Uber Review

[opusman]

Last time I was at MEL I fired up the app out of interest and it showed 3 cars available and sitting at the airport, so obviously YMMV.

 

[uniflyer23]

I used it yesterday for a MEL airport drop from near Essendon airport. Turned a ~$20 cab fare into a $6 Uber ride (with the $20 cred). Got the expected excellent service, wait time of 12minutes and had a nice 15 minute chat about Uber's emergence into the hire care market and how it has equated for half of the driver's business during January. For mine, Uber seems to be competing more with the taxi market than the private hire car market. If I knew I wanted a hire car at a certain time, I'd pay the premium and book it. Now, instead of instantly booking a taxi, I'll have a quick glance for Uber vehicles in my area. I can see myself using this a lot, particularly on arrival as taxi drivers hate the usual $20 fare I offer them. Rather pay the few extra dollars if it's available. Worst case scenario if there's no Uber cars available, I do what I would've otherwise done and take a cab.

 

[mushypeas]

quick follow up from my initial note, i thought i'd try it for cbd trips - ive used it 4 times in 3 days... exceptional service, had 3 caprices and an S-class... prompt, well presented and friendly drivers.

theyre definitely more expensive, it seems every time i want to use them i always have to pay the fare surge of 1.75x and their minimum fares are also a bit rich.

 

[cosi]

Westin Sydney to Mosman cost $51-00

Fare in a taxi can be $40++ depending on the traffic along Military road.

SMS said 6 minutes wait time, but driver turned up 1 minute later in Range Rover Sports - nice car.

The driver told me Uber takes a 20% commission on all fares.

 

[anat0l]

The driver told me Uber takes a 20% commission on all fares.

I wonder if the driver takes the remaining 80% (before taxes)?

What's the usual pre-taxes cut of fares for NSW taxi drivers? 50%?

 

[opusman]

Was just at MEL again this arvo and the Uber app again showed a couple of cars located there, with wait times ~3 minutes.

 

[mushypeas]

The wait time / cars available situation is interesting at MEL, it did that for me however when actually requesting a vehicle it just kept returning an error saying try again later, no vehicles available and SMS'd the same msg.

I wonder if it displays the cars in the area because it's run off the drivers' iPhone however, when a job comes through they decline because they're actually picking up a private booking?

edit:

also does anyone know how you can force billing to charge a credit card rather than using existing credit balance? i'd like to use Uber and charge the corporate card but keep the referral credit for my personal trips

 

[mushypeas]

so if you want to exclude your free credits, when requesting a car click the green credits logo next to your masked credit card then swipe apply credits off.

Too easy.

 

[cosi]

I wonder if the driver takes the remaining 80% (before taxes)?

Correct - the driver is also responsible for all tolls.

 

[DeKa]

Correct - the driver is also responsible for all tolls.

I thought the passenger pays for it? In Sydney at least, when you cross the harbour bridge, the app charges you for the toll (which varies in price depending on the time of day).

 

[Ewing]

Correct - the driver is also responsible for all tolls.

The passenger definitely pays the tolls in Sydney.

Here's a recent trip of mine.

 

[cosi]

Sorry - the driver either gave me the wrong answer or misunderstood the question.

 

[uniflyer23]

The wait time / cars available situation is interesting at MEL, it did that for me however when actually requesting a vehicle it just kept returning an error saying try again later, no vehicles available and SMS'd the same msg.

I wonder if it displays the cars in the area because it's run off the drivers' iPhone however, when a job comes through they decline because they're actually picking up a private booking?

9pm Monday evening, same situation. Had 3 cars in the area, all unavailable. Started to head to the cab rank, decided I'd try my luck again and 3 minutes later was sitting in a Caprice. Asked the driver what happened, he said that they are usually sitting there waiting for a prearranged job and only answer Uber requests if they have a cancellation or have ample time to do what could be an SE suburbs run and back. In this case he took his chances on a shorter wait time, hoping for nothing longer than the city.

 

[penegal]

My understanding is that the driver has to "accept" the booking, so just because you can see a car, doesn't mean automatic acceptance...

It is possible to enter your destination into the app, but most people don't bother, which means it comes up as "As directed".


I know that some drivers don't want a long fare / reposition if they are waiting for a pre-booked job.

 

[FuzzyAUS]

From my understanding the drivers don't get to see the destination, as I enter it every time, but they always ask where we are going, I then challenged back asking didnt it come through and the response was that info doesn't come through to them...

don't know if its right or wrong

 

[puppysparkes]

I found an interesting article about Uber last week. Here's the latest development http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/04/fa...rfaces-in-the-unfolding-case-of-uber-vs-gett/

 

[serfty]

Thanks... Have done so (we'll see if silver service show up). For interests sake, I'll have a look in the morning and see who's around

Stayed at thye BLS Novotel dozens of times in the 90's and early 00's - never had to book a cab that early - there was always one or a few hanging around the entrance.

 

[kevrosmith]

Looking for some advice on registering for and using Uber in USA...

I haven't registered yet. I want to know whether to register now while I'm in Australia, or whether to wait until I'm in USA before I register. My main issue is that I want to know whether while I'm in the USA, will I be billed in USD using a foreign merchant, or will I be billed based on the country I registered in? (i.e. if I register in Australia, will I always be billed in AUD through an Aussie merchant regardless of where the trip is taken).

I'd like to know primarily so that I know which credit card to use: my Australian Amex which earns 1.5 pts per $ on Aussie merchants, or my Citibank Signature Visa which earns 4 pts per $ on international merchants (and I'm happy to pay the currency conversion fee).

 

[penegal]

You are always billed in the country[SUP]1[/SUP] you take the ride in irrespective of where you account is "based" (The fare charts are all in local currencies).

If you have a US number you can sign up for a "US" account, but if you have an AU number you will essentially end up with an "AU" account based on your phone number.



[SUP]1[/SUP]Uber in the US charges in USD from a US domiciled merchant. In Australia they charge you in AUD, but usually from 1 of a couple of overseas merchants (Netherlands for me in recent times). This is presumably because Australian banks are a rip off.

I have used the app in about 8 countries so far. You can store multiple credit cards in the app, so just pick the one which you want to charge when you request a car.

 

[kevrosmith]

You are always billed in the country[SUP]1[/SUP] you take the ride in irrespective of where you account is "based" (The fare charts are all in local currencies).

If you have a US number you can sign up for a "US" account, but if you have an AU number you will essentially end up with an "AU" account based on your phone number.



[SUP]1[/SUP]Uber in the US charges in USD from a US domiciled merchant. In Australia they charge you in AUD, but usually from 1 of a couple of overseas merchants (Netherlands for me in recent times). This is presumably because Australian banks are a rip off.

I have used the app in about 8 countries so far. You can store multiple credit cards in the app, so just pick the one which you want to charge when you request a car.

Thanks for the info. So it sounds like it is always going to incur international merchant fees, so will earn pts at international merchant rates. (I assume that currency conversion fees are charged based on whether the merchant is international or domestic, rather than whether they process the charge in AUD or foreign currency. This is based on my experience with Agoda, where even though the statement showed they billed in AUD, because they were International merchant, I was charged conversion fees).

I will have my Aussie SIM in an iPhone and will be getting a local SIM in a second iPhone (probably AT&T, maybe T-Mobile). Am I best off waiting till I arrive and get my US SIM before I register then?