What's your Uber experience?

[Quickstatus]

Likely to pick up five or six drunks, and I've done my time driving drunks around. They generally want to go through Macdonalds and fill the car with food smells and rubbish and wipe their greasy fingers on my leather seats. And there are higher chances of them getting rowdy or throwing up or going to sleep.

Are there still cars being stolen or with vinyl flooring?. Chunder on car carpet is near impossible to clean

 

[Skyring]

Are there still cars being stolen or with vinyl flooring?. Chunder on car carpet is near impossible to clean

Uber is pretty safe, seeing as how you need an account and credit card to use it.

But drunks are drunks, and the odd accident is to be expected. In theory, we can reclaim cleaning expenses from the passenger, but in practice, we'd have to take a photo of the damage, get it cleaned, get it approved, and get paid. The process is problematic.

I avoid drinking nights (and mornings) and keep an eye on my passengers as they approach. If they are staggering or being supported by their mates, I keep the doors locked, reject the job and merge into traffic.

And yes, chunder on carpet is difficult. I've got leather seats and removable floor mats, but still, a good technicolour yawn has a way of getting into everything.

 

[Daver6]

Short trips was one of the benefits of Uber. No complaints from drivers and they normally take you vs a taxi driver who drives off when they hear that it's a short trip.

I understand this. However, this is the only thing I could think of that caused my rating to drop.

 

[RailFlyer]

Took my first Uber last week, followed up by my 2nd the next day. Both rides were 10/10 compared to any taxi experience I have had (probably take about 20-40/year for work for 15 years, so a reasonable sample size across Australasia). Can't believe it has taken me this long. I think it was just fear of unknown and fact that most of my cabs are either from the airport or booked by somebody else, so no real reason to swap to Uber.

I managed to sign up the app and be collected from an industrial estate (after office hours - 7pm) in south Brisbane within 4 minutes of opening the app. Normally I would expect to wait 10+ mins for a car here.

In my view Uber sorts everything that I dislike about taxis (in no particular order):
1) Having to call somebody (find number if you don't know it for the city you are in), wait for the phone to be picked up, then talk to who sometimes can't understand you and dictate address, pick-up time etc. Then they always seem to refuse to commit to how long it will be until the cab will get there, just give an estimate.
2) Somebody else stealing your pre-booked cab as it arrives early.
3) Standing out on the street "hoping" that the cab arrives when they promised and then if it doesn't wondering how long you wait or if it is OK to just hail another one off road and leave your booked cab without a fare.
4) Drivers listening to right-wing talk-back radio stations and agreeing with the presenters (some people might not mind that I guess)
5) Drivers talking on their mobile via hand-free earpiece to their friends (normally not in English - so who know what about) while they are supposed to be focused on the road
6) Drivers speeding excessively
7) Cars that smell (not all the time)
8) Rear doors hinges that are nearly always broken (is that just a commodore/falcon thing?)
9) Use of brake and accelerator pedals as if they only have binary settings.
10) Tail gating.
11) Not knowing the fare before you start
12) When in foreign city having no idea if they are taking you the best route (google maps helps now, but I don't want to have to check up on people)
13) Wasting time paying at the end of the ride. PS: I was amazed in Wellington in 2010 that the cabs still had the carbon-copy swipe machines for taking an impression of your credit card! Now 7 years later we have Uber!

Nearly all of these gripes I would witness on most cab rides in NZ or Australia. You do get the odd great taxi driver, but normally well over 50% fail at most of the above points.

What I don't understand is why Uber is losing money. They can't have many staff, their app is relatively simple and can only require so many developers. Server costs would be small (its not like they are streaming lots or keeping copies of everybody's videos/photos like facebook). And they take ~30% from each fare. They must be spending it all on R&D into autonomous helicopters or something like that, or they are cooking the books.

 

[Deleted member]

Uber is losing money because IMHO they pitched the fares too low (per klm) however I would also speculate that they are spending money elsewhere and that is hitting their bottom line. Who knows how much they have thrown at their driverless cars research?

 

[Skyring]

Glad you liked Uber, RailFlyer. There's another advantage for travellers: you can use Uber around the world. Just one account, one credit card registration. It's all transparent. Hassling with taxis is one of my least favourite parts of travel.

Rating the drivers is brilliant. Keeps them up to standard and eliminates the woeful.

Every metre of the journey is recorded. If you think you've been cheated, complain to Uber via the app and you'll likely get a refund.

If you leave something in the car, you can contact the driver. Try doing that with a cab.

I've got a few issues with their business practices but overall I am so glad they have given the taxi industry some real competition.

Now I'd like to see a competitor to Uber…

 

[Skyring]

Uber is losing money because IMHO they pitched the fares too low (per klm) however I would also speculate that they are spending money elsewhere and that is hitting their bottom line. Who knows how much they have thrown at their driverless cars research?

A lot of today's tech giants went for years without making a profit. I think Uber has a solid base and lots of potential.

Driverless cars, especially. The potential there is massive. Eliminate the driver, get some economies of scale going in maintenance and purchasing, it will be raining gold.

Autonomous electric cars will be able to provide seamless door-to-door transport cheaper than any public transport bar the Staten Island Ferry.

 

[OzEire]

I had my first taxi ride in ages (after probably 100 ubers) on a quick trip to Sydney. I was in a hurry and literally standing next to a rank so hopped in. Gave my driver the destination.

He missed what appeared to be an obvious turn to my destination so I politely asked which way he planned to go... he was heading for entirely the wrong place! Slammed the brakes dangerously and turned into a side street to come about.

