UBER gone...

[SaintHacker]

Genuinely interested in why you feel so strongly against them.

From a consumer point of view, I see nothing to dislike.

I agree competition is good, but with them its not a level playing field. It would take me far too long to type out all the legalities but in short they break the law with their app and the way it works, and the way they pay their drivers makes their model not much different to modern slave labour. Are you happy getting in a car driven by someone who has done 18 hours straight, is miles from home, and probably still hasnt covered the rent of his vehicle?
Are you happy getting in a vehicle which may not be up to your local authority standards? The driver may not be DBS checked, there is no guarantee the driver holds the correct insurance. If you use a plated local taxi/PH you're should be safe in the knowledge the car/driver are licensed and if anything goes wrong you have some comeback with the local council. If you use an uber, who knows?

 

[Dasit]

Almost every Uber I get is a brand new Prius and a very respectful driver.


Normal to find bottled water, phones chargers, chewing gum packs for you in the uber.



All that for half the price of a taxi, wonder how Uber can do it for so much cheaper?

 

[moogie]

Fair point, competition is healthy surely?

I understand the training and knowledge aspect of routes etc but surely giving a customer a choice is a good thing?

It's not quite that straight forward mate
I can't speak of other areas, but will give you an insight into what happened in Newcastle

There was always a "locality" test, not quite the London knowledge, but a pretty thorough in depth test of your knowledge of routes, areas, pubs, clubs, hotels, local attractions, churches, civic buildings , etc...etc....

Uber announce they want to come to Newcastle
Apply for licenses
Newcastle decides to drop this locality test......

Now anybody that can pass a medical and DBS can walk in and get a private hire taxi badge.
Possibly many whom previously couldn't pass the locality test.

Uber is granted licences , now with a huge influx of new drivers , they have a ready made workforce.
Many rumours and stories surround these decisions, none of which I'd type on here.

I got my redundancy in March 2013, after being in the same trade all my life, need to work, thought I'd apply.
Passed the locality test that was in place at the council at the time, been driving ever since.
At this point in time, my car plate that was issued was in the 1100's
Now in 2017
There are now cars plated up in the 2300's......!!!
More than double the cars/drivers now on the road plated up, since über landed in Newcastle.
When uber landed in Newcastle, and it was announced there was no longer a locality, there was a Q out the door and round the corner at the local licensing office.

This isn't a case of healthy competition, they've made a mockery of the job.
It hasn't been good for the customer either, as there's plenty horror stories, they have little to no knowledge, follow an arrow on a smartphone, they have no plan B, or plan C, should there be traffic and you're in a hurry, or diversions etc....

I also can't believe more people don't take issue with the surge pricing...??
If I took a customer to town for example and charged £15 going down, but picked them up on the way back and charged them £45, I'd be accused of ripping them off and reported, yet this is exactly what über do.

The surge pricing can be manipulated all too easy, more customers than cars, then you're going to pay a premium.
I wish I could charge, 2 or 3 times the price during busy peak times, I'd be laughing.
This isn't the same as London where the uber prices are way cheaper than black cabs.
But in Newcastle, their tariff is very similar to most other private hire companies, but with regular peak time surges which make those fares far more expensive.

As for not needing cash, as has been said, and that convenience, well....my company and many others in our area, all have very similar apps, where you can upload card details, pay direct via this system, book your car through the app, or even pay via a card machine in the cars.

Uber also takes a cut of 25% off their drivers, off the fare of every job they do.
Every city or country they have landed in, there are stories, not to mention the tax issues that are common knowledge, so they aren't even giving anything back.

 

[YamiKuriboh]

Question to all those happy to pay less to use an Uber, are you also happy to pay 3x more during busy periods, and during terrorist attacks?

And to those worried about the drivers (who were never actually employed, they are all private contractors and can just go and work for any other PH outfit) what about the countless taxi/PH drivers in other parts of the country who have been put out of business by Uber? The UK doesn't stop at the M25.

In busy periods the price is still less than black cabs, from experience, so this is fine.
Any new business will put others out of business - its competition. We live in a capitalist country and this has been happy for decades.

 

[gmc40]

I agree competition is good, but with them its not a level playing field. It would take me far too long to type out all the legalities but in short they break the law with their app and the way it works, and the way they pay their drivers makes their model not much different to modern slave labour. Are you happy getting in a car driven by someone who has done 18 hours straight, is miles from home, and probably still hasnt covered the rent of his vehicle?
Are you happy getting in a vehicle which may not be up to your local authority standards? The driver may not be DBS checked, there is no guarantee the driver holds the correct insurance. If you use a plated local taxi/PH you're should be safe in the knowledge the car/driver are licensed and if anything goes wrong you have some comeback with the local council. If you use an uber, who knows?

