Uber comes to Australia

[Daver6]

I find it ironic that the taxi industry speaks out against uber surge pricing. In Perth taxis had an almost $6 NYE surcharge. You pay more for taxis at night. If that isn't opportunistic pricing, I don't know what is. Having said that, I have no issue with that and surge pricing. Just the irony of the taxi industry stance.

 

[doctau]

I agree - seems to be a mot du jour thrown around a bit these days. I didn't like what I willingly paid = that's price gouging. Whilst many will argue that we still need legislative protection against unfair prices, an in-principle "I paid too much" should not be an automatic trigger for noting a case as price gouging.

I haven't looked into exactly legal definitions involved, but to me price gouging involves raising prices to take advantage of buyers' vulnerability by needing to purchase the good/services without an increase in your costs. Take the rise in banana prices after a cyclone in QLD, I wouldn't call it price gouging because costs have risen due to the need to ship them from elsewhere, and the goods are somewhat replaceable by alternatives that didn't have major price rises. Good that are more essential (e.g. fuel, water, or all food) or where the costs haven't risen are a bit different.

As to Uber? There are still plenty of viable cheaper alternatives such a buses and trains, regular taxis, or just waiting an hour before booking you Uber, so I'd class it as willing to pay for the convenience and timeliness. Whether costs have risen is hard to deal with - on one hand they have because they are paying the drivers more, but on the other hand they chose to pay them more.


As a few others have mentioned, plenty of other businesses raise prices for NYE and similar events. Hotels in the middle of the city aren't going to be as cheap on NYE as other times of year, nor flights around Christmas and school holidays, or plenty of things for Valentines day. They are all things people willingly choose to pay more for.

 

[anat0l]

Sister and I were discussing a possible "fix" to trying and ensure pax against accidental surge pricing purchases in the future.

Currently, the Uber app only makes you confirm that you accept the surge by clicking on an extra button before the vehicle order is completed. Where the surge is high enough, you need to type in the value of the surge multiplier.

We suggested that what should happen is when you request a vehicle, the new page that pops up will warn you of the surge in force as usual, however instead of just clicking an accept button or typing in the multiplier, the first step is that you must enter in your proposed destination. The next page will then compute the estimated total fare (as a range, as usual, and includes the surge). Then, on that new page, if you still accept the price as given, you must type in the surge multiplier and hit accept before your vehicle is ordered.

All the details - the proposed destination used in the fare estimate, the surge multiplier you consented to by entering it in - is captured and included on the Uber receipt. Including the destination stops weird **** like someone ordering an Uber at NYE from Sydney CBD during a surge, entering in a proposed destination like Surry Hills, getting a small fare estimate and then confirming the order, then jumping in and taking a ride to Wolli Creek or something like that and trying to dispute a fare charged higher than the estimate.

 

[whatmeworry]

Guy's Uber account gets hacked.

I noticed last night (feb 5) on my banking app that there were several charges to Uber from $14 to over $600 over the past 3 days for rides I never took. http://i.imgur.com/fl6v03H.jpg
These rides never showed up on my account on the Uber app nor the Uber website.
I immediately canceled my card and emailed Uber support twice with no response.
If you have an Uber account beware, hackers are selling accounts on the dark web and thieves are setting up driver accounts and fleecing people with stolen information. More info here: Stolen Uber accounts worth more than stolen credit cards
UPDATE: Uber has contacted me regarding this and have asked for the date and amount of all charges. They said they would investigate and get back to me.

https://www.reddit.com/r/technology...er_account_was_hacked_on_feb_03_and_have_had/

 

[Cruiser Elite]

..............and so does the GoCatch offshoot GoCar - GoCar to take on Uber

GoCatch is an excellent operation - I use them quite often for taxis service - more times than not you get a Silver Top Taxi Silver Service Cab - brilliant - bot OT sorry

 

[penegal]

Make sure you put your QFF number in and pay via the GoCatch App - Earn Qantas Pesos.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Make sure you put your QFF number in and pay via the GoCatch App - Earn Qantas Pesos.

Yes Junior - I think that most AFFers would understand that is the procedure. The App works exceptionally well - pmt auto - I did have an issue late Jan with one pmt and the recovery by GoCatch was superb - I even got a call back from customer service team to ensure all was good.

Also forgot to mention NT Govt decided to continue with ban of Uber in NT.

 

[moa999]

GoCatch (GoCar) is interesting (and a very similar strategy to MyTeksi/Grab in Sing/Malaysia).

