and hours on the phone in person. And when you go in person, they tell you all. You have to call this number. You call that number, they say no. You have to call that number you say call that number. They say no, you have to call the other number and you finally get to the other the billing, and it's just like he said, it just goes to music. For hours and hours and hours, I've actually logged for hours on my phone straight. Oh, just on hold. They are scam. I hope somebody brings a class action lawsuit against them. And I want to drag them over the calls and put them out of business if it's possible. They are pure thieves.

Hello Sergio, beforehand I’m sorry for this long comment. It’s been a while since I watched one of your RU-vid videos. Thanks for the interview and good luck to Doug…What I wanted to tell you is that I didn’t mind your tough questions, in fact you were quite nice and sensitive about it…I do believe that part of your “calling” is to train, teach and educate those drivers that are out there that do not have the experience or the knowledge to do this type of gig, like if it is a business, because it is their business to run it as independent contractors. Having said that, here is my problem as I believe that you know that most drivers, the majority of drivers are doing Uber and or Lyft to pay their bills or caught up either their payments, few drivers are doing this to save or even to get ahead, another few may even be doing this to pay for a future vacation but that is it, as I said before and think you have the experience to know this better than me as you talk to numerous drivers that they are doing this gig for cash flow in reality this kind of work has only two benefits left and that is it, one is flexibility and the other is cash flow, to you pay your bills, not to save. The reality is that Doug said it best when he told you that he “didn’t want to add his gas receipts” for fear of knowing the sad reality that this is no longer a good business opportunity…Think about it, as a business there should be payment for your time (like how much should you pay yourself per hour as an employee of your company) there is a car payment or rental (for most people, some maybe driving a car that is paid off), gas (which is very expensive, especially in California where Doug drive), car insurance (very expensive and more if you have ride sharing insurance), car maintenance, taxes (you should put at least 15% aside of what you make and you may still owe at the end of the year when you do your taxes), and other expenses (like lunch, snack or dinner), so how much do you really have less after all of that to pay your bills? And you think that there would be savings, even if it is for an emergency only? The unfortunately really is that there isn’t much left, most drivers are doing their best and their best is no longer enough because Uber and Lyft gave us a BIG pay cut when they introduced upfront fares. Just one last thing, when I started driving with Uber, the thing that bothered me till this day is that there was no face for Uber, nobody to tell you, great job, or thank you, or even you need to improve your customer service skills…with no face and no one to tell you anything, you are on your own, meaning Uber doesn’t care about any of us drivers, Uber is an AI, Uber is an algorithm, it has no face, and if we leave Uber, no one care, they won’t miss us. Not even the CEO’s are the face because they have no credibility not the accountability to tell the truth, these CEO’s driving like us for a few hours so they experience what we do is a slap on our faces…their lives is NOTHING like ours, their houses, their cars, and the million of dollars they get pay is nothing like ours, they will never feel in the flesh what we feel as we go out there and literally put our lives out there everyday for a bad pay. This is what we have, and this is what we do, until we, like Doug find something better or are push out of the game. Take care, thanks for what you do.

Doug we have very similar stories! Keep in touch.

What I loved about Rideshare is that it taught me how to do it for myself and start my own business. I now have regular pax that truly love me and know me and care about me and my well being and pass me around like a swinger at a swingers partyI Lol Now I have 5 regular biz travelers that pay my rent every month.

Hertz was double charging me and charging me after I had returned the car

Did every platform from rental to black car. Quit after 9 years. Just not worth making these greedy shady ass companies money anymore while they treat us like garbage.

Yeah this is the scary part about ride shares or other gigs where you use the car. People who see this as an ATM but don't account for the costs. I'm probably guilty of that a little but with my own EV and doing a lot of the charging at home it helps but I also should be more aggressively paying down my car note with part of the funds.

Great interview Sergio. I rented through Uber at hertz in st.Louis and realized quickly that I was loosing money not to mention how the ladies at the location treated us like trash. I was excited when the location closed business with Uber and these girls became jobless. I always told them that the least they can do is to treat the drivers/customers good coz they go through a lot to be able to pay.

I got screwed by Uber/Hertz as well. Had a Tesla for 6 months and kept extending contract. When I finally closed it out, they hit me with $4800 worth of charges and caused my bank to go in the negative which made my house payment late and my electric got shut off because of it. Don’t ever do it! You’d be better off going to a buy here pay here and getting a car there that’s in your name for the same price a little less.

