(way...) OT: Uber sucks...IMO

[OtayBW]

5 days in San Diego for work, and almost every day, Uber driver has found some way to scam me, usually by canceling an accepted ride, claiming that I was not in the right pickup location. Today's pickup location, I might add, is right next to the sign in front of a major hotel lobby that says "Uber/Lyft Pickup Location" where several Uber/Lyft pickups and deliveries are occurring right in from of me, and where, btw, I was picked up the day before by another driver. Today's jackass driver slows down and then stalls, and then sends me a message telling me that I'm in the wrong place. I message back saying 'what do you mean? I'm here?". Message goes dead. Driver cancels, charging me $5.00.

Try to get this squared away through Uber's wonderful app-driven help menu, and you get a $5.00 Uber credit issued. Seems clear that Uber is probably not the nicest company to work for, but I am fed up. EFF THEM. I'm done.

Sorry, for the rant - I'll be heading down to the bar now for a little liquid refreshment.....

Have a nice day!

[Louis]

As they say, you get what you pay for...

Not that "regular" cabbies are perfect either.

http://www.irishnews.com/picturesarchive/irishnews/irishnews/2016/02/16/112503744-29bdada0-ae0b-4f22-b71e-6b4bd197a847.jpg

[OtayBW]

I believe I'd settle for Travis Bickle at this point....

[Jaybee]

Had similar experiences w Uber. Nothing but good things to say about Lyft.

[CMiller]

I have found Lyft drivers to a much nicer bunch, try them out!

Still lots of issues with all these kind of apps, of course.

[DuddyJ]

I've had problems with Uber and Lyft drivers that seem like someone stuck them in a car to drive. Basically makes me feel like I'm back in a taxi. No idea of where they are going, they don't know how to use google maps, and dont speak a word of english.

[Avispa]

I gave up on Uber, since the Travis scandals... Try Lyft... But I have to say, I had to report one driver one time. The guy was going 60 on a 35 zone! Insane...

[doomridesout]

Gig economy scams both consumers and workers... Cui bono?

Gig economy techies want us to live an existence of owning nothing, perpetually feeding the meter with unclear results- this goes for the drivers and the riders alike- fully fungible, efficient to replace. The Wal-Mart mentality of "if it breaks, get a new one" as applied to human relations. It svcks.

Uber's got plenty of regular dumb corporate problems, but the root, IMO, is a business model predicated on disruption as good per se.

[marciero]

5 days in San Diego for work, and almost every day, Uber driver has found some way to scam me, usually by canceling an accepted ride, claiming that I was not in the right pickup location. Today's pickup location, I might add, is right next to the sign in front of a major hotel lobby that says "Uber/Lyft Pickup Location" where several Uber/Lyft pickups and deliveries are occurring right in from of me, and where, btw, I was picked up the day before by another driver. Today's jackass driver slows down and then stalls, and then sends me a message telling me that I'm in the wrong place. I message back saying 'what do you mean? I'm here?". Message goes dead. Driver cancels, charging me $5.00.

Try to get this squared away through Uber's wonderful app-driven help menu, and you get a $5.00 Uber credit issued. Seems clear that Uber is probably not the nicest company to work for, but I am fed up. EFF THEM. I'm done.

Sorry, for the rant - I'll be heading down to the bar now for a little liquid refreshment.....

Have a nice day!

I was also in SD for work; in January. It was the first time I ever used Uber. We took the tandem but one day I did a solo ride. I rented a bike and paid ungodly amount to take a cab outside the city to do the Great Western Loop. On the way back I was running out of light and faced navigating back through the city about 10 miles. So I downloaded the Uber app, registered, synced paypal account, and hailed a ride. The ETA was said 45 min. so I prepared to wait. Then I realized that that was back-at-hotel ETA. I only had to wait a few minutes. My experience is limited to three Uber rides, all in SD in January. Not enough for the novelty of pressing a few buttons on my phone and having a car almost instantly show up wear off. The drivers were excellent-all seemed to have a pretty cheery disposition.

[hokoman]

Forget the drivers for a second - it's the traffic they have created that annoys me! Thousands of cars driving around looking for rides. When I lived in SF, I would unscientifically guess that half the cars on the road were Lyft/Uber!

[OtayBW]

Data point of 1: used Lyft to get to the airport today at 4:15 am. No problem....

