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PostPosted: Sat Mar 28, 2020 10:12 pm 
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Headline a bit misleading here. Says he did just £3 in fares in one day, but the article reveals that he was only out for an hour and a half.


Leeds' 'Disco Dave' Uber driver forced to quit as fares plummet to just £3 a day

https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/uber-dri ... s-17997376

Yasar Aziz, who is known to customers as 'Disco Dave', has regretfully had to give up being a taxi driver due to the coronavirus pandemic

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Image: Yorkshire Live

A popular Leeds Uber driver says he has had to give up his car and sign up to Universal Credit after coronavirus wiped out taxi trade in the city.

Yasar Aziz, who is known to some of his favourite customers as ‘Disco Dave’, has admitted it will be a struggle to provide for his wife and children after a sudden drop in demand for taxis in light of the pandemic and subsequent lockdown.

Usually, the 44-year-old from Bradford makes £100 a day but after a demoralising six-day stint which earned him just £131, he realised he had no option but to sign on at the Jobcentre.

Mr Aziz said: “We’ve lost a lot of customers. After the pubs and clubs shut, everything totally died down so last Friday I was sat for an hour and a half and I got one, £3 job.

“I did five hours and made £28 and then on Saturday I made just £12 in four hours. I thought to myself ‘I can’t do this’ so on Sunday I gave the car back which I hired out because I was losing money on it."

Mr Aziz says Uber has offered him £100 a week if he stays in self-isolation. However, he admitted that was not enough money to provide for him and his family.

He said: “I’ve just been sat at home self-isolating since and I’m trying to get my head around claiming benefits now because it’s never something I’ve had to do before.

“I’ve been a taxi driver for Uber for just over four years and the taxi trade is all I know. I’ve got a wife and three kids and we’re feeling the pinch.

“I’m struggling and that hurts me a lot. Our mortgage has stopped which is good but we’ve still got credit cards to pay off and council tax to pay - those letters will still come to my door.

“It’s scary and I don’t know how long this will go on. I’m 44 years old and I’ve never seen anything like it.”

‘I’m not putting myself at risk’

Andy Eaton who lives on the outskirts of Leeds has also been left jobless due to a complete slump in the taxi trade.

The 59-year-old, great-grandad had already been self-isolating for 10 days after his eldest son who lives with him developed symptoms linked to coronavirus.

Image
Image: Yorkshire Live

Although he can return to work at the start of next month, he knows there will be hardly any fares available and he is worried about picking up the virus by being on the job.

Mr Eaton said: “Even before I went into self isolation on March 16 it was a lot quieter than it was previously.

“It was pretty dead and the demand has dropped right off. I thought people would want to move about in a taxi instead of public transport but you can’t maintain two metres social distance in a taxi.”

Anyone drivers or delivery people affected by coronavirus will have their accounts suspended by Uber.

This happened to Mr Eaton and he is now trying to claim a financial package which he says will allow him to receive an average sum based on his weekly earnings prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.

He fears the lockdown could go on for longer than anticipated and has admitted for the sake of his family he is reluctant to get behind the wheel of a taxi until the threat of the virus is completely gone.

Mr Eaton said: “I would be alright to go back to work next Tuesday as long as I don’t have any symptoms. I’ve had a cough and felt a bit lethargic but nothing serious and I haven’t had a high temperature.

“I would be going back but with the way it’s going I don’t want to put my wife and family in danger and also I know there will be no fares out there so I’d be putting myself at risk for nothing.

“If everyone follows the rules we’ll get on top of this but people have got to do as they’ve been told and I can’t believe how many people are ignoring this.

“I won’t be putting myself at risk so I’m not chancing it. It’s not nice staying in the house but there are worse things to have to put up with.

“As long as you’ve got food on your table and a couple of bottles of wine it’s not hard is it? There’s always someone in a worse situation than you.”


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PostPosted: Sat Mar 28, 2020 10:16 pm 
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Quote:
“I did five hours and made £28 and then on Saturday I made just £12 in four hours. I thought to myself ‘I can’t do this’ so on Sunday I gave the car back which I hired out because I was losing money on it."

If I was doing £28 in five hours at the moment I could get by on that if I put in a good few hours, never mind the Government grant.

To be fair, though, I'm an indepedent HC, so that would just be rank work, and I don't have to bother about office fees or commission. And the car is paid off.

But reality is that I could easily go five hours without a run, or maybe a couple of £4 trips at the very best.

In fact even a £4 run once an hour would make it worthwhile doing a few hours a day, and would at least pay for my food, phone/internet and electricity etc.

But reality is that's just not happening at the moment :sad:


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PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2020 8:59 am 
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Location: Stamford Britains prettiest town till SKDC ruined it
I'm going to be under £200 for the week before fuel but I could live frugally on £150 a week

BUT the numbers are still rising rapidly so I suspect within a few days we will be going into full lock down with even taxis banned from working

we shall see but I suspect even the little trade we have now may disappear

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PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2020 11:54 am 
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I've not had a single booking from the public in the last 9 days and I can't see it changing for several weeks, luckily i get paid in full for a school contract and should get the Government self emploiyment grant in June, that combined with a bit of Rainy day money in the Business account and a Modest over draft facility should see me through these dire times....but even when we come out of this Covid-19 tunnel of darkness what kind of a new world are we going to see.....a hard hit depressed one I'd warrant.

By then I'll be 2 years from pension age so i'll just try and ride the time out as best I can.

It's you younger chaps and chapess's in the trade that i worry most about, the good times of old are not going to be replicated again for a few years to come.


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PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2020 3:53 pm 
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I would say down here less than 10%, possibly 5% of the trade is working.

One of the foreign lads has the bug, and that has spooked 100s of drivers.

For the 10%/5% working is it worth it?

Not on your nelly. :sad:

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PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2020 6:12 pm 
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Sussex wrote:
I would say down here less than 10%, possibly 5% of the trade is working.

One of the foreign lads has the bug, and that has spooked 100s of drivers.

For the 10%/5% working is it worth it?

Not on your nelly. :sad:


I agree..I had a call from an unknown punter earlier this afternoon asking if I was working, I said only on behalf of the LA or the Essential workers, he said he needed to go to the Job centre this afternoon....on a Sunday!..nahh, don't think so, gave it a body swerve.


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PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2020 7:30 pm 
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bloodnock wrote:
Sussex wrote:
I would say down here less than 10%, possibly 5% of the trade is working.

One of the foreign lads has the bug, and that has spooked 100s of drivers.

For the 10%/5% working is it worth it?

Not on your nelly. :sad:


I agree..I had a call from an unknown punter earlier this afternoon asking if I was working, I said only on behalf of the LA or the Essential workers, he said he needed to go to the Job centre this afternoon....on a Sunday!..nahh, don't think so, gave it a body swerve.

Job centres are shut anyway.

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