I had the same experience with hertz! They double charged me twice !! I finally returned their car !! They also billed me five months after I returned the car without any notice!! When I asked them what that surprise billing was they said they forgot to charge me that extra payment!! I am done renting with hertz!!

Great video Sergio.

He a brave man to come out talk about it ❤

Aw man. My story was worse. Renting with hertz. They messed up three of my bank accounts by overcharging along with fees that no one could explain. And once I finally returned the car, they still try to charge me fees that they had already gotten money from bank. That put my bank account into a negative then it was closed due to the negatives. Then they sent charges to a collection agency talking about they were toll charges. in which I paid for already so I don’t recommend anyone get a rental car thru hertz. And the funny thing about it is that every time that I will go to Hertz in person to talk about the overcharging, there was always a room full of people with the same issue . Something has to change with this, but thank God I no longer rent. I have my own car and I use Lyft most of the time no longer uber as much.

This is why I ended the Hertz experiment after 1 week, just sad. BTW, the roaming GPS is called connectivity and costs $10/month.

I was booked my first Uber rental car Tuesday for picking it up in next 2 day, I’ve arrived to Hertz rental car company then told me there’s no car available! They will call me if get one available the same day after few hours of missing my rental car i watched this video that talked about how tricky is with rental car then decided to never do the same mistake by renting the car because of doing Uber😭😭, if the Hertz car rental will call me i will even never pick up their calls , never ever do such things. Thank you so much Sergio and our guest for such wonderful video🙏🥰🧏‍♂️👌

Hertz blindsided me! I say no more!

$330 price is the pre-price, if you add all the insurances and tax, and there are a bunch of service fees(hidden fee's that don't make sence) example they claim they include maintence.. its a lie, you will be charged for all the maintence when you return the rentals, they hide it under some other fee. i got charged alot when i returned a Camry that i was using for the uber..

The more of these videos I watch and the more educated I get in some ways the more nervous and scared I get as well I've been doing Lyft part-time for several years however due to family reasons and being a care provider I need to try to do it full time and I'm concerned

647 dollars for renting and charging the Tesla for a week! This is crazy! Is almost 2588 dollars a month. I pay 308 dollars a month for my Infiniti Q70L AWD sedan by the way and enjoy providing Uber comfort rides.

As a driver in his late 50s, I remember tell pax how grateful I was for rideshare b/c it fit perfectly where I was in life. Now I have such hate in my heart for the company and how Dará has pulled the opportunity right from under our feet. Data comes from a wealthy family who escaped the Iranian regime. He’s never had to “work”. He’s never had to struggle for anything, unlike his “partner driver community”. You know the phrase “going postal”. I’m waiting for a day when a driver “goes cray cray on a series of riders one after another just to bring much needed attn to Dara’s evil and cutthroat ways!!!

This guy did it for 10 years and just realized Uber is not your friend? Its a game, play to win!

Good show, however when you ask him or someone, WHAT DID YOU DO WITH ALL THAT MONEY? What ALL? Most use EVERY PENNY to run the car and PAY all their bills, if your single there is NO OTHER household income and AS WE KNOW full time is horrible and destroys the car but many HAVE no choice and there is NO MONEY TO SAVE as your not even making enough to PAY all your bills.

Lyft isn't any better. Lyft lowers the pay 20 percent if you use their car and they don't give you the bonuses they give other people

Tell that guy he can get a job driving for company from taxi companies to box truck companies they will hire him and pay him well with his license he don't need a car or work for Uber or Lyft drivers need to stop been addicted and only thinking they have a job as driver only working for this gig companies there are millions of companies huring drivers right now and paying them well minimum $25 an hour and benefits.

Similar situation happened to me. If you rent a car from Uber Hertz or any car rental place, take a photo of your contact and send it to your email just in case something comes up.

Once California goes $20.00 minimum wage for all industries, it’s going to be drive for Active Time only with Prop 22.

I will still never understand why anyone would rent a car to do rideshare since you have to work 25 hours a week just for the privilege of driving. Makes absolutely no sense to me. This absolutely makes you a full time driver. You HAVE to drive all the time and kill yourself just to stay afloat. Rental is insane. The way I see it, if you have to rent a car to be a driver you might as well go get a job at Home Depot or McDonalds and make more money with less risk.