I've been told (by Uber drivers) that part of the problem is that on a ~$10 fare, the driver only gets ~$3.00 so there is incentive for them to just blame the passenger for being in the wrong place, cancel the ride, and charge a $5.00 fee. And there really is no one to communicate with to clear it up. If you're lucky, they'll issue $5.00 in Uber credit.

I'm done with this garbage.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[charliedid]

What a world

[oldpotatoe]

Locked keys in car at Kohls...snowing, just before Xmas..called Uber...said they would be there in 15 minutes..then cancelled..tried again, same thing..I guess the fare wasn't big enough or something..walked home(about 2 miles)..never again. Westminster CO...watching grandkids, glad they weren't with me. :eek:

[merckxman]

The impact on traffic in NYC:
https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2017/12/how-to-fix-new-york-citys-unsustainable-traffic-woes/548798/

Forget the drivers for a second - it's the traffic they have created that annoys me! Thousands of cars driving around looking for rides. When I lived in SF, I would unscientifically guess that half the cars on the road were Lyft/Uber!

[ptourkin]

I have found Lyft drivers to a much nicer bunch, try them out!

Still lots of issues with all these kind of apps, of course.

Here in San Diego most of them drive for both.

[MattTuck]

This is why Uber is so interested in autonomous driving.

Instead of paying the driver (and I've heard it is more like 10-20% of the fare that UBER keeps), they'll pocket the whole fare themselves.

Of course, the economics of running a transactional business with very low fixed costs (because the drivers own and maintain the cars) are quite different from running a high fixed cost business where you have to own or lease the cars, are quite different.

Will be interesting to see if they can make the transition.

[eippo1]

Took a taxi recently in Boston and asked him to let me out of the cab because he was driving like a complete nut. Instead he gunned it onto the highway onramp because we were there anyway. Was not pleased and said so, but refrained from raising my voice due to the fact that I had a few beverages in my system and did not want to let any lack of inhibition get in the way.

Booked it through the curbed app, so left a pretty scathing review.

[hokoman]

Here in San Diego most of them drive for both.

I have used Juno (the NYC version of Uber and Lyft) and all the drivers are connected to all 3 apps - all their phones/ipads are on their dashboard. You have drive for all of them if you want to stay busy and make money - from what I've been told. Juno takes a smaller cut from the drivers and that is the reason why I use it when I need to. I only take cars in Brooklyn/Queens. If I am in the city, the train is typically faster to get around.

[Ozz]

Here in San Diego most of them drive for both.

+1 Seattle & Spokane

I have had good experiences with Lyft...

sometimes it get weird when they start sharing how they became drivers....middle aged career guys, lost good paying job....can't find new job...etc.

[velotrack]

Gig economy scams both consumers and workers... Cui bono?

Gig economy techies want us to live an existence of owning nothing, perpetually feeding the meter with unclear results- this goes for the drivers and the riders alike- fully fungible, efficient to replace. The Wal-Mart mentality of "if it breaks, get a new one" as applied to human relations. It svcks.

Uber's got plenty of regular dumb corporate problems, but the root, IMO, is a business model predicated on disruption as good per se.

totally agree.

[SoCalSteve]

Data point of 1: used Lyft to get to the airport today at 4:15 am. No problem....

I've been told (by Uber drivers) that part of the problem is that on a ~$10 fare, the driver only gets ~$3.00 so there is incentive for them to just blame the passenger for being in the wrong place, cancel the ride, and charge a $5.00 fee. And there really is no one to communicate with to clear it up. If you're lucky, they'll issue $5.00 in Uber credit.

I'm done with this garbage.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

Respectfully, there are a couple things wrong with this. First off, the Uber and/or Lyft Driver has no idea where they are going until after they pick you up and start the ride. Could be 3 blocks or 25 miles. The driver has no incentive to cancel the ride on this basis.

Secondly, this is from the Uber website regarding cancellation fees:
Cancellation Fee: $5 fee if you cancel two minutes after requesting, or if you take 5 minutes or longer to come out to the driver.

Lastly, this is a known issue with the Uber app ( probably has more to do with your location and cell-gps service ) but the app gets the pickup location wrong at times. You have to be very vigilant and make sure you have the correct address for the driver. Also, sometimes you can just put in a hotel or other poi and it may take the driver to a different street that the hotel-poi is also on. I’ve actually called the driver and navigated him/her to me if I feel they are lost or have it wrong.

It’s definitely not a perfect system. Lyft is far superior to Uber. And sometimes it’s just easier and more convenient to hop in a cab.