Essentially its a permanent peak 'surge' of roughly 1.5x



On the downside it means that during these peak periods a GoCar is about the same price as a Taxi

 

[turtlemichael]

No one can describe me as an early adopter. I had my first Uber experience today and probably my last. I set the app up a few days ago and this afternoon, with plenty of time to spare, I booked a trip from Southbank to Melbourne Airport. The driver who accepted it was 2 minutes away (I could almost have seen him) but about to drop off. As the minutes ticked by he got further away and soon he was sailing past Southern Cross Station heading north and now 12 minutes away and climbing. I sms'ed him and the reply was the sms was not responding. I phoned him and he was on the phone. So 21 minutes after booking I cancelled and called a taxi. Five minutes later another driver shows up in a different car saying he'd been called to the job. I told him to shove it and waited for the taxi. I was charged a fee for the trip that didn't happen by the second driver (the minimum charge of $6.00). I've written to Uber telling them this sucks. Honestly, if I want transport and they say they are 2 minutes from pick-up, I'll give them 5 but not 30 minutes. I'm sticking with taxis.

 

[moa999]

with plenty of time to spare, I booked a trip from Southbank to Melbourne Airport. The driver who accepted it was 2 minutes away (I could almost have seen him) but about to drop off. t.

Something wrong here. Drivers can't accept a job when on another fare (unless using a different app/ private service in which case they shouldn't be signed in).

And if you cancel, then another driver shouldn't show - they don't have an active job

 

[turtlemichael]

Something wrong here. Drivers can't accept a job when on another fare (unless using a different app/ private service in which case they shouldn't be signed in).

And if you cancel, then another driver shouldn't show - they don't have an active job

The original message after booking, when the driver accepted, said, to the effect, 2 minutes away and completing another job. Anyway, Uber has made contact. I'll give them all the details and report back here. I assume they log these transactions.

 

[russ]

Drivers can't accept a job when on another fare

Yes they can - I've had it happen a few times. A message pops up in the app saying the driver is completing another job.

 

[Freq Flier 2013]

This is why I'm always hesitant to get uber on my travel to any airport especially in the morning. If I use a taxi then I can pre order online the night before and it's always waiting outside my house in the morning.
Happy to use uber within a city depending on the situation.

 

[Daver6]

This is why I'm always hesitant to get uber on my travel to any airport especially in the morning. If I use a taxi then I can pre order online the night before and it's always waiting outside my house in the morning.
Happy to use uber within a city depending on the situation.

Obviously you aren't in Perth then. Pre-ordering a taxi here is pointless. Say you order a taxi for 7am. All that means is at 7am, they will put the request into the system for a pick-up at your address. Ie, exactly the same as picking up the phone at 7am and placing that order. No wonder the taxi industry is in trouble here!

 

[Freq Flier 2013]

Melb based. I've been ordering them online for a few years now. Never an issue. They are typically 5 min early already waiting.

 

[Skyring]

This is why I'm always hesitant to get uber on my travel to any airport especially in the morning. If I use a taxi then I can pre order online the night before and it's always waiting outside my house in the morning.
Happy to use uber within a city depending on the situation.

As an ex-cabbie, I can say that this is misplaced optimism. It doesn't mean the taxi company assigns a taxi then and there to pick you up. It means that fifteen minutes prior to your pickup time the job is added to the system. If the taxi fleet is busy at that time, there may not be anybody around.

A Silver Service booking is more likely.

Uber is also a good bet. Despite all the guff you hear about surge fares, Uber tries to keep more cars on the road than they actually need, so there are a lot of keen drivers, and when you push the button, the closest one will be sent to you. Usually just a couple of minutes.

In fact, I'm just about to get dressed and head out. The early mornings are pretty good for me. Love getting those airport jobs!

 

[Skyring]

I think the surge is as much about demand management as it is supply.
1.30am on 8x pricing, just have another drink and wait an hour and it drops.
Those that want it right now, pay for it.

If there are a hundred people wanting a ride, and only five cars on the road, of course there's going to be a delay in the regular course of things.

It's a matter of paying to go to the head of the line.

Incidentally, Uber works out the surge by comparing the number of Ubers in an area, and the number of people who have the rider app open at that point. If everyone just closed the app and waited a bit, the surge would go away.

Alternatively, the surge is shown on the driver app, and of course drivers head that way in the hopes of scoring some easy bucks. So the surge will disappear as they enter the area. Leading to some disgruntled drivers and relieved riders.

It's usually just a matter of being patient, or gritting your teeth if you really need to get somewhere and paying the price.

 

[yohy?!]

If there are a hundred people wanting a ride, and only five cars on the road, of course there's going to be a delay in the regular course of things.

It's a matter of paying to go to the head of the line.

Incidentally, Uber works out the surge by comparing the number of Ubers in an area, and the number of people who have the rider app open at that point. If everyone just closed the app and waited a bit, the surge would go away.

Alternatively, the surge is shown on the driver app, and of course drivers head that way in the hopes of scoring some easy bucks. So the surge will disappear as they enter the area. Leading to some disgruntled drivers and relieved riders.

It's usually just a matter of being patient, or gritting your teeth if you really need to get somewhere and paying the price.

Excellent analysis of how surge pricing works - uber should have you on payroll to refute the ridiculous stories of people 'accidentally' agreeing to surge pricing.