🤗Love the idea of this interview & content.. BUT PLEASE HAVE GUESTS ON SCRIPT... Their own script, to stay focused, not bleeding off their subject.. AND TO KEEP IT SHORT TO THE POINTS😉

There are probably millions of stories like his. I know that I have a similar story.

A few major things about the hurts contracts, yes I think they do tell you somewhere in there but regardless they upsell you energy, you do not get to pay for it, you have to pay them, they get the bill and they likely sell you energy at a certain rate regardless of what they get it for, they do the exact same thing with gasoline when you return their vehicle if it's under they will charge you $15 a gallon it's a flat rate it is assumed they do the same with energy,/another upsell that they do is bridge tolls if it is covered by the customer regardless in places that have electronic tolls like California has the fast track system, you are not allowed to use your transponder or pay the ticket or fine, it gets sent to hurts hurts charges you a processing fee of $20 per toll or per weekly account depending on their payroll,

Anyone who is smart. And can afford 24,999, get a used Tesla Model 3 2020 or newer. It works for comfort which makes a bit more (15%+), you can get the fed rebate (4K$) and the passengers are better.

Good episode. Thanks for the work. What a terrible situation.

I rented a Kia Niro EV from the Uber in South San Francisco a few months back so I could continue to work while my car (also a Kia Niro EV, just a few years older) was in the shop. They didn't double charge me, but it was more expensive than expected and a huge hassle to get down there. There's fine print in the rental terms that's easy to overlook, like how you're not allowed to drive for Lyft and you're required to do a minimum number of rides each week to keep the rental going. (30 back when I rented, but I've heard it's increased to 50 now.) So it's not feasible to rent as a part-time driver. You have to go full-time. The people at the rental location got me in and out quick and the car looked great. It came right up on the app for me too, so at least that was was seamless. Still not worth the expense. Overall, I've got to give it a 2/10. Do not recommend. Renting a car through Uber is a rip-off.

Did anybody else catch the part where he didnt want to see his gas expense because he didnt want to see he wasnt making money? Like he was burying his head in the sand like the ostrich 😂

I’m done with Uber ! Last two months I’m averaging $90 in 5 hours !!!! After expenses I’m making $13 an hour ! Please govt protect us against Uber !!!!

So what he said there in the end. We need to as drivers and independent contractors as a whole contact what I believe to be called weights and measures. This is a government run accountability office. If I’m not mistaken they’re the ones who randomly show up at gas stations to make sure you’re getting a gallon of gas. And that the money is correct for that gallon of gas. As posted. Now I’m pretty sure they used to check the cabs that way. Weights and measures

I was just going to start renting a car today! Not a tesla but an EV. I went to the location they did not have a vehicle and now seeing this. 😮 My car works I just am not wanting all this wear and tear on my vehicle 😢

I heard what he said about having a negative balance with his bank (while having $800 saved - I guess in another account) and his rideshare experience, which absolutely sucks. But to hear that he lives on a boat, in California, subconsciously robs some of any sympathy I had away lol. Logically I know that a person doesnt have to be wealthy to own and live on a boat, but man....

The fact the credit card company let them force pay is crazy Hertz has my account in the negative still from a so called Glitch occurred in Thanksgiving. Capital will not take it off🤦🏾‍♀️ Hertz also forced you to drive 30 rides for Uber a week to be allowed to continue to rent which is dumb when the person has paid hertz for the rental. Then they way they charge you fir Tesla charges is insane

I am glad I quitted driving for Uber when they deactivated my Uber Eats for a supposed fraud. Eventhough I had excellent stats, they did not care but they still allowed " a potential fraud" to drive Uber X. Does that make sense? That's when I realized this company is full of 💩 and left for the good.

So on my Tesla model S 2019 it shows me on my screen what I paid for charging. The highest I have seen is $.59 per kilowatt hour. I have been in Santa Monica really late at night. Let’s say after midnight. And charging was $ .09 cents per kilowatt hour. I think that all of you hertz rental car drivers look and see if the car comes with the charging adapter that you can use for ChargePoint. Add some of the EV go stations you don’t need the adapter as it has the correct Tesla connector. And maybe every other day charge at those stations. It won’t Bill hertz Rent-A-Car it directly comes out of your credit card or debit card. Hertz Rent-A-Car would not know.

The market matters frfr bay are profits are good even with hertz rental

The rental program is a scam!! JUST SAY NO!!

