If you open your app to find your account “waitlisted”, it just means your account has been placed on hold (as opposed to deactivated or rejected, which means you’ve been kicked off Uber for good).
Having your account waitlisted is more than just an inconvenience, it threatens your livelyhood and can leave you stranded, having to pay for gas to get home when ordinarily you would bring a passenger.
You’re also looking at paying insurance, taxes and whatever else until the situation gets resolved. Definitely not ideal.
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Reasons for having your account wait listed fall into two categories – document related reasons, and passenger reasons.
Document related reasons include:
Your documents may be expired
For example your insurance or licence. Just email Uber your most current documents.
Pending application
This would be if you haven’t actually completed the application process
Passenger related reasons include:
Wrong driver
In this instance, the passenger has reported the driver was not the person in the picture/on the account.
Uber only allows the person on the driver account to drive the vehicle. This is obviously for passenger safety – drivers go through extensive background checks to make sure the passenger is safe when they get into an Uber.
If a random person is driving on another’s account, Uber has no way of knowing if they would pass a background check.
Of course it can also happen that the rider was mistaken, and it is the correct driver – in this instance, simply call Uber and they will verify your identity and get your waitlisted status removed.
Additional passenger in vehicle
This is where the passenger reported to Uber that you picked them up with another person in the vehicle besides yourself.
During an Uber ride, the only person allowed to be in the vehicle besides the paid passenger and their party is the driver.
Some people will try to drive for Uber with their spouse in the vehicle with them – this is not allowed.
I’ve also heard reports of drivers taking passengers when they’re on their way home from picking up their kids from school.
On an Uber ride, you should not have anyone with you other than the passengers.
If this is in error, contact Uber to discuss the issue.
Wrong vehicle
This is where the passenger contacted Uber to say the vehicle that picked them up was not the one on the account, eg wrong make/model or wrong licence plate number.
If you have recently changed your vehicle, you need to verify this with Uber before accepting passengers. This can be done through the app.
Accepting cash
Rider reported you accepted a payment in cash outside of the app for a ride.
Normally Uber will get in touch with you directly about this.
Three reports and you’re generally deactivated permanently.
Accident during trip
Rider reported an accident occurred during the trip that may have damaged the vehicle.
If you have any kind of accident on the road, immediately make yourself unavailable and contact Uber.
Mechanical issues
Rider reported your car is experiencing mechanical issues, such as broken seat belt, broken door handle, alarming engine noise etc.
In every instance, your first move is to contact Uber directly and find out what the actual issue is so you can work on addressing it and getting back on the road.