I know all this because I spent 3 months car-less in Los Angeles. Uber and Lyft were used all the time and me being who I am ( nosey and in the transportation field for 35 years ) I asked them a lot of questions.

[redir]

Hmmm interesting. I'm pretty much on the opposite side of the spectrum. I'll probably never take another dirty filthy cab again. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about Uber. In fact I was in San Diego a few months ago and used Uber every day with no issues. Knock on wood...

[echelon_john]

Probably 100 Uber rides in the last six months; had one where the guy drove like a maniac, but flawless other than that. I've had many, MANY worse cab rides in Boston, New York, San Francisco...

[buddybikes]

Was driven to airport - driver decides to take all back roads (getting lost) when the toll road was wide open. We ended up in a dead end once

Coming home, driver chatting about how few weeks earlier she totaled her TDI as she was in left lane passing everyone

Will I use that or lyft again, sure, limo's (even group ones) are massively too expensive as well as taxis for any long distance.

Think there is a hybrid model out there that have little more screening of their drivers.

[raygunner]

Uber's standards have fallen. It seems they let anyone with a pulse and a crappy car drive for their service.

I'm no auto mechanic but some of the cars driving around with "Uber" placards appear dirty & unsafe.

[OtayBW]

Respectfully, there are a couple things wrong with this. First off, the Uber and/or Lyft Driver has no idea where they are going until after they pick you up and start the ride. Could be 3 blocks or 25 miles. The driver has no incentive to cancel the ride on this basis.
Disagree, based on the comments of several drivers this week. Whether you believe the driver has incentive to cancel rides or not, it occurs; it occurs regularly, and is acknowledged by a lot of drivers.

Secondly, this is from the Uber website regarding cancellation fees:
Cancellation Fee: $5 fee if you cancel two minutes after requesting, or if you take 5 minutes or longer to come out to the driver. I have learned not to even make the call to Uber until I am at the actual, correct pickup spot - so, so much for my taking too much time to arrive. Hells bells - I believe that you could figuratively stand immediately outside of Uber corporate headquarters, and a driver would have a gripe about not being able to find you. So, 'blame the victim' doesn't wash with me...

Lastly, this is a known issue with the Uber app ( probably has more to do with your location and cell-gps service ) but the app gets the pickup location wrong at times. You have to be very vigilant and make sure you have the correct address for the driver. Also, sometimes you can just put in a hotel or other poi and it may take the driver to a different street that the hotel-poi is also on. I’ve actually called the driver and navigated him/her to me if I feel they are lost or have it wrong.
It’s definitely not a perfect system. Lyft is far superior to Uber. And sometimes it’s just easier and more convenient to hop in a cab.

I know all this because I spent 3 months car-less in Los Angeles. Uber and Lyft were used all the time and me being who I am ( nosey and in the transportation field for 35 years ) I asked them a lot of questions.

I don't need three months nor some kind of 'pedigree' (?) in the transportation field to figure out when I'm being hosed. Apparently, I don't seem to be unique in coming to these conclusions, either. I'm sure there are plenty of good folks trying to eek out a living with Uber, but to me, they are a POS organization that has a cockamamie excuse for everything. I'm done with them, and I will certainly not be an apologist for them. :rolleyes:

[Sewere]

But it's not like that everywhere.

[C40_guy]

The guy was going 60 on a 35 zone! Insane...

I got out of a taxi (with no working shock absorbers) years ago in San Francisco, after a hair raising ride from the airport.

The tip I gave the driver? "You are no Mario Andretti." If I could have reported him, I would have.

And I did report an Uber driver once. Felt bad doing so...he was a newbie, but he was such a poor driver. Stopping in the middle of intersections, driving 10 below a 30 MPH speed limit...yikes!

[unterhausen]

This is why Uber is so interested in autonomous driving.
I have done a decent amount of work in autonomous robots and I'm pretty hostile to the idea of an autonomous car. Then today I found out the worst grad student I ever worked with is working in autonomous vehicles. All I have to say is, we're gonna die.

I had one good ride with uber, but then when I really needed them in France it didn't work out. Had to take my stuff via the bus. That wasn't much fun.

[72gmc]

I don’t use Uber because of their founder and their BS business model. I do use Lyft on business trips, so I’m probably a hypocrite.

The Ubers that coworkers called for us in Paris defied the stereotype. A new 7-series BMW one ride, a new S-class Mercedes another ride, drivers in suits, very courteous service.

[oldpotatoe]

But it's not like that everywhere.




thread:)