Sergio.... Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the older Uber drivers were grandfathered into the better rates from the beginning. And this guy has used zero of his business degree, or is basically proof that a college degree in something doesn't guarantee you'll be successful in it. And this isn't meant to be harsh on him, but a lot of this was self inflicted. The last part about them overcharging him for ridiculous things is BS... But that's one of the few things that may not be his fault.

Sergio.. Please reach out to me. Hertz has overcharged me by 2000. I got out after renting with Hertz for 2 years. I have a big story to tell of Hertz's fraudulent over billing

rideshare pays less than what it did in 2017 when I started...I only drive college campus on the weekends while school is in session now

I have questions for anyone: Does Uber or Lyft secretly give refunds to passengers without drivers knowing? And if they did, how could you find out? Thank you for answering.

He’s exactly right about that Uber stock. I should cash mine out at this point lol

I used to rent tesla. It worked pretty well. I have free charging at my apartment building. BUT you always have to fight and argue with HERTZ OVER YOUR BILL. Hertz workers don’t know their job and don’t know what they’re doing also they don’t care. They will throw you huge bill and can’t explain it

Renting is nonsensical. I had to for one month with car in the shop. I did the more straightforward gas car rental at $270 weekly. You’re better off with a car loan payment plus mechanical expenses in the long run. Also with renting, there are minimum requirements for the extra insurance you’re paying for to actually cover you. If the car gets damaged, without the supplemental insurance, you’re personally on the hook. Your best bet is get a good condition used car and run it into the ground for 3-5 years making $2-300k with Uber.

The extra money is for using the Tesla charging stations. Hertz calls it Tesla rebill . Charging is not free

My Advice is get a 10 year old car, Especially a Toyota Prius Hybrid or Camry Hybrid anywhere from $7500 to $12500 max with under 120,000 miles. Only get liability insurance and if you have a payment it will be in the $300 learn how to do the maintenance or buy a oil change package of 5 with tire rotation included from Toyota for about $50 a change.

19:35 muszac?😂

I could never get an explanation for the 6.5% charge on my weekly Hertz agreement that covered "registration and other costs" Week after week, for 18 months. What other charges? Don't ask! BTW, Sergio- look into the Lyft/Hertz rental arrangements. lyft takes the first $360 weekly rental fee directly out of your earnings. Money then goes into your acct. Plus they freely admit they shave off 31:23 up to 17% of your per ride take for-you guessed it, to pay for additional costs associated with rental maint expenses.

$2000 a month for a Tesla? You guys do know you can finance a 2024 Model S Plaid for less, including insurance? Edit: I just built one for you guys on the website, and put a roof rack on it. Zero down payment. $1,535 /mo, and you own it after a few years. Seriously, a tiny bit of research goes a long way (not that this is research, it was in plain sight on their website).

Did I hear that right 9,000 Trips/Rides in 10 years - That very part time for me - I write down every ride I do and know my numbers each week ....Minnesota is Great I plenty of rides to give and easy to make a full time income . Always put money away for the rainy days - Cheers

Did he assume that he was going to charge for free? Hertz was very upfront that charging is added to your bill. I tracked my daily charging fees and it matched exactly what hertz charged.

Uber is probably good in other countries not in usa with this crazy inflation and ubers low pay

This is so nasty im in the same position something needs to be done

I feel his frustration and pain. But everything thing he said is facts. I hope his acting and stuff takes off too.

Doug I I rented a car for one week while my car was being repaired. That's your bank holding that money it happen to me for 25 days then Money return to my account. Only time I would use rental if my car is being repaired.

Urging all the Uber and Lyft drivers “ do not rent through Uber and Lyft. It’s trap and biggest scam game “

You need to watch the video titled The Internet is Starting to Break - Here's Why by Mrwhosetheboss explaining how Uber and all these greedy companies function.

I rented a Tesla model three for over seven months and I made $35-$40 an hour in it. It usually took me 7 to 9 hours at very most to make 300 normally in St. Louis Missouri. The Tesla was 340 after tax but with electric charging I usually ended up spending 480 to 560 a week depending on the fluctuating supercharging fees so basically I worked until I made 300 a day made $1500 a week, back 1000 at the end of the week because I was spending 500 something a week on the rental at the end of the month I spent about $2100 on a rental that Hertz eventually kick me out after a whole 7 to 8 months running for them because I got one accident that the insurance company said that I was at fault. So basically a waste of my time and money. I should've just bought a Prius and kept it pushing

Take a picture after each charge session