Woman Tries To Order An Uber. Then She Sees His Message: 'I Am In Bed'

There's a special kind of frustration that comes with waiting for an Uber. You watch the little car on the map creeping closer. You're finally almost there—and then they cancel. Back to square one, waiting all over again for someone new to accept.

But then there's the flip side of that: the driver who accepts your ride and immediately asks you to be the one to cancel. Fine if you've got time to spare. A little more stressful if you're already running late and trying to get somewhere.

What Happened With The Uber Driver?

In a viral video with more than 6.7 million views, E (@evvvukas) shared a two-image post that tells the whole story without needing a single word of explanation.

The first image shows E decked out in pink glitter, clearly ready for a night out. The second is a screenshot of the message she received from her Uber driver after placing her order.

"Cancel pls because I am in bed," the driver wrote. "You have 2 min to cancel for free. For me is problem to cancel."

Honestly? Respect the honesty. The man accepted a ride request, realized he'd rather stay horizontal, and at least had the courtesy to give her a heads up—and even made sure she wouldn't get charged for it. The two-minute window wasn't a threat. It was a public service.

The text overlay on her post says it all: "Sometimes you just have to read your Uber driver's message and move on."

Why Drivers Ask Passengers To Cancel—And Why It Matters

Here's the thing about this driver's very polite request: There's actually a financial reason behind it.

According to Uber, passengers can cancel at any time through the app, but may be charged a cancellation fee after being matched with a driver. That fee is meant to compensate drivers for the time and gas they spend traveling to a pickup. If the driver cancels instead of the passenger, they risk it affecting their own metrics and standing on the platform.

So, when a driver asks the passenger to cancel? They're trying to avoid a mark against their account. And, in this case, he even made sure to flag the free cancellation window so she wouldn't get charged either.

The Rideshare Guy notes that for standard UberX rides, passengers typically have about 2 minutes after a driver accepts to cancel without a fee—exactly the window he referenced in his message.

Lyft has an even tighter window, giving passengers just 30 seconds after a driver accepts before cancellation fees kick in.

So, was this driver lazy? Maybe. But he also gave his passenger a heads-up, made sure she wouldn't get charged, and was honest about his situation. Honestly, worse things have happened in an Uber.

Commenters React

"And he wants to make sure u don’t get charged too!" P.F. Changs wrote.

"King wanted to stay home," Zillow said.

"Why did he accept then?" a person asked.

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"I can imagine him under his covers PLEADING for you to cancel so he can stay comfy," another joked. 

Motor1 reached out to E for comment via TikTok direct message and comment and to Uber via email. We will update this story if either party responds.

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