So about 7 mins after leaving the rank we were up to about $10 on the meter and further away from my destination.

Next time I will just wait 2 mins for the Uber.

 

[Himeno]

What I don't understand is why Uber is losing money. They can't have many staff, their app is relatively simple and can only require so many developers. Server costs would be small (its not like they are streaming lots or keeping copies of everybody's videos/photos like facebook). And they take ~30% from each fare. They must be spending it all on R&D into autonomous helicopters or something like that, or they are cooking the books.

A lot of people in the US deleted their accounts and stopped using Uber after it came out that the CEO supported Trump. That might have some part of it.

 

[Daver6]

What I don't understand is why Uber is losing money. They can't have many staff, their app is relatively simple and can only require so many developers. Server costs would be small (its not like they are streaming lots or keeping copies of everybody's videos/photos like facebook). And they take ~30% from each fare. They must be spending it all on R&D into autonomous helicopters or something like that, or they are cooking the books.

I think your assumptions are totally incorrect in terms of developers and server costs. This is one of my fields of expertise, so I do know what I'm talking about here.

 

[Skyring]

I think your assumptions are totally incorrect in terms of developers and server costs. This is one of my fields of expertise, so I do know what I'm talking about here.

The app isn't simple at all. It's quite sophisticated, and there's a tonne of analysis and design gone into it before even a line of code hits the ground. There'd be continuing analysis of the massive data streaming in. There's some serious expertise at work there.

Seriously. If a local taxi company develops an app, it shows. Uber has put some effort in here.

Still, it's just one app that serves all markets. Two, I guess; one for drivers, one for pax.

Not sure about server costs, but they aren't spending all their money on data.

Lawsuits, for sure. They attract a lot of hassle.

And R&D into robot cars. That can't help but be their objective.

 

[QF WP]

Was listening to the Ride Sharing Association v Taxi Association debating on ABC Radio last week - seems that the turnover for Uber is 95% after more than 1 year. That seems to say that it will be a transient workforce but as Uber isn't the employer, they still can manage.

 

[Quickstatus]

Yes The Uber app is sophisticated especially when compared to the 13cabs taxi app - which is no more than a "shortcut" to the online booking request

 

[Skyring]

Was listening to the Ride Sharing Association v Taxi Association debating on ABC Radio last week - seems that the turnover for Uber is 95% after more than 1 year. That seems to say that it will be a transient workforce but as Uber isn't the employer, they still can manage.

I wonder how many cabbies stick it out more than a year. Unless there's a genuine love for the work, it's a difficult job.

And where are they getting their figures from? Nobody asked me, and I've seen no mention on Uberpeople.net about this. There's a lot of longterm Uber drivers. A cynical bunch, to be sure, but they are still going.

I take anything I hear from the taxi industry with a dose of salts. They don't like the competition, they have a massive investment in their taxi plates to protect, and they had a very sweet deal screwing passengers for years.

They can either follow Uber's lead and present a local alternative, or they can wither and die.

And I'd bet that if they lifted their game, took on Uber's best points, and promoted it as a dinkum Aussie affair, paying taxes, doing the right thing, they'd do very well.

 

[moa999]

Uber hiking AU fares
Uber to hike fares in Sydney and Melbourne to cover 'operational costs'

Drivers group still complaining
Victoria's Uber fare rise 'an insult'

As a question - since the taxi plates prices have dropped in NSW, VIC, have driver rental costs also dropped ??

 

[QF WP]

I wonder how many cabbies stick it out more than a year. Unless there's a genuine love for the work, it's a difficult job.

And where are they getting their figures from? Nobody asked me, and I've seen no mention on Uberpeople.net about this. There's a lot of longterm Uber drivers. A cynical bunch, to be sure, but they are still going.

I take anything I hear from the taxi industry with a dose of salts. They don't like the competition, they have a massive investment in their taxi plates to protect, and they had a very sweet deal screwing passengers for years.

They can either follow Uber's lead and present a local alternative, or they can wither and die.

And I'd bet that if they lifted their game, took on Uber's best points, and promoted it as a dinkum Aussie affair, paying taxes, doing the right thing, they'd do very well.

The figure came from the RSDAA in this interview: https://rsdaa.org.au/rsdaa-interview-abc-radio-regarding-amendment-bill-2017/

 

[RailFlyer]

Yes, I should have said that my list of things I like about them was not exhaustive, rather than just what I could think of at the time of writing a quick post. I agree with all of you points.

 

[RailFlyer]

Uber is losing money because IMHO they pitched the fares too low (per klm) however I would also speculate that they are spending money elsewhere and that is hitting their bottom line. Who knows how much they have thrown at their driverless cars research?

But SkyRing says that Uber take 30% of the fare to cover their costs. That is a lot of money to maintain an app, pay some insurance and pay a few staff, regardless of how low the fares are (and they aren't that much cheaper than cabs in my very limited experience). If fares are low, surely it is the drivers who are struggling if their 70% is not enough to cover their time/petrol/car costs.

 

[Daver6]

But SkyRing says that Uber take 30% of the fare to cover their costs. That is a lot of money to maintain an app, pay some insurance and pay a few staff, regardless of how low the fares are (and they aren't that much cheaper than cabs in my very limited experience). If fares are low, surely it is the drivers who are struggling if their 70% is not enough to cover their time/petrol/car costs.

Uber employs a few thousand staff, not a few. There is also much more to Uber's software than just an app to maintain.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

And they spend huge amounts of money around the world in multiple countries in high level court actions trying to avoid paying any tax whatsoever - just wonderful corporate citizens.