Uber recommends Prius?

$112/£71 for 20 miles? ha ha ha ha ha. I'd have got stabbed for even attempting to charge that. I used to charge £28/£30 ($43/$46) for that distance in rush hour or 3am. That's in a country with 20% sales tax and $8 a gallon. I couldn't legally charge more than the set rates.

Maybe that's why registered cabbies are cheesed off. They have their income set (displayed on the door , window or in the car), have loads of compliance costs, police checks, massive insurance to pay, and then some part time new comers come along bending the legalities and charging all sorts depending on the time of day. That's not competition as the true cabbies can't charge $112 or £71 for that run however much they may have wanted to.

Give the true cabbies the same flexiblilty on fares as Uber and I think you'll find there will be no complaints.

 

yes, i doubt cabbies her can do that either. otoh, we have plenty of cabbies in boston and new york, but i don't know how happy they are. they're not happy when things are going well.

 

Having been in that line of work there is a reason. You get all sorts of ignorant, rude, arrogant, nasty people sat right next to you. Some try to stab you (shoot you on your side of the pond), take your money off you, yet you're expected to smile and be happy ten minutes later when the next passenger gets in. You're on your own in the middle of nowhere when someone tries to rob you.

It's not an easy job. Give them some slack next time you get a cab. A smile and pleasant attitude goes a long way.

 

not to toot my own horn, but i'm always nice to people who are serving me. and i'm a big tipper too. i realize it's not easy, that's why americans (and brits?) don't want it. i suspect a few bad experiences, and an uber driver might have second thoughts as well.

 

Tipping works

People say you shouldn't tip. That's fine. Leave your iphone in my cab and I'll hand it in to the Police 2 days later for you to go collect at your own inconvenience. Tip me and I subsequently find your phone, I'll drive back and drop it off at your house.

People reap what they sow. S****y people get a s****y service. Nice folk get a nice service. That's how it always worked with me. I wonder if people complaining about a taxi driver should just try and remember how they were with him first

 

i never heard that before. i think oprah put out a tipping list, who and how much. my one complaint is, unless you have the same server all the time, they don't know if you're a good tipper or not. so they have to give good service first, which they should do, unless it's a repeat bad customer.

okay, two complaints. in restaurants, they share the tips, which doesn't reward the good servers.

 

This is one of the reasons I prefer Uber, both as a rider and driver.
The fare is spelled out right up front, as soon as you signal for a car. If you see there is surge pricing in effect, and are not willing to pay in, you simply cancel.
As the driver, I don't have to dicker with anyone about the fare as they have already taken care of payment via the app.
Uber drivers have no money on them.

For some, driving for Uber doesn't make sense, for others, it is the best thing ever.
Although, I would never suggest someone buy a car just for Uber, if someone is planning to buy a car anyways, I would certainly make a suggestion based on lower fuel costs.

 

Not only is the surge rate spelled out in front of them, they have to type it in to confirm they saw it and agree. If it's 3.5X surge, they have to type in "3.5" before they can request. And on top of that, if they don't want to pay extra, they can have the app let them know when the price goes down.

 

The problem is not that Uber are charging 3x the normal fare. It's that the traditional cabbie can't (in most jurisdictions).

 

I've been told that out here, they often do anyways.

 

Speculation. I never over charged.

I could speculate that Uber drivers don't have Police checks and could be sexual predators using the service as a means to an end. Doesn't make that true either.

 

The only thing (that the politicians will admit publicly) holding up allowing all Uber drivers to pick up at Los Angeles International Airport is fingerprinting. Uber and Lyft claim their background checks are better than the fingerprint checks that cab drivers get. They may be correct in certain ways, but, that is only if someone was caught committing a crime. What about those who are at large? How many Uber drivers are there who would stop driving if they had to give their fingerprints to the US government?

On the other hand, It's not like there aren't taxi owners/drivers who let other people drive their cabs without the proper permits.

 

cabbies taking the long route in new york was notorious at one time. that's when they only had the meter with miles and dollars. electronics have changed that, and you now have internet in the back seat so you can watch the map.

 

Taking the long way, rolling over cars and burning them, seem like there's some bad apples in the bunch. Just like we can send emails instead of telegraphs or faxes, Uber is replacing the taxi system. The good thing is that the good taxi drivers should be fine on Uber.

 

i tip a higher percent at places with cheaper food. i figure they're doing the same amount of work.

 

So you tip less at expensive places?

 

That's not what he said.

 

when you say less, do you mean dollars or percent?

 

expensive places often build the tip in if the party is large. if not, i usually leave 15% depending on the service and size of the bill. if we're somewhere, where the bill is $25.-50., i'll leave up to 50% for good service.