I can't speak for other areas but all the Uber cabs in our area are licensed by local authority. Are you saying that isn't the case in some areas? Also what's to stop any cabbie working an 18 hour shift.

From a consumer point of view I can't fault my experience of them. Cab arrives when it says it will, you know what you are paying advance, no need to carry cash and if the driver is a nob you can never have him again. Local ph firms just take the pee. Repeated phone calls being told "he'll be there in 5 mins" and you end up waiting 40 mins (or longer). Drivers over inflating the prices etc etc.

 

[moogie]

I can't speak for other areas but all the Uber cabs in our area are licensed by local authority. Are you saying that isn't the case in some areas? Also what's to stop any cabbie working an 18 hour shift.

From a consumer point of view I can't fault my experience of them. Cab arrives when it says it will, you know what you are paying advance, no need to carry cash and if the driver is a nob you can never have him again. Local ph firms just take the pee. Repeated phone calls being told "he'll be there in 5 mins" and you end up waiting 40 mins (or longer)Drivers over inflating the prices etc etc.

Just the 1 question.....I don't understand
How does a driver inflate a price....??


I recieve all my work through a Samsung mobile adapted with software.
This is used as the taxi meter too.
It is impossible to alter the tariff, impossible to "inflate" the price
The tariff is set in the software and I'm unable to change it.
Plus, it should always be clearly on display in the car, if not then you ask where it is.

As for the company telling you 5mins, then waiting 40 mins.
Well that's just amateur desk clerks surely.

 

[Deleted member 21784]

Ah the knowledge argument .. a proper out dated system

Nothing like a cheap phone with google maps for routes and google for any searching required

 

[gmc40]

Just the 1 question.....I don't understand
How does a driver inflate a price....??


I recieve all my work through a Samsung mobile adapted with software.
This is used as the taxi meter too.
It is impossible to alter the tariff, impossible to "inflate" the price
The tariff is set in the software and I'm unable to change it.
Plus, it should always be clearly on display in the car, if not then you ask where it is.

As for the company telling you 5mins, then waiting 40 mins.
Well that's just amateur desk clerks surely.

Not all the ph drivers near us use a meter. Some have a card with the tariffs and some (not all) have a habit of adding a bit on.

It is amateur desk clerks but they exist and that isn't an issue with Uber.

 

[moogie]

Ah the knowledge argument .. a proper out dated system

Nothing like a cheap phone with google maps for routes and google for any searching required

Pathetic and ignorant response
What if you're in a hurry, stuck in traffic
The guy is a new driver, no knowledge, no experience
He hasn't got a clue how to get to your destination, other than follow a white arrow on the smartphone
He will just sit there, and sit there, no plan B
You still be happy when you've missed your flight, train, restaurant reservation
I doubt it.....

I would never belittle anybody's job, yet others are happy jumping to conclusions regarding taxi drivers and theirs, there's a lot more to it than just typing in a postcode.

 

[Deleted member 21784]

Pathetic and ignorant response
What if you're in a hurry, stuck in traffic
The guy is a new driver, no knowledge, no experience
He hasn't got a clue how to get to your destination, other than follow a white arrow on the smartphone
He will just sit there, and sit there, no plan B
You still be happy when you've missed your flight, train, restaurant reservation
I doubt it.....

I would never belittle anybody's job, yet others are happy jumping to conclusions regarding taxi drivers and theirs, there's a lot more to it than just typing in a postcode.

Have you ever actually tried google maps
Tho? That's the point if your stuck in traffic at every turn off road it gives you an ETA via that route

Every time I drive using google maps (haven't got sat nab in my car) it's far better than the built in sat nav in my other car

Gives me many routes to work and says for example this route will be 10 minutes longer

So stuck in traffic it gives you better routes

 

[moogie]

Not all the ph drivers near us use a meter. Some have a card with the tariffs and some (not all) have a habit of adding a bit on.

in this instance I would simply say, I do this journey twice a week and always pay, £X , that's what I'm paying you now.



It is amateur desk clerks but they exist and that isn't an issue with Uber

. This bit, I can't argue with.

Every car in Newcastle has a meter, if anybody ever visits the city and its not displayed, then question it

 

[gmc40]

Not all the ph drivers near us use a meter. Some have a card with the tariffs and some (not all) have a habit of adding a bit on.

in this instance I would simply say, I do this journey twice a week and always pay, £X , that's what I'm paying you now.



