Motoring Discussion > Uber Miscellaneous
Thread Author: henry k Replies: 10
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New Sun 28 Jun 15 12:59 
 Uber - henry k
I had my first experience of using Uber yesterday.
I was just an extra passenger and son bid the rest.
I now understand a little better why the black cabbies are upset.
It was so quick and easy and hassle free.
3 minute wait going and the same on the return trip.
No tipping so just exit and stroll off on arrival.

Son informs me there are three grades of transport on offer - usual Y class then club and first.
We went club - a MB e class and returned in a y class Prius.
I am informed that there is a feedback option to lodge your marks for the driver.
BUT also the driver can lodge marks for the punter. Seems that when a driver gets the offer of a customer, your rating may cause the driver to not accept your call.

Anyone else used them ?
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New Sun 28 Jun 15 13:30 
 Uber - sooty123
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uber_%28company%29

For anyone else that's never heard of it. So it's basically lift sharing?
Last edited by: sooty123 on Sun 28 Jun 15 at 13:31
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New Sun 28 Jun 15 13:55 
 Uber - Zero
In the Uk its basically a cab calling concept. The price is agreed on the app with the user as the cabby has to use the route from the uber sat nav app in his car. Uber keeps track of cabs around, and polls the nearest one (sometimes already in use but your route may coincide with it)

Black cabs hate it because it could kill them, and it will. You can uber a cab to your location is less than a minute in London.
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New Sun 28 Jun 15 14:05 
 Uber - sooty123
Right that makes a bit more sense. Do they have more cabs than there are black cabs?
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New Sun 28 Jun 15 14:18 
 Uber - Zero
Yes. And some of them are even south of the river.
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New Sun 28 Jun 15 14:24 
 Uber - mikeyb
Its just launched in Bristol so i have installed the app. Yet to use it though, but I like the concept.

My experience is that taxi journeys here are just functional, so price and speed / convenience are the key drivers. Thats where uber really wins
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New Sun 28 Jun 15 17:13 
 Uber - Armel Coussine
>> Black cabs hate it because it could kill them, and it will.

They survived minicabs, and they'll survive Uber. They are the only hire cars that can legally be hailed and pick up punters in the street in London. Foreigners, tourists and regular taxi users don't care much about prices. Convenience is everything. Why mess about with yr mobile when you can just wave or whistle?

When I was a minicab we used to blag punters off the street sometimes. But it was illegal and technically risky.
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New Tue 30 Jun 15 09:09 
 Uber - DP
The answer is for black cabs to adopt similar technology, and offer a new type of service to their customer.

It reminds me of Blockbuster video who sat there slowly going out of business when internet streaming started. The technology isn't going away so adopt it, embrace it and make money out of it. Or disappear through irrelevance.
Last edited by: DP on Tue 30 Jun 15 at 09:10
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New Tue 30 Jun 15 15:45 
 Uber - RattleandSmoke
I used it a year ago in Manchester, we had to give directions to the driver as he didn't seem to have a clue where he was going. Stuck to the same old local mini cab firm we always use since then or if I really have to a black cab.

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New Tue 30 Jun 15 17:23 
 Uber - TheManWithNoName
Didn't BBC's Watchdog do a piece on Uber - customers saying they'd had accounts debited for journey's they hadn't made. One woman was charged for a trip in New York. She was in the UK at the time.
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New Wed 1 Jul 15 21:09 
 Uber - Bill Payer
The French don't muck about: www.theweek.co.uk/uber/58491/uber-executives-arrested-in-french-clampdown
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