It is amateur desk clerks but they exist and that isn't an issue with Uber

. This bit, I can't argue with.

Every car in Newcastle has a meter, if anybody ever visits the city and its not displayed, then question it

Most of the time I have argued the price but shouldn't have to and it creates unnecessary tension. To be fair I use cabs infrequently now and mostly business related so Uber is convenient as I have my company credit card linked to my account.

The issue I have is from past experience when I was a shift worker and some of the drivers/companies just took the pee. That may have changed as I know the majority of firms now use apps etc but people still remember how it used to be. Uber has found a different way to do things using technology that is better for the consumer and unfortunately a lot of cab firms are now trying to play catch up.

Even if local firms had a similar system to Uber that was just as consumer friendly then they'll always be at a disadvantage as new or occasional visitors to an area won't know of their existence. Even if they did it would mean us having to download an app for each firm. With Uber it doesn't matter whether I'm at home in Liverpool, working in Birmingham or London I just use the same app.

 

[MegaSteve]

So, Uber can supress 'transgressions', by its drivers/operators, by failing to report them to the proper authorities [the police] to avoid bad publicity...

From personal experience the drivers, in general, are clueless... Their eyes never appear to leave their devices rather than checkout what's going on around them whilst driving...

Lost count of the number of times I've had calls from clients [who have foolishly used them to 'deliver' their 'facilities'] requesting that I go out into the street to find their 'driver' as he can't find us but thinks he's nearby... Never had that once with a 'proper' courier...

As for 30-40,000 being put out of work... Well, that's what Uber are working towards anyway... Investing much of their ill gotten gains into driverless technology...

 

[SaintHacker]

I can't speak for other areas but all the Uber cabs in our area are licensed by local authority. Are you saying that isn't the case in some areas? Also what's to stop any cabbie working an 18 hour shift.

There's no way of knowing. They operate anywhere (which is illegal anyway) so unless you get a local car there's no way of knowing what you're getting into.
And no there's nothing to stop any of us from doing an 18+ hour shift, its just that we dont generally have to just to keep our heads above water because our firm is taking such a huge percentage of our earnings.
My last post on this thread now as the usual stereotypes are starting to come out.

 

[gmc40]

There's no way of knowing. They operate anywhere (which is illegal anyway) so unless you get a local car there's no way of knowing what you're getting into.
And no there's nothing to stop any of us from doing an 18+ hour shift, its just that we dont generally have to just to keep our heads above water because our firm is taking such a huge percentage of our earnings.
My last post on this thread now as the usual stereotypes are starting to come out.

I don't know what stereotypes you are talking about but my comments are based on experience. Nothing to do with stereotypes.

 

[MegaSteve]

My last post on this thread now as the usual stereotypes are starting to come out.

Difficult not to stereotype with the sheer numbers on the road...

Does London really need another forty thousand cars filling up its already totally full roads...

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Moogie, I haven't been in a taxi for a number of years now but there is a popular firm in Morpeth, "they rose from the flames" 😁. I know someone who uses them and it is all app driven. The booking, paying, tracking drivers etc sounds very similar to the Uber set up but the drivers are registered etc. It sounds as though most firms up here are the same. Is that right?

 

[moogie]

Moogie, I haven't been in a taxi for a number of years now but there is a popular firm in Morpeth, "they rose from the flames" 😁. I know someone who uses them and it is all app driven. The booking, paying, tracking drivers etc sounds very similar to the Uber set up but the drivers are registered etc. It sounds as though most firms up here are the same. Is that right?

Yes, I know the company you refer to 👍
They will be the biggest in your area for sure.

Most other big companies in the area have these same facilities too
All my jobs come through my Samsung data head
No old style radios etc....
Can go a week or more without even having to make contact with my office
Uber have nothing that we haven't got

As stated earlier
The biggest change in the Newcastle area, was dropping the locality test and opening the floodgates for all these new licences

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Thanks, I understand it now. Put into my terms, Uber are China, you are a UK company. I'll now join you in disliking them.

I understand how people prefer them to London black cabs, I've been ripped off in London before, but if other companies are offering a similar service with similar benefits but with regulated drivers then losing Uber is no loss. They've shaken up the market, now exit stage left or regulate like other companies.

 

[SaintHacker]

I know i said no more posts from me but this article makes interesting reading, particularly for those who dont know all the ins and outs

https://www.theguardian.com/comment...don-driver-fares-rivals-work?CMP=share_btn_fb